First Gloves: George Scott

You wouldn’t think a guy with the nickname “Boomer” would be a slick defensive player, but that’s exactly what George “Boomer” Scott was.

You know how third basemen often get moved across the diamond to first base as they get older and lose their defensive ability? It happens pretty often. George Brett was moved, Darrell Evans was moved, Eddie Mathews was moved, Robin Ventura was moved, even Mike Schmidt slid across to first for a year. Albert Pujols started at third as a rookie but quickly moved to first, and Vladdy Guerrero, Jr., recently did the same. It’s a common tale.

Well, George Scott was such a good defender that he made the opposite move. After starting nearly 400 games at first base in his first three seasons with the Red Sox, he became their primary third baseman in 1969 and 1970. Despite his size, which was listed at 6’2” and 200 pounds even though he was routinely at least 20 pounds heavier than that, Scott mostly played third base, second base, and even shortstop in the minor leagues. In four minor league seasons he only played a total of 34 games at first, but he was moved to there in the big leagues because the Sox also had rookie Joe Foy ready to come up in 1966, and Foy didn’t really have another position besides third base.

Scott took to first base immediately, totaling +16 fielding runs as a rookie while making the All-Star team and finishing third in Rookie of the Year voting. He led all AL first basemen in total zone runs and probably deserved the Gold Glove over Joe Pepitone, but rookies didn’t win many Gold Gloves back then so Scott was denied.

Found in a thrift store recently. It’s for the wrong hand since George Scott was a righty, but it’s the same model that helped him win 8 Gold Gloves.