The 1939 Boston Red Sox season was the 39th season in the franchise's Major League Baseball history. The Red Sox finished second in the American League (AL) with a record of 89 wins and 62 losses, 17 games behind the New York Yankees, who went on to win the 1939 World Series.

Regular season In 1939, the Boston Red Sox finished 17 games behind the New York Yankees. Lefty Grove won 15 games for the Red Sox while Jimmie Foxx hit .360, and had 35 home runs and 105 RBI. Ted Williams made his major league debut in 1939, and batted .327 with 31 home runs. He led the American League with 145 RBIs. After the first game he played against Williams, Yankees catcher Bill Dickey said about Williams, "He's just a damned good hitter." On July 18, the Red Sox traded then-minor league shortstop Pee Wee Reese to the Brooklyn Dodgers, in exchange for $35,000 and two players to be named later (pitcher Red Evans and outfielder Art Parks). Reese would go on to play with the Dodgers for 16 seasons, was a 10-time All-Star, and was inducted to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1984.

Transactions July 25: The Red Sox announce the purchase of pitcher Herbert Hash and catcher George Lacy from the Minneapolis Millers of the American Association. August 14: The Red Sox announce the purchase of pitcher Wilburn R. Butland from the Minneapolis Millers of the American Association.

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Opening Day lineup   8 Doc Cramer CF  7 Joe Vosmik LF  3 Jimmie Foxx 1B  4 Joe Cronin SS  5 Jim Tabor 3B  9 Ted Williams RF  1 Bobby Doerr 2B  2 Gene Desautels     C10 Lefty Grove P

Roster 1939 Boston Red Sox Roster Pitchers Catchers

InfieldersOutfielders

Other batters Manager

Coaches

(Third base) (First base)

Player stats = Indicates team leader = Indicates league 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 92 274 76 .277 0 36 1B 124 467 168 .360 35 105 2B 127 525 167 .318 12 73 SS 143 520 160 .308 19 107 3B 149 577 167 .289 14 95 OF 145 554 153 .276 7 84 OF 137 589 183 .311 0 56 OF 149 565 185 .327 31 145

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 95 249 81 .325 1 46 76 226 55 .243 0 21 54 161 39 .242 0 20 58 75 18 .240 0 5 14 33 9 .273 1 5 20 30 9 .300 0 2 1 1 0 .000 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 23 191.0 15 4 2.54 81 31 151.0 9 10 3.56 53

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 36 177.1 11 11 4.67 80 34 159.1 11 7 4.24 61 30 146.2 9 10 4.54 68 21 80.0 5 5 7.09 35 21 77.0 4 3 4.91 24 20 47.2 1 4 6.23 21 9 38.1 3 1 4.23 13 5 26.1 1 1 5.81 8

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 46 11 3 8 3.70 43 48 8 3 6 4.43 46 9 1 0 1 6.64 6 5 0 0 0 7.07 9 1 0 0 0 0.00 1

Farm system

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Louisville, Scranton, Canton, Elizabethton, Danville-Schoolfield

Source:Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007

Notes

References

External links 1939 Boston Red Sox team page at Baseball Reference 1939 Boston Red Sox season at baseball-almanac.com