in 1973 He became a Red Sox major-league rookie in 1966 as a third baseman, was switched to first base one week into the season, and played all 162 games that season, the last Red Sox rookie to do so. He hit his first home run of the year one week later off
Joe Sparma of the
Detroit Tigers. He batted .245 with 147 hits, 27 home runs, and 90 RBIs (finishing in the top ten in RBIs, home runs, and total bases) while garnering an All-Star selection and finished third in the voting for Rookie of the Year. His good start was soon hampered by a slump in which he could not adjust quickly enough to deal with change-ups and curve ball pitches. Manager
Billy Herman stated he would bench Scott on July 19, but a rainout occurred on that day before a doubleheader was played, each of which featured Scott starting. At any rate, Scott led all of baseball in strikeouts (152) and times grounded into a double play (25). He spent 158 games at first base (with four at third base), and he led the league in putouts, games, and double plays. Scott did fine during his sophomore season, which turned out to be the longest season of his career, as the
"Impossible Dream" Red Sox won the
American League pennant, led by rookie manager
Dick Williams. He also benched Scott for a few games, concerned about him being overweight (desiring a weight of 215 pounds). Scott played 159 games while batting .303 (he would bat .300 just one other time in his career). He walked over 60 times again, but he reduced his strikeout total to 119 while hitting 19 home runs and having 171 hits. He received votes for the MVP Award (finishing 10th with 12% of the vote) while being awarded the Gold Glove (he led the league in putouts, games, assists, errors, and double plays). His team went to the
1967 World Series and played the
St. Louis Cardinals in a classic seven game series. Scott hit .231 (6-for-26) while having three walks and six strikeouts and scoring three times, and committed the final out of the Series, striking out against
Bob Gibson as the Cardinals won Game 7. Scott was a three-time
All-Star in the
American League in 1966, 1975 and 1977, starting the 1966 Mid-Summer Classic and homering in 1977. Scott hit over 20
home runs six times in his career, tying
Reggie Jackson for the American League lead in 1975 with a career-high 36 and pacing the league in
runs batted in (RBIs) that same season with 109. Known for his glovework at first base, Scott was awarded the
Gold Glove Award for fielding excellence in the American League during eight seasons (1967–68 and 1971–1976). In a 14-season career, Scott posted a .268
batting average with 271 home runs (which he called "taters") and 1,051 RBIs in 2,034
games. His nickname was Boomer and he called his glove "Black Beauty". Scott was well-known for having a good sense of humor, and wore a necklace which he once identified to a reporter as being composed of "second baseman's teeth". To complement his unique attire, he also was known for wearing a
batting helmet while fielding at first base due to an experience he had with a fan throwing hard objects at him once during a road game. While on the Brewers, Scott won five-consecutive Gold Glove awards. In 1975, he was named an all-star and led major league baseball with 36 home-runs and 109 RBI. On December 6, 1976, Scott was traded back to the Red Sox with
Bernie Carbo for Boston’s
Cecil Cooper. Scott saw his second tenure with the Red Sox end when he was traded to the
Kansas City Royals for
Tom Poquette on June 13, 1979. On August 17, he was released by the team, and he joined the
New York Yankees nine days later. He played 105 games that year while batting .254 with 88 hits, 31 walks, and 61 strikeouts (spent mostly on first base, although he did play 17 games as a designated hitter). He finished in the top five in two categories: double play grounded into (24, 2nd) and errors (10, 4th). After the season, Scott moved to the
Mexican League, playing for the
Leones de Yucatán in 1980, and the
Tigres del México in 1981. ==Legacy==