In the last edition of the Ladder Challenge it was Willie McGinest, 3-time Super Bowl champion with the Patriots, easily defeating Curt Schilling, 2-time World Series champion with the Red Sox, with 80% of the vote to keep his spot at #60 on the RBSF Ladder. This week a pair of Red Sox legends battle as Joe Cronin (#59) attempts to knock off Harry Hooper (#57) and move up a pair of rungs in the process. While Cronin was a 5-time All Star in Boston and the franchise's all-time leader in managerial wins, my vote this week goes to the only man to play in 4 World Series as member of the victorious Boston Red Sox, Harry Hooper. So who has your support in this week's battle? (and remember, the most votes in the comments section is the tie-breaker, so be sure to share your thoughts!)
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HARRY HOOPER
Ranked : 57
Started: 57
Challenge Record: 0-0-0
Beat: Nobody
Lost: Nobody
Tied: Nobody
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*Played first 12 seasons (1909-1920) with Red Sox.
*Helped Red Sox win 4 World Series titles (1912, 1915, 1916, 1918).
*Only player in franchise history to play in the World Series for 4 championship teams.
*In 1915 he became the first player to hit 2 home runs in a World Series game.
*Red Sox statistics: .272 BA, .362 OBP, .367 SLG, .729 OPS, 1647 Games, 1707 Hits, 988 Runs, 246 Doubles, 130 Triples, 30 Home Runs, 497 RBI
*Franchise all-time leader in both Triples (130) and Stolen Bases (300).
*Also among franchise all-time leaders in: Bases on Balls (5th), Games (6th), At Bats (6th), Hits (7th), Runs (8th) and Total Bases (10th).
*From 1910-1915 he teamed with Tris Speaker and Duffy Lewis to form one of the greatest outfields in major league history. They were known as both the "Golden OUtfield" and the "Million Dollar Outfield".
*His intentional juggling of fly balls while he ran into the infield forced them to change rules regarding tagging up.
*In 1913 he became the 1st player to lead off both halves of a double-header with a home run (not matched for 80 years).
*In 1919 he became the 8th (and currently 1 of 16) team captains in franchise history
*Member of Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame.
JOE CRONIN
Ranked : 59
Started: 49
Challenge Record: 0-2-0
Beat: Nobody
Lost: Tedy Bruschi, Adam Vinatieri
Tied: Nobody
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*Played final 11 seasons (1935-45) with Red Sox.
*Member of 5 A.L. All Star teams while with Boston.
*Red Sox statistics: .300 BA, .394 OBP, .484 SLG, .878 OPS, 1134 Games, 1168 Hits, 645 Runs, 270 Doubles, 44 Triples, 119 Home Runs, 737 RBI
*Among franchise all-time leaders in: On-Base % (10th), OPS (10th), Doubles (10th) and RBI (10th).
*Led league in Doubles in 1938 with 51.
*Red Sox manager for 13 seasons (1935-47).
*Career record of 1071-916 as Sox manager.
*Manager of Red Sox 1946 A.L. Championship team.
*All-time Red Sox leader for managers in: Games (2007), Wins (1071), Losses (916) and Games over .500 (155).
*Member of Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame.
*The Red Sox have retired #4 in his honor.
If both of these players had played their entire careers in Boston it would be a much more interesting argument in my mind...but when a 4-time World Champion who is likely the greatest leadoff man in franchise history (Hooper) is up against a a great player who had already played his best years before coming to Boston (Cronin) I have to give the nod to Harry Hooper.
On a sidenote, it's a shame that the Sox haven't figured out some way of paying tribute at Fenway to the franchise's greats who played before there were uniform numbers that could be retired (i.e. Hooper, Speaker, Cy Young, etc).
Also, for the record, both are members of the Baseball Hall of Fame, but I didn't include that on their credentials here since this is a Boston-only related challenge and their HOF credentials (especially Cronin) were based in large part based on total stats that included years playing in other cities.
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