1956 BOSTON RED SOX ...
(THE CURSE OF THE BAMBINO, PART 5) ...
"THE BEGINNING OF GOING NOWHERE" ...

The 1956 Red Sox were a pretty good, middle-of-the-pack team, but were not good enough to ever be a part of the pennant race. They were a team with considerable potential, but with something lacking.

In November, the Red Sox acquired the San Francisco Seals of the Pacific Coast League, their Triple-A affiliate. Joe Cronin then hired Sox utility player, Eddie Joost, to be their manager.

Mickey Vernon was acquired from the Washington Senators, along with Bob Porterfield, Johnny Schmitz and Tom Umphlett for five Sox utility players, Karl Olson, Tex Clevenger, Dick Brodowski, Neil Chrisley, and Al Curtis.

The new year started with Joe Cronin being elected to the Hall of Fame along with Tiger great, Hank Greenberg.

Ellis Kinder was released in December and rookie, Dave Sisler became the bullpen mainstay.

Ted Williams reported to spring training upbeat and frisky and manager Mike Higgins was content tro let him work at his own pace. But the year would not go well for him. A freak injury in the shower had him injure his foot and he missed considerable playing five weeks of playing time to start the year. When he returned, a slow start and his combustible personality, would trigger humiliating meltdowns that generated far more attention than what he did on the field.

Ted was not the only Red Sox player to feel the wrath of the media and the fans. Jackie Jensen was booed for hitting into too many doubleplays. And rookie, Don Buddin, would become the symbol of mediocrity that would haunt the Sox for years to come, made too many errors as their new shortstop.

To make room for Buddin, Billy Klaus was moved over to third base. Dick Gernert was the big surprise at spring taining. He was 8-for-24, and four of his hits were for extra bases.

Willard Nixon was pictured sitting on an elephant during a team tour of the Ringling Brothers Circus in Sarasota. He accidently fell off and got a few scratches, but also hurt his shoulder that kept him out of action for a month after the season started.

Meanwhile Joe Cronin became instrumental behind the scenes in major league baseball. The "Pension Committee" helped iron out an agreement with the new Major League Players Association. A new plan increased the amount of money paid in the player's pension and included medical benefits, hospiltalization, and benefits for widows.

The Sox opened the season at Fenway on April 17th. Frank Sullivan breezed to an 8-1 victory over the Orioles In the third inning, Sullivan hit a fly to right that was able to score Jimmy Piersall from third, but Sammy White was thrown out trying to advance to second. It was an RBI for Sullivan, earned while hitting into an unusual doubleplay. Don Buddin also knocked out two hits in his first two times at bat.

The Sox swept Baltimore with Tom Brewer tossing a two-hitter at them in the finale.

They then traveled to New York and gave the series to the Yankees, losing three straight. They gave the Yanks 12 unearned runs in three games, with eight errors in the final two games, and had ten errors overall in their six games. Billy Goodman, Don Buddin and Billy Klaus booted multiple easy groundballs and were severely criticized in the press. Buddin started the season in a slump, but three hits against the Yankees on April 27th, helped him break out of it.

On April 28th, Mickey Vernon's seventh inning home run gave the Sox a 6 to 4 win over the Yankees at Fenway.

Then, on May 2nd Vernon bashed two singles and a double to beat the Athletics, 2 to 0.

Back at Fenway on May 3rd, Frank Sullivan limited Detroit to six hits in a 5-2 win, while both Frank Malzone and Dick Gernert each belted out two-run homers. Mel Parnell got his first win the next day. On May 4th, he beat the Tigers, 6 to 4. He got help from the bat of Norm Zauchin, who blasted a homer into the centerfield bleachers.

Tom Brewer won on May 7th by limiting the Indians to four hits and a 5 to 1 decision. He was perfect for 5 1/3 innings and was aided by homers from Zauchin and Dick Gernert.

