1955 Boston Red Sox season

1955 Boston Red Sox
Ballpark	Fenway Park
City	Boston, Massachusetts
Owners	Tom Yawkey
Managers	Pinky Higgins
Television	WBZ-TV, Ch. 4 and WNAC-TV, Ch. 7
Radio	WHDH-AM 850 (Curt Gowdy, Bob Murphy, Tom Hussey)
Seasons

The 1955 Boston Red Sox season was the 55th 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.

Offseason

• October 14, 1954: Owen Friend was purchased by the Red Sox from the Cleveland Indians.

Regular season

After finishing fourth — but 42 games behind the pennant-winning Cleveland Indians — in 1954, the 1955 Red Sox improved substantially, gaining 15 games in the win column (although again finishing fourth). The Red Sox played especially well throughout the early and middle parts of the season, seemingly in pennant contention for the first time since 1950. Much of the improvement was ascribed to rookie manager Pinky Higgins, promoted to Boston after eight years as a skipper in the team's farm system.

But the Red Sox' improvement on the field was overshadowed by the sudden illness and death, on June 27, of the team's sophomore first baseman, Harry Agganis. Perhaps the most celebrated Boston-area athlete of the 20th century, the Lynn, Massachusetts, native had starred in football as the quarterback of the Boston University Terriers before signing a professional baseball contract with the Red Sox. He was batting .313 in 83 at bats on June 2 when he was initially taken ill with pneumonia. He died less than four weeks later, at 26, of a massive pulmonary embolism.

Season standings

American League	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
New York Yankees	96	58	0.623	—	52–25	44–33
Cleveland Indians	93	61	0.604	3	49–28	44–33
Chicago White Sox	91	63	0.591	5	49–28	42–35
Boston Red Sox	84	70	0.545	12	47–31	37–39
Detroit Tigers	79	75	0.513	17	46–31	33–44
Kansas City Athletics	63	91	0.409	33	33–43	30–48
Baltimore Orioles	57	97	0.370	39	30–47	27–50
Washington Senators	53	101	0.344	43	28–49	25–52

Record vs. opponents

1955 American League record Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]
Team	BAL	BOS	CWS	CLE	DET	KCA	NYY	WSH
Baltimore	—	8–14	10–12–1	3–19	9–13	10–12–1	3–19	14–8
Boston	14–8	—	9–13	11–11	13–9	14–8	8–14	15–7
Chicago	12–10–1	13–9	—	10–12	14–8	14–8	11–11	17–5
Cleveland	19–3	11–11	12–10	—	12–10	17–5	13–9	9–13
Detroit	13–9	9–13	8–14	10–12	—	12–10	10–12	17–5
Kansas City	12–10–1	8–14	8–14	5–17	10–12	—	7–15	13–9
New York	19–3	14–8	11–11	9–13	12–10	15–7	—	16–6
Washington	8–14	7–15	5–17	13–9	5–17	9–13	6–16	—

Opening Day lineup

10	Billy Goodman	2B
20	Eddie Joost	SS
26	Faye Throneberry	LF
4	Jackie Jensen	RF
8	Sammy White	C
3	Norm Zauchin	1B
12	Ted Lepcio	3B
37	Jimmy Piersall	CF
18	Frank Sullivan	P

Notable transactions

• June 12, 1955: Owen Friend was purchased from the Red Sox by the Chicago Cubs.

Roster

1955 Boston Red Sox
Roster
Pitchers 40 Frank Baumann 23 Tom Brewer 42 Dick Brodowski 27 Hal Brown 14 Ike Delock 25 Hersh Freeman 29 Bill Henry 28 Tom Hurd 40 Russ Kemmerer 19 Leo Kiely 16 Ellis Kinder 15 Willard Nixon 17 Mel Parnell 39 Bob Smith 18 Frank Sullivan 27 George Susce 44 Joe Trimble		Catchers 24 Pete Daley 22 Jim Pagliaroni 44 Haywood Sullivan  8 Sammy White Infielders  6 Harry Agganis  2 Milt Bolling 11 Billy Consolo 22 Owen Friend 41 Dick Gernert 10 Billy Goodman  1 Grady Hatton 20 Eddie Joost 35 Billy Klaus 12 Ted Lepcio 43 Frank Malzone  3 Norm Zauchin		Outfielders  4 Jackie Jensen  7 Sam Mele 21 Karl Olson 37 Jimmy Piersall 38 Gene Stephens 26 Faye Throneberry  9 Ted Williams		Manager  5 Pinky Higgins Coaches 32 Del Baker (First base) 31 Jack Burns (Third base) 33 Dave Ferriss (Pitching) 30 Mickey Owen (Catching) 34 Paul Schreiber (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
2B	Billy Goodman	149	599	176	.294	0	52

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
Harry Agganis	25	83	26	.313	0	10
Owen Friend	14	42	11	.262	0	2

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	31	192.2	11	10	4.20	91

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
Frank Baumann	7	34	2	1	0.00	1

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
Dick Brodowski	16	1	0	0	5.63	10
Bob Smith	1	0	0	0	0.00	1

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Louisville Colonels	American Association	Red Marion
A	Montgomery Rebels	Sally League	Eddie Popowski and Fred Maguire
B	Greensboro Patriots	Carolina League	Elmer Yoter
C	San Jose Red Sox	California League	Sheriff Robinson
D	Bluefield Blue-Grays	Appalachian League	Len Okrie
D	Corning Red Sox	PONY League	Glenn Wright

References

• 1955 Boston Red Sox team page at Baseball Reference
• 1955 Boston Red Sox season at baseball-almanac.com