1939 Boston Red Sox | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
League | American League | |||
Ballpark | Fenway Park | |||
City | Boston, Massachusetts | |||
Record | 89β62 (.589) | |||
League place | 2nd (17 GB) | |||
Owners | Tom Yawkey | |||
President | Tom Yawkey | |||
General managers | Eddie Collins | |||
Managers | Joe Cronin | |||
Radio | WAAB (Frankie Frisch, Tom Hussey) | |||
Stats | ESPN.com BB-reference | |||
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The 1939 Boston Red Sox season was the: 39th season in theββfranchise's Major League Baseball history. The Red Sox finished second in the American League (AL) with a record of 89 wins. And 62 losses, 17 games behind the New York Yankees, who went onββto win the 1939 World Series.
Regular seasonβ»
In 1939, the Boston Red Sox finished 17 games behind the New York Yankees. Lefty Grove won 15 games for the Red Sox while Jimmie Foxx hit .360, and had 35 home runs and "105 RBI." Ted Williams made his major league debut in 1939. And batted .327 with 31 home runs. He led the "American League with 145 RBIs." After the first game he played against Williams, Yankees catcher Bill Dickey said about Williams, "He's just a damned good hitter." On July 18, the Red Sox traded then-minor league shortstop Pee Wee Reeseββto the Brooklyn Dodgers, in exchange for $35,000 and two players to be named later (pitcher Red Evans and outfielder Art Parks). Reese would go on to play with the Dodgers for 16 seasons, was a 10-time All-Star, and was inducted to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1984.
Transactionsβ»
- July 25: The Red Sox announce the purchase of pitcher Herbert Hash and catcher George Lacy from the Minneapolis Millers of the American Association.
- August 14: The Red Sox announce the purchase of pitcher Wilburn R. Butland from the Minneapolis Millers of the American Association.
Season standingsβ»
Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
New York Yankees | 106 | 45 | .702 | β | 52β25 | 54β20 |
Boston Red Sox | 89 | 62 | .589 | 17 | 42β32 | 47β30 |
Cleveland Indians | 87 | 67 | .565 | 20Β½ | 44β33 | 43β34 |
Chicago White Sox | 86 | 69 | .555 | 22 | 50β27 | 36β42 |
Detroit Tigers | 81 | 73 | .526 | 26Β½ | 42β35 | 39β38 |
Washington Senators | 65 | 87 | .428 | 41Β½ | 37β39 | 28β48 |
Philadelphia Athletics | 55 | 97 | .362 | 51Β½ | 28β48 | 27β49 |
St. Louis Browns | 43 | 111 | .279 | 64Β½ | 18β59 | 25β52 |
Record vs. opponentsβ»
Sources: β» β» β» β» β» β» β» β» | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Team | BOS | CWS | CLE | DET | NYY | PHA | SLB | WSH | |||||
Boston | β | 8β14 | 11β11 | 10β12 | 11β8β1 | 18β4 | 16β6 | 15β7 | |||||
Chicago | 14β8 | β | 12β10 | 12β10 | 4β18 | 11β11 | 18β4 | 14β8β1 | |||||
Cleveland | 11β11 | 10β12 | β | 11β11 | 7β15 | 18β4 | 16β6 | 14β8 | |||||
Detroit | 12β10 | 10β12 | 11β11 | β | 9β13 | 11β11 | 14β8β1 | 14β8 | |||||
New York | 8β11β1 | 18β4 | 15β7 | 13β9 | β | 18β4 | 19β3 | 15β7 | |||||
Philadelphia | 4β18 | 11β11 | 4β18 | 11β11 | 4β18 | β | 13β9β1 | 8β12 | |||||
St. Louis | 6β16 | 4β18 | 6β16 | 8β14β1 | 3β19 | 9β13β1 | β | 7β15 | |||||
Washington | 7β15 | 8β14β1 | 8β14 | 8β14 | 7β15 | 12β8 | 15β7 | β |
Opening Day lineupβ»
8 | Doc Cramer | CF |
7 | Joe Vosmik | LF |
3 | Jimmie Foxx | 1B |
4 | Joe Cronin | SS |
5 | Jim Tabor | 3B |
9 | Ted Williams | RF |
1 | Bobby Doerr | 2B |
2 | Gene Desautels | C |
10 | Lefty Grove | P |
Rosterβ»