On May 8th, Gernert's  line drive single in the 13th inning, scored Billy Consolo with the walk-off game-winning run, to give the Red Sox a 4-3 decision over the White Sox. Gernert also homered and singled in the third inning, to set up another run.

In the next game, on May 9th, Billy Goodman rapped out three doubles and a single in the 7-5 win over the White Sox. He raised his batting average to .368, but he was a liability in the field. He had four balls hit two him. Two hit him flush in the chest, and the other two skipped off his glove and rolled up his arm.

The Sox finished their homestand winning seven games and losing five. Manager Mike Higgins shuttled players in and out of the lineup, trying to find something that clicked.

As the Sox headed out on the road, General Manager, Joe Cronin, sold Grady Hatton to the St. Louis Cardinals. Over the past two seasons, Hatton had been a clutch hitter, coming through for the Sox on many occasions. This year, with Malzone playing third base, he was limited to pinch-hitting duties.

DICK GERNERT

Dick Gernert was the hottest batter in the early going. In Washington, on May 12th, the Sox lost 12-9. Gernert (.393 BA) kept them in the game with two home runs, two singles and six runs batted in. Since taking over for Ted Williams in left field, Gernert slammed eight homers and drove in 20 runs in 19 games.

On May 13th, Jimmy Piersall's homer into the center field bleachers broke a 3-3 tie giving the Sox a 5 to 3 win over the Senators.

Mel Parnell sprained his ankle on May 16th, sidelining him along with Willard Nixon and Bob Porterfield. Frank Baumann and Tom Hurd came in and then led the Sox to a 4 to 2 win in Detroit. Then Tom Brewer breezed through eight innings, allowing four scattered singles before pulling up lame and pulling a muscle, but winning 6 to 1 on May 17th.

The next day, May 18th, Hurd quelled a ninth inning rally by Kansas City to give the Red Sox and Frank Sullivan, a 5 to 4 win.

In Chicago, on May 20th, Jackie Jensen emerged from a long slump, leading the Sox to a doubleheader sweep. After hitting a long home run in the first game, that the Red Sox won, 12-5, he slugged a ninth inning homer in the second game, that gave the Sox a 2 to 1 win.

Tom Brewer won his fifth game in Cleveland on May 22nd, beating the Indians 5-3. For seven innings he shut them out on four hits, but gave up a run in the eighth. Dave Sisler relieved him in the ninth for the save.

The Sox (17-13) finished the road trip winning seven of the 12 games played and returned home in third place, four games behind.

The Sox lost the first home game to Washington on May 25th, but Jimmy Piersall cracked a pair of homers and a single, driving across four runs in the 10 to 5 loss. Ted Williams' first game back from the injured ankle, was highlighted by a double to right. The Sox lost the next day, 4-1, and Ted pinch hit a torrid single down the right field line to produce their only run.

The Sox and Senators split a doubleheader on May 27th. Tom Brewer smacked a comeback three run homer in the opener, to give his team a 9-7 win. The Sox then blew the second game when they had a two run lead in the ninth inning. Jerry Snyder's homer in the ninth put Washington out front. The Red Sox tied the game in the bottom of the ninth but then lost the game in the 10th inning, 11 to 10.

In New York, Frank Sullivan lost the first game of the series to Whitey Ford on May 28th, 2 to 0. Both of the Yankees runs were unearned. Sullivan wild pitched one home and the other came on an error by Buddin, who made three in the game.

In the next game, on May 29th, Willard Nixon had a perfect game with two outs in the seventh until he walked Mickey Mantle. He lost the no-hitter with two outs in the eighth inning when Billy Martin lined a triple over Jimmy Piersall's head. And he had a shutout with two outs in the ninth inning until Mantle homered. But Nixon won the game 7 to 3.

Bad fielding again cost the Sox a doubleheader loss in Baltimore. They finished May by beating the Orioles, 4-1 and were in fourth place, 7 1/2 games out of first, with a 20-19 record.

