1943_Boston_Red_Sox
1943 Boston Red Sox season
Major League Baseball season
The 1943 Boston Red Sox season was the 43rd season in the franchise's Major League Baseball history. The Red Sox finished seventh in the American League (AL) with a record of 68 wins and 84 losses, 29 games behind the New York Yankees, who went on to win the 1943 World Series.
| 1943 Boston Red Sox | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| League | American League | |||
| Ballpark | Fenway Park | |||
| City | Boston, Massachusetts | |||
| Record | 68–84 (.447) | |||
| League place | 7th (29 GB) | |||
| Owners | Tom Yawkey | |||
| President | Tom Yawkey | |||
| General managers | Eddie Collins | |||
| Managers | Joe Cronin | |||
| Radio | WAAB (Jim Britt) WNAC (Tom Hussey, George Hartrick) | |||
| Stats | ESPN.com BB-reference | |||
| ||||
The Red Sox set a major league record, which still stands, by playing in 31 extra innings games.[1] In those games, the Red Sox compiled a record of 15 wins and 14 losses, with two ties.[2] They played 73 extra innings in total, equivalent to playing an additional eight 9-inning games.[3]
- Due to wartime considerations, the team held spring training at Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts.[4][5]
- Prior to 1943 season: Bill Howerton was signed as an amateur free agent by the Red Sox.[6]
Season standings
| American League | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York Yankees | 98 | 56 | 0.636 | — | 54–23 | 44–33 |
| Washington Senators | 84 | 69 | 0.549 | 13½ | 44–32 | 40–37 |
| Cleveland Indians | 82 | 71 | 0.536 | 15½ | 44–33 | 38–38 |
| Chicago White Sox | 82 | 72 | 0.532 | 16 | 40–36 | 42–36 |
| Detroit Tigers | 78 | 76 | 0.506 | 20 | 45–32 | 33–44 |
| St. Louis Browns | 72 | 80 | 0.474 | 25 | 44–33 | 28–47 |
| Boston Red Sox | 68 | 84 | 0.447 | 29 | 39–36 | 29–48 |
| Philadelphia Athletics | 49 | 105 | 0.318 | 49 | 27–51 | 22–54 |
Record vs. opponents
Sources: | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | BOS | CWS | CLE | DET | NYY | PHA | SLB | WSH | |||||
| Boston | — | 8–14 | 12–10 | 11–11–1 | 5–17–1 | 11–11 | 11–9–1 | 10–12 | |||||
| Chicago | 14–8 | — | 7–15 | 9–13 | 10–12 | 18–4–1 | 10–12 | 14–8 | |||||
| Cleveland | 10–12 | 15–7 | — | 15–7 | 9–13 | 16–6 | 9–13 | 8–13 | |||||
| Detroit | 11–11–1 | 13–9 | 7–15 | — | 10–12 | 13–9 | 11–11 | 13–9 | |||||
| New York | 17–5–1 | 12–10 | 13–9 | 12–10 | — | 16–6 | 17–5 | 11–11 | |||||
| Philadelphia | 11–11 | 4–18–1 | 6–16 | 9–13 | 6–16 | — | 8–14 | 5–17 | |||||
| St. Louis | 9–11–1 | 12–10 | 13–9 | 11–11 | 5–17 | 14–8 | — | 8–14 | |||||
| Washington | 12–10 | 8–14 | 13–8 | 9–13 | 11–11 | 17–5 | 14–8 | — | |||||
Opening Day lineup
| 7 | Eddie Lake | SS |
| 12 | Pete Fox | RF |
| 1 | Bobby Doerr | 2B |
| 14 | Johnny Lazor | LF |
| 3 | Tony Lupien | 1B |
| 15 | Ford Garrison | CF |
| 26 | Skeeter Newsome | 3B |
| 11 | Johnny Peacock | C |
| 21 | Tex Hughson | P |
Transactions
June 2: Joe Green, a pitcher for the University of North Carolina Baseball Team, signs a contract with the Red Sox and joins the Roanoke Red Sox.[7]
June 14: The Red Sox trade pitcher Ken Chase to the New York Giants in exchange for outfielder Babe Barna.[8]
Roster
