1955 Boston Red Sox
LeagueAmerican League
BallparkFenway Park
CityBoston, Massachusetts
Record84–70 (.545)
League place4th (12 GB)
OwnersTom Yawkey
PresidentTom Yawkey
General managersJoe Cronin
ManagersPinky Higgins
TelevisionWBZ-TV, Ch. 4 and WNAC-TV, Ch. 7
RadioWHDH-AM 850
(Curt Gowdy, Bob Murphy, Tom Hussey)
StatsESPN.com
BB-reference
← 1954 Seasons 1956 →

The 1955 Boston Red Sox season was the 55th season of franchise of Major League Baseball history. The Red Sox finished fourth in the American League (AL) with a record of 84 wins and 70 losses, 12 games behind the New York Yankees.

Offseason

Regular season

After finishing fourth — but 42 games behind the pennant-winning Cleveland Indians — in 1954, the 1955 Red Sox improved substantially, gaining 15 games in the win column (although again finishing fourth). The Red Sox played especially well throughout the early and middle parts of the season, seemingly in pennant contention for the first time since 1950. Much of the improvement was ascribed to rookie manager Pinky Higgins, promoted to Boston after eight years as a skipper in the team's farm system.

But the Red Sox' improvement on the field was overshadowed by the sudden illness and death, on June 27, of the team's sophomore first baseman, Harry Agganis. Perhaps the most celebrated Boston-area athlete of the 20th century, the Lynn, Massachusetts, native had starred in football as the quarterback of the Boston University Terriers before signing a professional baseball contract with the Red Sox. He was batting .313 in 83 at bats on June 2 when he was initially taken ill with pneumonia. He died less than four weeks later, at 26, of a massive pulmonary embolism.[2]

Season standings

American League 		W L Pct. GB Home Road
New York Yankees 96 58 0.623 — 52–25 44–33
Cleveland Indians 93 61 0.604 3 49–28 44–33
Chicago White Sox 91 63 0.591 5 49–28 42–35
Boston Red Sox 84 70 0.545 12 47–31 37–39
Detroit Tigers 79 75 0.513 17 46–31 33–44
Kansas City Athletics 63 91 0.409 33 33–43 30–48
Baltimore Orioles 57 97 0.370 39 30–47 27–50
Washington Senators 53 101 0.344 43 28–49 25–52

Record vs. opponents

1955 American League record

Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]
Team BAL BOS CWS CLE DET KCA NYY WSH
Baltimore — 8–14 10–12–1 3–19 9–13 10–12–1 3–19 14–8
Boston 14–8 — 9–13 11–11 13–9 14–8 8–14 15–7
Chicago 12–10–1 13–9 — 10–12 14–8 14–8 11–11 17–5
Cleveland 19–3 11–11 12–10 — 12–10 17–5 13–9 9–13
Detroit 13–9 9–13 8–14 10–12 — 12–10 10–12 17–5
Kansas City 12–10–1 8–14 8–14 5–17 10–12 — 7–15 13–9
New York 19–3 14–8 11–11 9–13 12–10 15–7 — 16–6
Washington 8–14 7–15 5–17 13–9 5–17 9–13 6–16 —


Opening Day lineup

10 Billy Goodman 2B
20 Eddie Joost SS
26 Faye Throneberry     LF
  4 Jackie Jensen RF
  8 Sammy White C
  3 Norm Zauchin 1B
12 Ted Lepcio 3B
37 Jimmy Piersall CF
18 Frank Sullivan P

Notable transactions

Roster

1955 Boston Red Sox
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders 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 143 544 142 .261 11 64
1B Norm Zauchin 130 477 114 .239 27 93
2B Billy Goodman 149 599 176 .294 0 52
SS Billy Klaus 135 541 153 .283 7 60
3B Grady Hatton 126 380 93 .245 4 49
LF Ted Williams 98 320 114 .356 28 83
CF Jim Piersall 149 515 146 .283 13 62
RF Jackie Jensen 152 574 158 .275 26 116

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 109 157 46 .293 3 18
Faye Throneberry 60 144 37 .257 6 27
Ted Lepcio 51 134 31 .231 6 15
Eddie Joost 55 119 23 .193 5 17
Harry Agganis 25 83 26 .313 0 10
Pete Daley 17 50 11 .220 0 5
Karl Olson 26 48 12 .250 0 1
Owen Friend 14 42 11 .262 0 2
Sam Mele 14 31 4 .129 0 1
Frank Malzone 6 20 7 .350 0 1
Dick Gernert 7 20 4 .200 0 1
Billy Consolo 8 18 4 .222 0 0
Haywood Sullivan 2 6 0 .000 0 0
Milt Bolling 6 5 1 .200 0 0
Jim Pagliaroni 1 0 0 ---- 0 1

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
Frank Sullivan 35 260.0 18 13 2.91 129
Willard Nixon 31 208.0 12 10 4.07 95
Tom Brewer 31 192.2 11 10 4.20 91

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
George Susce 29 144.1 9 7 3.06 60
Ike Delock 29 143.2 9 7 3.76 88
Bill Henry 17 59.2 2 4 3.32 23
Mel Parnell 13 46.0 2 3 7.83 18
Frank Baumann 7 34.0 2 1 5.82 27
Russ Kemmerer 7 17.1 1 1 7.27 13

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 43 5 5 18 2.84 31
Tom Hurd 43 8 6 5 3.01 48
Leo Kiely 33 3 3 6 2.80 36
Dick Brodowski 16 1 0 0 5.63 10
Hal Brown 2 1 0 0 2.25 2
Joe Trimble 2 0 0 0 0.00 1
Hersh Freeman 2 0 0 0 0.00 1
Bob Smith 1 0 0 0 0.00 1

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Louisville Colonels American Association Red Marion
A Montgomery Rebels Sally League Eddie Popowski and Fred Maguire
B Greensboro Patriots Carolina League Elmer Yoter
C San Jose Red Sox California League Sheriff Robinson
D Bluefield Blue-Grays Appalachian League Len Okrie
D Corning Red Sox PONY League Glenn Wright

[3]

References

  1. ^ a b Owen Friend page at Baseball Reference
  2. ^ Golenbock, Peter (2015). Red Sox Nation: The Rich and Colorful History of the Boston Red Sox (4th ed.). Chicago, Illinois: Triumph Books. pp. 205–209. ISBN 978-1-62937-050-7.
  3. ^ Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007

External links

1955 MLB season by team
Boston Red Sox
Categories