TOM BREWER

The Sox opened a homestand on June 1st and beat the Kansas City A's, 5 to 0. Tom Brewer shut-out the A's on just five hits. Piersall made another of his great catches by literally climbing the wall in left-center field, extending to catch the ball, falling to the ground, and rolling over without losing his prize. That topped off a great all-around evening for him, as at the plate he tripled and belted out two singles with an RBI.

Later, on June 6th, Brewer upped his record to 8-1. The Sox pulled out a 5-4 squeaker against Detroit thanks to five double plays and 4 RBIs off the bat of Sammy White.

The next day, June 7th, Ted Lepcio homered and then hit a game-winning double in the 10th inning, to give the Sox a 6 to 5 victory. However, in spite of his heroics, the Sox threw away numerous scoring opportunities, stranding 17 runners, 13 of then in the first five innings.

Then on June 8th, Billy Klaus broke a 3-3 deadlock in the seventh inning with a two-run double, that gave the Sox a win against the White Sox for three straight wins.

Tom Brewer became the first American League pitcher to win his ninth game, by beating the Cleveland Indians, 5 to 1 in the second game of a doubleheader on June 11th. He allowed just three hits and had now won six times by allowing five or fewer hits. He was 20-4, going back to May of last season.

Ted Williams and Ted Lepcio supplied the ammunition and Tommy Hurd the pitching, in relief, as the Red Sox defeated the Cleveland Indians, 9 to 7, on June 12th. Shortly after Ted had doubled to left, bringing in Billy Klaus with the tying run to make the score 5-5 in the seventh inning, Lepcio lined a three-run homer over the fence in left center to score the winning run.

Jackie Jensen led a 17-hit attack on the Cleveland Indians on June 14th. Jensen had three straight hits including a homer. Dick Gernert had three hits and Pete Daley had four. But when Cleveland scored four runs and two men on in the sixth inning, Leo Kiely came in and shut the door and pitched three more innings, allowing just one hit to preserve a 10-9 victory. They moved to within six games of first place as a result.

On June 16th, in Detroit, Gene Stephens pushed across the winning run in the 12th inning with a single up the middle to give the Sox a 6-5 win. The following day, on June 17th, the Sox blew out the Tigers, 13-2. Ted Lepcio had four hits including a three-run homer to help Frank Sullivan post his 10th win. Jackie Jensen had four hits and Don Buddin had three, including two doubles.

After losing three vstraight to the Indians the Sox fell back to ten games out on June 21st.

In Kansas City, on June 22nd, Ted belted his first homer of the season, driving in three runs and Don Buddin homered in the ninth to cement a 6 to 3 defeat on the Athletics. The next day Ted Lepcio homered to put the Sox in the lead and they won again by another 6-3 score.

The Sox lost their next two games and then blew a seven run lead on June 27th in Chicago. Then in the eighth with the game tied, Don Buddin doubled. Four successive singles scored three runs and put an 11-9 victory on the board.

In Baltimore, Billy Goodman knocked out three hits and Billy Klaus tripled him home with the winning run, in the eighth with the game tied, for a 7-6 final on June 28th. They then swept a doubleheader from the Orioles the next day, behind fine pitching performances by Willard Nixon and Tom Brewer, to get to 7 1/2 games behind the Yankees on June 30th.

Ike Delock carried the Sox by pitching four shutout relief inning and a 3 to 2 win in Washington, on July 2nd. Ted boosted his average to .374 with four hits, including two doubles.

Back at Fenway, on July 4th, the Red Sox split a doubleheader with the first place, New York Yankees before the largest crowd of the season, 34,594 fans. Jimmy Piersall's single in the 11th inning gave the Sox a 7-6 walk-off win in the first game.

