1956 Boston Red Sox season
Major League Baseball season
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The 1956 Boston Red Sox season was the 56th 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 70 losses, 13 games behind the New York Yankees, who went on to win the 1956 World Series.
| 1956 Boston Red Sox | |
|---|---|
| League | American League |
| Ballpark | Fenway Park |
| City | Boston, Massachusetts |
| Record | 84–70 (.545) |
| League place | 4th |
| Owners | Tom Yawkey |
| President | Tom Yawkey |
| General managers | Joe Cronin |
| Managers | Pinky Higgins |
| Television | WBZ-TV, Ch. 4 and WNAC-TV, Ch. 7 |
| Radio | WHDH-AM 850 (Curt Gowdy, Bob Murphy) |
| Stats | ESPN.com Baseball Reference |
Offseason
- November 8, 1955: Karl Olson, Dick Brodowski, Tex Clevenger, Neil Chrisley, and Al Curtis (minors) were traded by the Red Sox to the Washington Senators for Mickey Vernon, Bob Porterfield, Johnny Schmitz, and Tom Umphlett.[1]
- November 27, 1955: Ed Mayer was drafted from the Red Sox by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1955 minor league draft.[2]
Regular season
Season standings
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York Yankees | 97 | 57 | .630 | — | 49–28 | 48–29 |
| Cleveland Indians | 88 | 66 | .571 | 9 | 46–31 | 42–35 |
| Chicago White Sox | 85 | 69 | .552 | 12 | 46–31 | 39–38 |
| Boston Red Sox | 84 | 70 | .545 | 13 | 43–34 | 41–36 |
| Detroit Tigers | 82 | 72 | .532 | 15 | 37–40 | 45–32 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 69 | 85 | .448 | 28 | 41–36 | 28–49 |
| Washington Senators | 59 | 95 | .383 | 38 | 32–45 | 27–50 |
| Kansas City Athletics | 52 | 102 | .338 | 45 | 22–55 | 30–47 |
Record vs. opponents
Sources: | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | BAL | BOS | CWS | CLE | DET | KCA | NYY | WSH | |||||
| Baltimore | — | 6–16 | 9–13 | 5–17 | 13–9 | 15–7 | 9–13 | 12–10 | |||||
| Boston | 16–6 | — | 14–8 | 13–9–1 | 12–10 | 12–10 | 8–14 | 9–13 | |||||
| Chicago | 13–9 | 8–14 | — | 15–7 | 13–9 | 14–8 | 9–13 | 13–9 | |||||
| Cleveland | 17–5 | 9–13–1 | 7–15 | — | 11–11 | 17–5 | 10–12 | 17–5 | |||||
| Detroit | 9–13 | 10–12 | 9–13 | 11–11 | — | 16–6 | 12–10 | 15–7–1 | |||||
| Kansas City | 7–15 | 10–12 | 8–14 | 5–17 | 6–16 | — | 4–18 | 12–10 | |||||
| New York | 13–9 | 14–8 | 13–9 | 12–10 | 10–12 | 18–4 | — | 17–5 | |||||
| Washington | 10–12 | 13–9 | 9–13 | 5–17 | 7–15–1 | 10–12 | 5–17 | — | |||||
Opening Day lineup
| 10 | Billy Goodman | 2B |
| 11 | Frank Malzone | 3B |
| 9 | Ted Williams | LF |
| 4 | Jackie Jensen | RF |
| 6 | Mickey Vernon | 1B |
| 37 | Jimmy Piersall | CF |
| 24 | Don Buddin | SS |
| 22 | Sammy White | C |
| 18 | Frank Sullivan | P |
Roster
| 1956 Boston Red Sox | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
Pitchers
|
Catchers
Infielders
|
Outfielders
Other batters
|
Manager
Coaches
| ||||||
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 | Sammy White | 114 | 392 | 96 | .245 | 5 | 44 |
| 1B | Mickey Vernon | 119 | 403 | 125 | .310 | 15 | 84 |
| 2B | Billy Goodman | 105 | 399 | 117 | .293 | 2 | 38 |
| SS | Don Buddin | 114 | 377 | 90 | .239 | 5 | 37 |
| 3B | Billy Klaus | 135 | 520 | 141 | .271 | 7 | 59 |
| LF | Ted Williams | 136 | 400 | 138 | .345 | 24 | 82 |
| CF | Jim Piersall | 155 | 601 | 176 | .293 | 14 | 87 |
| RF | Jackie Jensen | 151 | 578 | 182 | .315 | 20 | 97 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dick Gernert | 106 | 306 | 89 | .291 | 16 | 68 |
| Ted Lepcio | 83 | 284 | 74 | .261 | 15 | 51 |
| Pete Daley | 59 | 187 | 50 | .267 | 5 | 29 |
| Milt Bolling | 45 | 118 | 25 | .212 | 3 | 8 |
| Frank Malzone | 27 | 103 | 17 | .165 | 2 | 11 |
| Norm Zauchin | 44 | 84 | 18 | .214 | 2 | 11 |
| Gene Stephens | 104 | 63 | 17 | .270 | 1 | 7 |
| Faye Throneberry | 24 | 50 | 11 | .220 | 1 | 3 |
| Gene Mauch | 7 | 25 | 8 | .320 | 0 | 1 |
| Billy Consolo | 48 | 11 | 2 | .182 | 0 | 1 |
| Grady Hatton | 5 | 5 | 2 | .400 | 0 | 2 |
| Marty Keough | 3 | 2 | 0 | .000 | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tom Brewer | 32 | 244.1 | 19 | 9 | 3.50 | 127 |
| Frank Sullivan | 34 | 242.0 | 14 | 7 | 3.42 | 116 |
| Willard Nixon | 23 | 145.1 | 9 | 8 | 4.21 | 74 |
| Mel Parnell | 21 | 131.1 | 7 | 6 | 3.77 | 41 |
| Bob Porterfield | 25 | 126.0 | 3 | 12 | 5.14 | 53 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dave Sisler | 39 | 142.1 | 9 | 8 | 4.62 | 93 |
| Ike Delock | 48 | 128.1 | 13 | 7 | 4.21 | 105 |
| George Susce | 21 | 69.2 | 2 | 4 | 6.20 | 26 |
| Frank Baumann | 7 | 24.2 | 2 | 1 | 3.28 | 18 |
| Rudy Minarcin | 3 | 9.2 | 1 | 0 | 2.79 | 5 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tom Hurd | 40 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 5.33 | 34 |
| Leo Kiely | 23 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 5.17 | 9 |
| Fritz Dorish | 15 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3.57 | 11 |
| Johnny Schmitz | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 |
