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
American League (since 1901)
Location
Fenway Park (since 1912) Boston, Massachusetts (since 1901)
Results
Record	89–62 (.589)
League place	2nd (17 GB)
Other information
Owner(s)	Tom Yawkey
General manager(s)	Eddie Collins
Manager(s)	Joe Cronin
Local radio	WAAB (Frankie Frisch, Tom Hussey)
Stats	ESPN.com BB-reference
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Regular season

In 1939, the Boston Red Sox finished 9½ 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.

Season standings

American League	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
New York Yankees	106	45	0.702	—	52–25	54–20
Boston Red Sox	89	62	0.589	17	42–32	47–30
Cleveland Indians	87	67	0.565	20½	44–33	43–34
Chicago White Sox	86	69	0.555	22	50–27	36–42
Detroit Tigers	81	73	0.526	26½	42–35	39–38
Washington Senators	65	88	0.425	42	37–40	28–48
Philadelphia Athletics	55	97	0.362	51½	28–48	27–49
St. Louis Browns	43	111	0.279	64½	18–59	25–52

Record vs. opponents

1939 American League Records Sources:
Team	BOS	CWS	CLE	DET	NYY	PHI	STL	WSH
Boston	—	8–14	11–11	10–12	11–8–1	18–4	16–6	15–7
Chicago	14–8	—	12–10	12–10	4–18	11–11	18–4	14–8–1
Cleveland	11–11	10–12	—	11–11	7–15	18–4	16–6	14–8
Detroit	12–10	10–12	11–11	—	9–13	11–11	14–8–1	14–8
New York	8–11–1	18–4	15–7	13–9	—	18–4	19–3	15–7
Philadelphia	4–18	11–11	4–18	11–11	4–18	—	13–9–1	8–12
St. Louis	6–16	4–18	6–16	8–14–1	3–19	9–13–1	—	7–15
Washington	7–15	8–14–1	8–14	8–14	7–15	12–8	15–7	—

Opening Day lineup

8	Doc Cramer	CF
7	Joe Vosmik	LF
3	Jimmie Foxx	1B
4	Joe Cronin	SS
5	Jim Tabor	3B
9	Ted Williams	RF
1	Bobby Doerr	2B
2	Gene Desautels	C
10	Lefty Grove	P

Roster

1939 Boston Red Sox
Roster
Pitchers 13 Elden Auker 17 Jim Bagby 16 Emerson Dickman 11 Denny Galehouse 10 Lefty Grove 19 Joe Heving 15 Bill Lefebvre 21 Fritz Ostermueller 15 Woody Rich 17 Bill Sayles 12 Jake Wade 25 Charlie Wagner 25 Monte Weaver 18 Jack Wilson		Catchers 22 Moe Berg  2 Gene Desautels 23 Johnny Peacock Infielders  6 Boze Berger 14 Tom Carey  4 Joe Cronin  1 Bobby Doerr 26 Lou Finney  3 Jimmie Foxx  5 Jim Tabor		Outfielders  8 Doc Cramer 24 Red Nonnenkamp  7 Joe Vosmik  9 Ted Williams Other batters 26 Fabian Gaffke		Manager  4 Joe Cronin Coaches 22 Moe Berg 30 Tom Daly (Third base) 31 Hugh Duffy (First base)

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	Johnny Peacock	92	274	76	.277	0	36
1B	Jimmie Foxx	124	467	168	.360	35	105
2B	Bobby Doerr	127	525	167	.318	12	73
SS	Joe Cronin	143	520	160	.308	19	107
3B	Jim Tabor	149	577	167	.289	14	95
OF	Joe Vosmik	145	554	153	.276	7	84
OF	Doc Cramer	137	589	183	.311	0	56
OF	Ted Williams	149	565	185	.327	31	145

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 Finney	95	249	81	.325	1	46
Gene Desautels	76	226	55	.243	0	21
Tom Carey	54	161	39	.242	0	20
Red Nonnenkamp	58	75	18	.240	0	5
Moe Berg	14	33	9	.273	1	5
Boze Berger	20	30	9	.300	0	2
Fabian Gaffke	1	1	0	.000	0	1

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 Grove	23	191	15	4	2.54	81
Elden Auker	31	151	9	10	3.56	53

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 Wilson	36	177.1	11	11	4.67	80
Fritz Ostermueller	34	159.1	11	7	4.24	61
Denny Galehouse	30	146.2	9	10	4.54	68
Jim Bagby	21	80	5	5	7.09	35
Woody Rich	21	77	4	3	4.91	24
Jake Wade	20	47.2	1	4	6.23	21
Charlie Wagner	9	38.1	3	1	4.23	13
Bill LeFebvre	5	26.1	1	1	5.81	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
Emerson Dickman	48	8	3	6	4.43	46
Joe Heving	46	11	3	8	3.70	43
Monte Weaver	9	1	0	1	6.64	6
Bill Sayles	5	0	0	0	7.07	9
Jimmie Foxx	1	0	0	0	0.00	1

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-Scholfield Leafs	Bi-State League	Red Barnes
D	Centreville Colts	Eastern Shore League	Dave Scoble and Cap Clark

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Louisville, Scranton, Canton, Elizabethton, Danville-Scholfield[3]

Notes

1. Cole, Milton; Kaplan, Jim (2009). The Boston Red Sox: An Illustrated History. North Dighton, Massachusetts: World Publications Group. p. 26. ISBN 1-57215-412-8.
2. Kramer, Daniel (May 6, 2020). "8 HOFers you may have forgotten were traded". MLB.com. Retrieved May 7, 2020.
3. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007

References

• 1939 Boston Red Sox team page at Baseball Reference
• 1939 Boston Red Sox season at baseball-almanac.com