Robert Pershing Doerr was born April 7, 1918 in Los Angeles, California. While he never attended college, he did go on to become the best second baseman that's ever played for the Boston Red Sox. Bobby was discovered when Eddie Collins took a scouting trip out to the west coast to try and find some talent for the Bosox. There, he found Doerr, who played in the Pacific Coast League for four years before his MLB debut. This trip also nabbed an outfielder named Ted Williams.
Doerr made his MLB debut on April 20, 1937 with the number 9 on his back. He went three for 5 in that game. The next season, he would change his number to the one the Fenway Faithful can see hanging in the Pahk, 1. Doerr would not be known for his power, as he hit 223 home runs in 14 seasons with the Red Sox. He would be known for his defense. Doerr had the ability to turn double plays, and that he did. Doerr, Shortstop Joe Cronin and firstbaseman Jimmie Foxx held down the infield fort with excellent defense.
Bobby Doerr was a career All-Star. He played in every midsummer's classic except for 1949, and his first four years in the majors. In 1944, Doerr lead the major leagues with a .528 slugging percentage, the only time he lead an offensive category in his major league career. Doerr missed the complete 1945 season due to serving his time in Military service. In his first season back from service, the Bosox would do the second greatest thing ever, they made the World Series (the first would be if they could win the darn thing!). Doerr had a homerun and three RBI in a crushing Game 7 defeat by the St. Louis Cardinals.
A month before Bobby's early retirement in 1951, he knocked his 2,000th hit. On August 7, 1951 Bobby announced that he was retiring from the game of baseball due to severe sacroiliac pain, what sounds to my like a bad lower back. After his retirement, Doerr did a little coaching for the Red Stockings. Doerr ranks third on list of all-time percentage of Home Runs hit at home with 65.0%, behind Bill Dickey and Bob Horner. He was last seen as a coach with the Toronto Blue Jays in 1980. Bobby Doerr was elected into Baseball's Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY in 1986. His number, 1, was retired on May 21, 1988, placing him with such company as Joe Cronin (4) and Ted Williams (9), both of whom he played with. In the following years, he would be joined by Carl Yastrzemski (8) and Carlton Fisk (27).
Statistics:
Bats: Right
Throws: Right
Height 5'11"
Weight 175 lbs
Year Tm G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO AVG OBP SLG
1937 BOS 55 147 22 33 5 1 2 14 2 4 18 25 .224 .313 .313
1938 BOS 145 509 70 147 26 7 5 80 5 10 59 39 .289 .363 .397
1939 BOS 127 525 75 167 28 2 12 73 1 10 38 32 .318 .365 .448
1940 BOS 151 595 87 173 37 10 22 105 10 5 57 53 .291 .353 .497
1941 BOS 132 500 74 141 28 4 16 93 1 3 43 43 .282 .339 .450
1942 BOS 144 545 71 158 35 5 15 102 4 4 67 55 .290 .369 .455
1943 BOS 155 604 78 163 32 3 16 75 8 8 62 59 .270 .339 .412
1944 BOS 125 468 95 152 30 10 15 81 5 2 58 31 .325 .399 .528
1946 BOS 151 583 95 158 34 9 18 116 5 6 66 67 .271 .346 .453
1947 BOS 146 561 79 145 23 10 17 95 3 3 59 47 .258 .329 .426
1948 BOS 140 527 94 150 23 6 27 111 3 2 83 49 .285 .386 .505
1949 BOS 139 541 91 167 30 9 18 109 2 2 75 33 .309 .393 .497
1950 BOS 149 586 103 172 29 11 27 120 3 4 67 42 .294 .367 .519
1951 BOS 106 402 60 116 21 2 13 73 2 1 57 33 .289 .378 .448
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO AVG OBP SLG
14 Seasons 1865 7093 1094 2042 381 89 223 1247 54 64 809 608 .288 .362 .461
Hall of Fame index
Larry Doby | Don Drysdale
sources:
www.baseballhalloffame.org/hofers_and_honorees/hofer_bios/doerr_bobby.htm
www.baseball-reference.com/d/doerrbo01.shtml
www.pubdim.net/baseballlibrary/ballplayers/D/Doerr_Bobby.stm
www.thebaseballpage.com/past/pp/doerrbobby/default.htm
www.spine-health.com/topics/cd/sjd/sjd01.html