1950 Boston Red Sox season

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 would win at least 90 games until their return to the World Series in 1967.

1950 Boston Red Sox
Major League affiliations
American League (since 1901)
Location
Fenway Park (since 1912) Boston, Massachusetts (since 1901)
Results
Record	94–60 (.610)
League place	3rd (4 GB)
Other information
Owner(s)	Tom Yawkey
General manager(s)	Joe Cronin
Manager(s)	Joe McCarthy, Steve O'Neill
Local television	WBZ-TV/WNAC-TV (Jim Britt, Tom Hussey, Bump Hadley)
Local radio	WHDH (Jim Britt, Tom Hussey, Leo Egan)
Stats	ESPN.com BB-reference
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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]

Regular season

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 Records Sources:
Team	BOS	CWS	CLE	DET	NYY	PHI	STL	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 12 James Atkins 15 Joe Dobson 33 Dave Ferriss 21 Bob Gillespie 12 Earl Johnson 16 Ellis Kinder 34 Dick Littlefield 26 Phil Marchildon 20 Walt Masterson 19 Mickey McDermott 26 Jim McDonald 25 Gordie Mueller 21 Willard Nixon 34 Al Papai 17 Mel Parnell 26 Frank Quinn 18 Charley Schanz 22 Chuck Stobbs 37 Jim Suchecki 35 Harry Taylor		Catchers 14 Matt Batts 11 Buddy Rosar 39 Bob Scherbarth  8 Birdie Tebbetts Infielders  1 Bobby Doerr  3 Walt Dropo 39 Fred Hatfield  4 Ken Keltner  6 Johnny Pesky  5 Vern Stephens 27 Lou Stringer		Outfielders  7 Dom DiMaggio 37 Charlie Maxwell 10 Billy Goodman 23 Tommy O'Brien 24 Jimmy Piersall 23 Clyde Vollmer  9 Ted Williams 28 Tom Wright  2 Al Zarilla Other batters 24 Merl Combs		Manager -- Joe McCarthy 30 Steve O'Neill Coaches 32 Earle Combs (First base) 30 Steve O'Neill (Third base) 31 Paul Schreiber (Hitting) 29 Johnny Schulte (Bullpen) 36 George Susce (Bullpen)

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	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	.000	0	0
Bob Scherbarth	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
Mel Parnell	40	249	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	14	12	4.26	95
Mickey McDermott	38	130	7	3	5.19	96
Walt Masterson	33	129.1	8	6	5.64	60
Harry Taylor	3	19	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

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[5]

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. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007

External links

• 1950 Boston Red Sox team page at Baseball Reference
• 1950 Boston Red Sox season at baseball-almanac.com