100 Greatest Red Sox >> #49 Jimmy Collins

Jimmy Collins, 3B (1901-1907)

741 G, 881 H, 448 R, 25 HR, 385 RBI, 102 SB, .296 Avg, .332 OBP, .423 SLG

Jimmy Collins full biography will be posted once it is completed.

100 Greatest Red Sox >> #62 Larry Gardner

William Lawrence "Larry" Gardner, 3B (1908-1917)

1123 G, 1106 H, 496 R, 87 3B, 16 HR, 481 RBI, .282 Avg, .347 OBP, .377 SLG

William Lawrence Gardner (Larry Gardner) was born May 13, 1886 in Enosburg Falls, Vermont. Larry attended the University of Vermont and indeed became the first player from that school to make it all the way to the American League. What better way for a New England native than to make your break in baseball with the Boston Red Sox. Larry made his Major League debut on June 25th, 1908. Interestingly, the great 'Shoeless' Joe Jackson made his debut the same year.

Larry was a third baseman for the Sox from 1908 to 1917. In his time in Boston in particular he was known for being a clutch hitter who rose to the occasion in big games. He finished his career with three World Series wins in all, two of those with the Red Sox.

Gardner's key career moment probably came in the famous tenth inning of the final game of 1912 World Series. Although it was two big errors that the Red Sox two extra outs to work with, it was Gardner who drove in Steve Yerkes with the winning run of the entire series.

He also played with both the Philadelphia Athletics and the Cleveland Indians (1919-1924). Larry would excel late in his career with the Indians, winning a World Series (his third) with them in 1920 and then going on to hit a career high .319 in 1921.

Larry played his final game in the majors on September 6, 1924. In his 17-season career, Larry Gardner posted a .289 batting average with 27 home runs and 929 RBI in 1922 games. It should be noted Larry played in the infamous 'dead ball' period, where the ball was literally much heavier and harder than it is now. His numbers were excellent for the time. After retiring from the league he returned to the University of Vermont as a baseball coach and athletic director.

Larry passed away March 11, 1976 in St.George, Vermont at the grand old age of 90. Larry Gardner was inducted to the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame in 2000. I say life was pretty good to you if you got to play for the Boston Red Sox, lived to the age of ninety and were born and buried in the same state.

This Top 100 Red Sox of all time profile was written by Cormac Eklof @ ''I didn't know there was baseball in Ireland?!''

100 Greatest Red Sox >> #72 Chick Stahl

Chick Stahl, OF (1901-1906)

Career .305/.369/.416 hitter with 36 HR, 189 SB, 1,546 H, with a fielding percentage of .961 (league .946).

Chick Stahl was a regular outfielder for the Boston Red Sox's first six years in existence after four years playing for the Boston Beaneaters, meaning that he played baseball in Boston for 10 years. Stahl batted and threw left, and stood five feet 10 inches tall, weighing 160 pounds. Stahl was an accomplished outfielder who played on some very good teams:

The 1897 Beaneaters won the NL Pennant with a record of 93-39.
The 1898 Beaneaters won the NL Pennant with a record of 102-47.
The 1899 Beaneaters finished 2nd in the NL with a record of 95-57.
The 1900 Beaneaters finished 4th in the NL with a record of 66-72.
The 1901 Americans finished 2nd in the AL with a record of 79-57.
The 1902 Americans finished 3rd in the AL with a record of 77-60.
The 1903 Americans won the World Series with a record of 91-47.
The 1904 Americans won the AL Pennant with a record of 95-59. (No World Series was played.)
The 1905 Americans finished 4th in the AL with a record of 78-74.
And in his only black mark, the 1906 Americans finished 8th in the AL with a record of 49-105.

As the Red Sox's centerfielder many of the years, he directly contributed to the first World Series of the Red Sox by hitting three triples during the series.

Stahl avoided death the year after he joined the Americans, as an ex-girlfriend attempted to murder Stahl January 26, 1902. Two years later, on September 27, 1904, Chick Stahl avoided the Americans from being the victims of a perfect game by Cleveland's Bob Rhoads, singling in the ninth inning with two out.

His final hurrah as a player came in his final at-bat, when he bashed a two-run home run off New York's Tom Hughes (Hughes had been traded from the Americans to New York for Jesse Tannehill before the 1904 season).

Stahl's best season was probably his rookie year with the Beaneaters, when he hit .354/.406/.499. His two best years with the Americans came in his first two years with them. He hit .303/.377/.439 in 1901 with 105 runs scored. In 1902, he scored 92 runs while hitting .323/.375/.421. He tailed off in 1903, only hitting .274 but rebounded in 1904, hitting .290/.366/.416. Stahl experienced another tail off in 1905, hitting .258, and rebounded yet again in his final season, hitting .286/.346/.366.

