1931 Boston Red Sox season

The 1931 Boston Red Sox season was the 31st season in the franchise's Major League Baseball history. The team's home field was Fenway Park. The Red Sox finished sixth in the American League (AL) with a record of 62 wins and 90 losses, 45 games behind the Philadelphia Athletics.

1931 Boston Red Sox
Major League affiliations
American League (since 1901)
Location
Fenway Park (since 1912) Boston, Massachusetts (since 1901)
Results
Record	62–90 (.408)
League place	6th (45 GB)
Other information
Owner(s)	J. A. Robert Quinn
Manager(s)	Shano Collins
Local radio	WNAC (Fred Hoey)
Stats	ESPN.com BB-reference
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The Red Sox played their Sunday home games at Braves Field this season, as had been the case since the team's 1929 season, due to Fenway being close to a house of worship. The team played a total of 15 home games at Braves Field during the 1931 season, all on Sundays.[1]

This was the first season that the Red Sox wore uniform numbers.[2]

Outfielder Earl Webb set the single-season mark of 67 doubles which is still a major league record to this day.

Regular season

Season standings

American League	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Philadelphia Athletics	107	45	0.704	—	60–15	47–30
New York Yankees	94	59	0.614	13½	51–25	43–34
Washington Senators	92	62	0.597	16	55–22	37–40
Cleveland Indians	78	76	0.506	30	45–31	33–45
St. Louis Browns	63	91	0.409	45	39–38	24–53
Boston Red Sox	62	90	0.408	45	39–40	23–50
Detroit Tigers	61	93	0.396	47	36–41	25–52
Chicago White Sox	56	97	0.366	51½	31–45	25–52

Record vs. opponents

1931 American League Records Sources:
Team	BOS	CWS	CLE	DET	NYY	PHI	STL	WSH
Boston	—	12–10–1	13–9	12–10	6–16	4–16	8–14	7–15
Chicago	10–12–1	—	7–15–1	11–11	6–15	3–19	12–10	7–15
Cleveland	9–13	15–7–1	—	13–9	13–9	4–18	16–6	8–14
Detroit	10–12	11–11	9–13	—	8–14	4–18	11–11	8–14
New York	16–6	15–6	9–13	14–8	—	11–11	16–6	13–9–1
Philadelphia	16–4	19–3	18–4	18–4	11–11	—	14–8	11–11–1
St. Louis	14–8	10–12	6–16	11–11	6–16	8–14	—	8–14
Washington	15–7	15–7	14–8	14–8	9–13–1	11–11–1	14–8	—

Opening Day lineup

4	Rabbit Warstler	SS
12	Russ Scarritt	LF
1	Bill Sweeney	1B
15	Earl Webb	RF
3	Jack Rothrock	3B
2	Bobby Reeves	2B
14	Tom Oliver	CF
9	Charlie Berry	C
31	Wilcy Moore	P

Roster

1931 Boston Red Sox
Roster
Pitchers 27 Jim Brillheart 25 Ed Durham 19 Milt Gaston 28 Bob Kline 24 Hod Lisenbee 21 Danny MacFayden 30 Jud McLaughlin 31 Wilcy Moore 23 Ed Morris 29 Walter Murphy 22 Jack Russell		Catchers  9 Charlie Berry 11 Ed Connolly 10 Muddy Ruel 16 Howie Storie Infielders  8 Pat Creeden  7 Ollie Marquardt 28 Marty McManus  5 Otto Miller 10 Marv Olson 34 Urbane Pickering  2 Bobby Reeves  6 Hal Rhyne  9 John Smith  1 Bill Sweeney  4 Rabbit Warstler		Outfielders 16 Johnny Lucas 14 Tom Oliver  3 Jack Rothrock 16 Gene Rye 12 Russ Scarritt 23 George Stumpf 17 Al Van Camp 15 Earl Webb 12 Tom Winsett Other batters  7 Bill Marshall 27 Bill McWilliams		Manager 32 Shano Collins Coaches -- Hugh Duffy 33 Rudy Hulswitt

This was the first season that the Red Sox wore uniform numbers.[3]

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
C	Charlie Berry	111	357	101	.283	6	49
1B	Bill Sweeney	131	498	147	.295	1	58
2B	Rabbit Warstler	66	181	44	.243	0	10
SS	Hal Rhyne	147	565	154	.273	0	51
3B	Otis L. Miller	107	389	106	.272	0	43
OF	Jack Rothrock	133	475	132	.278	4	42
OF	Tom Oliver	148	586	162	.276	0	70
OF	Earl Webb	151	589	196	.333	14	103

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
Urbane Pickering	103	341	86	.252	9	52
Al Van Camp	101	324	89	.275	0	33
Ed Connolly	42	93	7	.075	0	3
Bobby Reeves	36	84	14	.167	0	1
Muddy Ruel	33	83	25	.301	0	6
Tom Winsett	64	76	15	.197	1	7
Marty McManus	17	62	18	.290	1	9
Marv Olson	15	53	10	.189	0	5
Ollie Marquardt	17	39	7	.179	0	2
Gene Rye	17	39	7	.179	0	1
Russ Scarritt	10	39	6	.154	0	1
George Stumpf	7	28	7	.250	0	4
Howie Storie	6	17	2	.118	0	0
John Smith	4	15	2	.133	0	1
Johnny Lucas	3	2	0	.000	0	0
Bill McWilliams	2	2	0	.000	0	0
Bill Marshall	1	0	0	---	0	0

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
Jack Russell	36	232	10	18	5.16	45
Danny MacFayden	35	230.2	16	12	4.02	74
Milt Gaston	23	119	2	13	4.46	33

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
Wilcy Moore	53	185.1	11	13	3.88	37
Ed Durham	38	165.1	8	10	4.25	53
Hod Lisenbee	41	164.2	5	12	5.19	42
Ed Morris	37	130.2	5	7	4.75	46
Bob Kline	28	98	5	5	4.41	25

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
Jim Brillheart	11	0	0	0	5.49	7
Jud McLaughlin	9	0	0	0	12.00	3
Walter Murphy	2	0	0	0	9.00	0
Bobby Reeves	1	0	0	0	3.68	0

References

1. "1931 Log For Braves Field in Boston, MA". Retrosheet. Retrieved September 18, 2019.
2. "Baseball Uniform Numbers". Baseball Almanac. Retrieved September 18, 2019.
3. Nevard, David. "The Evocative Power of Mere Cloth Numerals". buffalohead.org. Larry McCray. Retrieved September 24, 2018.

External links

• 1931 Boston Red Sox team page at Baseball Reference
• 1931 Boston Red Sox season at baseball-almanac.com