Frank Malzone, a six-time All-Star third baseman whose steady presence in the Boston lineup tied together two of the city’s baseball eras, linking Ted Williams’s Red Sox with Carl Yastrzemski’s, died on Tuesday at his home in Needham, Mass. He was 85.

The Red Sox announced his death.

Malzone played with the Red Sox from 1955 to 1965, not a period of distinction for the franchise — the team never finished higher than third — even though it was led by two future Hall of Fame outfielders: Williams, who retired in 1960, not having played in a World Series since 1946, and Yastrzemski, who arrived in 1961 and finally led the team to a pennant in 1967. As one Boston hero passed the torch to the other, Malzone was a stalwart supporting player for both.

He was remarkably durable, playing in more than 150 games in seven consecutive seasons, including 475 games in a row. In the 1957 season, he played 42 more games at third than anyone else in the American League, handling so many more chances that he led the league in both errors and fielding percentage.

As a hitter, Malzone swung a solid if not spectacular right-handed bat. His career average was .274, but he batted .280 or better in five of his first seven full seasons, 1957 to 1963, and knocked in more than 90 runs three times, including 103 in 1957.