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 >> #89 Butch Hobson

Butch Hobson, 3B, #4 (1975-1980)

623 G, 561 H, 94 HR, 358 RBI, 10 SB, .252 AVG, .296 OBP, .439 SLG

Clell Lavern “Butch” Hobson (born August 17, 1951 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama) is a former third baseman and manager in Major League Baseball. Hobson played for the Boston Red Sox (1975-80), California Angels (1981) and New York Yankees (1982). He batted and threw right-handed. He was an ‘all-out’ player which caused him many injuries throughout his baseball career. After retiring, he managed the Pawtucket Red Sox and the Boston Red Sox. Currently he is the manager of the Nashua Pride in the independent Atlantic League. He won the International League Manager of the Year award in 1991.

Hobson was a star football player for the University of Alabama team. Selected by the Red Sox in the 1973 amateur draft, he made his debut on Septermber 7, 1975. However, it wasn’t until June 1976, that he played his inaugural game at Fenway Park—a contest that saw him slug a double and an inside-the-park homer. Over the next four seasons, Hobson’s all-out style of play made him a fan favorite. His grit also produced some impressive results: in 1977 he set team season records for a third baseman with 30 home runs and 112 RBI. He finished 23rd in voting for the 1977 American League MVP for leading League in Strikeouts (162) and having .265 Batting Average (157 for 593), 77 Runs, 33 Doubles, 5 Triples, 30 Home Runs, 112 RBI, 5 Stolen Bases, 27 Walks, .300 On base percentage, .489 Slugging Percentage, 290 Total Bases, 10 Sacrifice Hits 3 Sacrifice Flies and 4 Intentional Walks in 159 Games.

In 1978, Hobson hit 17 home runs with 80 RBI. However, his 43 errors in 1978 were the most by any AL fielder, and his .899 fielding average was the first below .900 by a regular in 62 years. After a solid start in 1978, Hobson was sidelined by hamstring and elbow injuries. He rebounded to belt 28 homers and drive in 93 runs in 1979, but Hobson says his arm never felt the same after the previous season’s woes. Following a sub-par 1980, he was dealt to the California Angels, along with Rick Burleson, in the same trade that brought Carney Lansford and Mark Clear to Boston. In an eight-year career with the Red Sox, Hobson hit a .248 batting average with 98 home runs and 397 RBI in 738 games.

After the trade to California in 1981, the hard-nosed slugger suffered a shoulder separation. Just prior to the 1982 season, Hobson was traded to the Yankees where he played just 30 games before being demoted. The veteran infielder would play three more years for the Yankees Triple-A club in Columbus before retiring as a player.

Soon after his playing days, Hobson started coaching in the Red Sox organization where he swiftly rose through the ranks to become the club’s big league manager in 1992. Unfortunately, the Bosox teams under his reign were hampered by injuries and failed to qualify for the post-season, and he was let go after the 1994 season. As a manager, he posted a 207-232 record for the Red Sox from 1992-94.

In 1996, he landed a job managing the Phillies Triple-A squad in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. It was during his tenure there that one of his darkest moments in baseball occurred when he was arrested on a cocaine possession charge. The incident marked a turning point in his life. Rehired by the Red Sox to manage their single-A team in Sarasota in 1998, Hobson longed to be closer to his family in Vermont. In 1999, he jumped at the opportunity to manage the Atlantic League’s Nashua Pride.

Player biography by Karen

Test Post and Posting Thougths

I'll delete this once we get this up and running, but I needed to test out the posts and lay out a few things for post guidelines.

All posts should have a similar look and feel....I'll work on that and post a sample post with a dummy player, etc.

We'll use the labels as follows: Years played for the Red Sox (1901, 1902, 1903, etc) and positions played (please use 1B, 2B, 3B, SS, C, RF, LF, CF, SP, RP, CL (cl is special for those designated as "closer"), Manager, Owner, Front Office, Team.

I'll be responsible for editing the posts for formatting and labels etc after they go live to ensure consistency.

Digital Derek of SawxBlog is working on a header graphic and I'll be playing aroudn with formating.

Thanks,
Tim