Milt Bolling
Milt Bolling | ||
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Runs batted in | 94 | |
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Milton Joseph Bolling (August 9, 1930 – January 19, 2013) was a
In a seven-season career, Bolling was a .241
Early career
At the age of 17, Bolling was signed by the Boston Red Sox as an amateur free agent.[2] He began his professional career in Minor League Baseball for the Class B Piedmont League Roanoke Red Sox. As a shortstop, he was not brought in for his bat, but as a defensive specialist. In the 1948 season, Bolling had 54 hits in 293 at bats to compile a .184 batting average in 85 games. 1949 saw Bolling as Roanoke's starting shortstop for the majority of the season. He had 12 home runs and 28 doubles to go with a .230 batting average in 139 games.[2] His quality play earned him a spot at shortstop on the Piedmont League All-Star Team.[4]
In 1950 Bolling was advanced to the Class A
Boston Red Sox
In September 1952, the struggling Boston Red Sox brought up 11 minor leaguers all at once, including Bolling.[5] On September 10, Bolling made his Major League debut by replacing Johnny Lipon at shortstop for Boston. Bolling walked in his first at bat in the seventh inning against Bill Wight of the Detroit Tigers. In the top of the ninth, Bolling slugged his first major league hit. The Red Sox would go on to lose the game 6 to 2.[6] For the rest of September, Bolling put up typical numbers for a shortstop of the era. He hit .222 with a lone home run on September 16 and three runs batted in for only 36 at bats.[2]
1953 was the first full Major League season for Bolling. He competed with veteran Lipon for the starting role at shortstop
1954 was more of the same for Bolling, except this time he led the American League in errors committed with 33. However, he was fourth with assists at shortstop, and first with his range factor. Milt put down 13 more sacrifice hits, good enough for fourth in the league.[2] Bolling was third in doubles among all AL shortstops with 20.[10] His hitting got off to a slow start and he never truly recovered, batting just .249 with six home runs and 36 RBIs.[2]
On March 23, 1955, Milt had a career-threatening injury when he broke his left elbow in a Spring training game against the St. Louis Cardinals after he had already won the starting role at shortstop for the season.[11] He was expected to return after six weeks,[11] but ended up playing in only six games for the entire season.[2]
By the time Bolling got a clean bill of health, he had lost his starting job to Don Buddin for the 1956 season.[12] Milt was a rarely used pinch hitter until he started seeing some starts at the tail end of the season in August and September. He could only muster a .212 batting average to go with 3 home runs and 8 RBI in just 45 games.[2]
Washington Senators
After playing just one game into the season for the Red Sox off the bench, on April 29, 1957, the Red Sox traded Bolling along with
Detroit Tigers and retirement
On February 25, 1958, the Senators traded Bolling to the
After his playing days, Bolling spent more than 30 years with the Red Sox, first as an executive assistant to owner Tom Yawkey, and later as an area scout based in Alabama.
Personal life and death
Bolling attended Spring Hill College.[18] In late 2012, he underwent open-heart surgery. His health had declined since the surgery. He died on January 19, 2013.[19]
References
- ^ "Milt Bolling – Society for American Baseball Research".
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p "Pitching Splits, Batter Matchups, Daily batting logs". Retrosheet.
- ^ "batting gamelogs". Baseball-Reference.com.
- ISBN 0-7385-1582-5.
- ^ "Red Sox Recall 11 from Minor League Farms". Chicago Tribune. September 7, 1952. p. A3.
- ^ "Tigers Win; Deal 9th Loss to Red Sox". Chicago Tribune. September 11, 1952. p. D2.
- Christian Science Monitor. March 18, 1953. p. 16.
- The Hartford Courant. September 9, 1953. p. 18A.
- ^ "Bosox Clout 19 Hits, Top A's,11 to 6". Los Angeles Times. April 17, 1953. p. C2.
- ^ Historical Stats at MLB.com
- ^ The Hartford Courant. March 24, 1955. p. 19.
- The Milwaukee Journal. United Press International. April 7, 1956. p. 2.
- New York Times. Associated Press. April 30, 1957. p. 50.
- New York Times. February 26, 1958. p. 33.
- ^ "Tigers Obtain Two Players". Los Angeles Times. March 31, 1958. p. C2.
- The Milwaukee Journal. Associated Press. May 26, 1958. p. 2.
- ^ "Tigers Clobber Ford, Knock Off Yanks, 10-1". Los Angeles Times. May 1, 1958. p. C2.
- The Hartford Courant. March 26, 1953. p. 19.
- ^ Inabinett, Mark (January 19, 2013). "Mobile baseball great Milt Bolling dead at age 82". al.com (Alabama Live). Retrieved January 20, 2013.
External links
- Career statistics and player information from MLB, or Baseball Reference, or Fangraphs, or Baseball Reference (Minors)