George Charles Scott Jr. (March 23, 1944 – July 28, 2013), nicknamed "Boomer", was an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

player, coach and

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

. He played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

as a

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

from to , most prominently for the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

where he was a member of the American League pennant winning team and, with the

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. The Brewers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Di ...

where he was the American League

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

and RBI champion. A three-time

All-Star An all-star team is a group of people all having a high level of performance in their field. Originating in sports, it has since drifted into vernacular and has been borrowed heavily by the entertainment industry. Sports "All-star" as a sport ...

player, Scott was one of the most accomplished defensive first basemen of his era, winning eight

Gold Glove Award The Rawlings Gold Glove Award, usually referred to as simply the Gold Glove, is the award given annually to the Major League Baseball (MLB) players judged to have exhibited superior individual Fielding (baseball), fielding performances. It is awar ...

s between 1967 and 1976. During his major league career, he also played for the

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team ...

and the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

. After his Major League career, Scott became a

player-manager A player–coach (also playing coach, captain–coach, or player–manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. Player–coaches may be head coaches or assistant coaches, and they may make chang ...

in the

Mexican League The Mexican Baseball League (, or LMB, ) is a professional baseball league in Mexico. It is the oldest running professional sports league in the country. The league has 20 teams organized in two divisions, North and South. Teams play 114 games ...

and went on to become full-time manager in the

Independent baseball league An independent baseball league is a professional baseball league in the United States or Canada that is not overseen by Major League Baseball or its affiliated Minor League Baseball system (historically referred to as organized baseball). Inde ...

from the 1980s until 2002. He was inducted into the

Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame The Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame was instituted in 1995 to recognize the careers of selected former Boston Red Sox players, coaches and managers, and non-uniformed personnel. A 15-member selection committee of Red Sox broadcasters and executives, ...

in 2006 and the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame the following year. In 2014, he was inducted into the Milwaukee Brewers Wall of Honor.

Early years

Scott was born March 23, 1944, in

Greenville, Mississippi Greenville is the List of municipalities in Mississippi, ninth-most populous city in the U.S. state of Mississippi, and the largest city by population in the Mississippi Delta region. It is the county seat of Washington County, Mississippi, Was ...

, as the youngest of three children. His father, a cotton farm laborer, died when George Jr. was two years old, and young George was picking cotton by age nine. "That's all we knew", he said. "The reason you did that, all of that money was turned over to your parents to make ends meet. Nothing can be worse than getting up at four in the morning waiting for a truck to pick you up to go pick and chop cotton from six or seven in the morning until five or six in the afternoon." Scott played Little League baseball in his spare time but was temporarily ejected from the team for being "too good", having hit two or three home runs per game in one six-game stretch. At Coleman High School in Greenville he excelled in baseball, football and basketball, quarterbacking the football team and leading his football and basketball teams to state championships. Scott chose baseball as a career "to make my living. I got tired of watching my mom struggle ith three jobs I didn't have the mind that I could go to college and see my mother struggle for another four or five years." Major league scout Ed Scott (no relation to George), who had signed

Hank Aaron Henry Louis Aaron (February 5, 1934 – January 22, 2021), nicknamed "Hammer" or "Hammerin' Hank", was an American professional baseball right fielder who played 23 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), from 1954 through 1976. Considered one ...

to his first major league contract, discovered George Scott and signed him as an amateur free agent straight out of high school on May 28, 1962, for $8,000. Eventually promoted to the

' new Pittsfield Red Sox

farm team In sports, a farm team (also referred to as farm system, developmental system, feeder team, or nursery club) is generally a Team sport, team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any s ...

of the Double-A Eastern League in 1965, Scott became the Eastern League triple crown winner that year, leading the league in home runs, RBIs, and batting average.

Career

He became a Red Sox major-league rookie in 1966 as a third baseman, was switched to first base one week into the season, and played all 162 games that season, the last Red Sox rookie to do so. On Opening Day (April 12), he batted fifth against the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles (also known as the O's) are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. As one of the America ...

and went 1-for-4 with an RBI (drawing a walk with the bases loaded) while gaining his first hit with a triple off Moe Drabowsky. He hit his first home run of the year one week later off Joe Sparma of the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...

