Coming in at #39 on our list of 100 Greatest Red Sox is third baseman Frank Malzone.

Frank Malzone served in the army in 1952 and 1953 so he broke into the big leagues a little bit late. After his time in the service he spent a few years in the minor leagues and didn’t get a fulltime job in the majors until 1957 when he was already 27 years old. His late start didn’t stop him from making an immediate impact in baseball by having his best season in his rookie year. In ’57 he hit .292 and established a career high with 103 RBI while coming in 2nd in the Rookie of the Year voting, 7th in the MVP voting, won his first of 3 consecutive Gold Gloves, and made his first of six All-Star teams. That year he also became the first major league player to lead the league at his position in putouts, assists, games played, double plays, and fielding percentage in the same year. He also led the league with 25 errors, but a player that has the range to get to a lot of balls is going to misplay a few of them.

Continue reading Frank Malzone’s biography and the full Top 100 list at http://top100redsox.blogspot.com.

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