1908-09: 192 games

Finished: *5th, 3d

He revived the Sox, bringing along the exciting outfield of Tris Speaker, Duffy Lewis, and Harry Hooper and infusing life into a franchise that had lost 195 games in 1906 and ’07.

19. John McNamara

1985-88: 571 games

Finished: 5th, 1st, 5th, *1st

McNamara managed an outstanding 1986 season — with a superstar in Clemens — before the World Series collapse. Made a series of strange moves, including not subbing defensively for Bill Buckner in Game 6.

20. Grady Little

2002-03: 324 games

Finished: 2d, 2d

Two good seasons were spoiled by the Pedro Martinez meltdown in Game 7 of the 2003 ALCS against the Yankees. While players loved him, his managing-on-instinct style failed him at the most crucial moment.

21. Johnny Pesky

1963-64; 1980: 326 games

Finished: 7th, *8th,*4th

The emergence of Dick Radatz as the most feared closer in the American League and the introduction of Tony Conigliaro to the big leagues were Pesky’s major contributions.

22. Patsy Donovan

1910-11: 311 games

Finished: 4th, 5th

A career of managerial mediocrity extended to his Sox stint. Smoky Joe Wood became a big star under Donovan’s watch, and his tenure paved the way for the opening of Fenway Park in 1912.

23. Bucky Harris

1934: 153 games

Finished: 4th

It was one year in Harris’s 29-year Hall of Fame managerial career, but there was nothing distinctive about it, except that he was Tom Yawkey’s first hire.

24. Pinky Higgins

1955-59, 1960-62: 1,119 games

Finished: 4th, 4th, 3d, 3d, *5th, *7th, 6th, 8th

Hard to understand how he could have managed so long given the racism that came through in his managing and personnel decisions. Higgins certainly knew the game, but the rest of it was unforgivable.

25. Lou Boudreau

1952-54: 463 games

Finished: 6th, 4th, 4th

He managed during a transitional period when he phased out some older players and replaced them with young stars such as Jimmy Piersall and Harry Agganis. The Boudreau era was uneventful.

26. Billy Jurges

1959-60: 122 games

Finished: *5th, *7th

The most consequential thing that happened during Jurges’s tenure is the team bringing up its first African-American player, Pumpsie Green. Jurges left the team in May of 1960, Ted Williams’s final season.

27. Bobby Valentine

2012: 162 games

Finished: 5th

Tough year for Valentine, with numerous injuries and “set-in-their-ways” veterans whom Valentine was unable to reach. It was a year marred by clashes with a non-supportive front office that doomed him from the start. By August, Valentine basically had a Triple A roster. Sox management did nothing to help him. One of the strangest dynamics in Red Sox history: They hired him to change the culture in the clubhouse, and when he tried, he received no backing from his superiors.

28. Butch Hobson

1992-94: 439 games

Finished: 7th, 5th, 4th

Joe Morgan should never have been fired, but the Sox wanted to make room for what they thought was this up-and-comer. Hobson never quite had the players to make it work, and by the time he learned on the job, he was gone.

29. Billy Herman

1964-66: 310 games

Finished: *8th, 9th, *9th

A bleak time for the Sox, who were building toward the Impossible Dream. Conigliaro was becoming a top slugger. The Sox started weeding out older players, but Herman didn’t have much of a chance with the assembled roster.

30. Deacon McGuire

1907-08: 227 games

Finished: 7th, *5th

In 1908, McGuire became the first to manage the “Red Sox,” as the name was changed from the Americans. Speaker began asserting himself as a great defender in center and speedy leadoff man.

31. Hugh Duffy

1921-22: 308 games

Finished: 5th, 8th

A Hall of Fame player, Duffy was in the wrong place at the wrong time, falling victim to owner Harry Frazee’s tempestuous post-Ruth days with a watered-down roster.

32. Frank Chance

1923: 154 games

Finished: 8th

The last manager to win a championship with the Cubs (1908), Chance managed the final Frazee season.

33. Shano Collins

1931-32: 208 games

Finished: 6th, *8th

Collins managed a dreadful roster of over-the-hill and overweight players. Earl Webb hit a record 67 doubles to highlight the 1931 season, and in ’32, Collins started 11-44 before quitting.

34. Lee Fohl

1924-26: 463 games

Finished: 7th, 8th, 8th

Fohl hung in for three seasons despite a horrible roster. He is the only manager in Sox history with two 100-loss seasons. Fohl helped put out a fire at Fenway in 1926, but he had no chance to spark anything on the field.

35. Marty McManus

1932-33: 248 games

Finished: *8th, 7th