1953 Boston Red Sox season

1953  Boston Red Sox
League	American League
Ballpark	Fenway Park
City	Boston, Massachusetts
Record	84–69 (.549)
League place	4th (16 GB)
Owners	Tom Yawkey
President	Tom Yawkey
General managers	Joe Cronin
Managers	Lou Boudreau
Television	WBZ-TV, Ch. 4 and WNAC-TV, Ch. 7
Radio	WHDH-AM 850 (Curt Gowdy, Bob DeLaney, Tom Hussey)
Stats	ESPN.com BB-reference
←  1952 Seasons 1954  →

The 1953 Boston Red Sox season was the 53rd season in the franchise's Major League Baseball history. The Red Sox finished fourth in the American League (AL) with a record of 84 wins and 69 losses, 16 games behind the New York Yankees, who went on to win the 1953 World Series.

Offseason

• November 28, 1952: Harry Agganis signs with the Red Sox. ^[1]
• December 1, 1952: The Red Sox draft Jack Merson from the Hollywood Stars for $15,000. ^[2]
• January 7, 1953: Pitcher Al Benton is assigned by the Red Sox to the San Diego Padres. ^[3]
• February 9, 1953: Vern Stephens was traded by the Red Sox to the Chicago White Sox for Marv Grissom, Hal Brown and Bill Kennedy. ^[4]

Regular season

• May 12, 1953: Outfielder Dom DiMaggio retires from professional baseball after manager Lou Boudreau decided to promote Tom Umphlett to be the regular Red Sox centerfielder; weeks earlier, according to DiMaggio, he had informed General Manager Joe Cronin that he should be traded or made regular centerfielder otherwise he would retire, after Cronin refused to do either, DiMaggio decided to retire. ^[5]
• June 18, 1953: Sammy White scored three runs in one inning for the Red Sox. ^[6] The Red Sox defeated the Detroit Tigers, 23–3 at Fenway Park.

Transactions

• April 23, 1953: The Washington Senators purchase outfielder Clyde Vollmer from the Red Sox. ^[7]
• May 13, 1953: The Red Sox purchase infielder Floyd Baker from the Washington Senators. ^[8]
• July 1, 1953: Marv Grissom was selected off waivers from the Red Sox by the New York Giants. ^[4]
• September 8, 1953: Shortstop Johnny Lipon is sold by the Red Sox to the St. Louis Browns on a waiver deal. ^[9]

Season standings

v t e American League	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
New York Yankees	99	52	0.656	—	50–27	49–25
Cleveland Indians	92	62	0.597	8½	53–24	39–38
Chicago White Sox	89	65	0.578	11½	41–36	48–29
Boston Red Sox	84	69	0.549	16	38–38	46–31
Washington Senators	76	76	0.500	23½	39–36	37–40
Detroit Tigers	60	94	0.390	40½	30–47	30–47
Philadelphia Athletics	59	95	0.383	41½	27–50	32–45
St. Louis Browns	54	100	0.351	46½	23–54	31–46

Record vs. opponents

1953 American League record v t e Sources:
Team	BOS	CWS	CLE	DET	NYY	PHA	SLB	WSH
Boston	—	6–16	13–9	13–9	10–11	15–7	17–5	10–12
Chicago	16–6	—	11–11–1	14–8–1	9–13	10–12	17–5	12–10
Cleveland	9–13	11–11–1	—	14–8	11–11	19–3	17–5	11–11
Detroit	9–13	8–14–1	8–14	—	6–16	11–11–3	7–15	11–11
New York	11–10	13–9	11–11	16–6	—	17–5	17–5	14–6
Philadelphia	7–15	12–10	3–19	11–11–3	5–17	—	13–9	8–14
St. Louis	5–17	5–17	5–17	15–7	5–17	9–13	—	10–12
Washington	12–10	10–12	11–11	11–11	6–14	14–8	12–10	—

Opening Day lineup

10	Billy Goodman	2B
37	Jimmy Piersall	RF
36	Gene Stephens	LF
3	Dick Gernert	1B
1	George Kell	3B
22	Sammy White	C
38	Tom Umphlett	CF
2	Milt Bolling	SS
17	Mel Parnell	P

