1953 Boston Red Sox
LeagueAmerican League
BallparkFenway Park
CityBoston, Massachusetts
Record84–69 (.549)
League place4th (16 GB)
OwnersTom Yawkey
PresidentTom Yawkey
General managersJoe Cronin
ManagersLou Boudreau
TelevisionWBZ-TV, Ch. 4 and WNAC-TV, Ch. 7
RadioWHDH-AM 850
(Curt Gowdy, Bob DeLaney, Tom Hussey)
StatsESPN.com
BB-reference
← 1952 Seasons 1954 →

The 1953 Boston Red Sox season was the 53rd season in the franchise's Major League Baseball history. The Red Sox finished fourth in the American League (AL) with a record of 84 wins and 69 losses, 16 games behind the New York Yankees, who went on to win the 1953 World Series.

Offseason

Regular season

Transactions

Season standings

American League 		W L Pct. GB Home Road
New York Yankees 99 52 0.656 — 50–27 49–25
Cleveland Indians 92 62 0.597 8½ 53–24 39–38
Chicago White Sox 89 65 0.578 11½ 41–36 48–29
Boston Red Sox 84 69 0.549 16 38–38 46–31
Washington Senators 76 76 0.500 23½ 39–36 37–40
Detroit Tigers 60 94 0.390 40½ 30–47 30–47
Philadelphia Athletics 59 95 0.383 41½ 27–50 32–45
St. Louis Browns 54 100 0.351 46½ 23–54 31–46

Record vs. opponents

1953 American League record

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


Opening Day lineup

10 Billy Goodman 2B
37 Jimmy Piersall     RF
36 Gene Stephens LF
  3 Dick Gernert 1B
  1 George Kell 3B
22 Sammy White C
38 Tom Umphlett CF
  2 Milt Bolling SS
17 Mel Parnell P

Roster

1953 Boston Red Sox roster
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 Sammy White 136 476 130 .273 13 64
1B Dick Gernert 139 494 125 .253 21 71
2B Billy Goodman 128 514 161 .313 2 41
SS Milt Bolling 109 323 85 .263 5 28
3B George Kell 134 460 141 .307 12 73
OF Hoot Evers 99 300 72 .240 11 31
OF Jim Piersall 151 585 159 .272 3 52
OF Tom Umphlett 137 495 140 .283 3 59

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
Gene Stephens 78 221 45 .204 3 18
Floyd Baker 81 172 47 .273 0 24
Ted Lepcio 66 161 38 .236 4 11
Johnny Lipon 60 145 31 .214 0 13
Del Wilber 58 112 27 .241 7 29
Ted Williams 37 91 37 .407 13 34
Al Zarilla 57 67 13 .194 0 4
Billy Consolo 47 65 14 .215 1 6
Karl Olson 25 57 7 .123 1 6
Gus Niarhos 16 35 7 .200 0 2
Jack Merson 1 4 0 .000 0 0
Dom DiMaggio 3 3 1 .333 0 0
Clyde Vollmer 1 0 0 ---- 0 0
Al Richter 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 38 241.0 21 8 3.06 136
Mickey McDermott 32 206.1 18 10 3.01 92
Hal Brown 30 166.1 11 6 4.65 62
Willard Nixon 23 116.2 4 8 3.93 57
Marv Grissom 13 59.1 2 6 4.70 31

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
Sid Hudson 30 156.0 6 9 3.52 60
Bill Henry 21 85.2 5 5 3.26 56
Ben Flowers 32 79.1 1 4 3.86 36

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
Ellis Kinder 69 10 6 27 1.85 39
Ike Delock 23 3 1 1 4.44 22
Hersh Freeman 18 1 4 0 5.54 15
Bill Kennedy 16 0 0 2 3.70 14
Frank Sullivan 14 1 1 0 5.61 17
Bill Werle 5 0 1 0 1.54 4
Ken Holcombe 3 1 0 1 6.00 1

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Louisville Colonels American Association Pinky Higgins
A Albany Senators Eastern League Jack Burns and Elmer Yoter
B Greensboro Patriots Carolina League Eddie Popowski
B Roanoke Ro-Sox Piedmont League Elmer Yoter
C San Jose Red Sox California League Red Marion and Joe Stephenson
D Salisbury Rocots Tar Heel League Sheriff Robinson

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: San Jose

Roanoke club folded, July 24, 1953

References

  1. ^ "BoSox Ink Grid Star". St. Petersburg Times. November 29, 1952. p. 10. Retrieved June 2, 2023.
  2. ^ "Major Draft Selects 11 Players". The Spokesman-Review. p. 13. Retrieved June 2, 2023.
  3. ^ "Padres Get Pitcher". Spokane Daily Chronicle. January 7, 1953. p. 17. Retrieved June 2, 2023.
  4. ^ a b Marv Grissom at Baseball-Reference
  5. ^ Golenbock, Peter (2015). Red Sox Nation: The Rich and Colorful History of the Boston Red Sox (4th ed.). Chicago, Illinois: Triumph Books. pp. 195–196. ISBN 978-1-62937-050-7.
  6. ^ Baseball Digest, April 1984
  7. ^ "Senators Buy Clyde Vollmer". The Vancouver Sun. April 23, 1953. p. 14. Retrieved June 2, 2023.
  8. ^ "Players Shifted To Meet Deadline". The Southeast Missourian. May 13, 1953. p. 5. Retrieved June 2, 2023.
  9. ^ "Red Sox Sell Lipon". The Montreal Gazette. September 9, 1953. p. 19. Retrieved June 2, 2023.

External links


1953 MLB season by team
Boston Red Sox
Categories