The Worst Red Sox Team of All Time Pt. 8: Ed Durham

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.

Have I mentioned that this team was bad before?  Well, this is one example of how truly bad they were.  Their best pitcher that season won just six games.  That's right.  Six.  

Ed "Bull" Durham (because of course that was his nickname) came up with the Red Sox in 1929 when he was 21 years old.  He did not pitch much that season, appearing in 14 games and only starting one, but the next season he became a regular member of the pitching staff.  That season he was 4-15 with a 4.69 ERA.  That team was bad too.  He won eight games the following season, the most he would win in a Red Sox uniform.  Durham always pitched a fair amount in relief, for his career he started just under half of the games in which he pitched.  

1932 was his best season, though his record did not reflect it.  He finished the year 6-13, but had the lowest ERA (3.80) and WHIP (1.346) on the team.  He pitched in 34 games, starting 22, and threw 175.1 innings.  He struck out 52 and walked 49, he really was not a strikeout pitcher.  Durham was still just 24 and at least seemed to have somewhat of a future.

That future would not be in Boston, and in fact, he did not stick around much longer at all.  After the 1932 season, Durham was packaged with Hal Rhyne in exchange for Bob "Fats" Fothergill, Johnny Hodapp, Greg Mulleavy, and Bob Seeds.  It was a trade that worked out reasonably well for Boston as Hodapp turned in a pretty good season for the Red Sox, but was the only decent player the next season.  Durham meanwhile, managed to have a winning record, but an ERA near 5.00 and was then out of baseball entirely.