| 1943 Boston Red Sox | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
Pitchers
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Catchers
Infielders
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Outfielders
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Manager
Coaches
| ||||||
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 | Roy Partee | 96 | 299 | 84 | .281 | 0 | 31 |
| 1B | Tony Lupien | 154 | 608 | 155 | .255 | 4 | 47 |
| 2B | Bobby Doerr | 155 | 604 | 163 | .270 | 16 | 75 |
| SS | Skeeter Newsome | 114 | 449 | 119 | .265 | 1 | 22 |
| 3B | Jim Tabor | 137 | 537 | 130 | .242 | 13 | 85 |
| OF | Leon Culberson | 81 | 312 | 85 | .272 | 3 | 34 |
| OF | George Metkovich | 78 | 321 | 79 | .246 | 5 | 27 |
| OF | Pete Fox | 127 | 489 | 141 | .288 | 2 | 44 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eddie Lake | 75 | 216 | 43 | .199 | 3 | 16 |
| Johnny Lazor | 83 | 208 | 47 | .226 | 0 | 13 |
| Al Simmons | 40 | 133 | 27 | .203 | 1 | 12 |
| Ford Garrison | 36 | 129 | 36 | .279 | 1 | 11 |
| Dee Miles | 45 | 121 | 26 | .215 | 0 | 10 |
| Johnny Peacock | 48 | 114 | 23 | .202 | 0 | 7 |
| Babe Barna | 30 | 112 | 19 | .170 | 2 | 10 |
| Tom McBride | 26 | 96 | 23 | .240 | 0 | 7 |
| Bill Conroy | 39 | 89 | 16 | .180 | 1 | 6 |
| Joe Cronin | 59 | 77 | 24 | .312 | 5 | 29 |
| Danny Doyle | 13 | 43 | 9 | .209 | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tex Hughson | 35 | 266.0 | 12 | 15 | 2.64 | 114 |
| Joe Dobson | 25 | 164.1 | 7 | 11 | 3.12 | 63 |
| Yank Terry | 30 | 163.2 | 7 | 9 | 3.52 | 63 |
| Oscar Judd | 23 | 155.1 | 11 | 6 | 2.90 | 53 |
| Dick Newsome | 25 | 154.1 | 8 | 13 | 4.49 | 40 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mike Ryba | 40 | 143.2 | 7 | 5 | 3.26 | 50 |
| Pinky Woods | 23 | 100.2 | 5 | 6 | 4.92 | 32 |
| Lou Lucier | 16 | 74.0 | 3 | 4 | 3.89 | 23 |
| Emmett O'Neill | 11 | 57.2 | 1 | 4 | 4.53 | 20 |
| Ken Chase | 7 | 27.1 | 0 | 4 | 6.91 | 9 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mace Brown | 49 | 6 | 6 | 9 | 2.12 | 40 |
| Andy Karl | 11 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3.46 | 6 |
| Level | Team | League | Manager |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA | Louisville Colonels | American Association | Bill Burwell |
| A | Scranton Red Sox | Eastern League | Nemo Leibold |
| B | Roanoke Red Sox | Piedmont League | Heinie Manush |
- "Game Length Records Inning Based Records". Baseball-Almanac.com. Retrieved May 14, 2012.
- "Team Batting Game Finder: From 1908 to 2018, Only extra-inning games, sorted by greatest number of games in a single season matching the selected criteria". Baseball Reference. Retrieved July 25, 2018.
- "1943 Boston Red Sox Schedule". Baseball Reference. Retrieved July 25, 2018.
- Abraham, Peter (June 20, 2020). "Red Sox plan to hold spring training at Fenway Park". The Boston Globe. Retrieved June 21, 2020.
- Webb, Melville (January 19, 1943). "Sox Complete Spring Plans". The Boston Globe. p. 16. Retrieved June 21, 2020 – via newspapers.com.
- "Red Sox Sign College Pitcher". Meriden Record. June 3, 1943. p. 5. Retrieved June 26, 2023.
- "Sox Get Barna For Ken Chase". St. Petersburg Times. June 15, 1943. p. 12. Retrieved June 26, 2023.
- Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007