The Worst Red Sox Team of All Time Pt. 10: Roy Johnson

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.

The Red Sox made a surprisingly good trade in June of 1932.  They sent doubles machine Earl Webb (he of the Major League single season record of 67) to the Detroit Tigers for Dale Alexander and Roy Johnson.  Alexander has been previously covered in this series.  He was the first Red Sox player to win the batting title.  Johnson also played fairly well with the Red Sox for a few years.

Johnson had been with the Tigers for a few years going into 1932.  He was a decent hitter with some speed who led the American League in doubles in his rookie season and triples the following season.  He was also a decent base-stealer.  He was unfortunately a less than good fielder in the outfield though, so he had some flaws that made him expendable.  He was hitting just .251 in 49 games at the time of his trade to the Red Sox.

Immediately upon being traded, Johnson turned his season around.  He played in 94 games with the Red Sox the rest of the way, primarily in right field.  He continued to be a bit of a liability in the outfield, but the Red Sox needed offense more than anything and Johnson delivered.  He hit .298/.378/.484.  Johnson was second on the team with 11 home runs and led the team with 13 stolen bases.  

Johnson found Fenway Park to his liking and spent three more seasons with the Red Sox, never hitting lower than .313.  His stolen base numbers dipped into the teens all three years, but he turned into a decent RBI man, driving in 95 in 1933 and 119 in 1934.  He finished 12th in the MVP vote in 1934 with a .320/.379/.467 line.  For his Red Sox career, he hit .313/.386/.458 with 31 home runs, 327 RBIs, and 31 stolen bases.

After the 1935 season, he was traded along with Carl Reynolds to Washington for future Hall of Famer Heinie Manush.  Johnson played a few more seasons with the Yankees and Braves, but was never as successful as he was with Boston.  

The Red Sox failed in 1932, but they swung a huge deal for two players that would help them significantly.  Roy Johnson was even better than Dale Alexander throughout his Red Sox career.  Interestingly enough, Roy's younger brother Bob Johnson later played with the Red Sox in 1944-1945.