Milton Joseph Bolling (August 9, 1930 – January 19, 2013) was a
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 ...
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 ...
who played from 1952 through 1958 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 ...
(1952–1957),
Washington Senators (1957) and
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 ...
(1958).
Bolling batted and threw right-handed. He was the older brother of
Frank Bolling
Francis Elmore Bolling (November 16, 1931July 11, 2020) was an American baseball second baseman who played twelve seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played for the Detroit Tigers and Atlanta Braves, Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves from 1954 un ...
.
In a seven-season career, Bolling was a .241
hitter
In baseball, batting is the act of facing the opposing pitcher and trying to produce offense for one's team. A batter or hitter is a person whose turn it is to face the pitcher. The three main goals of batters are to become a baserunner, to dri ...
with 19
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 ( ...
s and 94
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) in 400
games played
Games played (GP) is a statistic used in team sports to indicate the total number of games in which a player has participated (in any capacity); the statistic is generally applied irrespective of whatever portion of the game is contested.
Associat ...
.
[
]
Early career
At the age of 17, Bolling was signed by the Boston Red Sox as an amateur free agent
In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...
.[ He began his professional career in ]Minor League Baseball
Minor League Baseball (MiLB) is a professional baseball organization below Major League Baseball (MLB), constituted of teams affiliated with MLB clubs. It was founded on September 5, 1901, in response to the growing dominance of the National Le ...
for the Class B Piedmont League
The Piedmont League was a minor league baseball league that operated from 1920 through 1955. The league operated principally in the Piedmont plateau region in the eastern United States.
Cities represented
The following cities hosted teams th ...
Roanoke Red Sox. As a 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 ...
, he was not brought in for his bat, but as a defensive specialist. In the 1948 season, Bolling had 54 hits in 293 at bats to compile a .184 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 ...
in 85 games. 1949 saw Bolling as Roanoke's starting shortstop for the majority of the season. He had 12 home runs and 28 doubles to go with a .230 batting average in 139 games.[ His quality play earned him a spot at shortstop on the Piedmont League All-Star Team.
In 1950 Bolling was advanced to the Class A ]Scranton Miners
The Scranton Miners, known as the Scranton Apollos from 1970 to 1977, were a professional basketball team based in Scranton, Pennsylvania that was a member of the American Basketball League and the Eastern Basketball Association. Arthur Pachter ...
of the Eastern League. Along with his fielding prowess, his batting was starting to get hot as well, batting .276 for the season with 134 hits in 486 at bats.[ For a short period, Bolling was promoted to the AA ]Birmingham Barons
The Birmingham Barons are a Minor League Baseball team based in Birmingham, Alabama. The team, which plays in the Southern League, is the Double-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox and plays at Regions Field in downtown Birmingham. The Baron ...
. He failed to make a good impression, going just 2 for 27 in 10 games to compile a .074 average.[ 1951 was familiar territory for Bolling as he began his second season with the Scranton Red Sox. He only played in 71 games, but still managed to hit a modest .253 with 56 hits and 16 doubles.][ 1952 would prove to be a big year for Bolling. He was promoted once again to the Birmingham Barons, but this time he held his own by hitting a clean .250 with 83 hits in 94 games.][
]
Boston Red Sox
In September 1952, the struggling Boston Red Sox brought up 11 minor leaguers all at once, including Bolling. On September 10, Bolling made his Major League debut by replacing Johnny Lipon
John Joseph Lipon (November 10, 1922 – August 17, 1998) was an American Major League Baseball shortstop for the Detroit Tigers, Boston Red Sox, St. Louis Browns and Cincinnati Redlegs over the course of nine seasons (1942; 1946; 1948–1954). ...
at 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 Boston. Bolling walked in his first at bat in the seventh inning against Bill Wight
William Robert Wight (April 12, 1922 – May 17, 2007) was an American pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played from through for the New York Yankees (1946–47), Chicago White Sox (1948–50), Boston Red Sox (1951–52), Detroit Tig ...
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 ...
. In the top of the ninth, Bolling slugged his first major league hit. The Red Sox would go on to lose the game 6 to 2. For the rest of September, Bolling put up typical numbers for a shortstop of the era. He hit .222 with a lone home run on September 16 and three runs batted in for only 36 at bats.[
1953 was the first full Major League season for Bolling. He competed with veteran Lipon for the starting role at shortstop which was eventually won by Bolling when the Red Sox sold Lipon to the St Louis Browns on September 8. On April 16, opening day for the Red Sox against the ]Philadelphia Athletics
The Philadelphia Athletics were a Major League Baseball team that played in Philadelphia from 1901 to 1954, when they moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and became the Kansas City Athletics. Following another move in 1967, they became the Oakland ...
