1950 BOSTON RED SOX
"THE BEST OFFENSIVE SEASON IN SOX HISTORY" ...

The 1950 Red Sox had one of the most potent lineups in baseball and scored 1,027 runs for an average of 6.7 runs per game, the most in Sox history. They had a .302 team batting average, the last team to have a .300 batting average. And they did all this while losing Ted Williams for half the season after he broke his elbow in the All Star Game. Even without Ted, the Sox showed they could still win. The Sox were favored to win the pennant before the season started.

Ted had inked the highest salary in the history of baseball before the season with a base salary of $90,000. Ted was now 30 years old, in his prime and knew he only had a limited amount of time to maximize his worth. He signed deals to endorse products like Quaker Oats, Ted's Root Beer and Chesterfield cigarettes. He was also paid $10,000 to appear at the Boston and New York sportsmen's shows, where he put on a fly-casting exhbition for the fishermen. He also bought his first home in Florida where he could indulger in his fishing passion.

Johnny Pesky and Ted showed up to spring training early and full of confidence. Only one game had seperated them from a pennant each of the last two years. They had gotten off to slow starts that hurt them at the end. Vern Stephens was the only holdout, seeking to double his salary of $25,000, arguing that if he was half as good as Ted, he was worth half of what Ted was getting paid.

On Opening Day against the Yankees at Fenway Park, on April 18th, after jumping out to a 9-0 lead, Sox pitching gave it away and they lost to New York, 15-10. The Yanks then beat the Sox 16-7 in the second game of the Patriot's Day doubleheader on April 19th, earning a split. The Sox had won the opener, 6 to 3 on Ted's home run.

In Philly on April 20th, Mickey McDermott hurled the Sox to an 8-2 win. Vern Stephens belted a ninth inning grandslam to seal the game.

After dropping the first game of an April 22nd doubleheader at Shibe Park, Mel Parnell won his first game of the year 12-2. Sox hitters blasted the A's pitchers for 14 hits in six innings when the game was stopped at 6PM because of the Blue Laws. Al Zarilla banged out two doubles and a single in five times up.

In New York on April 27th, the Sox racked up five runs on just one hit in the fifth inning for a 7-2 victory over the Yankees.

The Sox came home on April 28th and took three straight from the Athletics to open their homestand. Mel Parnell won easily 4 to 1, when the A's pitchers couldn't find the plate.

On April 30th, in the first game of a doubleheader, the Sox clobbered the A's, 19 to 0 and won the second game 6 to 5. Ted Williams slugged a pair of three-run homers and was backed by homers from Vern Stephens and Bobby Doerr. Dom DiMaggio had four hits during the day.

Billy Goodman broke his leg at the end of April and rookie Walt Dropo was called up from Louisville to take over at first base. By the end of the month, Johnny Pesky (.360 BA) was leading the league in runs scored wth 17 and the Sox were a game out of first.

Dropo knocked out a triple and another base hit to lead the Sox over the Indians, 6-1, on May 2nd. In the next game, Dropo slugged a homer and a single in a 7-2 win.

Both Ted and Stephens slugged homers in a 5 to 2 win over the White Sox on May 5th. The next day the Sox slammed six home runs (two by Birdie Tebbetts) and beat the White Sox again, 11 to 1.

Clyde Vollmer came to the Red Sox from Washington in early May. He was traded for outfielder Tom O'Brien and infielder Merrill Combs.

On May 7th the Sox captured first place with a doubleheader sweep of the St. Louis Browns. Al Papai pitched a seven hitter in the second game, 6 to 2 and the Sox took the opener, 8 to 6. Dom DiMaggio banged out seven hits. His triple and Ted's homer put the Sox ahead in the third inning of the first game. By the time the season was three weeks old, both Dom and Johnny Pesky had reached base 76 times.

Another homer by Walt Dropo gave the Sox their fifth straight win, a 6-1 victory over Detroit on May 9th. They had won 11 of their last 12 games and were a game up in first place.

Then Ted Williams lost the fans. On May 11th, in a doubleheader against the Tigers, he dropped a fly ball then hit a grandslam homer. After the homer, the fans who had booed him, now cheered, but Ted gave everyone the finger as he ran off the field. In the second game with Kinder working on a shutout, Ted misplayed a single, letting all the runners score. He was booed again and again let the fans know how he felt about them. The Sox lost both games and slipped into second place. The club then issued an apology for Ted's behavior. But now the press had turned on Ted.

