Thursday, August 27, 2009

Doubles record



Red Sox third baseman Mike Lowell broke a five way tie for most consecutive season with 25 doubles or more by a third baseman. In doing so, he removed some illustrious names from the record books. They included three legendary Hall of Famers, Wade Boggs, George Brett and Brooks Robinson. These third sackers all had nine consecutive season with at least 25 doubles.

The fourth fellow involved in the record, Harland "Darkie" Clift was much more obscure. Mr. Clift toiled for St. Louis Browns and the Washington Senators between 1934 and 1945. Clift was quite a player in his time. He held the single season record for most home runs by a third baseman from 1937 until 1952. He also apparently had a great eye, drawing more than 100 walks for six straight years. An All-Star only once Clift was third in the league in triples in 1934 as a 21-year-old rookie, third in the league in homers for 1938 and second in the league in doubles in 1942. Now, he is on one less page of the record book.

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