1955 Boston Red Sox season

1955 Boston Red Sox
Major League affiliations
Location
Other information
Owner(s) Tom Yawkey
General manager(s) Joe Cronin
Manager(s) Pinky Higgins
Local television WBZ-TV, Ch. 4 and WNAC-TV, Ch. 7
Local radio WHDH-AM 850
(Curt Gowdy, Bob Murphy, Tom Hussey)
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The 1955 Boston Red Sox season involved the Red Sox finishing 4th in the American League with a record of 84 wins and 70 losses.

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.

Season standings

American League W L Pct. GB
New York Yankees 96 58 .623 --
Cleveland Indians 93 61 .604 3
Chicago White Sox 91 63 .591 5
Boston Red Sox 84 70 .545 12
Detroit Tigers 79 75 .513 17
Kansas City Athletics 63 91 .409 33
Baltimore Orioles 57 97 .370 39
Washington Senators 53 101 .344 43

Record vs. opponents

1955 American League Records

Sources:

Team BAL BOS CWS CLE DET KC 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
2B Goodman, BillyBilly Goodman 149 599 176 .294 0 52

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
Agganis, HarryHarry Agganis 25 83 26 .313 0 10
Friend, OwenOwen Friend 14 42 11 .262 0 2

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
Brewer, TomTom 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
Baumann, FrankFrank Baumann 7 34 2 1 0.00 1

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
Brodowski, DickDick Brodowski 16 1 0 0 5.63 10
Smith, BobBob Smith 1 0 0 0 0.00 1

Farm system

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

[2]

Notes

  1. 1 2 Owen Friend page at Baseball Reference
  2. ↑ Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007

References

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