Here’s something you might not be aware of: the Red Sox absolutely own the third base Silver Slugger award. Of the 45 trophies given out at that position, 11 of them have gone to Red Sox third baseman.
This has been thanks mostly to Wade Boggs, who won the award six times with the Sox. But Rafael Devers also won the award twice, with Adrian Beltre, Bill Mueller, and Carney Lansford all picking up the hardware, too.
Unsurprisingly, the Sox have done really well in the Silver Slugger overall, having won exactly 50 of them since it was first given out in 1980. And it wasn’t only Wade Boggs who piled them up at Fenway. David Ortiz won the DH version of the award eight times, while Manny and Xander chipped in five during their time with the Sox.
But, horrifyingly, those 50 Silver Sluggers are not the most in baseball history. They were the most as recently as two years ago, when Rafael Devers won the Silver Slugger in 2023, the last Red Sox hitter to do so. But in 2024, with Aaron Judge and Juan Soto picking up the award and the Red Sox getting blanked, the Yankees moved ahead of the Sox in the all-time Silver Slugger standings (a thing I just made up, but whatever) edging them 51-50. And, unfortunately, it looks like the Sox are about to fall further behind.
The 2025 finalists were announced today (though, remember, these aren’t really finalists, they are just the top-three finishers in an award that’s already been decided) and Alex Bregman is the only Red Sox representative on the list. Moreover, he looks highly unlikely to win it, with Jose Ramirez and his 137 OPS+ and Junior Caminero and his 45 homers both looking like stronger candidates. This will likely be the first time since 1998-2000 that the Red Sox are shut out of the Silver Slugger in consecutive years.
The Yankees, meanwhile, have four finalists in Cody Bellinger, Aaron Judge, Jazz Chisholm, and Ben Rice, who received votes in the relatively new utility category. Judge, being the best hitter in the world, is a lock to garner the Yankees their 52nd trophy, which will put the Sox further in the hole.
Suffice to say, this is one of the world’s gravest historical injustices and must not be allowed to continue. Roman Anthony, Red Sox Nation turns its lonely eyes to you.
