1950 Boston Red Sox
LeagueAmerican League
BallparkFenway Park
CityBoston, Massachusetts
Record94–60 (.610)
League place3rd (4 GB)
OwnersTom Yawkey
PresidentTom Yawkey
General managersJoe Cronin
ManagersJoe McCarthy, Steve O'Neill
TelevisionWBZ-TV/WNAC-TV
(Jim Britt, Tom Hussey, Bump Hadley)
RadioWHDH
(Jim Britt, Tom Hussey, Leo Egan)
StatsESPN.com
BB-reference
← 1949 Seasons 1951 →

The 1950 Boston Red Sox season was the 50th season in the franchise's Major League Baseball history. The Red Sox finished third in the American League (AL) with a record of 94 wins and 60 losses, four games behind the AL and World Series champion New York Yankees. This was the last time that the Red Sox won at least 90 games until their return to the World Series in 1967.

The team scored 1,027 runs, one of only six teams to score more than 1,000 runs in a season in the modern era (post-1900), and, along with the 1999 Cleveland Indians, are one of two teams to do so post-World War II.[1] The 1950 Red Sox compiled a .302 batting average, and remain the most recent major league team to record a .300 or higher team batting average for a season.[2]

In a game on June 8, the Red Sox set a major league record for total bases by a team in one game, which still stands. During their 29–4 win over the St. Louis Browns, the Red Sox collected 28 hits: 7 home runs, 1 triple, 9 doubles, and 11 singles for 60 total bases.[3][4] The Red Sox, who had already beaten the Browns 20–4 the day before, became only the second team since 1901 (after the 1925 Pittsburgh Pirates) to score 20 or more runs in consecutive games.[5][6]

Offseason

Trades and Transactions

Regular Season

Trades and Transactions

Season Standings

American League 		W L Pct. GB Home Road
New York Yankees 98 56 0.636 — 53–24 45–32
Detroit Tigers 95 59 0.617 3 50–30 45–29
Boston Red Sox 94 60 0.610 4 55–22 39–38
Cleveland Indians 92 62 0.597 6 49–28 43–34
Washington Senators 67 87 0.435 31 35–42 32–45
Chicago White Sox 60 94 0.390 38 35–42 25–52
St. Louis Browns 58 96 0.377 40 27–47 31–49
Philadelphia Athletics 52 102 0.338 46 29–48 23–54

Record vs. opponents

1950 American League record

Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]
Team BOS CWS CLE DET NYY PHA SLB WSH
Boston — 15–7 10–12 10–12 9–13 19–3 19–3 12–10
Chicago 7–15 — 8–14 6–16–2 8–14 11–11 12–10 8–14
Cleveland 12–10 14–8 — 13–9–1 8–14 17–5 13–9 15–7
Detroit 12–10 16–6–2 9–13–1 — 11–11 17–5 17–5 13–9
New York 13–9 14–8 14–8 11–11 — 15–7 17–5 14–8–1
Philadelphia 3–19 11–11 5–17 5–17 7–15 — 8–14 13–9
St. Louis 3–19 10–12 9–13 5–17 5–17 14–8 — 12–10
Washington 10–12 14–8 7–15 9–13 8–14–1 9–13 10–12 —


Opening Day lineup

  7 Dom DiMaggio     CF
  6 Johnny Pesky 3B
  9 Ted Williams LF
  5 Vern Stephens SS
  2 Al Zarilla RF
  1 Bobby Doerr 2B
10 Billy Goodman     1B
14 Matt Batts C
17 Mel Parnell P

Roster

1950 Boston Red Sox
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Other batters

Manager

Coaches

Player stats

Batting

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
C Birdie Tebbetts 79 268 83 .310 8 45
1B Walter Dropo 136 559 180 .322 34 144
2B Bobby Doerr 149 586 172 .294 27 120
SS Vern Stephens 149 628 185 .295 30 144
3B Johnny Pesky 127 490 153 .312 1 49
OF Al Zarilla 130 471 153 .325 9 74
OF Ted Williams 89 334 106 .317 28 97
OF Dom DiMaggio 141 588 193 .328 7 70

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
Billy Goodman 110 424 150 .354 4 68
Matt Batts 75 238 65 .273 4 34
Clyde Vollmer 57 169 48 .284 7 37
Tom Wright 54 107 34 .318 0 20
Buddy Rosar 27 84 25 .298 1 12
Tommy O'Brien 9 31 4 .129 0 3
Ken Keltner 13 28 9 .321 0 2
Lou Stringer 24 17 5 .294 0 2
Fred Hatfield 10 12 3 .250 0 2
Jim Piersall 6 11 4 .364 0 0
Charlie Maxwell 3 8 0 .000 0 0
Merl Combs 1 0 0 ---- 0 0
Bob Scherbarth 1 0 0 ---- 0 0

