1955 Boston Red Sox season

Major League Baseball season March 2026 November 2013 Boston Red Sox 1955 American League Fenway Park Boston, Massachusetts 84–70 (.545) 4th Tom Yawkey Tom Yawkey Joe Cronin Pinky Higgins WBZ-TV, Ch. 4 and WNAC-TV, Ch. 7 WHDH-AM 850(Curt Gowdy, Bob Murphy, Tom Hussey) bos BOS The 1955 Boston Red Sox season was the 55th season of franchise of Major League Baseball history. The Red Sox finished fourth in the American League (AL) with a record of 84 wins and 70 losses, 12 games behind the New York Yankees. Offseason October 14, 1954: Owen Friend was purchased by the Red Sox from the Cleveland Indians.Owen Friend page at Baseball Reference 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.Golenbock Peter Red Sox Nation: The Rich and Colorful History of the Boston Red Sox Triumph Books 2015 978-1-62937-050-7 4th Chicago, Illinois 205-209 Season standings Record vs. opponents BOS Opening Day lineup 10 Billy Goodman 2B20 Eddie Joost SS26 Faye Throneberry     LF  4 Jackie Jensen RF  8 Sammy White C  3 Norm Zauchin 1B12 Ted Lepcio 3B37 Jimmy Piersall CF 18 Frank Sullivan P Notable transactions June 12, 1955: Owen Friend was purchased from the Red Sox by the Chicago Cubs. Roster 1955 Boston Red Sox Roster Pitchers 40 Frank Baumann 23 Tom Brewer 42 Dick Brodowski 27 Hal Brown 14 Ike Delock 25 Hersh Freeman 29 Bill Henry 28 Tom Hurd 40 Russ Kemmerer 19 Leo Kiely 16 Ellis Kinder 15 Willard Nixon 17 Mel Parnell 39 Bob Smith 18 Frank Sullivan 27 George Susce 44 Joe Trimble Catchers 24 Pete Daley 22 Jim Pagliaroni 44 Haywood Sullivan  8 Sammy White Infielders  6 Harry Agganis  2 Milt Bolling 11 Billy Consolo 22 Owen Friend 41 Dick Gernert 10 Billy Goodman  1 Grady Hatton 20 Eddie Joost 35 Billy Klaus 12 Ted Lepcio 43 Frank Malzone  3 Norm Zauchin Outfielders  4 Jackie Jensen  7 Sam Mele 21 Karl Olson 37 Jimmy Piersall 38 Gene Stephens 26 Faye Throneberry  9 Ted Williams Manager  5 Pinky Higgins Coaches 32 Del Baker (First base) 31 Jack Burns (Third base) 33 Dave Ferriss (Pitching) 30 Mickey Owen (Bullpen) 34 Paul Schreiber (Hitting) Player stats = Indicates team leader 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 143 544 142 .261 11 64 1B Norm Zauchin 130 477 114 .239 27 93 2B Billy Goodman 149 599 176 .294 0 52 SS Billy Klaus 135 541 153 .283 7 60 3B Grady Hatton 126 380 93 .245 4 49 LF Ted Williams 98 320 114 .356 28 83 CF Jim Piersall 149 515 146 .283 13 62 RF Jackie Jensen 152 574 158 .275 26 116 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 109 157 46 .293 3 18 Faye Throneberry 60 144 37 .257 6 27 Ted Lepcio 51 134 31 .231 6 15 Eddie Joost 55 119 23 .193 5 17 Harry Agganis 25 83 26 .313 0 10 Pete Daley 17 50 11 .220 0 5 Karl Olson 26 48 12 .250 0 1 Owen Friend 14 42 11 .262 0 2 Sam Mele 14 31 4 .129 0 1 Frank Malzone 6 20 7 .350 0 1 Dick Gernert 7 20 4 .200 0 1 Billy Consolo 8 18 4 .222 0 0 Haywood Sullivan 2 6 0 .000 0 0 Milt Bolling 6 5 1 .200 0 0 Jim Pagliaroni 1 0 0 ---- 0 1 Pitching = Indicates league leader 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 Frank Sullivan 35 260.0 18* 13 2.91 129 Willard Nixon 31 208.0 12 10 4.07 95 Tom Brewer 31 192.2 11 10 4.20 91 Tied with Whitey Ford and Bob Lemon 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 George Susce 29 144.1 9 7 3.06 60 Ike Delock 29 143.2 9 7 3.76 88 Bill Henry 17 59.2 2 4 3.32 23 Mel Parnell 13 46.0 2 3 7.83 18 Frank Baumann Frank Baumann (baseball) 7 34.0 2 1 5.82 27 Russ Kemmerer 7 17.1 1 1 7.27 13 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 43 5 5 18 2.84 31 Tom Hurd 43 8 6 5 3.01 48 Leo Kiely 33 3 3 6 2.80 36 Dick Brodowski 16 1 0 0 5.63 10 Hal Brown 2 1 0 0 2.25 2 Joe Trimble 2 0 0 0 0.00 1 Hersh Freeman 2 0 0 0 0.00 1 Bob Smith Bob Smith (pitcher born 1931) 1 0 0 0 0.00 1 Farm system Minor League Baseball 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 WrightJohnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007 References 30em External links 1955 Boston Red Sox team page at Baseball Reference 1955 Boston Red Sox season at baseball-almanac.com Category:Boston Red Sox seasons Boston Red Sox Boston Red Sox Category:1950s in Boston