---

Bobby Doerr was one of the finest second basemen of his era. Spending his entire career with the Boston Red Sox, he led the league in fielding percentage four times. In 1948 he set a since-broken record for men at his position by handling 414 consecutive chances without an error.

His production on offense was rare for middle infielders of his day. In his 14-year career he had 8 seasons with 90 or more RBI, six times topping the 100-RBI mark. A model of consistency, Doerr batted .289 for his career and hit under .270 just once after his rookie season.

Though he missed 1945 because of World War II, Doerr made the all star team every year but two from 1941 until he retired in 1951.

If his military time affected his play, he didn’t show it. Upon his return to baseball in 1946, Doerr helped lead the Red Sox to their first World Series since 1918. Once there, he flourished on baseball’s biggest stage, hitting .409, with a double and a homer in the seven-game loss to the Cardinals.

When he retired in 1951, only two second baseman in MLB history had more home runs – Cooperstown men Rogers Hornsby and Joe Gordon. Doerr set Red Sox records for career games (1,865), at bats (7,093), hits (2,042), doubles (381), total bases (3,270) and runs batted in (1,247). Ted Williams later surpassed Doerr in each category.

Later Doerr scouted and coached at the minor and major league levels for the Red Sox. His final job in baseball was with the expansion Toronto Blue Jays as hitting coach from 1977-1981. Doerr was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1986. Two years later, the Red Sox retired Doerr’s uniform #1 in 1988.

Before he passed away at 99 years old in 2017 he was both the oldest former player and the last living major leaguer from the 1930s. Among all members of the Baseball Hall of Fame, Doerr lived the longest.

In the collection is this government postcard signed by Doerr during spring training in 1949.

---

Shown here is the back of the card signed by Bobby Doerr. Government postcards help authenticate signatures because the postmark defines the time and place it was signed.

The Red Sox’ spring training home for the entirety of Doerr’s career was Sarasota, Florida. With a postmark date of March 7, 1949 from the city, the medium of the signature provides provenance and increases the likelihood of the autograph’s authenticity.

The ’49 season was a successful one for Doerr. He knocked in 109 runs while slashing .309/.393/.497. For his efforts the second baseman received votes in MVP balloting.

Doerr lived to be 99 years old. Though his signature is by no means rare, examples from his playing days are hard to come by.

---

After completing his playing career in 1951 Bobby Doerr tried his hand at cattle ranching before returning to the game as a scout for the Red Sox in 1957. He stayed with them until 1969 serving as Boston’s hitting coach then first base coach.

He left the game for a while before Toronto came calling in 1977. With the expansion Blue Jays, Doerr served as hitting coach from ’77-’81, then scouted for them through the ’83 season.

In the collection is this letter from June 13, 1965 in which Doerr writes to Yankee manager Ralph Houk to accept an invitation to the Old Timer’s Game. Doerr writes that he’ll be happy to play in the June 23rd exhibition and that he’ll, “probably be in the east at that time scouting our farm clubs.”

---

Born in the last year of World War I, Bobby Doerr enjoyed a 14-year big league career. The second baseman amassed 2,042 hits, 1,094 runs, 1,247 RBI and a career WAR of 51.6.

Despite his stellar career, the Hall of Fame made him wait until 1986 for induction.

Four months before he was honored, Doerr wrote this note to a collector, “Thanks for your letter. Appreciate hearing from you. It was a nice thrill learning I was voted into the Hall of Fame. Tops off everything nice that has happened to me in baseball.”

Doerr’s signature appears at the bottom of the correspondence dated three days before his 68th birthday.

---

The Veterans Committee selected Bobby Doerr and two-batting batting champion, catcher Ernie Lombardi to receive baseball’s highest honor.

The same year the baseball writers made Giants great Willie McCovey their 23rd first-ballot selection. Together the three men were inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame on August 3, 1986.

Shown here is an invitation to the ceremony. Doerr’s signature appears at the bottom.

---

Bobby Doerr played all 14 of his big league seasons with the Boston Red Sox. When he retired in 1951 Doerr’s 2,042 career hits were the most in franchise history.

Since then six men have passed Doerr’s mark; five of them found their way to Cooperstown. Today Carl Yastrzemski (3,419) holds the top spot, more than 750 hits ahead of #2 man Ted Williams, who first broke Doerr’s record. Coming in at third place on the Red Sox list is Jim Rice (2,452), followed by Dwight Evans (2,373), Wade Boggs (2,098), and David Ortiz (2,079).

Shown here is the lineup card penned by Red Sox manager Joe Morgan. Boggs is listed as the third hitter in the Bosox order for the July 18, 1992 contest.

In the top of the first inning Billy Hatcher laced a double down the first base line. After Phil Plantier grounded out to the right side to advance Hatcher to third, Boggs came up to bat.

On Scott Erickson’s 0-1 pitch Boggs dumped a short fly ball into left field to score what proved to be the game’s only run. The single was Boggs’ 2,042nd career hit as a Red Sox player to put him tied with Doerr on the all-time list.

Boston pitcher Roger Clemens went the distance to record his 33rd career shutout. He twirled five more scoreless complete games before leaving the Red Sox in 1996. Clemens’ 38 career shutouts for Boston puts ties him with Cy Young for the most in Red Sox franchise history.