Hall of Famer and Red Sox legend Bobbby Doerr died Monday at the age of 99 in Junction City, Oregon, the team announced Tuesday. Doerr had been the oldest living major-leaguer and the only Hall of Famer to live until the age of 99.
"Bobby Doerr was part of an era of baseball giants and still stood out as one himself," Red Sox principal owner John Henry said in a statement. "And even with his Hall of Fame achievements at second base, his character and personality outshined it all. He will be missed."
Doerr spent parts of 14 seasons in the majors, all with Boston. Over that span, he batted .288/.362/.461 with 223 home runs, 2,042 hits and 1,247 RBI. Doerr also logged nine All-Star appearances and played 1,852 games at second base. He lost his age-27 season while serving in the military during World War II. SABR's bio of Doerr describes his time in the Army:
He had made his home in Oregon and so reported for induction in the United States Army in Portland. He was first assigned to Fort Lewis and a week later reported for infantry duty at Camp Roberts. After completing the months of training, word began to circulate within his outfit that they were being prepared to ship out to Ford Ord, and then overseas for the invasion of Japan. President Truman brought the whole thing to a halt by dropping two atomic bombs on Japan.
In 1986, Doerr was elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame by the Veterans' Committee, and in 1988 the Red Sox retired his No. 1.
As the club's release notes, Doerr's longtime teammate Ted Williams once said of him, "We never had a captain, but he was the silent captain of the team."
