50. Pete Runnels

When Pete Runnels arrived in Boston in 1958, he was a versatile infielder who had struggled to find his offensive ceiling in the cavernous Griffith Stadium in Washington. He brought a "swing at everything" mentality to the Fens, but his arrival coincided with a life-changing apprenticeship. Under the tutelage of Ted Williams, Runnels abandoned his pull-heavy approach and began treating the Green Monster like a magnet. He didn't just find his plate discipline; he found a home for his line drives.

His five-year run in Boston was a clinic in pure hitting. Runnels didn't just flirt with the .300 mark—he lived well above it, never batting below .314 during his entire Red Sox tenure. He became a fixture at the top of the American League leaderboard, finishing in the top three for batting average in four of his five seasons. The climax of this evolution came in 1960 and 1962, when he captured two American League Batting Titles. His 1960 crown was a testament to his grit; playing through the agonizing pain of stomach ulcers, he refused to sit out the stretch run, famously telling his manager he wanted to "win this thing the right way."

Beyond the bat, Runnels provided the Red Sox with a defensive safety net. He was the rare player who could lead the league in fielding percentage at second base one year (1960) and at first base the next (1961). He was the steady hand on a team that was often searching for its identity in the post-Williams era.

The final chapter arrived after the 1962 season when, at Runnels' own request to be closer to his Texas roots, the Red Sox traded their reigning batting champion to the expansion Houston Colt .45s. It was a rare "mercy trade" by owner Tom Yawkey, and it proved to be a perfectly timed exit for Boston. Once away from the friendly confines of Fenway, Runnels’ production plummeted, and he was out of the game within two years. He left Boston with a sterling .320 average and a legacy of professional excellence that was finally immortalized in the Red Sox Hall of Fame in 2004. He arrived as a raw talent and left as a two-time champion of the box score.