Milt Bolling

Milton Joseph Bolling (August 9, 1930 – January 19, 2013) was an American shortstop in Major League Baseball who played from 1952 through 1958 for the Boston Red Sox (1952–1957), Washington Senators and Detroit Tigers (1958). Bolling batted and threw right-handed. He was the older brother of Frank Bolling.

In a seven-season career, Bolling was a .241 hitter with 19 home runs and 94 runs batted in (RBIs) in 400 games played.

In 1950 Bolling was advanced to the Class A Scranton Miners of the Eastern League. Along with his fielding prowess, his batting was starting to get hot as well, batting .276 for the season with 134 hits in 486 at bats. On September 10, Bolling made his Major League debut by replacing Johnny Lipon at shortstop for Boston. Bolling walked in his first at bat in the seventh inning against Bill Wight of the Detroit Tigers. In the top of the ninth, Bolling slugged his first major league hit. The Red Sox would go on to lose the game 6 to 2. For the rest of September, Bolling put up typical numbers for a shortstop of the era. He hit .222 with a lone home run on September 16 and three runs batted in for only 36 at bats. which was eventually won by Bolling when the Red Sox sold Lipon to the St Louis Browns on September 8. On April 16, opening day for the Red Sox against the Philadelphia Athletics, Milt started at shortstop and got off to a red-hot start, going 4 for 5 with a double and one run batted in en route to an 11–6 victory. Milt finished April with a strong .293 average, but struggled in May and June with monthly batting averages of .215 and .229. In July, Bolling's bat got white hot as he hit .380 in 71 at bats. He eventually tapered off but put up a respectable .263 batting average with five home runs and 28 RBIs in 109 games as the Sox shortstop. He was sixth in the American League for sacrifice hits with 13. His hitting got off to a slow start and he never truly recovered, batting just .249 with six home runs and 36 RBIs. He was expected to return after six weeks, Milt was a rarely used pinch hitter until he started seeing some starts at the tail end of the season in August and September. He could only muster a .212 batting average to go with 3 home runs and 8 RBI in just 45 games. Milt was immediately put to work with the Senators, starting at shortstop occasionally in May and June before becoming their everyday starter from July through the end of the season. Bolling split time between second base and shortstop, committing 11 errors. His bat was cold once again, hitting .227 with four home runs and 19 RBIs in 91 games. It didn't work out, however, as a month later the Indians swapped him with the Detroit Tigers for Pete Wojey and $20,000. He became teammates with his brother, Frank Bolling, a five-year veteran for the Tigers as their starting second baseman. Despite the connection to his brother, Milt struggled to find playing time throughout the season. He started several games in April before being sidelined for a few days with a virus attack, and afterward playing time was scarce. Milt played his final Major League game on July 28, ending his season with a .194 average in just 31 at bats. In late 2012, he underwent open-heart surgery. His health had declined since the surgery. He died on January 19, 2013.