Tris Speaker (1907-1915)
AL MVP 1912
1327 hits, 267 sb, .337 (3rd best in Sox history) career batting average
1937 Hall of Fame inductee
The best true center fielder the Red Sox have ever employed. Speaker was best known for his stellar defense but has the third highest batting average in Sox history. He had 207 outfield assists in his nine year career with Boston. Most impressive is the fact that in 1937 Speaker was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame as a member of only its second class ever. Still not convinced he was that good? In the 1937 balloting he finished ahead of Cy Young! Yeah, the same guy that the award is named after.
Batting the left handed hitting Speaker second will give him the 4-3 hold to hit through with Boggs on base. Speaker's on base percentage was over .420 for his career with the Sox.
Tempted to put one of my all time favorite BoSox players in this position but Fred Lynn didn't have the numbers or career to match up with Speaker's.
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