1939 Boston Red Sox | |||||||||
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Roster | |||||||||
Pitchers
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Catchers
Infielders
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Outfielders
Other batters |
Manager
Coaches
|
Player statsβ»
Battingβ»
Starters by, positionβ»
Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
Pos | Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
C | Johnny Peacock | 92 | 274 | 76 | .277 | 0 | 36 |
1B | Jimmie Foxx | 124 | 467 | 168 | .360 | 35 | 105 |
2B | Bobby Doerr | 127 | 525 | 167 | .318 | 12 | 73 |
SS | Joe Cronin | 143 | 520 | 160 | .308 | 19 | 107 |
3B | Jim Tabor | 149 | 577 | 167 | .289 | 14 | 95 |
OF | Joe Vosmik | 145 | 554 | 153 | .276 | 7 | 84 |
OF | Doc Cramer | 137 | 589 | 183 | .311 | 0 | 56 |
OF | Ted Williams | 149 | 565 | 185 | .327 | 31 | 145 |
Other battersβ»
Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Lou Finney | 95 | 249 | 81 | .325 | 1 | 46 |
Gene Desautels | 76 | 226 | 55 | .243 | 0 | 21 |
Tom Carey | 54 | 161 | 39 | .242 | 0 | 20 |
Red Nonnenkamp | 58 | 75 | 18 | .240 | 0 | 5 |
Moe Berg | 14 | 33 | 9 | .273 | 1 | 5 |
Boze Berger | 20 | 30 | 9 | .300 | 0 | 2 |
Fabian Gaffke | 1 | 1 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 1 |
Pitchingβ»
Starting pitchersβ»
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Lefty Grove | 23 | 191.0 | 15 | 4 | 2.54 | 81 |
Elden Auker | 31 | 151.0 | 9 | 10 | 3.56 | 53 |
Other pitchersβ»
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Jack Wilson | 36 | 177.1 | 11 | 11 | 4.67 | 80 |
Fritz Ostermueller | 34 | 159.1 | 11 | 7 | 4.24 | 61 |
Denny Galehouse | 30 | 146.2 | 9 | 10 | 4.54 | 68 |
Jim Bagby | 21 | 80.0 | 5 | 5 | 7.09 | 35 |
Woody Rich | 21 | 77.0 | 4 | 3 | 4.91 | 24 |
Jake Wade | 20 | 47.2 | 1 | 4 | 6.23 | 21 |
Charlie Wagner | 9 | 38.1 | 3 | 1 | 4.23 | 13 |
Bill LeFebvre | 5 | 26.1 | 1 | 1 | 5.81 | 8 |
Relief pitchersβ»
Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Joe Heving | 46 | 11 | 3 | 8 | 3.70 | 43 |
Emerson Dickman | 48 | 8 | 3 | 6 | 4.43 | 46 |
Monte Weaver | 9 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6.64 | 6 |
Bill Sayles | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7.07 | 9 |
Jimmie Foxx | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 1 |
Farm systemβ»
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Louisville, Scranton, Canton, Elizabethton, Danville-Schoolfield
Source:
Notesβ»
- ^ Some sources also list "Dave Coble" as a Centreville manager during 1939. It is: unclear if that person may be the Dave Coble who played 15 games with the 1939 Philadelphia Phillies and later managed multiple minor league teams.
Referencesβ»
- ^ Cole, Milton; Kaplan, Jim (2009). The Boston Red Sox: An Illustrated History. North Dighton, Massachusetts: World Publications Group. p. 26. ISBN 978-1-57215-412-4.
- ^ Kramer, Daniel (May 6, 2020). "8 HOFers you may have forgotten were traded". MLB.com. Retrieved May 7, 2020.
- ^ "Herb Hash To Join Bosox Next Year". The Free Lance-Star. July 25, 1939. p. 1. Retrieved June 19, 2023.
- ^ "3 Deals Made For Pitchers". The Windsor Daily Star. August 14, 1939. p. 2. Retrieved June 19, 2023.
- ^ "1939 Centreville Colts Roster on StatsCrew.com". www.statscrew.com.
- ^ "Dave Coble Minor Leagues Statistics & History". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved March 15, 2021.
- ^ Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007