1959 Boston Red Sox season

Major League Baseball season March 2026 November 2013 Boston Red Sox 1959 American League Fenway Park Boston 75–79 (.487) 5th Tom Yawkey Tom Yawkey Bucky Harris Pinky Higgins, Rudy York, and Billy Jurges WHDH-TV WHDH-AM 850(Curt Gowdy, Bob Murphy, Bill Crowley) bos BOS The 1959 Boston Red Sox season was the 59th season in the franchise's Major League Baseball history. The Red Sox finished fifth in the American League (AL) with a record of 75 wins and 79 losses, 19 games behind the AL champion Chicago White Sox. Offseason 1958 turned out to be Jimmy Piersall's final season with the Red Sox. On December 2, 1958, Piersall was traded to the Cleveland Indians in exchange for Gary Geiger and Vic Wertz.The Boston Red Sox: An Illustrated History Milton Cole Jim Kaplan 32 World Publications Group North Dighton, Massachusetts 2009 978-1-57215-412-4 Notable transactions Prior to 1959 season: Mike Page was signed as an amateur free agent by the Red Sox.Mike Page at Baseball-Reference March 9, 1959: Bob Smith was traded by the Red Sox to the Chicago Cubs for Chuck Tanner.Chuck Tanner Trades and Transactions by Baseball Almanac Regular season The 1959 season was the year that the color barrier was broken for the Red Sox. On July 21, Elijah "Pumpsie" Green became the first black player to play for the Red Sox.The Boston Red Sox: An Illustrated History Milton Cole Jim Kaplan 33 World Publications Group North Dighton, Massachusetts 2009 978-1-57215-412-4 A week later, Earl Wilson became the first black pitcher to play for the team. Ted Williams would have an off year in his penultimate season, as he batted below .300.The Boston Red Sox: An Illustrated History Milton Cole Jim Kaplan 31 World Publications Group North Dighton, Massachusetts 2009 978-1-57215-412-4 Season standings Record vs. opponents BOS Notable transactions July 26, 1959: Bud Byerly was traded by the Red Sox to the San Francisco Giants for Billy Muffett and cash.Billy Muffett at Baseball-Reference September 9, 1959: Chuck Tanner was sold by Red Sox to Cleveland Indians. Opening day lineup 24 Don Buddin SS  3 Pete Runnels 2B10 Gene Stephens    CF  6 Vic Wertz 1B  4 Jackie Jensen RF11 Frank Malzone 3B37 Gary Geiger RF22 Sammy White C23 Tom Brewer P Roster 1959 Boston Red Sox Roster Pitchers 15 Frank Baumann 28 Ted Bowsfield 23 Tom Brewer 19 Jerry Casale 28 Nelson Chittum 14 Ike Delock 20 Mike Fornieles 39 Jack Harshman 39 Billy Hoeft 17 Leo Kiely 42 Herb Moford 27 Bill Monbouquette 30 Al Schroll 39 Dave Sisler 18 Frank Sullivan 26 Murray Wall 28 Ted Wills 26 Earl Wilson Catchers  8 Pete Daley 35 Don Gile 16 Haywood Sullivan 22 Sammy White Infielders 12 Bobby Ávila 24 Don Buddin  1 Billy Consolo 25 Dick Gernert 12 Pumpsie Green 12 Ted Lepcio  1 Jim Mahoney 11 Frank Malzone  1 Herb Plews  3 Pete Runnels  6 Vic Wertz Outfielders  7 Jim Busby 37 Gary Geiger  4 Jackie Jensen  2 Marty Keough 39 Jerry Mallett 30 Bill Renna 10 Gene Stephens  9 Ted Williams Manager  5 Pinky Higgins 34 Rudy York 16 Billy Jurges Coaches 32 Del Baker 31 Jack Burns (Third base) 33 Dave Ferriss (Pitching) 34 Rudy York (First base & Hitting) 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 119 377 107 .284 1 42 1B Dick Gernert 117 298 78 .262 11 42 2B Pete Runnels 147 560 176 .314 6 57 SS Don Buddin 151 485 117 .241 10 53 3B Frank Malzone 154 604 169 .280 19 92 LF Ted Williams 103 272 69 .254 10 43 CF Marty Keough 96 251 61 .243 7 27 RF Jackie Jensen 148 535 148 .277 28 112 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 Gary Geiger 120 335 82 .245 11 48 Gene Stephens 92 270 75 .278 3 39 Vic Wertz 94 247 68 .275 7 49 Pumpsie Green 50 172 40 .233 1 10 Pete Daley 65 169 38 .225 1 11 Jim Busby 61 102 23 .225 1 5 Bobby Ávila 22 45 11 .244 3 6 Jim Mahoney 31 23 3 .130 1 4 Bill Renna 14 22 2 .091 0 2 Jerry Mallett 4 15 4 .267 0 1 Billy Consolo 10 14 3 .214 0 0 Herb Plews 13 12 1 .083 0 0 Don Gile 3 10 2 .200 0 1 Ted Lepcio 3 3 1 .333 0 1 Haywood Sullivan 4 2 0 .000 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 Tom Brewer 36 215.1 10 12 3.76 121 Jerry Casale 31 179.2 13 8 4.31 93 Frank Sullivan 30 177.2 9 11 3.95 107 Ted Wills 9 56.1 2 6 5.27 24 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 Bill Monbouquette 34 151.2 7 7 4.15 87 Ike Delock 28 134.1 11 6 2.95 55 Frank Baumann Frank Baumann (baseball) 26 95.2 6 4 4.05 48 Al Schroll 14 46.0 1 4 4.70 26 Jack Harshman 8 24.2 2 3 6.57 14 Earl Wilson Earl Wilson (baseball) 9 23.2 1 1 6.08 17 Billy Hoeft 5 17.2 0 3 5.60 8 Ted Bowsfield 5 9.0 0 1 15.00 4 Herb Moford 4 8.2 0 2 11.42 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 Mike Fornieles 46 5 3 11 3.07 54 Leo Kiely 41 3 3 7 4.20 30 Murray Wall 26 2 5 3 5.51 14 Nelson Chittum 21 3 0 0 1.19 12 Dave Sisler 3 0 0 0 6.75 3 Awards and honors Jackie Jensen, Gold Glove Award (OF) Frank Malzone, Gold Glove Award (3B) Farm system Minor League Baseball AAA Minneapolis Millers American Association Gene Mauch A Allentown Red Sox Eastern League Sheriff Robinson B Raleigh Capitals Carolina League Ken Deal D Waterloo Hawks Midwest League Elmer Yoter D Corning Cor-Sox New York–Penn League Len Okrie D Alpine Cowboys Sophomore League Eddie Popowski LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Minneapolis, Waterloo, Alpine Source:Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007https://archive.org/details/bostonredsoxprog1959bost/page/n29/mode/2up Boston Red Sox Official Profile, Photo and Data Book 1959 30 March 13, 2021 Wayback Machine See also List of first black Major League Baseball players by team and date References 30 External links 1959 Boston Red Sox team at Baseball-Reference 1959 Boston Red Sox season at baseball-almanac.com Category:Boston Red Sox seasons Boston Red Sox Boston Red Sox Category:1950s in Boston