1938 Boston Red Sox season

The 1938 Boston Red Sox season was the 38th season in the franchise's Major League Baseball history. The Red Sox finished second in the American League (AL) with a record of 88 wins and 61 losses.

1938 Boston Red Sox
Major League affiliations
American League (since 1901)
Location
Fenway Park (since 1912) Boston, Massachusetts (since 1901)
Other information
Owner(s)	Tom Yawkey
General manager(s)	Eddie Collins
Manager(s)	Joe Cronin
Local radio	WAAB (Fred Hoey)
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Offseason

• December 2, 1937: Red Kress, Buster Mills and Bobo Newsom were traded by the Red Sox to the St. Louis Browns for Joe Vosmik.[1]

Regular season

The 1938 Boston Red Sox finished higher than any other Sox team since 1918.[2] The Red Sox finished in second place with 88 wins and 61 losses, finishing 11 games behind the New York Yankees.[2] Jimmie Foxx led the American League with a .349 batting average, 50 home runs and 175 RBIs, becoming the first player to win three American League MVP Awards.[3]

Season standings

American League	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
New York Yankees	99	53	0.651	—	55–22	44–31
Boston Red Sox	88	61	0.591	9½	52–23	36–38
Cleveland Indians	86	66	0.566	13	46–30	40–36
Detroit Tigers	84	70	0.545	16	48–31	36–39
Washington Senators	75	76	0.497	23½	44–33	31–43
Chicago White Sox	65	83	0.439	32	33–39	32–44
St. Louis Browns	55	97	0.362	44	31–43	24–54
Philadelphia Athletics	53	99	0.349	46	28–47	25–52

Record vs. opponents

1938 American League Records Sources:
Team	BOS	CWS	CLE	DET	NYY	PHI	STL	WSH
Boston	—	12–6	12–10	10–12	11–11–1	14–8	17–5	12–9
Chicago	6–12	—	9–13	7–15	8–14	12–10	13–8–1	10–11
Cleveland	10–12	13–9	—	12–10	8–13	18–4	13–9–1	12–9
Detroit	12–10	15–7	10–12	—	8–14	14–8	12–10–1	13–9
New York	11–11–1	14–8	13–8	14–8	—	16–5–2	15–7–1	16–6–1
Philadelphia	8–14	10–12	4–18	8–14	5–16–2	—	12–9	6–16
St. Louis	5–17	8–13–1	9–13–1	10–12–1	7–15–1	9–12	—	7–15
Washington	9–12	11–10	9–12	9–13	6–16–1	16–6	15–7	—

Opening Day lineup

8	Doc Cramer	CF
7	Joe Vosmik	LF
3	Jimmie Foxx	1B
4	Joe Cronin	SS
5	Pinky Higgins	3B
9	Ben Chapman	RF
1	Bobby Doerr	2B
2	Gene Desautels	C
17	Jim Bagby	P

Roster

1938 Boston Red Sox
Roster
Pitchers 17 Jim Bagby 15 Al Baker 16 Emerson Dickman 10 Lefty Grove 11 Bill Harris 19 Joe Heving 19 Byron Humphrey  1 Bill Lefebvre 12 Johnny Marcum 14 Archie McKain 27 Dick Midkiff 12 Ted Olson 21 Fritz Ostermueller 15 Lee Rogers 11 Charlie Wagner 18 Jack Wilson		Catchers 22 Moe Berg  2 Gene Desautels 23 Johnny Peacock Infielders  4 Joe Cronin  1 Bobby Doerr  3 Jimmie Foxx  5 Pinky Higgins  6 Eric McNair 26 Jim Tabor		Outfielders  9 Ben Chapman  8 Doc Cramer 25 Fabian Gaffke 24 Red Nonnenkamp  7 Joe Vosmik		Manager  4 Joe Cronin Coaches 30 Tom Daly (Third base) 31 Herb Pennock (Pitching)

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	Gene Desautels	108	333	97	.291	2	48
1B	Jimmie Foxx	149	565	197	.349	50	175
2B	Bobby Doerr	145	509	147	.289	5	80
SS	Joe Cronin	143	530	172	.325	17	94
3B	Pinky Higgins	139	524	159	.303	5	106
OF	Joe Vosmik	146	621	201	.324	9	86
OF	Doc Cramer	148	658	198	.301	0	71
OF	Ben Chapman	127	480	163	.340	6	80

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
Johnny Peacock	72	195	59	.303	1	39
Red Nonnenkamp	87	180	51	.283	0	18
Eric McNair	46	96	15	.156	0	7
Jim Tabor	19	57	18	.316	1	8
Fabian Gaffke	15	10	1	.100	0	1
Moe Berg	10	12	4	.333	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
Jack Wilson	37	194.2	15	15	4.30	96
Lefty Grove	24	163.2	14	4	3.08	99
Johnny Marcum	15	92.1	5	6	4.09	25
Joe Heving	16	82	8	1	3.73	34
Bill Harris	13	80.1	5	5	4.03	26

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
Jim Bagby	43	198.2	15	11	4.21	73
Fritz Ostermueller	31	176.2	13	5	4.58	46
Emerson Dickman	32	104	5	5	5.28	22
Archie McKain	37	99.2	5	4	4.52	27
Charlie Wagner	13	36.2	1	3	8.35	14
Dick Midkiff	13	35.1	1	1	5.09	10
Lee Rogers	14	27.2	1	1	6.51	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
Al Baker	3	0	0	0	9.39	2
Ted Olson	2	0	0	0	6.43	2
Doc Cramer	1	0	0	0	4.50	1
Bill LeFebvre	1	0	0	0	13.50	0
Byron Humphrey	1	0	0	0	9.00	1

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AA	Minneapolis Millers	American Association	Donie Bush
A1	Little Rock Travelers	Southern Association	Doc Prothro
A	Hazleton Red Sox	Eastern League	Specs Toporcer
B	Rocky Mount Red Sox	Piedmont League	Herb Brett
C	Clarksdale Red Sox	Cotton States League	Nemo Leibold
C	Canton Terriers	Middle Atlantic League	Floyd "Pat" Patterson
D	Elizabethton Betsy Red Sox	Appalachian League	Hobe Brummette
D	Danville-Scholfield Leafs	Bi-State League	Red Barnes
D	Moultrie Packers	Georgia–Florida League	Dewey Stover
D	Crookston Pirates	Northern League	Bill Burwell

[4]

References

1. Red Kress page at Baseball Reference
2. The Boston Red Sox, Milton Cole and Jim Kaplan, p. 25, World Publications Group, North Dighton, Massachusetts, ISBN 1-57215-412-8
3. Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p. 151, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, ISBN 978-0-451-22363-0
4. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007

External links

• 1938 Boston Red Sox team page at Baseball Reference
• 1938 Boston Red Sox season at baseball-almanac.com