Former Red Sox Player, Manager Eddie Kasko Dies at Age 88

Former Boston Red Sox player, manager, scout and executive Eddie Kasko died on Wednesday, the team announced. He was 88.   

In his Major League Baseball career, Kasko played for the St. Louis Cardinals (1957-58), Cincinnati Reds (1959-63), Houston Colt .45s (1964), Houston Astros (1965) and Red Sox (1966), hitting .264 with 22 homers, 261 RBI and 411 runs. He was a two-time All-Star and played shortstop, third base and second base.

After his playing career, he stuck in Boston, serving as the organization's Triple-A manager from 1967-69. He then took over as the Red Sox manager in 1970, going 345-295 in four seasons. He never had a losing season in Boston, though the team failed to reach the postseason under his watch. 

"I learned more from Eddie Kasko in nine minutes than I did in all my years under all the other managers who have handled this club," Hall of Famer Carl Yastrzemski told the Boston Globe in 1974 (h/t Ian Browne of MLB.com).

Following his managerial career, Kasko spent time as a scout (1974-77), and he was the team's director of scouting (1978-92) and vice president of baseball development (1992-94). He helped the organization sign draft picks like Roger Clemens, Mo Vaughn and Jeff Bagwell who would go on to become stars. 

The Red Sox elected him to the franchise's Hall of Fame in 2010. 

Before his playing career, he served two years in the Korean War (1952-54) with the United States Army Combat Engineers.