A modern day comparison to Stahl, who regularly stole around 20 bases would be Juan Pierre, except he had more power than Pierre and could not run as well.

When close friend and player-manager Jimmy Collins resigned from managing the Red Sox after being their inaugural manager on August 29, 1906 (Collins was technically suspended), Stahl posted a 5-13 record as manager. Stahl entered the following spring slated to be the manager of the recently renamed Boston Red Sox, but committed suicide after confiding to Collins that he could not handle the strain of being a manager, which caused the 1907 team to use four managers (Cy Young, George Huff, Bob Unglaub and Deacon McGuire).

Stahl, widely "considered handsome, charming, with a magnetic personality," was one of many players to commit suicide in the Deadball era (spanning from 1900 to 1920).

Stahl committed suicide by drinking three ounces of carbolic acid while traveling with the team in West Baden Springs, IN. His suicide note read: "Boys, I just couldn't help it. You drove me to it."

Evan Brunell, a diehard Red Sox fan, writes about the Red Sox at Fire Brand of the American League, his analytical and sometimes not so analytical look at the Boston Red Sox. He is joined by Mike Edelman and Zach Hayes, and is also the owner and president of MVN.com.

100 Greatest Red Sox >> #83: Bill Dinneen

Bill Dinneen, P, (1902-1907)

64 wins, 60 losses, 2.70 ERA, 143 GS, 133 CG, 1097.0 IP

Not many people can say they won a World Series with the Boston Red Sox in the 20th century. To one up that, only two men can say they’ve ever won three World Series games in the same post-season for the Red Sox: famous “Smokey” Joe Wood and “Big” Bill Dinneen.

In 1903, Dinneen (pictured here in the Syracuse Hall of Fame) was a solid starter for the Sox but was overshadowed by the legendary Cy Young. Young trumped Dinneen in everything:



But we’re talking about playoffs. Playoffs?! Yes, playoffs. Dinneen was the true star of the World Series, winning three of the five games and racking up a slender 2.06 ERA. In 35 innings to Young’s 34, Dinneen struck out more batters (28-17) and allowed fewer hits (29-31) en route to Boston’s first World Series victory. The final out in the World Series was his: he struck out Honus Wagner to clinch the Series for the Americans.

There is no “Bill Dinneen Award” and there will never be one, but for the 1903 World Series he had an edge on Young. Not many pitchers can say that, but he is one.
The Syracuse, N.Y. native landed in the big leagues with the Washington Senators in 1898. After two seasons as a Senator and another two as a Boston Beaneater, he jumped to the Boston Americans – now known as the Red Sox.

His three best seasons ever came as an American:



Although he dominated, his arm was over-worked. In the 1904 campaign, Dinneen set a 20th century record by pitching 37 consecutive complete games. From 1905 on he wasn’t the same pitcher.

Dinneen struggled to stay healthy and consistent on the mound. During the 1907 season, the Americans traded Dinneen to the St. Louis Browns for Beany Jacobson and $1,000. Jacobson was a bust, however, pitching in only 2 innings after the trade. Dinneen finished his career as a Brown in 1909.

Dinneen quickly found a new position in baseball, though: umpire. He began umpiring in the 1909 season and, sure enough, was one of the best at making the right call.

He worked eight World Series – a total of 45 games -- in his 29 years as an umpire. Dinneen was a fast worker behind the plate. He won money in the ‘30s for having the quickest average time while being the home plate umpire.

He umpired five no-hitters, a record he shares with William Klem who also did it during the same time period. Dinneen, however, is the only umpire to have thrown a no-hitter and been the ump for one, also.

Randy Booth writes and maintains OverTheMonster.com. He can be reached at rbooth@overthemonster.com.

100 Greatest Red Sox >> #84: Buck Freeman

Buck Freeman, OF, (Boston Braves (1900), Boston Red Sox (1901-1907))

820 g, 879 h, 158 2b, 903b, 48 hr, 54 sb, .286 avg, .332 obp, .442 slg

John Frank "Buck" Freeman, born October 30th 1871, was one of the premier sluggers of his era and without doubt the most feared power hitter pre Babe Ruth. He was famous for smacking the long ball at a time when the ball itself was very heavy and hitting it must have felt like trying to hit a large brick with a wiffle ball bat.

When Babe Ruth finally came along and broke Freeman's home run records he was doing so with a completely different ball, one referred to at the time as a 'lively ball'.