. He batted .245 with 147 hits, 27 home runs, and 90 RBIs (finishing in the top ten in RBIs, home runs, and total bases) while garnering an All-Star selection and finished third in the voting for Rookie of the Year. His good start was soon hampered by a slump in which he could not adjust quickly enough to deal with change-ups and curve ball pitches. Manager Billy Herman stated he would bench Scott on July 19, but a rainout occurred on that day before a doubleheader was played, each of which featured Scott starting. At any rate, Scott led all of baseball in strikeouts (152) and times grounded into a double play (25). He spent 158 games at first base (with four at third base), and he led the league in putouts, games, and double plays. Scott did fine during his sophomore season, which turned out to be the longest season of his career, as the "Impossible Dream" Red Sox won the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is the younger of two sports leagues, leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western L ...

pennant, led by rookie manager

Dick Williams Richard Hirschfeld Williams (May 7, 1929 – July 7, 2011) was an American left fielder, third baseman, manager (baseball), manager, coach (baseball), coach and front-office consultant in Major League Baseball (MLB). Known especially as a hard-d ...

. He also benched Scott for a few games, concerned about him being overweight (desiring a weight of 215 pounds). Scott played 159 games while batting .303 (he would bat .300 just one other time in his career). He walked over 60 times again, but he reduced his strikeout total to 119 while hitting 19 home runs and having 171 hits. He received votes for the MVP Award (finishing 10th with 12% of the vote) while being awarded the Gold Glove (he led the league in putouts, games, assists, errors, and double plays). His team went to the

1967 World Series The 1967 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1967 season. The 64th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff between the American League (AL) champion Boston Red Sox and the National Leag ...

and played the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Centra ...

in a classic seven game series. Scott hit .231 (6-for-26) while having three walks and six strikeouts and scoring three times, and committed the final out of the Series, striking out against

Bob Gibson Robert Gibson (November 9, 1935October 2, 2020), nicknamed "Gibby" and "Hoot", was an American baseball pitcher in Major League Baseball who played his entire career for the St. Louis Cardinals from 1959 to 1975. Known for his fiercely competi ...

as the Cardinals won Game 7. Scott was a three-time

in the

in 1966, 1975 and 1977, starting the 1966 Mid-Summer Classic and homering in 1977. Scott hit over 20

s six times in his career, tying Reggie Jackson for the American League lead in 1975 with a career-high 36 and pacing the league in

runs batted in A run batted in or runs batted in (RBI) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if th ...

(RBIs) that same season with 109. Known for his glovework at first base, Scott was awarded the

for fielding excellence in the American League during eight seasons (1967–68 and 1971–1976). In a 14-season career, Scott posted a .268

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

with 271 home runs (which he called "taters") and 1,051 RBIs in 2,034

games A game is a Structure, structured type of play (activity), play usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an Educational game, educational tool. Many games are also considered to be Work (human activity), work (such as p ...

. His nickname was Boomer and he called his glove "Black Beauty". Scott was well-known for having a good sense of humor, and wore a necklace which he once identified to a reporter as being composed of "second baseman's teeth". To complement his unique attire, he also was known for wearing a batting helmet while fielding at first base due to an experience he had with a fan throwing hard objects at him once during a road game. He was traded three times during his career. The first was a ten-player deal sending him,

Jim Lonborg James Reynold Lonborg (born April 16, 1942) is an American former professional baseball right-handed starting pitcher, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the Boston Red Sox, Milwaukee Brewers, and Philadelphia Phillies. Though nicknam ...

Ken Brett Kenneth Alven Brett (September 18, 1948 – November 18, 2003) was an American professional baseball pitcher who played in Major League Baseball for the Boston Red Sox, Milwaukee Brewers, Philadelphia Phillies, Pittsburgh Pirates, New York Yank ...

, Billy Conigliaro, Joe Lahoud and Don Pavletich from the Red Sox to the

for Tommy Harper, Marty Pattin, Lew Krausse and minor-league outfielder Pat Skrable on October 10, 1971. While on the Brewers, Scott won five-consecutive Gold Glove awards. In 1975, he was named an all-star and led major league baseball with 36 home-runs and 109 RBI. On December 6, 1976, Scott was traded back to the Red Sox with Bernie Carbo for Boston’s Cecil Cooper. Scott saw his second tenure with the Red Sox end when he was traded to the

for Tom Poquette on June 13, 1979. On August 17, he was released by the team, and he joined the

nine days later. He played 105 games that year while batting .254 with 88 hits, 31 walks, and 61 strikeouts (spent mostly on first base, although he did play 17 games as a designated hitter). He finished in the top five in two categories: double play grounded into (24, 2nd) and errors (10, 4th). After the season, Scott moved to the

, playing for the Leones de Yucatán in 1980, and the Tigres del México in 1981.

