1959 Boston Red Sox season

1959 Boston Red Sox Pumpsie Green becomes the Red Sox first black player Earl Wilson becomes the Red Sox first black pitcher
Major league affiliations
American League (Since 1901)
Location
Fenway Park (Since 1912) Boston (Since 1901)
1959 Information
Owner(s)	Tom Yawkey
General manager(s)	Bucky Harris
Manager(s)	Pinky Higgins, Rudy York, and Billy Jurges
Local television	WHDH-TV
Local radio	WHDH-AM 850 (Curt Gowdy, Bob Murphy, Bill Crowley)
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The 1959 Boston Red Sox season involved the Red Sox finishing 5th in the American League with a record of 75 wins and 79 losses, nineteen 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.

Notable transactions

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

Regular season

• The 1959 season was the year that the color barrier was broken for the Red Sox. Elijah "Pumpsie" Green became the first black player to play for the Red Sox. Later in the season, Earl Wilson became the first black pitcher to play for the Boston Red Sox.
• Ted Williams would have an off year as he batted below .300.

Season standings

American League	W	L	Pct.	GB
Chicago White Sox	94	60	.610	--
Cleveland Indians	89	65	.578	5
New York Yankees	79	75	.513	15
Detroit Tigers	76	78	.494	18
Boston Red Sox	75	79	.487	19
Baltimore Orioles	74	80	.481	20
Kansas City Athletics	66	88	.429	28
Washington Senators	63	91	.409	31

Notable transactions

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

Opening day lineup

24	Don Buddin	SS
3	Pete Runnels	2B
10	Gene Stephens	CF
6	Vic Wertz	1B
4	Jackie Jensen	RF
11	Frank Malzone	3B
37	Gary Geiger	RF
22	Sammy White	C
23	Tom Brewer	P

Roster

1959 Boston Red Sox
Roster
Pitchers 15 Frank Baumann 28 Ted Bowsfield 23 Tom Brewer 19 Jerry Casale 28 Nelson Chittum 14 Ike Delock 20 Mike Fornieles 39 Jack Harshman 39 Billy Hoeft 17 Leo Kiely 42 Herb Moford 27 Bill Monbouquette 30 Al Schroll 39 Dave Sisler 18 Frank Sullivan 26 Murray Wall 28 Ted Wills 26 Earl Wilson		Catchers  8 Pete Daley 35 Don Gile 16 Haywood Sullivan 22 Sammy White Infielders 12 Bobby Ávila 24 Don Buddin  1 Billy Consolo 25 Dick Gernert 12 Pumpsie Green 12 Ted Lepcio  1 Jim Mahoney 11 Frank Malzone  1 Herb Plews  3 Pete Runnels  6 Vic Wertz		Outfielders  7 Jim Busby 37 Gary Geiger  4 Jackie Jensen  2 Marty Keough 39 Jerry Mallett 30 Bill Renna 10 Gene Stephens  9 Ted Williams		Manager  5 Pinky Higgins 34 Rudy York 16 Billy Jurges Coaches 32 Del Baker 31 Jack Burns 33 Dave Ferriss 34 Rudy York

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
LF	Williams, TedTed Williams	103	272	69	.254	10	43

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
Geiger, GaryGary Geiger	120	335	82	.245	11	48
Wertz, VicVic Wertz	94	247	68	.275	7	49
Green, PumpsiePumpsie Green	50	172	40	.233	1	10

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
Brewer, TomTom Brewer	36	215.1	10	12	3.76	121
Casale, JerryJerry Casale	31	179.2	13	8	4.31	93

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
Baumann, FrankFrank Baumann	26	95.2	6	4	4.05	48
Wilson, EarlEarl Wilson	9	23.2	1	1	6.08	17
Bowsfield, TedTed Bowsfield	5	9	0	1	15.00	4

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

See also

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

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Minneapolis Millers	American Association	Gene Mauch
A	Allentown Red Sox	Eastern League	Sheriff Robinson
B	Raleigh Capitals	Carolina League	Ken Deal
D	Waterloo Hawks	Midwest League	Elmer Yoter
D	Corning Cor-Sox	New York–Penn League	Len Okrie
D	Alpine Cowboys	Sophomore League	Eddie Popowski

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Minneapolis, Waterloo, Alpine

References

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