Ugh. Big time softie. Made a living on a stadium annomally...the green monster. Take that wall out of the mix and his avg. drops 15 pts. Awful glove, terrible wheels. Overrated.

Eventually became a fine fielder, and could always hit the ball, including 5 batting titles with Boston, and lots of doubles if not homers. A HOF'er who also played for the Yankees and Tampa Bay at the end. Easily at the very worst a top six all-time 3b.

For several seasons at the peak of his career he was like a machine, a little factory turning out 200 hits a year. Granted, he didn't have much power, but he could put the ball into any hole in any defense, and he was a great table setter. Given his relatively late start (he came up when he was about 25) it was a significant achievement for him to reach 3000 hits. On defense he was above average, if nothing flashy. While he is not in the class of Brett and Schmidt, he is just below them.