Legacy

Scott spent nine of his 14 years with the Red Sox and is Boston's all-time leader at first base with 988 games played, including 944 starts. Scott hit 154 of his 271 career home runs with the Red Sox and is a member of the

, having been inducted in 2006. George Scott's 1968 season was noted by

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

as one of the worst offensive performances ever, especially for a first baseman (he batted a career low .171/.236/.237 in batting average, OBP, and SLG in 124 games in the only season he hit no triples). Tommy John praised Scott's hitting ability in a 1984 interview. "When Scott first came into the league, no one knew how to pitch to him, and they didn't find out for three years."

Later life and death

After he had left the playing field, he served as a manager for various teams, ranging from the

to independent league baseball. He coached for Roxbury Community College (1991-1995), the Saskatoon Riot in 1995 (going 26-45), the Massachusetts Mad Dogs (1996-1999, where he went 181-148), the

Rio Grande Valley WhiteWings The Rio Grande Valley WhiteWings was a professional baseball team based in Harlingen, Texas, in the United States. The WhiteWings was a member of United League Baseball, an independent professional league which is not affiliated with Major Leagu ...

(2001, where he went 40-56), and the Berkshire Black Bears (going 14-31 in the first half and 10-34 in the second half of their first and only season in the Northern League in 2002); ultimately, he had a combined record of 271-314 as a manager. Scott died July 28, 2013, in his hometown of Greenville. Although a cause of death was not announced at the time, Scott had been impaired by diabetes for several years. "In losing George Scott, we have lost one of the most talented, colorful, and popular players in our history," said Red Sox vice president/emeritus and team historian Dick Bresciani. "He had great power and agility, with a large personality and a large physical stature. He could light up a clubhouse with his smile, his laugh, and his humor – and he was the best defensive first baseman I have ever seen. We will miss him, and we send our condolences to his family."

Family

Scott was the father of three sons: Dion, George III, and Brian. Scott's grandson Deion Williams, who played

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball positions, baseball or softball fielding position between second base, second and third base, which is considered to be among the Defensive spectrum, most demanding defensive positions. Historically, the ...

for Redan High School in Georgia, was selected by the

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C. The Nationals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. They play their home games at Na ...

in the 2011 MLB draft. Williams was converted into a pitcher and last pitched professionally for the

Hagerstown Suns The Hagerstown Suns were a Minor League Baseball team based in Hagerstown, Maryland. They were a member of the South Atlantic League and, from 2007 through 2020, were the Class A (baseball), Class A affiliate of the Washington Nationals. They pl ...

of the

South Atlantic League The South Atlantic League, often informally called the Sally League, is a Minor League Baseball league with teams predominantly in states along the Atlantic coast of the United States from New York to Georgia. A Class A league for most of its h ...

in 2015. On June 2, 2023, George III and Scott's 8-year old grandson Dante Hazard, were found dead in an apparent murder-suicide in their home in Massachusetts.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Scott, George 1944 births 2013 deaths African-American baseball players American expatriate baseball players in Mexico American League All-Stars American League home run champions American League RBI champions Baseball players from Mississippi Boston Red Sox players Cangrejeros de Santurce (baseball) players Cardenales de Lara players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Florida Instructional League Red Sox players Gold Glove Award winners Kansas City Royals players Leones de Yucatán players Liga de Béisbol Profesional Roberto Clemente infielders Major League Baseball first basemen Milwaukee Brewers players Mexican League baseball managers New York Yankees players Olean Red Sox players Sportspeople from Greenville, Mississippi Petroleros de Poza Rica players Pittsfield Red Sox players Rojos del Águila de Veracruz players Tigres de Aragua players Tigres del México players Wellsville Red Sox players Winston-Salem Red Sox players American expatriate baseball players in Nicaragua 20th-century African-American sportsmen 21st-century African-American sportsmen