Robert Pershing Doerr (born
April 7 1918 in
Los Angeles, California) is a former
second baseman and
coach in
Major League Baseball who played his entire fourteen-year career with the
Boston Red Sox from 1937 to 1951. He led
American League (AL) second basemen in
double plays five times, tying a league record, in
putouts and
fielding percentage four times each, and in
assists three times. He held the major league record for career double plays at second base (1,507) until
Nellie Fox surpassed his mark in , and his career fielding percentage (.980) was a major league record until
Red Schoendienst passed him in ; Fox broke his AL mark in . Doerr also ended his career ranking fifth in career games (1,852), putouts (4,928) and
total chances (10,852) at second base, and sixth in assists (5,710). He set Red Sox records for career games (1,865),
at bats (7,093),
hits (2,042),
doubles (381),
total bases (3,270) and
runs batted in, all of which were later broken by his longtime teammate
Ted Williams. His 223
home runs were then the third most by a major league second baseman, with his 1,247 RBI ranking fifth.
Major league playing career
Doerr was born the son of Harold Doerr, a telephone company supervisor, and his wife, the former Frances Herrnberger; his middle name was a tribute to General
John J. Pershing, then the commander of U.S. military forces in
World War I. He graduated from
Fremont High School in 1935, after having already begun his professional career with the
Hollywood Stars of the
Pacific Coast League in 1934. Doerr broke into the majors in at the age of 19 and went 3 for 5 in his first game. In he became a regular in a powerful Red Sox lineup that included
Jimmie Foxx and
Joe Cronin. Early in his career Doerr was often called upon to
bunt and was so proficient at it that he led the league with 22 in 1938. In , Ted Williams' rookie season with the Sox, Doerr began a string of 12 consecutive seasons with 10 or more home runs and 73 or more runs batted in; in 1940 the Red Sox became the 12th team in major league history to have four players with 100 RBI, with Foxx, Williams, Cronin and Doerr each collecting at least 105.
In 1944 Doerr led the league in
slugging percentage. The same year, his .325
batting average was good enough to allow him to finish second in the league, two percentage points behind
Lou Boudreau of the
Cleveland Indians. He was named the AL's
Most Valuable Player by
The Sporting News, although he finished only seventh in voting for the
AL MVP Award, being named on only 13 of 24 ballots and receiving nothing higher than a third-place vote.
Doerr missed the 1945 season while serving in the
Army during
World War II, being stationed at
Camp Roberts, California.
Doerr was an offensive force for the Red Sox in as they won their first pennant since 1918, driving in 116 runs despite a .271 average, and finished third in the MVP vote (won by Williams). He hit .409 in the
1946 World Series loss to the
St. Louis Cardinals, with a home run and three runs batted in. Williams referred to Doerr as "the silent captain of the Red Sox."
Doerr
hit for the cycle twice in his career, on May 17, 1944 in a 12-8 loss to the
St. Louis Browns in the second game of a doubleheader, and again on May 13, 1947 in a 19-6 win over the
Chicago White Sox. In 1950 he led the league in
triples with 11; on
June 8 of that year, he hit
three home runs in a 29-4 romp over the Browns.
Regarded as one of the top defensive second basemen of his era, with observers divided between him and
Joe Gordon of the rival
New York Yankees, Doerr set an American League record in by handling 414 chances in a row over 73 games without an
error.
Doerr batted over .300 three times, with six seasons of at least 100 runs batted in. Never playing a game at a position other than second base, he retired at age 33 in September due to a back injury, having 8,028 plate appearances, 1,094
runs, 89 triples, 809
walks, 1,349
singles, 1,184
runs created, 693
extra base hits, 2,862 times on base, 115
sacrifice hits and nine
All-Star Game selections. He had enjoyed tremendous success at
Fenway Park, hitting .315 there with 145 home runs, compared to a .261 average and 78 HRs on the road.
Later achievements and honors
Doerr became a
scout for the Red Sox from 1957 to 1966, then was the team's first base
coach from 1967 to 1969, including the
1967 World Series loss to the Cardinals, Boston's first pennant since 1946. As Boston's unofficial batting instructor during
1967, Doerr worked with
Carl Yastrzemski to convert the seven-year veteran from an opposite-field
"doubles" hitter who had never before hit more than 20 homers in a season to a pull-hitting slugger who belted 44 home runs and won the
Triple Crown and AL Most Valuable Player award that season. Doerr resigned from the Red Sox when
Dick Williams was fired as
manager in September 1969, but later became the hitting coach for the expansion
Toronto Blue Jays from 1977 to 1981.
Doerr was inducted into the
Baseball Hall of Fame in
1986. He has lived in Oregon since the late 1930s, residing in the vicinity of
Agness for much of his career before relocating to
Junction City in the 1950s. His jersey number 1 was retired by the Red Sox on May 21, 1988. Since then, Doerr has lived a relatively quiet lifestyle at his Junction City home. He makes annual trips to the Hall of Fame induction at
Cooperstown, New York, and when home, regularly fishes large game fish. Doerr married Monica Terpin on
October 24 1938, and they had one son; the union lasted 65 years until she died at age 88 on
December 17 2003 after suffering a number of
strokes. He has carried on his quiet life since then.
On July 29, 2007, the Baseball Hall of Fame honored Doerr after the induction of
Cal Ripken, Jr. and
Tony Gwynn into the Hall. On August 2, 2007, the Red Sox held "Bobby Doerr Day" at Fenway Park where he rode along the warning track in a car, threw out the
first pitch, and gave a speech.
Upon the death of former New York Yankee
Phil Rizzuto in August 2007, Doerr became the
oldest living player in the Baseball Hall of Fame, although
Lee MacPhail, a member for his contributions as an administrator, is older.
Awards
- Named AL Player of the Year by The Sporting News (1944)
- Named second baseman on The Sporting News Major League All-Star Team (1944 and 1946)
- Had his number retired by Boston Redsox on May 21, 1988.
See also
