1939 Boston Red Sox season

The 1939 Boston Red Sox season was the 39th season in the franchise'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 on to win the 1939 World Series.

1939 Boston Red Sox
Ted Williams' Rookie Season
Major League affiliations
Location
Results
Record89–62 (.589)
League place2nd (17 GB)
Other information
OwnersTom Yawkey
PresidentTom Yawkey
General managersEddie Collins
ManagersJoe Cronin
Local radioWAAB
(Frankie Frisch, Tom Hussey)
StatsESPN.com
BB-reference
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Regular season

In 1939, the Boston Red Sox finished 17 games behind the New York Yankees.[1] Lefty Grove won 15 games for the Red Sox while Jimmie Foxx hit .360, and had 35 home runs and 105 RBI.[1] Ted Williams made his major league debut in 1939, and batted .327 with 31 home runs. He led the American League with 145 RBIs.[1] After the first game he played against Williams, Yankees catcher Bill Dickey said about Williams, "He's just a damned good hitter."[1] On July 18, the Red Sox traded then-minor league shortstop Pee Wee Reese to the Brooklyn Dodgers, in exchange for $35,000 and two players to be named later (pitcher Red Evans and outfielder Art Parks).[2] 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.

Transactions

Season standings

American League W L Pct. GB Home Road
New York Yankees 10645 0.702 52–25 54–20
Boston Red Sox 8962 0.589 17 42–32 47–30
Cleveland Indians 8767 0.565 20½ 44–33 43–34
Chicago White Sox 8669 0.555 22 50–27 36–42
Detroit Tigers 8173 0.526 26½ 42–35 39–38
Washington Senators 6587 0.428 41½ 37–39 28–48
Philadelphia Athletics 5597 0.362 51½ 28–48 27–49
St. Louis Browns 43111 0.279 64½ 18–59 25–52

Record vs. opponents


Sources:
Team BOS CWS CLE DET NYY PHA SLB WSH
Boston 8–1411–1110–1211–8–118–416–615–7
Chicago 14–812–1012–104–1811–1118–414–8–1
Cleveland 11–1110–1211–117–1518–416–614–8
Detroit 12–1010–1211–119–1311–1114–8–114–8
New York 8–11–118–415–713–918–419–315–7
Philadelphia 4–1811–114–1811–114–1813–9–18–12
St. Louis 6–164–186–168–14–13–199–13–17–15
Washington 7–158–14–18–148–147–1512–815–7

Opening Day lineup

  8Doc CramerCF
  7Joe VosmikLF
  3Jimmie Foxx1B
  4Joe CroninSS
  5Jim Tabor3B
  9Ted WilliamsRF
  1Bobby Doerr2B
  2Gene Desautels    C
10Lefty GroveP

Roster

1939 Boston Red Sox
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Other batters

Manager

Coaches

Player stats

Starters by position

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
CJohnny Peacock9227476.277036
1BJimmie Foxx124467168.36035105
2BBobby Doerr127525167.3181273
SSJoe Cronin143520160.30819107
3BJim Tabor149577167.2891495
OFJoe Vosmik145554153.276784
OFDoc Cramer137589183.311056
OFTed Williams149565185.32731145

Other batters

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 Finney9524981.325146
Gene Desautels7622655.243021
Tom Carey5416139.242020
Red Nonnenkamp587518.24005
Moe Berg14339.27315
Boze Berger20309.30002
Fabian Gaffke110.00001

Starting pitchers

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 Grove23191.01542.5481
Elden Auker31151.09103.5653

Other pitchers

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 Wilson36177.111114.6780
Fritz Ostermueller34159.11174.2461
Denny Galehouse30146.29104.5468
Jim Bagby2180.0557.0935
Woody Rich2177.0434.9124
Jake Wade2047.2146.2321
Charlie Wagner938.1314.2313
Bill LeFebvre526.1115.818

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G W L SV ERA SO
Joe Heving4611383.7043
Emerson Dickman488364.4346
Monte Weaver91016.646
Bill Sayles50007.079
Jimmie Foxx10000.001

Farm system

Level Team League Manager
AA Louisville Colonels American Association Donie Bush and Bill Burwell
A1 Little Rock Travelers Southern Association Specs Toporcer
A Scranton Red Sox Eastern League Nemo Leibold
B Rocky Mount Red Sox Piedmont League Herb Brett
C Clarksdale Red Sox Cotton States League Leroy "Cowboy" Jones
C Canton Terriers Middle Atlantic League Floyd "Pat" Patterson
D Elizabethton Betsy Red Sox Appalachian League Hobe Brummette
D Danville-Schoolfield Leafs Bi-State League Red Barnes
D Centreville Colts Eastern Shore League Cap Clark[lower-alpha 1]

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Louisville, Scranton, Canton, Elizabethton, Danville-Schoolfield
Source:[7]

Notes

  1. Some sources also list "Dave Coble" as a Centreville manager during 1939.[5] 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.[6]

References

  1. 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.
  2. Kramer, Daniel (May 6, 2020). "8 HOFers you may have forgotten were traded". MLB.com. Retrieved May 7, 2020.
  3. "Herb Hash To Join Bosox Next Year". The Free Lance-Star. July 25, 1939. p. 1. Retrieved June 19, 2023.
  4. "3 Deals Made For Pitchers". The Windsor Daily Star. August 14, 1939. p. 2. Retrieved June 19, 2023.
  5. "1939 Centreville Colts Roster on StatsCrew.com". www.statscrew.com.
  6. "Dave Coble Minor Leagues Statistics & History". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved March 15, 2021.
  7. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007
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