The Sox next reeled off three straight before the All Star break. Tom Brewer held the Orioles to seven hits and beat them 4 to 3 for his 11th win on July 7th. The next day on July 8th, the Sox swept a doubleheader by scores of 9-0 and 8-4. Frank Sullivan was credited with his first shutout of the seasaon in the opener. Ted Williams provided the offense with a two-run homer as one of his three hits in the game. In the second game, the Sox came back after being down 4-0. Don Buddin, Billy Klaus, Mickey Vernon and Ted brought the Sox back to tie the game and Billy Goodman doubled home Buddin to put the Sox out front.

The American League All Star team was announced with Ted Williams and Mickey Vernon elected as starters. Tom Brewer and Frank Sullivan were picked to be members of the pitching staff. Jimmy Piersall and Sammy White were added to the bench.

The game was played in Washington and won by the National League, 7 to 3. Ted slammed a two-run homer in the sixth inning off Warren Spahn. The blast tied him for the most home runs in All Star competition. It was his fourth and tied him with Stan Musial. Vernon played first base for six innings and went hitless. Brewer pitched the sixth and seventh, giving up a homer to Musial, and two doubles to Ted Kluszewski. Piersall replaced Al Kaline in the eighth inning and grounded out in his only at bat.

The Sox started the second half, 10 1/2 games behind the Yankees and took three straight games from the Whites Sox at Fenway. During the first game of the series, on July 12th, a crew from Paramount Studios was at Fenway to film action by Jimmy Piersall, hoping to use some of it in his movie biography, "Fear Strikes Out".

Piersall was having one of his best years, batting .303 and had driven home the winning run in three of the last five Red Sox wins. In the fourth inning, Sherm Lollar drove a ball into left center. Piersall raced over and made a spectacular catch in front of Ted. Then in the ninth inning, with the scored tied, Piersall homered into the net for a 3-1 walk-off win.

Piersall did it again in the next game on July 13th. He knocked in the winning run for the third straight game when the Red Sox again beat Chicago. It happened in the eighth inning, with Mickey Vernon on second base and the game tied. Piersall blooped a single to short right and the Sox won, 5 to 4.

MEL PARNELL

In one of the Red Sox most dramatic moments, in many years, Mel Parnell became the first Red Sox pitcher since Howard Ehmke in 1923 to pitch a no-hit, no run game, when he stopped the White Sox 4 to 0 on July 14th. It was the first no-hitter pitched by the Sox at Fenway Park since 1918.

In the last inning, Mel walked leadoff batter Sammy Esposito on a 3-2 pitch, as he appeared to be working more cautiously. Luis Aparicio didn't delay the tingling finish. He went after Parnell's first serve and wrapped a medium hard grounder back at the mound which Parnell just missed. Fortunately for him, Billy Goodman was playing close to second base trying for a doubleplay. Goodman took the ball a couple of feet from second base and slipped, but flipped over to Don Buddin for the force play on Esposito.

A right-handed pinch-hitter, Bubba Phillips, batted for pitcher Paul LaPalme. He knocked Parnell's second pitch down to Billy Klaus and the throw over to Goodman forced Aparicio at second base, but Phillips was too fast to be doubled up. There would be one more batter left for Parnell to conquer.

Out of the dugout came Walt Dropo, the big right-handed firstbaseman and a former teammate. Dropo swung on Parnell's first pitch, like a guy trying to catch a train. The ball went right back to Parnell who scooped it up cleanly, took one look toward home and then sprinted over first base to make the final out in the dramatic game.

On July 15th, rookie Dave Sisler threw eight innings of two-hit ball against the Indians, winning 3 to 1, in his first game as a strarter.

Ted Williams hit his 400th homer on July 17th in a game the Sox won 1-0. The homer came against Kansas City's Tom Gorman on his first pitch in the sixth inning of the second game in a doubleheader. Ted hit the ball into the hands of a man in the 14th row of the rightfield bleachers. Ted was the fifth player to reach that plateau (Ruth, Foxx, Ott and Gehrig).

