The 5 greatest Boston Red Sox hitters in franchise history

Honorable Mentions

Carl Yastrzemski was the hardest one for me to leave off the list. When push came to shove, Yaz wasn’t as good as he needed to be in the late stages of his career for me to put him on this list. In his first 10 years with the Boston Red Sox, he was a .297 hitter. He won the Triple Crown in 1967. He was amazing. But his .275 average with a slugging-high of .505 in his final 13 years just wasn’t enough to get him on the list. Sorry Yaz.

Boston Red Sox

Jimmie Foxx is another guy who put up some ridiculous numbers. My main reason for leaving Foxx off was that his best years came in Philadelphia, not Boston. If Foxx played his entire career in Boston, you bet his .325 career average, 1.038 OPS, and 534 home runs would be on this list. Unfortunately, his 6 years in Boston wasn’t enough to immortalize him in my Red Sox Hall of Fame.

Babe Ruth is the greatest baseball player to ever live, but he didn’t become that until he joined the New York Yankees. Truth be told, the Babe’s best year in Boston was his last, in which he batted .322 with 29 bombs. After leaving Boston, he batted .347 and hit 665 more home runs. Oh, and he cursed our franchise for 86 years.

Finally, we have Mr. Red Sox, Johnny Pesky. He has a foul pole named after him, and his first three seasons with the Sox saw him accumulate over 200 hits. Like Ted Williams, his career was interrupted by military service. He’s a great American Hero and a Boston Red Sox legend, but he isn’t one of the five best hitters in franchise history.

Next: The 5 greatest Boston Red Sox World Series teams of all time

Disagree? Have someone to add? Think I snubbed someone? Let me know in the comments! I would love to hear your opinions on this.