Pete Runnels
| Pete Runnels | ||
|---|---|---|
Runs batted in | 630 | |
| Teams | ||
As player
As manager | ||
| Career highlights and awards | ||
| ||
James Edward "Pete" Runnels (January 28, 1928 – May 20, 1991) was an American professional
Major League playing and coaching career
Born in Lufkin, Texas, the 6 ft (1.8 m), 170 lb (77 kg) Runnels batted left-handed and threw right-handed. A master at handling the bat, he was a notorious singles hitter who had one of the best eyes in the game, compiling an outstanding 1.35 walk-to-strikeout ratio (844-to-627). Altogether, he batted over .300 six times, once with the Senators, five with the Red Sox. Despite winning the batting title in 1960, he drove in just 35 runs, a record low for a batting title winner.
Solid and versatile with the glove, Runnels started as a shortstop with the Senators, but ultimately played 644 games at first base, 642 at second, 463 at shortstop, and 49 at third. Twice he led the American League in fielding percentage, at second base in 1960 (.986), and at first base in 1961 (.995). He was not a good base stealer: in 1952 he set the record for most attempted steals with no successes, at 10. In his career he stole 37 bases and was caught 51 times.
In five seasons with Boston, Runnels never hit less than .314 (
Runnels was a career .291 hitter (1854-for-6373) with 49 home runs, 630 RBI, 876 runs, 282 doubles, 64 triples, 37 stolen bases, and a .375 on-base percentage in 1799 games. He was selected an All-Star in 1959, 1960 and 1962. He also coached for the Red Sox in 1965–1966, serving as an interim manager for the last 16 games of the 1966 season. Under Runnels, the Sox played .500 baseball and escaped last place by one-half game. However, he was replaced by Dick Williams for the 1967 season.
Managerial record
| Team | Year | Regular season | Postseason | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Games | Won | Lost | Win % | Finish | Won | Lost | Win % | Result | ||
| BOS | 1966 | 16 | 8 | 8 | .500 | 9th in AL | – | – | – | – |
| Total | 16 | 8 | 8 | .500 | 0 | 0 | – | |||
Post-baseball life
After leaving Major League Baseball, Runnels returned to his native state and opened a sporting goods store in Pasadena, Texas He helped found and operate a co-ed camp, Camp Champions in Marble Falls, Texas, which is still in existence.[4]
After suffering a stroke while golfing on May 17, 1991, Pete Runnels died three days later at Bayshore Hospital in Pasadena, Texas. He was buried at Forest Park East Cemetery in Houston.[5]
Honors
Runnels was inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame in 1982.[6] He was also inducted into the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame in November 2004.[1]
See also
- List of Major League Baseball batting champions
- List of Major League Baseball single-game hits leaders
References
- ^ a b "Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame". mlb.com. Retrieved 1 February 2020.
- ^ The Baseball Page.com, "Pete Runnels". http://www.thebaseballpage.com/players/runnepe01/bio . Retrieved September 2, 2013.
- ^ Baseball-Reference.com, "Pete Runnels". https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/runnepe01.shtml . Retrieved September 2, 2013.
- ^ The Baseball Page.com, ibid.
- ^ Baseball Page.com, ibid; Associated Press, "Pete Runnels" (obituary), The New York Times, May 21, 1991.
- ^ Texas Sports Hall of Fame, "Inductees: Pete Runnels". http://tshof.org/inductees/?staff_id=245 . Retrieved September 2, 2013.
External links
- Career statistics and player information from Baseball Reference, or Baseball Reference (Minors)
- Pete Runnels managerial career statistics at Baseball-Reference.com
- Pete Runnels at Baseball Biography
- Baseball Page
- Camp Champions