Ted was hitting, but erratically and inconsistent. He began to hear a smattering of boos, for which he always blamed the press. The press had not been kind to Ted. Because he started slowly, there were many who thought he should retire. Aching for a fight, after hitting his 400th home run, he crossed home plate. Mickey Vernon was there to shake his hand. But Ted raised his head at the press box and instead spit in their direction.

The Red Sox management thought that unruly fans may be a cause in Ted's behavior. As a result, beer was banned from being sold by the vendors. Fans would have to go to the concession booths under the stands to buy their refreshments.

The next night, on July 18th, the fans cheered Ted from the moment he stepped on the field. The cheers became amplified when he hit a home run in the next game, an 8-4 loss to the Athletics.

"Joe Cronin Night" was held on July 20th, celebrating his Hall-of-Fame election. Commisioner Ford Frick, Governer Christian Herter, and Mayor John Hynes all praised Cronin in a pre-game ceremony. He received a new Cadillac and numerous checks that he turned over to the Jimmy Fund.

In the seventh inning Ted misjudged a line drive hit right at him, had to back-pedal and made a nice leaping catch. Running in toward the dugout, he flung the ball high in the air toward second base, then as he came into the infield, he tossed his glove way up in the air at the Sox batboy. With the boo-birds now in full force, as Ted grabbed his bat to lead-off the inning, he turned and spat again toward the right field stands. In the club house after the game, he again voiced his disgust for the Boston sportswriters. As for Joe Cronin, he felt Ted had ruined his celebration and was furious.

Then against the Tigers on July 21st, Ted hit another homer, doubled and singled, driving across four runs and bringing his batting average up to .373 and leading the Red Sox to a 9 to 3 win.

On the last game of the homestand, on July 22nd, Mickey Vernon, had five RBIs with a three-run homer and a single to lead the Sox over the Tigers, 8 to 6. Vernon slugged a ninth inning two run homer in Kansas City to beat the A's 3 to 2 on July 24th.

After closing their homestand with 13 wins and 6 losses, the Red Sox were in third place, 11 games out of first. Meanwhile in Cooperstown, Joe Cronin and Hank Greenberg were inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame on July 23rd.

Then on July 26th in Kansas City, Ted blasted a two-run homer in the 10th inning to beat the A's, 5 to 3. Tom Brewer beat the White Sox 4-3 on July 27th. His 14-3 record was the best percentage-wise in the American League.

On July 28th, the Red Sox belted White Sox pitching for 19 hits while Willard Nixon breezed to a 13-1 cake-walk. He missed getting his first shutout in the ninth inning. Jackie Jensen and Pete Daley each had three hits, and surprisinbly enout there were no home runs.

But the Sox finished the month by losing four straight games and fell to 13 1/2 games behind the Yankees.

Tom Brewer won his 15th game on August 1st, 5-4, thanks to Ted's three-run homer and Jackie Jensen's two-run homer. Then Jensen enjoyed his best day of his major league career the next day on August 2nd. He knocked in nine runs as the Sox smothered the Tigers, 18 to 3. The record was 12, held by Jim Bottomley of the Reds in 1924. Jensen hit a three-run homer in the first inning, then drove in a run with a sacrifice fly in the fifth, tripled in three more runs in the sixth, and singled across two more in the seventh.

Mel Parnell continued his comeback by weaving a neat four-hitter in Cleveland the following day, to give the Sox a 7-1 victory on August 3rd. Jensen doubled to break a 1-1 tie, good for two more RBIs.

Two days later on August 5th, Jackie Jensen and Ted homered again. The Sox beat the Indians, 2-1, for their fifth straight win, putting them only 8 1/2 games out.

Mickey Vernon (33 for 79) wielded the hottest bat for the Red Sox since July 7th. In 24 games he batted .418 with 25 RBIs and five home runs.

