1945 Boston Red Sox season
1945 Boston Red Sox | ||
---|---|---|
League | American League | |
Ballpark | Fenway Park | |
City | Boston, Massachusetts | |
Record | 71–83 (.461) | |
League place | 7th (17+1⁄2 GB) | |
Owners | Tom Yawkey | |
President | Tom Yawkey | |
General managers | Eddie Collins | |
Managers | Joe Cronin | |
Radio | WNAC (Jim Britt, Tom Hussey, George Hartrick) | |
Stats | ESPN.com BB-reference | |
|
The 1945 Boston Red Sox season was the 45th season in the franchise's Major League Baseball history. The Red Sox finished seventh in the American League (AL) with a record of 71 wins and 83 losses, 17+1⁄2 games behind the Detroit Tigers, who went on to win the 1945 World Series.
Offseason
[edit]- Prior to 1945 season: Tom Poholsky was signed as an amateur free agent by the Red Sox.[1]
- November 13, 1944: The Athletics sell catcher Bob Garbark to the Louisville Colonels for an undisclosed sum.[2]
Regular season
[edit]- April 1945: At the urging of Boston City Councillor Isadore H. Y. Muchnick and with the active involvement of noted African American journalist Wendell Smith, General Manager Eddie Collins allowed three players from the Negro leagues to try out for the Red Sox. The players included Sam Jethroe from the Cleveland Buckeyes, Marvin Williams from the Philadelphia Stars, and Jackie Robinson from the Kansas City Monarchs.[3]
- August 14, 1945: Handicapped Washington Senators coach Bert Shepard pitched in a game against the Red Sox. Shepard, who had an artificial leg, managed to give up only one run in five innings to the Red Sox.[4]
Transactions
[edit]- May 25: The Chicago Cubs claim outfielder Lloyd Christopher off of waivers from the Red Sox.[5]
- May 28: The Cincinnati Reds claim pitcher Joe Bowman off of waivers from the Red Sox.[6]
- May 31: The Philadelphia Phillies claim pitcher Oscar Judd off of waivers from the Red Sox.[7]
- June 16: Dolph Camilli announces that he has signed for the Red Sox to play as first baseman.[8]
- July 27: The St. Louis Browns purchase Lou Finney from the Red Sox.[9]
Season standings
[edit]Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Detroit Tigers | 88 | 65 | .575 | — | 50–26 | 38–39 |
Washington Senators | 87 | 67 | .565 | 1½ | 46–31 | 41–36 |
St. Louis Browns | 81 | 70 | .536 | 6 | 47–27 | 34–43 |
New York Yankees | 81 | 71 | .533 | 6½ | 48–28 | 33–43 |
Cleveland Indians | 73 | 72 | .503 | 11 | 44–33 | 29–39 |
Chicago White Sox | 71 | 78 | .477 | 15 | 44–29 | 27–49 |
Boston Red Sox | 71 | 83 | .461 | 17½ | 42–35 | 29–48 |
Philadelphia Athletics | 52 | 98 | .347 | 34½ | 39–35 | 13–63 |
Record vs. opponents
[edit]Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Team | BOS | CWS | CLE | DET | NYY | PHA | SLB | WSH | |||||
Boston | — | 9–13 | 11–11 | 12–10–1 | 6–16 | 14–8 | 8–14–1 | 11–11–1 | |||||
Chicago | 13–9 | — | 11–8–1 | 10–12 | 9–12 | 12–10 | 8–13 | 8–14 | |||||
Cleveland | 11–11 | 8–11–1 | — | 11–11 | 12–9 | 12–6–1 | 11–10 | 8–14 | |||||
Detroit | 10–12–1 | 12–10 | 11–11 | — | 15–7 | 15–7–1 | 15–6 | 10–12 | |||||
New York | 16–6 | 12–9 | 9–12 | 7–15 | — | 16–6 | 7–15 | 14–8 | |||||
Philadelphia | 8–14 | 10–12 | 6–12–1 | 7–15–1 | 6–16 | — | 10–12–1 | 5–17 | |||||
St. Louis | 14–8–1 | 13–8 | 10–11 | 6–15 | 15–7 | 12–10–1 | — | 11–11–1 | |||||
Washington | 11–11–1 | 14–8 | 14–8 | 12–10 | 8–14 | 17–5 | 11–11–1 | — |
Opening Day lineup
[edit]16 | Ben Steiner | 2B |
2 | Catfish Metkovich | 1B |
15 | Pete Fox | RF |
8 | Bob Johnson | LF |
4 | Joe Cronin | 3B |
11 | Leon Culberson | CF |
6 | Skeeter Newsome | SS |
26 | Fred Walters | C |
31 | Rex Cecil | P |
Roster
[edit]1945 Boston Red Sox | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Roster | |||||||||