, Milt started at shortstop and got off to a red-hot start, going 4 for 5 with a double and one run batted in en route to an 11–6 victory. Milt finished April with a strong .293 average, but struggled in May and June with monthly batting averages of .215 and .229. In July, Bolling's bat got white hot as he hit .380 in 71 at bats. He eventually tapered off but put up a respectable .263 batting average with five home runs and 28 RBIs in 109 games as the Sox shortstop. He was sixth in the American League for sacrifice hits
In baseball, a sacrifice bunt (also called a sacrifice hit) is a batter's act of deliberately bunting the ball, before there are two outs, in a manner that allows a baserunner to advance to another base. The batter is almost always put out, an ...
with 13.[
1954 was more of the same for Bolling, except this time he led the American League in errors committed with 33. However, he was fourth with assists at shortstop, and first with his ]range factor
Range Factor (commonly abbreviated RF) is a baseball statistic developed by Bill James. It is calculated by dividing putouts and assists by the number of innings or games played at a given defense position. The statistic is premised on the notion ...
. Milt put down 13 more sacrifice hits, good enough for fourth in the league.[ Bolling was third in doubles among all AL shortstops with 20.][Historical Stats]
a
MLB.com
/ref> His hitting got off to a slow start and he never truly recovered, batting just .249 with six home runs and 36 RBIs.[
On March 23, 1955, Milt had a career-threatening injury when he broke his left elbow in a Spring training game against 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 ...
after he had already won the starting role at shortstop for the season. He was expected to return after six weeks,[ but ended up playing in only six games for the entire season.][
By the time Bolling got a clean bill of health, he had lost his starting job to Don Buddin for the 1956 season. Milt was a rarely used pinch hitter until he started seeing some starts at the tail end of the season in August and September. He could only muster a .212 batting average to go with 3 home runs and 8 RBI in just 45 games.][
]
Washington Senators
After playing just one game into the season for the Red Sox off the bench, on April 29, 1957, the Red Sox traded Bolling along with Russ Kemmerer and Faye Throneberry
Maynard Faye Throneberry (June 22, 1931 – April 26, 1999) was an American professional baseball player. A native of Fisherville, Tennessee, he was a backup outfielder in Major League Baseball who played for the Boston Red Sox (1952, 1955–57), ...
to the Washington Senators for Bob Chakales
Robert Edwards Chakales ha-kuh'-les(August 10, 1927 – February 18, 2010) was an American pitcher in Major League Baseball who played with four clubs between the 1951 and 1957 seasons. Listed at 6'1", 185 lb., Chakales batted and threw rig ...
and Dean Stone
Darrah Dean Stone (September 1, 1930 – August 21, 2018) was an American professional baseball player, a pitcher who appeared in 166 games over all or parts of eight Major League Baseball seasons. The well-traveled, , left-hander played for the ...
. Milt was immediately put to work with the Senators, starting at shortstop occasionally in May and June before becoming their everyday starter from July through the end of the season. Bolling split time between second base and shortstop, committing 11 errors. His bat was cold once again, hitting .227 with four home runs and 19 RBIs in 91 games.[
]
Detroit Tigers and retirement
On February 25, 1958, the Senators traded Bolling to the Cleveland Indians
The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. Since , the team ...
for Pete Mesa. It didn't work out, however, as a month later the Indians swapped him with 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 ...
for Pete Wojey and $20,000. He became teammates with his brother, Frank Bolling
Francis Elmore Bolling (November 16, 1931July 11, 2020) was an American baseball second baseman who played twelve seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played for the Detroit Tigers and Atlanta Braves, Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves from 1954 un ...
, a five-year veteran for the Tigers as their starting second baseman. Despite the connection to his brother, Milt struggled to find playing time throughout the season. He started several games in April before being sidelined for a few days with a virus attack, and afterward playing time was scarce. Milt played his final Major League game on July 28, ending his season with a .194 average in just 31 at bats.[
After his playing days, Bolling spent more than 30 years with the Red Sox, first as an executive assistant to owner ]Tom Yawkey
Thomas Austin Yawkey (born Thomas Yawkey Austin; February 21, 1903 – July 9, 1976) was an American industrialist and Major League Baseball executive. Born in Detroit, Yawkey became president of the Boston Red Sox in 1933 and was the sole owner ...
, and later as an area scout based in Alabama
Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...
.
Personal life and death
Bolling attended Spring Hill College
Spring Hill College is a private Jesuit college in Mobile, Alabama. It was founded in 1830 by Bishop Michael Portier of Mobile. Along with being the oldest private college or university in the state of Alabama, it was the first Catholic college ...
. In late 2012, he underwent open-heart surgery. His health had declined since the surgery. He died on January 19, 2013.
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bolling, Milt
1930 births
2013 deaths
Baseball players from Mississippi
Birmingham Barons players
Boston Red Sox players
Boston Red Sox scouts
Charleston Senators players
Detroit Tigers players
Major League Baseball shortstops
People from Harrison County, Mississippi
Roanoke Red Sox players
Scranton Miners players
Scranton Red Sox players
Spring Hill College alumni
Washington Senators (1901–1960) players
20th-century American sportsmen