“FENWAY'S BEST PLAYERS”


 
1975-1980
 manager 1992-1994
#7   BUTCH HOBSON

One player who personified toughness in a Boston Red Sox uniform was Butch Hobson. His legacy is that of a power-hitting third baseman who brought a football mentality to the diamond in the way he played through pain and gave every ounce of effort on the field that his body could muster.

He played baseball and football at the University of Alabama under legendary coach Paul "Bear" Bryant. In the 1972 Orange Bowl Hobson ran the wishbone offense for the Crimson Tide. But entering his senior year, he decided to concentrate solely on baseball.

He was named to the ABCA All-South Region Team and was a First Team All-SEC selection and in 1993 Hobson was named to Alabama's All-Century baseball team in commemoration of the school's 100th anniversary of baseball.

Hobson was selected by the Red Sox in the 1973 amateur draft and was assigned to Winston-Salem. With a good season in 1974, it earned him a promotion to Bristol of the Eastern League. His 15 homers and .265 batting average in 1975 helped secure him a call-up to the Red Sox in September.

After beginning the 1976 season at Triple-A Pawtucket, Hobson made his debut at Fenway Park in June. He played 76 games at third base as the successor to Rico Petrocelli.

The Red Sox offensive juggernaut hit a then-team-record 213 home runs in 1977. It was Hobson's breakout year and also his finest as a major leaguer, as he smashed 30 homers, establishing a Red Sox record for third basemen. He also produced a career-best .265 batting average, with 33 doubles, and 112 RBIs.

Butch was named the BoSox Club "Man of the Year" that season, for his contributions to the success of the team and for his cooperation in community projects.

Old football injuries contributed to a nightmarish 1978 season defensively for him, however. Bone chips floating around in his right elbow made every throw from third base an adventure. His impairment would often cause his arm to lock up, disrupting his throws, and he made 43 errors. In addition to his sore arm, he was hobbled by cartilage damage in both knees and a torn hamstring muscle.

Manager Don Zimmer, accurately characterizing Hobson as a "gamer," refused to pull him out of the lineup. While his defense suffered, he would manage to be a productive hitter, belting 17 homers and driving in 80 runs.

Hobson came back in 1979 to play 142 games at third base. He batted .261 with 28 homers. But shoulder problems in 1980 prompted Zimmer to replace him at third with rookie Glenn Hoffman. He had the only multi-homer game of his career, swatting a pair in a 13-2 win over the Angels in Anaheim in June.

In December he was traded with Rick Burleson to the California Angels. In eight years as a player in the majors, Hobson drove in four runs in a game seven times in his career with the Red Sox.

His playing days over, Hobson became a manager in the Red Sox minor league system, leading the Double-A New Britain Red Sox in 1989 and 1990. He then managed the Pawtucket Red Sox for the 1991 season and posted a 79–64 record to lead his team to a first-place finish in the International League, and was named the International League "Manager of the Year".

At the end of the 1991 season, the Red Sox fired manager Joe Morgan and named Hobson as his replacement. The Sox hoped they would be getting a managerial version of the tough player he had been. But his toughness as a player was not evident in his performance as a manager and this did not bode well during a three-year period in which the Red Sox seriously underachieved.

On August 10th, the 1994 season ended when the players went ahead with their threat to walk off the job. The Sox with a record of 54-61, were in fourth place, and Butch Hobson, the Red Sox's least successful manager since Billy Herman, was fired.