1959 Boston Red Sox season explained

The 1959 Boston Red Sox season was the 59th season in the franchise's Major League Baseball history. The Red Sox finished fifth in the American League (AL) with a record of 75 wins and 79 losses, 19 games behind the AL champion Chicago White Sox.

Offseason

1958 turned out to be Jimmy Piersall's final season with the Red Sox. On December 2, 1958, Piersall was traded to the Cleveland Indians in exchange for Gary Geiger and Vic Wertz.^[1]

Notable transactions

• Prior to 1959 season: Mike Page was signed as an amateur free agent by the Red Sox.^[2]
• March 9, 1959: Bob Smith was traded by the Red Sox to the Chicago Cubs for Chuck Tanner.^[3]

Regular season

• The 1959 season was the year that the color barrier was broken for the Red Sox. On July 21, Elijah "Pumpsie" Green became the first black player to play for the Red Sox.^[4] A week later, Earl Wilson became the first black pitcher to play for the team.^[1]
• Ted Williams would have an off year in his penultimate season, as he batted below .300.^[5]

Notable transactions

• July 26, 1959: Bud Byerly was traded by the Red Sox to the San Francisco Giants for Billy Muffett and cash.^[6]
• September 9, 1959: Chuck Tanner was sold by Red Sox to Cleveland Indians.^[3]

Opening day lineup

24		SS
3		2B
10	Gene Stephens	CF
6		1B
4		RF
11		3B
37		RF
22		C
23		P

Roster

1959 Boston Red Sox
Roster
Pitchers		CatchersInfielders		Outfielders		ManagerCoaches (Third base) (Pitching) (First base & Hitting)

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		119	377	107	.284	1	42
1B		117	298	78	.262	11	42
2B		147	560	176	.314	6	57
SS		151	485	117	.241	10	53
3B		154	604	169	.280	19	92
LF		103	272	69	.254	10	43
CF		96	251	61	.243	7	27
RF		148	535	148	.277	28	112

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
	120	335	82	.245	11	48
	92	270	75	.278	3	39
	94	247	68	.275	7	49
	50	172	40	.233	1	10
	65	169	38	.225	1	11
	61	102	23	.225	1	5
	22	45	11	.244	3	6
	31	23	3	.130	1	4
	14	22	2	.091	0	2
	4	15	4	.267	0	1
	10	14	3	.214	0	0
	13	12	1	.083	0	0
	3	10	2	.200	0	1
	3	3	1	.333	0	1
	4	2	0	.000	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
	36	215.1	10	12	3.76	121
	31	179.2	13	8	4.31	93
	30	177.2	9	11	3.95	107
	9	56.1	2	6	5.27	24

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
	34	151.2	7	7	4.15	87
	28	134.1	11	6	2.95	55
	26	95.2	6	4	4.05	48
	14	46.0	1	4	4.70	26
	8	24.2	2	3	6.57	14
	9	23.2	1	1	6.08	17
	5	17.2	0	3	5.60	8
	5	9.0	0	1	15.00	4
	4	8.2	0	2	11.42	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
	46	5	3	11	3.07	54
	41	3	3	7	4.20	30
	26	2	5	3	5.51	14
	21	3	0	0	1.19	12
	3	0	0	0	6.75	3

Awards and honors

• Jackie Jensen, Gold Glove Award (OF)
• Frank Malzone, Gold Glove Award (3B)

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball.

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Minneapolis, Waterloo, Alpine
Source:^{[7] [8]}

See also

• List of first black Major League Baseball players by team and date

External links

• 1959 Boston Red Sox team at Baseball-Reference
• 1959 Boston Red Sox season at baseball-almanac.com

Notes and References

1. Book: The Boston Red Sox: An Illustrated History . Milton . Cole . Jim . Kaplan . 32 . World Publications Group . . 2009 . 978-1-57215-412-4.
2. https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/p/pagemi01.shtml Mike Page
3. http://www.baseball-almanac.com/players/trades.php?p=tannech01 Chuck Tanner Trades and Transactions
4. Book: The Boston Red Sox: An Illustrated History . Milton . Cole . Jim . Kaplan . 33 . World Publications Group . . 2009 . 978-1-57215-412-4.
5. Book: The Boston Red Sox: An Illustrated History . Milton . Cole . Jim . Kaplan . 31 . World Publications Group . . 2009 . 978-1-57215-412-4.
6. https://www.baseball-reference.com/m/muffebi01.shtml Billy Muffett
7. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007
8. Book: Boston Red Sox Official Profile, Photo and Data Book . 1959 . 30 . March 13, 2021 . Wayback Machine.