1938 Boston Red Sox season explained

Boston Red Sox
Season:	1938
League:	American League
Ballpark:	Fenway Park
City:	Boston, Massachusetts
Record:	88–61 (.591)
League Place:	2nd (GB)
Owners:	Tom Yawkey
President:	Tom Yawkey
General Managers:	Eddie Collins
Managers:	Joe Cronin
Radio:	WAAB (Fred Hoey)
Espntn:	bos
Brtn:	BOS

The 1938 Boston Red Sox season was the 38th season in the franchise's Major League Baseball history. The Red Sox finished second in the American League (AL) with a record of 88 wins and 61 losses, games behind the New York Yankees, who went on to win the 1938 World Series.

Red Sox first baseman Jimmie Foxx had a .349 batting average with 50 home runs and 175 runs batted in; he was named the AL Most Valuable Player.^[1]

Offseason

• December 2, 1937: Red Kress, Buster Mills and Bobo Newsom were traded by the Red Sox to the St. Louis Browns for Joe Vosmik.^[2]

On December 6, 1937, the Red Sox purchased outfielder Ted Williams from the Pacific Coast League San Diego Padres for $25,000 and four minor league players, with the deal announced the following day on December 7.^[3]

Regular season

The 1938 Boston Red Sox finished higher than any other Sox team since 1918.^[4] The Red Sox finished in second place with 88 wins and 61 losses, finishing games behind the New York Yankees.^[4] Jimmie Foxx led the American League with a .349 batting average, 50 home runs and 175 RBIs, becoming the first player to win three American League MVP Awards.^[5]

Opening Day lineup

8		CF
7		LF
3		1B
4		SS
5		3B
9		RF
1		2B
2	Gene Desautels	C
17		P

Roster

1938 Boston Red Sox
Roster
Pitchers		CatchersInfielders		Outfielders		ManagerCoaches (Third base) (Pitching)

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		108	333	97	.291	2	48
1B		149	565	197	.349	50	175
2B		145	509	147	.289	5	80
SS		143	530	172	.325	17	94
3B		139	524	159	.303	5	106
OF		146	621	201	.324	9	86
OF		148	658	198	.301	0	71
OF		127	480	163	.340	6	80

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
	72	195	59	.303	1	39
	87	180	51	.283	0	18
	46	96	15	.156	0	7
	19	57	18	.316	1	8
	10	12	4	.333	0	0
	15	10	1	.100	0	1

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
	37	194.2	15	15	4.30	96
	24	163.2	14	4	3.08	99
	15	92.1	5	6	4.09	25
	16	82.0	8	1	3.73	34
	13	80.1	5	5	4.03	26

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
	43	198.2	15	11	4.21	73
	31	176.2	13	5	4.58	46
	32	104.0	5	5	5.28	22
	37	99.2	5	4	4.52	27
	13	36.2	1	3	8.35	14
	13	35.1	1	1	5.09	10
	14	27.2	1	1	6.51	7

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
	3	0	0	0	9.39	2
	2	0	0	0	6.43	2
	1	0	0	0	4.50	1
	1	0	0	0	13.50	0
	1	0	0	0	9.00	1

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball.

^[6]

External links

• 1938 Boston Red Sox team page at Baseball Reference
• 1938 Boston Red Sox season at baseball-almanac.com

Notes and References

1. Web site: Jimmie Foxx stats . . October 5, 2020.
2. https://www.baseball-reference.com/k/kressre01.shtml Red Kress page at Baseball Reference
3. Book: Bradlee, Jr., Ben . The Kid: The Immortal Life of Ted Williams . . 2013 . 978-0-316-61435-1 . New York, New York . 88.
4. Book: The Boston Red Sox: An Illustrated History . Milton . Cole . Jim . Kaplan . 25 . World Publications Group . . 2009 . 978-1-57215-412-4.
5. Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p. 151, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York,
6. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007