Pitchers
| Catchers
Infielders
| Outfielders
Other batters | Manager Coaches
|
Player stats
[edit]Batting
[edit]Starters by position
[edit]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 | Bob Garbark | 68 | 199 | 52 | .261 | 0 | 17 |
1B | George Metkovich | 138 | 539 | 140 | .260 | 5 | 62 |
2B | Skeeter Newsome | 125 | 438 | 127 | .290 | 1 | 48 |
SS | Eddie Lake | 133 | 473 | 132 | .279 | 11 | 51 |
3B | Jackie Tobin | 84 | 278 | 70 | .252 | 0 | 21 |
OF | Leon Culberson | 97 | 331 | 91 | .275 | 6 | 45 |
OF | Johnny Lazor | 101 | 335 | 104 | .310 | 5 | 45 |
OF | Bob Johnson | 143 | 529 | 148 | .280 | 12 | 74 |
Other batters
[edit]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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tom McBride | 100 | 344 | 105 | .305 | 1 | 47 |
Ben Steiner | 78 | 304 | 78 | .257 | 3 | 20 |
Pete Fox | 66 | 208 | 51 | .245 | 0 | 20 |
Ty LaForest | 52 | 204 | 51 | .250 | 2 | 16 |
Dolph Camilli | 63 | 198 | 42 | .212 | 2 | 19 |
Jim Bucher | 52 | 151 | 34 | .225 | 0 | 11 |
Billy Holm | 58 | 135 | 25 | .185 | 0 | 9 |
Fred Walters | 40 | 93 | 16 | .172 | 0 | 5 |
Red Steiner | 26 | 59 | 12 | .203 | 0 | 4 |
Frankie Pytlak | 9 | 17 | 2 | .118 | 0 | 0 |
Loyd Christopher | 8 | 14 | 4 | .286 | 0 | 4 |
Joe Cronin | 3 | 8 | 3 | .375 | 0 | 1 |
Nick Polly | 4 | 7 | 1 | .143 | 0 | 1 |
Lou Finney | 2 | 2 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
Pitching
[edit]Starting pitchers
[edit]Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Dave Ferriss | 35 | 264.2 | 21 | 10 | 2.96 | 94 |
Jim Wilson | 23 | 144.1 | 6 | 8 | 3.30 | 50 |
Emmett O'Neill | 24 | 141.2 | 8 | 11 | 5.15 | 55 |
Randy Heflin | 20 | 102.0 | 4 | 10 | 4.06 | 39 |
Otey Clark | 12 | 82.0 | 4 | 4 | 3.07 | 20 |
Rex Cecil | 7 | 45.0 | 2 | 5 | 5.20 | 30 |
Joe Bowman | 3 | 11.2 | 0 | 2 | 9.26 | 0 |
Clem Dreisewerd | 2 | 9.2 | 0 | 1 | 4.66 | 3 |
Other pitchers
[edit]Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Clem Hausmann | 31 | 125.0 | 5 | 7 | 5.04 | 30 |
Mike Ryba | 34 | 123.0 | 7 | 6 | 2.49 | 44 |
Pinky Woods | 24 | 107.1 | 4 | 7 | 4.19 | 36 |
Vic Johnson | 26 | 85.1 | 6 | 4 | 4.01 | 21 |
Yank Terry | 12 | 56.2 | 0 | 4 | 4.13 | 28 |
Oscar Judd | 2 | 6.1 | 0 | 1 | 8.53 | 5 |
Relief pitchers
[edit]Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Frank Barrett | 37 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2.62 | 35 |
Farm system
[edit]Level | Team | League | Manager |
---|---|---|---|
AA | Louisville Colonels | American Association | Nemo Leibold |
A | Scranton Red Sox | Eastern League | Elmer Yoter |
B | Roanoke Red Sox | Piedmont League | Eddie Popowski |
C | Durham Bulls | Carolina League | Floyd "Pat" Patterson |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Louisville[10]
References
[edit]- ^ Tom Poholsky page at Baseball Reference
- ^ "Mack Sells Garbark To Louisville Colonels". The Montreal Gazette. AP. November 14, 1944. p. 17.
- ^ Opening Day: The Story of Jackie Robinson's First Season, p. 136, Jonathan Eig, Simon & Schuster, 2007, New York, ISBN 978-0-7432-9461-4
- ^ Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p.193, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, ISBN 978-0-451-22363-0
- ^ "Red Sox Roster Reduced". St. Petersburg Times. AP. May 26, 1945. p. 12.
- ^ "Bosox Sell Bowman To Reds". Spartanburg Herald-Journal. AP. May 29, 1945. p. 5.
- ^ "Phillies Buy Judd From Boston Red Sox". The Montreal Gazette. AP. June 1, 1945. p. 17.
- ^ "Camilli to Join Red Sox June 25". The Pittsburgh Press. UP. June 17, 1945. p. 25.
- ^ "Brownies Buy Finney". Youngstown Vindicator. July 28, 1945. p. 8.
- ^ Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007