One of Freeman's greatest achievements was slugging a whopping 25 four baggers in 1899. One can only imagine how many he would hit today with the current ball against the current level of expansion-diluted pitching.

Interestingly Freeman actually did not start out swinging the bat at all. Born in Catasauqua, Pennsylvania, Freeman showed talent as a pitcher from a very young age. He made his major league debut as a left-handed starter with the 'Washington Statesmen' on June 27, 1891, registering the loss in a 4-5 defeat to the Philadelphia Athletics. Freeman played in a further 4 games during the seasons, finishing up with a pretty decent 3-2 record and an earned run average of 3.89.

Despite showing promise on the hill 1891 would be Freeman's only season as a pitcher in the majors, and indeed he then took a seven year sabbatical from Major League Baseball altogether. In his time away he played in the Eastern League with Toronto from 1896 to 1898 but then finally returned to play for Washington midway through the 1898 season.

Freeman's career and indeed life changed forever when he came back and showed that he had learnt to use the bat while he had been away. Washington recognised this immediately and converted Freeman to a right fielder. In the final part of the 1898 season Freeman hit .364 and slugged.523. On the back of this performance he was named the Washington Senators starting right fielder for the 1899 season.

In his first season as a hitter Freeman slugged an amazing 25 home runs. To put that in perspective the second highest total that year was Bobby Wallace's 12. Although Freeman actually hit less than Ned Williamson's record of 27 home runs in a season, recorded in 1884, Freeman's total is widely regarded as the greater achievement because of the home run friendly dimensions of Williamson's home ballpark of Lakeshore Park (of Williamson's 27 homers, only 2 were hit away from home). Freeman's tally was not surpassed until 1919, when Babe Ruth smashed 29 home runs while with the Boston Red Sox.

Freeman was paid $225 a month in '99, putting everything in perspective. At that time the average annual salary of skilled labourers in the United States was $780, roughly $2 a day. Freeman, by contrast, earned $3000 a year.

The Washington Senators disbanded at the end of the 1899 season, so Freeman, looking for a job, spent the 1900 season with the Boston Beaneaters. His offensive numbers for the year were down on the year before, he hit only the 6 home runs and knocked in 66 runs. At the end of the season he and teammate Jimmy Collins moved across town to the Boston Americans, who decided to convert him into a first baseman. In 1901 Freeman hit his way back into the form he was capable of: he finished second overall in home runs (12), RBIs (114), and slugging percentage (.520), finishing behind Nap Lajoie in all categories. In 1901, however, Freeman hit his way back into the news.

Headlines from the period;

May 8, 1901: In their long-delayed AL home opener, Boston defeats Philadelphia's Bill Bernhard, 12-4, behind Cy Young, who has jumped from the St. Louis NL team. Boston is led by Buck Freeman, who has a single, triple and homer.

June 17, 1901: Bosox sweep a Bunker Hill day double-header, 11-1 and 10-4, part of five game sweep over the White Sox. The Sox relinquish 1st place to Boston. Buck Freeman has a homer and triple in the two games to back Mitchell and Cy Young.

Come the 1902 season and in his second year with the Boston Americans Freeman returned to playing right field, which most regarded as his better position. Freeman must have enjoyed the transition as he led the American League with 121 RBIs. In 1903 he helped Boston to the inaugural World Series, the first ever modern version of the great event, by leading the league in both home runs (13), and RBIs (104); in doing so Freeman became the first player ever to have completed an odd double and to have lead both the National League and the American League in home runs.

All season long Freeman was in the headlines:

June 21, 1903: In a Sunday match in Canton, Ohio, Boston outslugs Cleveland to win 12-7. Buck Freeman is 5-for-6, including the cycle, with six RBIs, while Nap Lajoie is 3-for-5 for Cleveland.

August 20, 1903: At Chicago, Boston's Buck Freeman is the first to hit a ball over the RF score board, but the (Boston) Pilgrims lose to the White Sox, 9-5.

The 1903 World Series was the only World Series Freeman ever played in, and after the marvelous preceding season he had, it proved to be lacklustre by his own standards - he hit a reasonable .281 but only knocked in 4 runs and hit no home runs in the eight games.

After Boston's World Series success Buck Freeman's offensive figures took a little bit of a dip. In 1906 he hit .250 with only 1 home run and just 30 RBIs. At the end of the disappointing season Freeman decided to play just one more year. Boston tried to speed that process up by releasing him after only four games in 1907 but Freeman moved on and finished the season with the Minneapolis Millers of the American Association, hitting a fantastic .335 and smacking 18 home runs. Freeman had come back with a bang. He couldn't walk away and he decided to spend a further season with the Millers.

