Slightly More than One-Year Wonder Pt. 7: Dick McAuliffe

These players made it longer than one full season, but less than two seasons. They do not qualify as one-year wonders. They lasted slightly too long. But they still spent a brief part of their careers with the Red Sox.

Dick McAuliffe spent almost his entire playing career for the Detroit Tigers, other than 107 games spread across two seasons at the very end of his career when he moved on to Boston.  McAuliffe is one of the better second-basemen in Tigers' history.  He would be the best if not for Lou Whitaker and Charlie Gehringer.  McAuliffe was an All Star three consecutive times (1965-1967) and finished seventh in the AL MVP vote in 1968 whem the Tigers won the World Series.  He had some impressive power for a second-baseman during the time period, hitting more than 20 home runs three times.  

McAuliffe was still a productive player his final season in Detroit, hitting 12 home runs with a .274/.366/.437.  He was traded in a less-than-good trade for the Red Sox with young outfielder Ben Oglivie heading to Detroit.  Boston needed a second-baseman to provide some offense to go along with the slick-fielding Doug Griffin.  Unfortunately, McAuliffe's time as a productive player was at an end.  He played in 100 games in 1974, splitting time between second and third base.  He hit just five home runs and had a slash line of .210/.310/.320.  Boston brought him back in 1975, but he played in just seven games.  Meanwhile, Oglivie took a few years to get going, but eventually led the league in home runs with 41 in 1980 while with the Brewers.  Not a great trade for Boston.