1947 Boston Red Sox season

The 1947 Boston Red Sox season was the 47th season in the franchise's Major League Baseball history. The Red Sox finished third in the American League (AL) with a record of 83 wins and 71 losses.

1947 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	WHDH (Jim Britt, Tom Hussey)
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Offseason

• November 1, 1946: Virgil Stallcup drafted from the Red Sox by the Cincinnati Reds in the 1946 rule 5 draft.[1]
• November 17, 1946: Tom Poholsky was drafted from the Red Sox by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1946 minor league draft.[2]
• March 1947: Frankie Hayes was signed as a free agent by the Red Sox.[3]

Regular season

After a memorable 1946 season, the Red Sox added lights to Fenway Park for the first time. 1947 looked like another big year for Boston, but Boo Ferriss, Mickey Harris, and Tex Hughson all had arm trouble, and from 62 wins in 1946 they dropped to 29 in 1947. Boston finished 3rd, 21 less than their American League Championship season a year earlier, 14 games behind the eventual world champion New York Yankees. Joe Dobson was the top winner with 18 wins, and Ted Williams hit .343, with 22 homers and 114 RBIs.

On July 20, Hank Thompson and Willard Brown of the St. Louis Browns played against the Boston Red Sox. It was the first time that two black players appear in a major league game together since 1884.[4]

Season standings

American League	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
New York Yankees	97	57	0.630	—	55–22	42–35
Detroit Tigers	85	69	0.552	12	46–31	39–38
Boston Red Sox	83	71	0.539	14	49–30	34–41
Cleveland Indians	80	74	0.519	17	38–39	42–35
Philadelphia Athletics	78	76	0.506	19	39–38	39–38
Chicago White Sox	70	84	0.455	27	32–43	38–41
Washington Senators	64	90	0.416	33	36–41	28–49
St. Louis Browns	59	95	0.383	38	29–48	30–47

Record vs. opponents

1947 American League Records Sources:
Team	BOS	CWS	CLE	DET	NYY	PHI	STL	WSH
Boston	—	16–6–1	9–13	12–10–1	9–13	10–12–1	15–7	12–10
Chicago	6–16–1	—	11–11	7–15	10–12	11–11	11–11	14–8
Cleveland	13–9	11–11	—	8–14–2	7–15	11–11–1	17–5	13–9
Detroit	10–12–1	15–7	14–8–2	—	8–14–1	11–11	15–7	12–10
New York	13–9	12–10	15–7	14–8–1	—	13–9	15–7	15–7
Philadelphia	12–10–1	11–11	11–11–1	11–11	9–13	—	13–9	11–11
St. Louis	7–15	11–11	5–17	7–15	7–15	9–13	—	13–9
Washington	10–12	8–14	9–13	10–12	7–15	11–11	9–13	—

Opening Day lineup

39	Eddie Pellagrini	3B
6	Johnny Pesky	SS
7	Dom DiMaggio	CF
9	Ted Williams	LF
1	Bobby Doerr	2B
3	Rudy York	1B
14	Sam Mele	RF
8	Hal Wagner	C
21	Tex Hughson	P

Notable transactions

• May 20, 1947: Hal Wagner was traded to the Detroit Tigers for Birdie Tebbetts.[5][6]
• May 21, 1947: Frankie Hayes was released.[3]

Roster

1947 Boston Red Sox
Roster
Pitchers 27 Bill Butland 29 Cot Deal 15 Joe Dobson 20 Harry Dorish 33 Dave Ferriss 23 Tommy Fine 25 Denny Galehouse 19 Mickey Harris 21 Tex Hughson 12 Earl Johnson 37 Bob Klinger 38 Johnny Murphy 17 Mel Parnell 17 Eddie Smith 42 Chuck Stobbs 32 Al Widmar 26 Bill Zuber		Catchers 27 Leslie Aulds  5 Matt Batts 25 Frankie Hayes  2 Eddie McGah 16 Roy Partee  8 Hal Wagner  8 Birdie Tebbetts Infielders 32 Merl Combs 17 Sam Dente  1 Bobby Doerr 10 Don Gutteridge  3 Jake Jones 39 Eddie Pellagrini  6 Johnny Pesky  5 Rip Russell 29 Strick Shofner  3 Rudy York		Outfielders 11 Leon Culberson  7 Dom DiMaggio 28 Billy Goodman 18 Tom McBride 14 Sam Mele 24 Wally Moses  9 Ted Williams		Manager  4 Joe Cronin Coaches 30 Del Baker (Third base) 31 Paul Schreiber (Hitting) 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
C	Birdie Tebbetts	90	291	87	.299	1	28
1B	Jake Jones	109	404	95	.235	16	76
2B	Bobby Doerr	146	561	145	.258	17	95
3B	Sam Dente	46	168	39	.232	0	11
SS	Johnny Pesky	155	638	207	.324	0	39
OF	Ted Williams	156	528	181	.343	32	114
OF	Sam Mele	123	453	137	.302	12	73
OF	Dom DiMaggio	136	513	145	.283	8	71

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
Leslie Aulds	3	4	1	.250	0	0
Matt Batts	7	16	8	.500	1	5
Frankie Hayes	5	13	2	.154	0	1
Eddie McGah	9	14	0	.000	0	2
Roy Partee	60	169	39	.231	0	16
Hal Wagner	21	65	15	.231	0	6

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
Joe Dobson	33	228.2	18	8	2.95	110
Dave Ferriss	33	218.1	12	11	4.04	64
Tex Hughson	29	189.1	12	11	3.33	119

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
Mickey Harris	15	51.2	5	4	2.44	35
Cot Deal	5	12.2	0	1	9.24	6

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
Bill Butland	1	0	0	0	4.50	1

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Louisville Colonels	American Association	Nemo Leibold
AAA	Toronto Maple Leafs	International League	Elmer Yoter
AA	New Orleans Pelicans	Southern Association	Fred Walters
A	Scranton Red Sox	Eastern League	Eddie Popowski
B	Lynn Red Sox	New England League	Mike Ryba
B	Roanoke Red Sox	Piedmont League	Pinky Higgins
C	San Jose Red Sox	California League	Marv Owen
C	Oneonta Red Sox	Canadian–American League	Red Marion
D	Milford Red Sox	Eastern Shore League	Wally Millies
D	Wellsville Nitros	PONY League	Tom Carey

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Roanoke[7]

References

1. Virgil Stallcup page at Baseball Reference
2. Tom Poholsky page at Baseball Reference
3. Frankie Hayes page at Baseball Reference
4. Opening Day: The Story of Jackie Robinson's First Season, p. 188, Jonathan Eig, Simon & Schuster, 2007, New York, ISBN 978-0-7432-9461-4
5. Hal Wagner page at Baseball Reference
6. Birdie Tebbetts page at Baseball Reference
7. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007

External links

• 1947 Boston Red Sox team page at Baseball Reference
• 1947 Boston Red Sox season at baseball-almanac.com