A clutch hitter and a clutch fielder, Bobby Doerr could bunt and hit anywhere in the batting order, leading in the rbi column when he was forced to retire....
It was 1960 at the time, I even had to look it up. After all Bobby had long retired, and Ted was playing forever. It never occured to me at the time that he was 42 years old and he was batting .318 with 310 AB in 113 games. Time has a way of fooling you. I didn't even see him swing, the ball park was not packed. This is another advantage to Fenway Park experienced when it is not packed, which was somewhat common years ago. Suddenly there was a CRACK! It rung through my head, I can hear it right now, and sitting in the right field pavillion saw the ball go by me, easily seen against the green background as it travelled horizontally into the outfield and up into the lower right field stands. Well it was just another home run, he hit plenty of those. It never occured to me it would be his last year and I would ever think of it again. When Bobby Doerr went to Oregon my intense daily interest in baseball was over. Ted hit under .300 only once his entire career. His slugging percentage lifetime puts him behind Ruth and in front of Gehrig. One, two, three.