On August 7th, Willard Nixon was in a pitchers duel with Don Larsen of the Yankees, and pitching a shutout in the 11th inning, in front of the largest crowd at Fenway of the year. Mickey Mantle hit an easy fly ball to left that Ted dropped, for a two-base error in the top of the inning. The fans booed Ted and then cheered him as he snared a line drive hit by Yogi Berra, a batter later. As he came off the field, Ted seethed and spat at the fickled fans behind the dugout. He then turned and spat toward the press box. When he got in the dugout, he let one go toward the Yankee dugout.

Then in the bottom of the 11th, Ted came to the plate, with the crowd in a full frenzy of boos and cheers. He drew a walk with the bases loaded. It gave the Sox a 1-0 win, but it was such an anti-climax for Ted, that as he walked to first, he threw his bat some 40 feet in the air, not caring that the Sox had just won an important game. He smashed a water cooler on the way to the clubhouse and had to be calmed down by Mike Higgins. His teammates were shocked and didn't say a word after the game, giving Ted a wide berth. Tom Yawkey, who was there in New York, heard it on the radio and immediately called Joe Cronin, who was ordered to fine him $5000.

If the press had held back before, they weren't holding back after this. Many called him an emotional time bomb and thought it was time for him to retire. The next day, Ted felt remorse, but because he thought that expressing it would show a sign of weakness, he wouldn't allow himself to undergo the further humiliation of apologizing.

So, the next night, August 8th, the Sox were playing the Orioles and it was "Family Night". Ted came to the park in a good mood. When he went out to the field he didn't look at the fans in left field stands, but they cheered him when he came to the plate in the first inning and grounded out.

In the sixth inning, Ted homered to break a 2-2 tie and as he approached the dugout, with the skill of the showman that he was, Ted put his hand over his mouth to shut himself up. The fans laughed at the gesture and then cheered him. After that, he again became a fan favorite, perhaps because everyone realized he was all they had to cheer about. And Mel Parnell won his fourth straight game. As for the $5000 fine, Tom Yawkey never collected it.

The Sox had won 9 of the 10 games they played at the start of August, but then lost 9 of the 10 next games. 

WILLARD NIXON

Willard Nixon and Don Larsen had another bout at Yankee Stadium on August 16th. Scoreless thru five innings, Jackie Jensen delivered the knock-out punch in the sixth, belting a homer with Mickey Vernon on ahead of him. Nixon pitched shutout ball until the bottom of the ninth when the Yankees finally scored an unearned run, losing to the Sox 2 to 1.

Two days later, Ted Williams hit two homers and Ted Lepcio went 3-for-4 with two homers and three RBIs, on August 18th, but the Sox lost to the Senators, 9-7. Lepcio stayed hot, hitting nine homers in his next 18 games.

Willard Nixon engaged Tom Gorman of the Athletics in another pitching battle, which he won 2 to 1 on August 26th. He gave up a run in the second inning and then shut down Kansas City, while Ted Lepcio and Dick Gernert brought the Sox from behind with solo homers for the win.

Tom Brewer won his 17th game by beating the Tigers, 4 to 2 on August 29th. Dick Gernert gave him the boosty he needed by driving in three runs with a double and a single.

As August turned into September, the Sox concluded a 6-11 homestand, 12 1/2 games out of first.

Ted broke up a 2-2 game when he hit a low liner into the right field grandstand in Baltimore. It lifted his Sox teammates to a 4-2 victory on September 1st.

In Washington on September 3rd the Sox swept a doubleheader. After winning the opener 7 to 5, Tom Brewer won the second contest, his 18th game, shutting out the Nats, 16-0 on six hits. Ted Lepcio homered and doubled, driving in four runs. Jimmy Piersall had one of his best days of the season. In the two games, he knocked out six hits, good for 8 RBIs and robbed Jim Lemon of a homer by leaping over the center field fence to grab the ball and bring it back. Lepcio's 12th inning homer gave the Red Sox a 7 to 6 decision the next day to sweep the series.