The 1908 season was Freeman's last in professional baseball,he hit a very respectable 10 home runs albeit with an average of .218. Buck Freeman passed away June 25, 1949 in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania at the grand old age of 78.

Freeman retired with a major league career batting average of .293, OBP of .346, a slugging percentage of .462, 82 home runs, and 713 RBIs.

This Top 100 Red Sox of all time profile was written by Cormac Eklof @ ''I didn't know there was baseball in Ireland?!''

100 Greatest Red Sox >> #86 Freddy Parent

Freddy Parent, SS, (1901-1907)

986 g, 1051 h, 129 sb, 519 r, .273 avg, .310 obp, .361 slg

Born on November 25, 1875 in Biddeford, ME, Freddy Parent was 23 years old when he broke into the big leagues on July 14, 1899, with the St. Louis Perfectos (Cardinals). When early baseball history was being made, this 5'5" Maine native was often around. In 1901 at the age of 25, Parent became the shortstop for the Boston Americans (Red Sox).

In the 1903 inaugural World Series, Parent was still the team's starting shortstop. He scored the first run in the deciding 8th game of the 1903 World Series, won the by Boston 3-0 over the Pittsburgh Pirates. Boston won the AL pennant again in 1904, but the NL Champion NY Giants refused to play the World Series, denying Parent a chance at a 2nd championship. Parent played for Boston through 1907, then was traded to Chicago. He finshed up his career with the White Sox from 1908-1911.

In 986 games with the Red Sox, Parent batted 3846 times(24th most), amassed 1051 hits (tied with Jimmy Foxx for 25th best), including 63 triples (11th best). He scored 519 runs and finished with a Red Sox batting average of .273. Nearly 100 years after he played, Parent still ranks 6th among all time Red Sox stolen base leaders with 129 steals. Parent passed away in 1972 at the age of 96. At the time he had been the last surviving member of the first modern World Series.

Player biography written by jecarney

100 Greatest Red Sox >> #87 Ray Collins

Ray Collins, SP, (1909-1915)

199 G, 90 CG, 1336 IP, 84-62, 2.51 ERA

Ray Collins, a native New Englander who was born in Vermont, pitched his entire seven year career in Boston. In his five years as a regular member of the Sox rotation the lefty posted a better than league average ERA and won at least 11 games. In 1910 he was just 13-11, but had a 1.62 ERA in 244.2 IP. His best two years in the win column came in ’13 and ’14 when he combined to win 39 games and tossed 519 innings. His biggest asset was his outstanding control. He allowed just 1.81 BB/9 innings over 1336 IP for his career. Out of all the pitchers who threw at least 450 IP as a member of the Red Sox only Cy Young, Curt Schilling, and Jesse Tannehill were able to better that mark.

Hall of Famer Ty Cobb was quoted on several occasions as saying that Collins was one of, if not the, toughest pitcher he ever faced. He apparently was able to handle all the Tigers pretty well. On September 22nd, 1914 he pitched an entire double header against the Tigers, going the distance in both games, beating them 5-0 and 5-3.

In 1915 the Red Sox, who would go on to win the World Series, had the best crop of young pitchers in baseball. Rube Foster, Ernie Shore, Babe Ruth, Dutch Leonard, Joe Wood, and Carl Mays (all of whom will be appearing later on this list) were so good that the 28 year old Ray Collins, coming off a 20 win season, was relegated to the bullpen. Collins never made an appearance in any of the 5 World Series games in 1915, but it was his second time being on a Boston team that won the Championship. He had a 1.88 ERA in 14.3 IP in the 1912 World Series win over the New York Giants.

Collins struggled in 1915 while coming out of the bullpen and took the failure so hard that he retired after the season stating that he was “discouraged by his failure to show old-time form.” Arm troubles may have also contributed to the early demise of his promising career.

Collins threw 90 shutouts for Boston, 12th most in team history and his 19 shutouts were good enough for 7th best. His 2.51 ERA ranks 6th all-time for the team, 1 point ahead of Pedro Martinez, although Collins was pitching in a different ERA. League average ERA during the years that he was pitching was 2.90, but still Collins finished his career with a very respectable ERA+ of 115.

After retirement he returned home to Vermont to work on his family’s farm and coach his former school’s baseball team at the University of Vermont. He died at the age of 82 in 1970 while still living in his home state.

Brian Martin used to write at Friendly Fenway, but he's a lazy bastard and let the site die.

