1945 Boston Red Sox season

The 1945 Boston Red Sox season was the 45th season in the franchise's Major League Baseball history. The Red Sox finished seventh in the American League (AL) with a record of 71 wins and 83 losses.

1945 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	WNAC (Jim Britt, Tom Hussey, George Hartrick)
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Offseason

• Prior to 1945 season: Tom Poholsky was signed as an amateur free agent by the Red Sox.[1]

Regular season

• April 1945: At the urging of Boston City Councillor Isadore H. Y. Muchnick and with the active involvement of noted African American journalist Wendell Smith, General Manager Eddie Collins allowed three players from the Negro Leagues to try out for the Red Sox. The players included Sam Jethroe from the Cleveland Buckeyes, Marvin Williams from the Philadelphia Stars, and Jackie Robinson from the Kansas City Monarchs.[2]
• August 14, 1945: Handicapped Washington Senators coach Bert Shepard pitched in a game against the Red Sox. Shepard, who had an artificial leg, managed to give up only one run in five innings to the Red Sox.[3]

Season standings

American League	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Detroit Tigers	88	65	0.575	—	50–26	38–39
Washington Senators	87	67	0.565	1½	46–31	41–36
St. Louis Browns	81	70	0.536	6	47–27	34–43
New York Yankees	81	71	0.533	6½	48–28	33–43
Cleveland Indians	73	72	0.503	11	44–33	29–39
Chicago White Sox	71	78	0.477	15	44–29	27–49
Boston Red Sox	71	83	0.461	17½	42–35	29–48
Philadelphia Athletics	52	98	0.347	34½	39–35	13–63

Record vs. opponents

1945 American League Records Sources:
Team	BOS	CWS	CLE	DET	NYY	PHI	STL	WSH
Boston	—	9–13	11–11	12–10–1	6–16	14–8	8–14–1	11–11–1
Chicago	13–9	—	11–8–1	10–12	9–12	12–10	8–13	8–14
Cleveland	11–11	8–11–1	—	11–11	12–9	12–6–1	11–10	8–14
Detroit	10–12–1	12–10	11–11	—	15–7	15–7–1	15–6	10–12
New York	16–6	12–9	9–12	7–15	—	16–6	7–15	14–8
Philadelphia	8–14	10–12	6–12–1	7–15–1	6–16	—	10–12–1	5–17
St. Louis	14–8–1	13–8	10–11	6–15	15–7	12–10–1	—	11–11–1
Washington	11–11–1	14–8	14–8	12–10	8–14	17–5	11–11–1	—

Opening Day lineup

16	Ben Steiner	2B
2	Catfish Metkovich	1B
15	Pete Fox	RF
8	Bob Johnson	LF
4	Joe Cronin	3B
11	Leon Culberson	CF
6	Skeeter Newsome	SS
26	Fred Walters	C
31	Rex Cecil	P

Roster

1945 Boston Red Sox
Roster
Pitchers 17 Frank Barrett 28 Joe Bowman 31 Rex Cecil 19 Otey Clark 29 Clem Dreisewerd 33 Dave Ferriss 21 Clem Hausmann 37 Randy Heflin 34 Vic Johnson 29 Oscar Judd 15 Emmett O'Neill 20 Mike Ryba 18 Yank Terry 16 Jim Wilson 10 Pinky Woods		Catchers 27 Bob Garbark 23 Billy Holm  2 Frankie Pytlak 16 Red Steiner 26 Fred Walters Infielders  5 Jim Bucher 28 Dolph Camilli  4 Joe Cronin  1 Ty LaForest  7 Eddie Lake  2 Catfish Metkovich  6 Skeeter Newsome 19 Nick Polly 16 Ben Steiner  3 Johnny Tobin		Outfielders 35 Loyd Christopher 11 Leon Culberson 12 Pete Fox  8 Bob Johnson 14 Johnny Lazor 25 Tom McBride Other batters  8 Lou Finney		Manager  4 Joe Cronin Coaches 30 Del Baker (Third base) 32 Tom Daly 22 Larry Woodall (First base)

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
OF	Bob Johnson	143	529	148	.280	12	74

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
Joe Cronin	3	8	3	.375	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

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

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
Frank Barrett	37	4	3	3	2.62	35

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AA	Louisville Colonels	American Association	Nemo Leibold
A	Scranton Red Sox	Eastern League	Elmer Yoter
B	Roanoke Red Sox	Piedmont League	Eddie Popowski
C	Durham Bulls	Carolina League	Floyd "Pat" Patterson

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Louisville[4]

Notes

1. Tom Poholsky page at Baseball Reference
2. Opening Day: The Story of Jackie Robinson's First Season, p. 136, Jonathan Eig, Simon & Schuster, 2007, New York, ISBN 978-0-7432-9461-4
3. Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p.193, 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

References

• 1945 Boston Red Sox team page at Baseball Reference
• 1945 Boston Red Sox season at baseball-almanac.com