In Baltimore the Sox squeezed out a 10 inning win, 7 to 5 on September 7th. On September 8th, the Sox purchased Gene Mauch from the Pacific Coast League's Los Angeles Angels. Meanwhile, Tom Brewer won his 19th, allowing the Orioles just four hits, in a 6 to 1 win. Billy Goodman singled home the winning run in the 12th inning and beating the Orioles again in extra innings, 3 to 2 on September 9th.

In the second game of a doubleheader on September 14th, the Sox came-from-behind to beat the Indians, 4-3. After blowing a 3-1 in the eight inning, the Sox rallied back in the ninth. With two men on, Ted Williams tied up the game with a double. A moment later Ted scored the winning run, when Sammy White drove him in. Dave Sisler allowed just two hits getting the complete game victory, pitching 7 1/3 no-hit innings before giving up a walk, a single and a triple in succession.

The next day, September 15th, the Sox were down 3-0, when Ted homered off Bob Feller to tie up the game in the sixth inning. Then White came through again in the ninth inning. With the bases loaded in the ninth, he hit a two-run single to give the Sox a 5-3 triumph.

At Fenway with the Yankees in town on September 21st, Mickey Mantle hit a 480 ft homer off the wall behind the centerfield bleachers, but the Sox beat them, 13-7.

On September 26th, Ted Williams homered and doubled, beating Washington, 8 to 4, and raising his batting average to .350 as he battled Mantle for the batting title.

The final three games were in Yankee Stadium. On September 29th, Ted went 1-for-6 and Mantle only pinch-hit and drew a walk. In the final six games Ted had only gone 3-for-20 and ended up finishing second to Mantle, who batted .353 and won the "Triple Crown".

Ted (.345 BA) and Jackie Jensen (.315 BA) were the primary offensive leaders along with Jimmy Persall, who  had another sold year, batting .293 with 176 hits, leading the team with 40 doubles. Jensen led the league with 11 triples and 97 RBIs. Piersall was awarded the team's Most Valuable PLayer award by the the Boston sportswriters after the season.

The Red Sox played about as well as they had the year before with an 84-70 record and again finished in fourth place, 13 games behind the Yankees.

"THE ROOKIE"

Sammy White again caught almost every game. The large amount of work affected his back and his hitting suffered, finishing the season, batting .245 and splitting time with Pete Daley.

While driving out to Stockbrige, MA on a day off, Jackie Jensen, Sammy White and Frank Sullivan met a man who asked to take their picture for a project he was working on. They obliged and posed for a few shots and later found out the man was Norman Rockwell. They were all surprised to see themselves were in his painting called "The Rookie" which appeared in the Saturday Evening Post the next spring.

Dick Gernert improved of his previous year with the Sox, batting .291, with 16 homers and 68 RBI's. His greatest asset was his abilty to get on base. He had 56 walks with a .399 OBP in 370 at bats.

Shortstop Don Buddin (.239 BA) made 18 errors in his first 40 games. He lost his confidence and the fans constantly were on him, but Mike Higgins stood by him.

Secondbaseman, Ted Lepcio, batted .261 with 15 homers and 51 RBIs, both career highs.

The best part of the squad was the young pitchers. Frank Sullivan (14-7, 3.42 ERA) was solid on the mound, ranking seventh in the American League with a .667 winning percentage.

In spite of some arm problems, which required regular cortisone shots, Tom Brewer (19-9, 3.50 ERA) had his best major league season, throwing four shutouts and 15 complete games. Opposing batters could only compile a .220 BA against him. He also finished with a .298 batting average.

Willard Nixon (9-8) had another decent year. He pitched several outstanding games but was inconsistent, battling arm and back problems.

Ike Delock (13-7) had been pegged as a starting pitcher but was put in the bullpen and led the league with 11 as a reliever. He was given the "Unsung Hero" award by the Boston Baseball Writers.