100 Greatest Red Sox >> #88 Jesse Tannehill

Jesse Tannehill, SP, (1904-1908)

116 G, 886 IP, 62-38, 2.50 ERA, 1.6 BB/9

Jesse Tannehill was born on Tuesday, July 14, 1874, in Dayton, Kentucky. Tannehill was 19 years old when he broke into the big leagues on June 17, 1894. Jesse Tannehill was a deadball-era, left-handed pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds, Pittsburgh Pirates, New York Highlanders, Boston Red Sox/Pilgrims, and the Washington Senators. Tannehill was among the best pitchers of his era and was one of the best-hitting pitchers of all time. In fact, Tannehill was such a good hitter that he was used in the outfield 87 times in his career.

He broke into the National League at the age of 19 with the Cincinnati Reds; however, he struggled in 29 innings and did not reappear in the major leagues until three years later. After a partial season with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1897 he went on in 1898 to set a career high in both innings pitched (326 2/3) and wins (25). Tannehill had several good years with the Pirates until his career year in 1901, where he led the National League in ERA at 2.18. He won 20 or more games six times; his 20-6 record for the Pirates in 1900 gave him the league’s best winning percentage (.769). His 2.18 ERA in 1901 led the NL. In 1902, he again went 20-6 (1.95).

In 1903 Tannehill jumped to the Highlanders (later the Yankees) of the fledgling American League after a salary dispute with tight-fisted Pirates owner Barney Dreyfuss. After the season, he was traded by the Highlanders to the Boston Red Sox/Pilgrims for Tom L. Hughes. He became an important part of the Red Sox championship team of 1904. He pitched a no-hitter against the Chicago White Sox on August 17, 1904 (his brother Lee went 0 for three for Chicago) and continued to be an above average pitcher until 1907. After this, however, Tannehill went into precipitous decline, as he was traded to the Washington Senators for Case Patten.

In his career, Tannehill was used in the outfield 87 times and as a pinch hitter 57 times. With his career winding down he actually played more games in the outfield for the 1909 Senators than he pitched (nine to three). Jesse Tannehill retired from Major League Baseball in 1911, with a career ERA of 2.79 and 197 career wins. He died on September 22, 1956.
Jesse Tannehill retired from Major League Baseball in 1911, with a career ERA of 2.79 and 197 career wins.

Player Biography by Karen

100 Greatest Red Sox >> #94 George Winter

George Winter, SP, (1901-1908)

213 G, 82-97, 141 CG, 2.91 ERA

On the field, the 1901 Red Sox were the blueprints for most of their descendants: potent at the plate (an astounding .293 team average), short on reliable pitching (save for Cy Young), and proficient enough to offer a summer of thrills that ultimately ended in torment. Sound familiar?

But after two straight wins, Boston dropped five in a row and was in fifth place at the start of a long road trip in late May. Despairing of his pitching aside from Young, Coach Collins signed a rookie from Gettysburg College who had hurled for a YMCA team against Boston in spring training. George Winter, nicknamed Sassafras, made his debut in Detroit in June 1901 at the age of 23.

A Gettysburg College teammate of Eddie Plank, Winter was not signed by the Athletics because Connie Mack believed he was too small to pitch in the majors at 133 pounds. Winter joined the Red Sox instead, put on 20 pounds, and won 16 games for them. He finished 16-12 with a 2.08 ERA. Winter would follow this up with a 11-9 record in 1902, where he had an ERA of 2.99.

However, in 1903 he began what many consider the start of the Red Sox rivalry with the Evil Empire. On May 7, 1903, in the first game between the then New York Highlanders aka Yankees in their first year in New York, and the then Boston Americans aka Pilgrims aka Red Sox at Huntington Avenue Grounds the first of many Yankee/Red Sox collisions occurred. New York runner, Dave Fultz, knocked into Boston pitcher, George Winter, prompting a fight and first incident between those two teams. The Red Sox won the game 6-2 then went on to win the very first World Series defeating the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Winter went 9-8 for the 1903 champions but did not appear in the World Series as Boston used only its three 20-game winners Cy Young, Bill Dineen, and Long Tom Hughes. Instead, Winter served as a ticket taker. A Red Sox official had scalped all the reserved-seat tickets in the grandstand which affected the players’ share of the receipts. The players decided to print and sell their own tickets to the games in Boston. Winter and Jake Stahl supervised.

Winter won another 16 games in 1905. In 1908 he was sold to the Tigers. He pitched one inning of the 1908 world series, his last major league appearance. His 8-year career would see him finish at 83-102.

Player biography written by Karen