Roster

1953 Boston Red Sox roster
Roster
Pitchers 27 Hal Brown 15 Ike Delock 25 Ben Flowers 23 Hersh Freeman 15 Marv Grissom 28 Bill Henry 14 Ken Holcombe 20 Sid Hudson 18 Bill Kennedy 16 Ellis Kinder 19 Mickey McDermott 21 Willard Nixon 17 Mel Parnell 18 Frank Sullivan 28 Bill Werle		Catchers 11 Gus Niarhos 22 Sammy White 33 Del Wilber Infielders 29 Floyd Baker  2 Milt Bolling  8 Billy Consolo  3 Dick Gernert 10 Billy Goodman  1 George Kell  5 Ted Lepcio  6 Johnny Lipon 12 Jack Merson 35 Al Richter		Outfielders 31 Hoot Evers 34 Karl Olson 37 Jimmy Piersall 36 Gene Stephens 38 Tom Umphlett  9 Ted Williams 32 Al Zarilla Other batters  7 Dom DiMaggio 30 Clyde Vollmer		Manager  4 Lou Boudreau Coaches 41 Del Baker (First base) 40 Bill McKechnie (Pitching) 42 Ski Melillo (Third base) 45 Paul Schreiber (Hitting) 43 George Susce (Bullpen)

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
C	Sammy White	136	476	130	.273	13	64
1B	Dick Gernert	139	494	125	.253	21	71
2B	Billy Goodman	128	514	161	.313	2	41
SS	Milt Bolling	109	323	85	.263	5	28
3B	George Kell	134	460	141	.307	12	73
OF	Hoot Evers	99	300	72	.240	11	31
OF	Jim Piersall	151	585	159	.272	3	52
OF	Tom Umphlett	137	495	140	.283	3	59

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
Gene Stephens	78	221	45	.204	3	18
Floyd Baker	81	172	47	.273	0	24
Ted Lepcio	66	161	38	.236	4	11
Johnny Lipon	60	145	31	.214	0	13
Del Wilber	58	112	27	.241	7	29
Ted Williams	37	91	37	.407	13	34
Al Zarilla	57	67	13	.194	0	4
Billy Consolo	47	65	14	.215	1	6
Karl Olson	25	57	7	.123	1	6
Gus Niarhos	16	35	7	.200	0	2
Jack Merson	1	4	0	.000	0	0
Dom DiMaggio	3	3	1	.333	0	0
Clyde Vollmer	1	0	0	----	0	0
Al Richter	1	0	0	----	0	0

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
Mel Parnell	38	241.0	21	8	3.06	136
Mickey McDermott	32	206.1	18	10	3.01	92
Hal Brown	30	166.1	11	6	4.65	62
Willard Nixon	23	116.2	4	8	3.93	57
Marv Grissom	13	59.1	2	6	4.70	31

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
Sid Hudson	30	156.0	6	9	3.52	60
Bill Henry	21	85.2	5	5	3.26	56
Ben Flowers	32	79.1	1	4	3.86	36

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
Ellis Kinder	69	10	6	27	1.85	39
Ike Delock	23	3	1	1	4.44	22
Hersh Freeman	18	1	4	0	5.54	15
Bill Kennedy	16	0	0	2	3.70	14
Frank Sullivan	14	1	1	0	5.61	17
Bill Werle	5	0	1	0	1.54	4
Ken Holcombe	3	1	0	1	6.00	1

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Louisville Colonels	American Association	Pinky Higgins
A	Albany Senators	Eastern League	Jack Burns and Elmer Yoter
B	Greensboro Patriots	Carolina League	Eddie Popowski
B	Roanoke Ro-Sox	Piedmont League	Elmer Yoter
C	San Jose Red Sox	California League	Red Marion and Joe Stephenson
D	Salisbury Rocots	Tar Heel League	Sheriff Robinson

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: San Jose

Roanoke club folded, July 24, 1953

References

1. "BoSox Ink Grid Star". St. Petersburg Times . November 29, 1952. p. 10. Retrieved June 2, 2023.
2. "Major Draft Selects 11 Players". The Spokesman-Review . p. 13. Retrieved June 2, 2023.
3. "Padres Get Pitcher". Spokane Daily Chronicle . January 7, 1953. p. 17. Retrieved June 2, 2023.
4. Marv Grissom at Baseball-Reference
5. Golenbock, Peter (2015). Red Sox Nation: The Rich and Colorful History of the Boston Red Sox (4th ed.). Chicago, Illinois: Triumph Books. pp. 195–196. ISBN   978-1-62937-050-7.
6. Baseball Digest, April 1984
7. "Senators Buy Clyde Vollmer". The Vancouver Sun . April 23, 1953. p. 14. Retrieved June 2, 2023.
8. "Players Shifted To Meet Deadline". The Southeast Missourian . May 13, 1953. p. 5. Retrieved June 2, 2023.
9. "Red Sox Sell Lipon". The Montreal Gazette . September 9, 1953. p. 19. Retrieved June 2, 2023.

External links

• Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (1997). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (2nd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America. ISBN   978-0-9637189-8-3.
• 1953 Boston Red Sox team at Baseball-Reference
• 1953 Boston Red Sox season at baseball-almanac.com