Born in Lufkin, Texas, the 6 ft (1.8 m), 170 lb (77 kg) Runnels batted left-handed and threw right-handed. A master at handling the bat, he was a notorious singles hitter who had one of the best eyes in the game, compiling an outstanding 1.35 walk-to-strikeout ratio (844-to-627). Altogether, he batted over .300 six times, once with the Senators, five with the Red Sox. Despite winning the batting title in 1960, he drove in just 35 runs, a record low for a batting title winner.\n', '

Solid and versatile with the glove, Runnels started as a shortstop with the Senators, but ultimately played 644 games at first base, 642 at second, 463 at shortstop, and 49 at third. Twice he led the American League in fielding percentage, at second base in 1960 (.986), and at first base in 1961 (.995). He was not a good base stealer: in 1952 he set the record for most attempted steals with no successes, at 10. In his career he stole 37 bases and was caught 51 times.\n', '

In five seasons with Boston, Runnels never hit less than .314 (1959), winning two batting crowns in 1960 (.320) and 1962 (.326), and just missed the 1958 American League Batting Crown by six points to his teammate Ted Williams on the final day of the 1958 season (.328 to .322). On August 30, 1960, in a double-header against the Tigers, Runnels hit 6-for-7 in the first game (including a game-winning RBI–double in the 15th inning) and 3-for-4 in the second, tying a Major League record for hits in a double-header (9). In 1962, Runnels played in his third All-Star Game for the American League and hit a home run off the Philadelphia Phillies\' Art Mahaffey. He went on to win the American League batting title that year. But after the season, Runnels was traded to the Houston Colt .45s (forerunners of the Astros) in exchange for outfielder Román Mejías. Runnels was released by Houston early in the 1964 season.\n', '

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