1953 Boston Red Sox season explained

Boston Red Sox
Season:	1953
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)
Espntn:	bos
Brtn:	BOS

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.
• September 8, 1953: Shortstop Johnny Lipon is sold by the Red Sox to the St. Louis Browns on a waiver deal.^[9]

Opening Day lineup

10		2B
37	Jimmy Piersall	RF
36		LF
3		1B
1		3B
22		C
38		CF
2		SS
17		P

Roster

1953 Boston Red Sox roster
Roster
Pitchers		CatchersInfielders		OutfieldersOther batters		ManagerCoaches (First base) (Pitching) (Third base) (Hitting) (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		136	476	130	.273	13	64
1B		139	494	125	.253	21	71
2B		128	514	161	.313	2	41
SS		109	323	85	.263	5	28
3B		134	460	141	.307	12	73
OF		99	300	72	.240	11	31
OF		151	585	159	.272	3	52
OF		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
	78	221	45	.204	3	18
	81	172	47	.273	0	24
	66	161	38	.236	4	11
	60	145	31	.214	0	13
	58	112	27	.241	7	29
	37	91	37	.407	13	34
	57	67	13	.194	0	4
	47	65	14	.215	1	6
	25	57	7	.123	1	6
	16	35	7	.200	0	2
	1	4	0	.000	0	0
	3	3	1	.333	0	0
	1	0	0	----	0	0
	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
	38	241.0	21	8	3.06	136
	32	206.1	18	10	3.01	92
	30	166.1	11	6	4.65	62
	23	116.2	4	8	3.93	57
	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
	30	156.0	6	9	3.52	60
	21	85.2	5	5	3.26	56
	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
	69	10	6	27	1.85	39
	23	3	1	1	4.44	22
	18	1	4	0	5.54	15
	16	0	0	2	3.70	14
	14	1	1	0	5.61	17
	5	0	1	0	1.54	4
	3	1	0	1	6.00	1

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball.

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: San Jose

Roanoke club folded, July 24, 1953

External links

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

Notes and References

1. News: November 29, 1952 . BoSox Ink Grid Star . 10 . . June 2, 2023.
2. News: Major Draft Selects 11 Players . 13 . . June 2, 2023.
3. News: January 7, 1953 . Padres Get Pitcher . 17 . . June 2, 2023.
4. https://www.baseball-reference.com/g/grissma01.shtml Marv Grissom
5. Book: Golenbock, Peter . Red Sox Nation: The Rich and Colorful History of the Boston Red Sox . . 2015 . 978-1-62937-050-7 . 4th . Chicago, Illinois . 195–196.
6. https://books.google.com/books?id=jS8DAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA72 Baseball Digest
7. News: April 23, 1953 . Senators Buy Clyde Vollmer . 14 . . June 2, 2023.
8. News: May 13, 1953 . Players Shifted To Meet Deadline . 5 . . June 2, 2023.
9. News: September 9, 1953 . Red Sox Sell Lipon . 19 . . June 2, 2023.