MLB: Top 30 leadoff hitters of all-time
Trivia Question: Who has led off more games for the Boston Red Sox than anyone else in franchise history?
Answer: Dom DiMaggio, who spent 1,053 games atop the lineup card from 1940 to 1953.
Better known today (and then) as Joe’s brother, DiMaggio compiled a .298/.383/.419 slash in 11 seasons in the big leagues and made the American League All-Star team in seven of those years. He had a career mark of .298/.383/.419 with 1,680 hits, 308 doubles and scored 1,046 runs.
Often on base for the legendary Ted Williams, DiMaggio scored more than 110 runs six times. The right-handed hitting outfielder led all of Major League Baseball with a career-high 131 runs in 1950 and led the American League in runs with 113 the following year.
In the 1940s and early 1950s, stolen bases were not a key part of a leadoff hitter’s repertoire and DiMaggio led the American League with just 15 in 1950. He stole an even 100 bases in his career. Still, if not for three years lost to military service from 1943-45, and an abrupt retirement after three games in 1953, DiMaggio might have gone down as one of the top ten leadoff hitters in Major League history.
Next: Jimmy Rollins