Failure is often even more fascinating than success. I am definitely intrigued by the 1932 Boston Red Sox, the worst Red Sox team of all time. The team finished with a record of 43-111, for a winning percentage of .279 and very little went right.
Marv Olson was the primary second-baseman for the Red Sox in 1932. That says more about the team's lack of options than it does anything about the caliber of player of Marv Olson. Olson arrived in the Majors in 1931, playing in 15 games with a line of .189/.306/.208. He had a double, eight runs scored and five runs batted in.
Olson played in 115 games in 1932, almost exclusively at second base. His hitting improved a little bit over his 1931 season. He batted a respectable .248/.347/.313, showing an ability to get on base, but little to no power. He had 100 hits with 14 doubles and six triples, but no home runs. He scored 58 runs and drove in 25 and had just one stolen base. Olson was competent at putting the ball in play and at the plate, he struck out just 25 times, but drew 61 walks. He was also eighth in the league in sacrifice hits.
Defensively, Olson was not exactly great. He was third in the league with 28 errors, but fifth in range factor (which obviously did not really exist at the time). He had a .955 fielding percentage, which is not ideal for a middle infielder.
1933 was Olson's last year in the Majors. He played in just three games, all with the Red Sox, before being traded in May to the Yankees for Dusty Cooke, which was a rare deal that worked out much better for the Red Sox than the Yankees. Olson, nor Johnny Watwood, ever played for the Yankees while Cooke hit .284/.392/.422 over the next four seasons with Boston. Olson's career line was .241/.342/.300.
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