Pitching

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
Mel Parnell 40 249.0 18 10 3.61 93
Joe Dobson 39 206.2 15 10 4.18 81
Chuck Stobbs 32 169.1 12 7 5.10 78
Willard Nixon 22 101.1 8 6 6.04 57

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
Ellis Kinder 48 207.0 14 12 4.26 95
Mickey McDermott 38 130.0 7 3 5.19 96
Walt Masterson 33 129.1 8 6 5.64 60
Harry Taylor 3 19.0 2 0 1.42 8

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
Al Papai 16 4 2 2 6.75 19
Dick Littlefield 15 2 2 1 9.26 13
Charley Schanz 14 3 2 0 8.34 14
Earl Johnson 11 0 0 0 7.24 6
Jim McDonald 9 1 0 0 3.79 5
Gordie Mueller 8 0 0 0 10.29 1
Jim Suchecki 4 0 0 0 4.50 3
James Atkins 1 0 0 0 3.86 0
Dave Ferriss 1 0 0 0 18.00 1
Bob Gillespie 1 0 0 0 20.25 0
Frank Quinn 1 0 0 0 9.00 0
Phil Marchildon 1 0 0 0 6.75 0

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Louisville Colonels American Association Mike Ryba
AA Birmingham Barons Southern Association Pinky Higgins
A Scranton Red Sox Eastern League Jack Burns
B Roanoke Red Sox Piedmont League Red Marion
C San Jose Red Sox California League Marv Owen
C Oneonta Red Sox Canadian–American League Eddie Popowski
D Kinston Eagles Coastal Plain League Wally Millies
D Marion Red Sox Ohio–Indiana League George Susce and Elmer Yoter

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Roanoke, Marion[17]

References

  1. ^ Rochford, Jeremy (September 9, 2014). "The Last 1,000 Run Team". Striking Out Looking.
  2. ^ Ferkovich, Scott (December 29, 2016). "Will a baseball team ever hit .300 again?". vintagedetroit.com. Retrieved July 7, 2020.
  3. ^ "Boston Red Sox 29, St. Louis Browns 4". Retrosheet. June 8, 1950. Retrieved July 7, 2020.
  4. ^ "Team Batting Game Finder: From 1908 to 2018, (requiring TB>=50), sorted by greatest TB". Baseball Reference. Retrieved July 9, 2018.
  5. ^ "1950 Boston Red Sox Batting Game Log". Baseball Reference. Retrieved April 22, 2021.
  6. ^ "Team Batting Streak Finder: Consecutive games with Runs Scored >= 20, In the Regular Season, since 1901". Stathead Baseball. Retrieved April 22, 2021.
  7. ^ "Dick Gernert Signs With Boston Red Sox". Reading Eagle. October 24, 1949. p. 18.
  8. ^ "Sox Draft Rochester Pitcher; Braves Pass Up Minor Stars". The Boston Globe. Associated Press. November 18, 1949. p. 39.
  9. ^ "Sox Buy Papai (4─11) From Browns". The Boston Globe. Associated Press. December 2, 1949. p. 36.
  10. ^ "Red Sox Deny Kramer Railroaded Out American League: Couldn't Make Any Deals for Him In Their Own Circuit". Lewiston Sun Journal. Associated Press. February 27, 1950. p. 10. Retrieved August 7, 2023.
  11. ^ "Bosox Strengthen Bench By Signing Ken Keltner". Lewiston Daily Sun. Associated Press. April 15, 1950. p. 12.
  12. ^ Hurwitz, Hy (May 8, 1950). "Red Sox Trade O'Brien, Combs for Nats' Vollmer". The Boston Globe. p. 6.
  13. ^ "Dorish of Sox (He's a Pitcher) Sold to Browns". The Boston Globe. May 9, 1950. p. 20.
  14. ^ "Unable To Play". Wilmington Morning-Star. Associated Press. June 2, 1950. p. 10.
  15. ^ "Bosox Sign High School Outfielder". Lewiston Evening Journal. Associated Press. June 8, 1950. p. 20.
  16. ^ "Bosox Sign Youth Denied to Tigers". Windsor Daily Star. Associated Press. June 22, 1950. pp. 3 (Section 2).
  17. ^ Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007

External links


1950 MLB season by team
Boston Red Sox
Categories