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5 Greatest Boston Red Sox Hitters of All Time

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Eric W. Bolin | Last updated Mar 11, 2026 7:25 AM ET

For fans of a certain generation, the Boston Red Sox have always been one of the best teams in Major League Baseball. The team has won three World Series championships in the last 22 years and has made the postseason in 11 of the last 23. Only two teams in the entire sport have played in the playoffs more often.

In the 85 years before 2003, the Red Sox made the playoffs a grand total of eight times with zero titles. Then, before that, from 1903 to 1918, Boston won five World Series.

In other words, what a roller coaster. And when it comes to picking the best players from those teams, with 125 years to pick from, narrowing down to a top five is a tall order.

With apologies to Dwight Evans and Jim Rice, whose 19 and 16 seasons of high-quality output gave them a higher place in the record book than some here, and Tris Speaker, who was maybe the best player in baseball for four of his six seasons in Boston, these are Athlon’s best five hitters in franchise history.

Honorable Mention: Dustin Pedroia, Second Base

Had injuries not sapped Pedroia of most of his final three seasons in baseball, he’d likely have cracked the top five. But a devastating knee injury in 2017 - one that still has Red Sox fans fuming at Manny Machado - cut that season short and he played in just nine games over the next two years, ultimately retiring in 2021.

From 2007 to 2013, though, Pedroia was the best second baseman in the American League and maybe baseball. He won AL Rookie of the Year in 2007 and Most Valuable Player the very next season, making the All-Star Game both times. Pedroia would make two more ASGs and finish in the top 10 in MVP voting twice more, as well.

5. Bobby Doerr, Second Base

It was also a bit easier to leave Pedroia off because Boston already had a second baseman in the top five. Only five second basemen in the Hall of Fame have higher slugging percentages than Doerr registered when he played from 1937 to 1951.

He played his whole career in Boston, making the Show when he was 19. Doerr made seven straight All-Star Games from 1941 to 1948, missing the 1945 season because of military service. And while he never finished higher than third for MVP and only finished in the top 10 twice, he picked up votes for the award eight times

Doerr teamed with Johnny Pesky, Dom DiMaggio and the No. 1 player on this list to help the Red Sox to their first World Series appearance since 1918 when Boston took the St. Louis Cardinals to seven games in 1946.

4. David Ortiz, Designed Hitter

Boston Red Sox designated hitter David Ortiz salutes the fans during the 2016 ALDS at Fenway Park.Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports via Imagn Images

If this were a list of the greatest all-around players in Boston history, the man called "Big Papi" wouldn’t crack it. As it stands, he is the best pure DH in the history of baseball.

Ortiz fumbled around Minnesota for six seasons from 1997 to 2002, never cracking a WAR higher than 1.3. Boston snapped him up for the 2003 season for just $1.25 million and he immediately finished fifth in MVP voting after registering a 144 OPS-plus.

Things just got better. Ortiz made the first of 10 All-Star Games in 2004 as Boston won the World Series that season, snapping an 85-year stretch without a title. And while Ortiz never won an MVP, he finished in the top five four times and went out on top, individually, leading all of baseball in doubles and the AL in RBIs in 2016, his age-40, and final season.

3. Wade Boggs, Third Base

Boggs hit double-digit home runs in two of his 18 Major League seasons. His career total of 118 is 423 less than Ortiz. "Big Papi" played two more seasons than Boggs, and yet the Red Sox’s most legendary third baseman ranks ahead.

Because when you can hit the baseball just about any time you want to, you’re going to crack a top five.

Only seven players in MLB history have won more batting titles than Boggs’ five. He led the AL six times. He nearly did it five times in a row, but his .325 mark in 1984 finished fourth. Around it? How about .361, .368, .357, .363 and .366. And if you’re worried about slugging, don’t be. Boggs rocked 40-or-more doubles eight times, leading to a career slugging percentage of .443. Not shabby for those 118 homers.

Oh, and for good measure, how about a .415 on-base percentage with two stints leading MLB in walks.

2. Carl Yastrzemski, Outfield

Boston Red Sox outfielder Carl Yastrzemski waits on deck during a 1967 game.Malcolm Emmons-USA TODAY Sports via Imagn Images

Outside of the early 1930s, the first handful of years of the Yastrzemski era in Boston remain some of the darkest in franchise history. That wasn’t on "Yaz," who made the All-Star Game three times and led the league in batting average once, on-base percentage twice, and doubles thrice from 1961 to 1966, even as the Red Sox never managed to finish better than sixth in the 10-team AL East.

Both he and the team turned the corner in 1967 as the Red Sox made the World Series for the first time since ‘46 and Yastrzemski won MVP, putting up a 12.5 WAR with 112 runs, 189 hits, 44 home runs, 121 RBIs, and slashing .326/.418/.622.

Yastrzemski would ultimately make 18 All-Star Games, win seven Gold Gloves, three batting titles, the MVP, an ASG MVP and be elected to the Hall of Fame in 1989.

1. Ted Williams, Outfield

Was there ever any question? Good luck finding a list that doesn’t include Williams as one of the top five hitters in baseball history, not just Red Sox history.

The resume is nearly unmatched: 19 ASGs, six batting crowns, five Major League Player of the Year Awards, two triple crowns, two MVPs, a Hall of Fame, and a partridge in a pear tree. His career totals of 521 RBIs, 525 doubles, 1,839 RBIs, and 2,654 hits would all be even higher had Williams - 1. Not missed three years for military service from 1943 to 1945, and 2. Not been limited to fewer than 420 plate appearances thanks to injuries in six of his 19 seasons.

Just imagine the totals then.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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