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. December 1, 1952: The Red Sox draft Jack Merson from the Hollywood Stars for $15,000. January 7, 1953: Pitcher Al Benton is assigned by the Red Sox to the San Diego Padres. February 9, 1953: Vern Stephens was traded by the Red Sox to the Chicago White Sox for Marv Grissom, Hal Brown and Bill Kennedy.Marv Grissom at Baseball-Reference

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. June 18, 1953: Sammy White scored three runs in one inning for the Red Sox.Baseball Digest, April 1984 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. May 13, 1953: The Red Sox purchase infielder Floyd Baker from the Washington Senators. 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.

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Opening Day lineup 10 Billy Goodman 2B37 Jimmy Piersall     RF 36 Gene Stephens LF  3 Dick Gernert 1B  1 George Kell 3B22 Sammy White C38 Tom Umphlett CF   2 Milt Bolling SS17 Mel Parnell P

Roster 1953 Boston Red Sox roster Roster Pitchers Catchers

Infielders Outfielders

Other batters Manager

Coaches (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 Dick Gernert 139 494 125 .253 21 71 2B Billy Goodman 128 514 161 .313 2 41 SS Milt Bolling 109 323 85 .263 5 28 3B George Kell 134 460 141 .307 12 73 OF Hoot Evers 99 300 72 .240 11 31 OF Jim Piersall 151 585 159 .272 3 52 OF Tom Umphlett 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 Gene Stephens 78 221 45 .204 3 18 Floyd Baker 81 172 47 .273 0 24 Ted Lepcio 66 161 38 .236 4 11 Johnny Lipon 60 145 31 .214 0 13 Del Wilber 58 112 27 .241 7 29 Ted Williams 37 91 37 .407 13 34 Al Zarilla 57 67 13 .194 0 4 Billy Consolo 47 65 14 .215 1 6 Karl Olson 25 57 7 .123 1 6 Gus Niarhos 16 35 7 .200 0 2 Jack Merson 1 4 0 .000 0 0 Dom DiMaggio 3 3 1 .333 0 0 Clyde Vollmer 1 0 0 ---- 0 0 Al Richter 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 Mel Parnell 38 241.0 21 8 3.06 136 Mickey McDermott 32 206.1 18 10 3.01 92 30 166.1 11 6 4.65 62 Willard Nixon 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 Sid Hudson 30 156.0 6 9 3.52 60 Bill Henry 21 85.2 5 5 3.26 56 Ben Flowers 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 Ellis Kinder 69 10 6 27 1.85 39 Ike Delock 23 3 1 1 4.44 22 Hersh Freeman 18 1 4 0 5.54 15 16 0 0 2 3.70 14 Frank Sullivan 14 1 1 0 5.61 17 Bill Werle 5 0 1 0 1.54 4 Ken Holcombe 3 1 0 1 6.00 1

Farm system

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: San Jose

Roanoke club folded, July 24, 1953

References

External links

1953 Boston Red Sox team at Baseball-Reference 1953 Boston Red Sox season at baseball-almanac.com