Mickey McDermott beat Washington on May 12th, on five hits, 3 to 1. Walt Dropo smashed three singles to boost his batting average to .436 ... the next day, Birdie Tebbetts, appearing in his 1000th major league game, belted a single in the eighth inning, driving in Bobby Doerr with the winning run, 5 to 4.

On May 14th, two homers by Dropo, in a doubleheader split with Washington, kept the Sox (17-10) in first place. After winning the opener behind Mel Parnell, 8 to 1, they lost the second game, 10-5.

They headed on the road having won 13 of the 17 games on the homestand and started the trip with a 6 to 1 win in Detroit on May 16th. Ted and Vern Stephens each slugged a pair of homers, accounting for all six runs.

They lost the next game but slugged there way to a 13-12 win in the third game on May 18th. Johnny Pesky had been out for eight games when he pulled a muscle in his leg. But he came back to the lineup and went 4-for-6 with two RBIs. Vern Stephens tripled with the bases loaded in the first inning to give the Sox a 4-0 which they built on. At one time they were ahead, 11 to 1, but the Tigers got to Mickey McDermott and Al Papai to get with two runs. Pesky's ninth inning single scored Dom with another run and it's lucky he did. Joe Dobson gave up two runs in the ninth and got the final out with runners on first and third, grabbing a grounder and diving for the first base bag to record the final out. The Sox and Yankees were tied for first.

But the Sox lost the next two in Cleveland and 2-of-3 in Chicago. The one win on May 21st, was a 7-0 shutout by Ellis Kinder.

Down now by four games and sinking to third place, the Sox rallied with two wins in St. Louis. Mel Parnell came close to blowing a five run lead on May 24th, but hung on to wing 7 to 5. Al Zarilla had two triples and the Sox were ahead 5-0 in the third inning. The Browns cut the lead to a single run after seven. But the Zarilla launched his second three-bagger and was followed by a double from Billy Goodman and a single from Matt Batts that put the Sox' seventh run on the board.

The next day, May 25th saw a slugfest between the Browns and Sox. Behind 11 to 7 in the eighth inning, Clyde Vollmer belted a two run homer. Singles by Johnny Pesky (his fourth of the game) and Ted, followed by a walk to Vern Stephens, loaded the bases for Walt Dropo. He had already knocked in two runs with a seventh inning single. He deposited a fastball right under the big scoreboard in left center for his first grandslam and a 15-12 win.

The sweep of a doubleheader followed in Washington on May 27th. After Joe Dobson won the opener on Johnny Pesky's 10th inning single, Chuck Stobbs fired a three hitter for a 6 to 2 triumph in the second game.

The Sox lost the final game of the series against the Nats and closed out the month in Yankee Stadium where they lost two. Dom DiMaggio and Johnny Pesky each had three hits in the first game which the Yankees won 11 to 7. Mel Parnell couldn't get out of the first inning giving up five runs.

The Sox returned home and ended the month of May at 24-18, five games behind the Yankees, in third place.

The strange journey of the Red Sox was illustrated on how they started the month of June. At home they bashed the ball and their opponents. On June 2nd, they beat the Cleveland Indians and Bob Feller, 11 to 5. Feller gave up a quick six runs, including homers by Ted and Walt Dropo. The next day the Sox belted the Indians again, 11 to 9. Ted homered again, knocking out his 13th round-tripper, and Dropo had three hits, to lead the 13-hit attack, good for 23 total bases.

Then the White Sox came to Fenway. On June 4th four Chicago pitchers got pounded for 21 hits by the Red Sox batters, in a 17-7 beating. Al Zarilla had a triple, double and two singles. Birdie Tebbetts with a double and three singles, while Ted and Dropo banged out three hits each.

Then, in the next game, June 5th, the Red Sox scored 12 runs, including Vern Stephens' 11th homer, while Mickey McDermott held Chicago scoreless on four scattered hits, 12-0. That was 51 runs in four games.

After losing a game, it was their turn to wallop St. Louis. On June 7th, the Sox lined out 23 hits, to beat the Browns, 20-4, including five home runs, two each by Clyde Vollmer and Stephens, and one by Dropo.

The next day, June 8th, the Red Sox topped the previous day's fireworks when they beat the Browns, 29 to 4, surpassing the record of 28 runs scored by the 1929 St. Louis Cardinals. Johnny Pesky (.358 BA) went 5-for-7 and Al Zarilla (.376 BA) was 5 for 7 with four doubles. Walt Dropo (.384 BA) was 5-for-7, with two home runs, driving in seven runs, and Bobby Doerr drove in eight runners with three home runs. Ted Williams (.335 BA) added two home runs.

They set the record for most toatal bases in one game (60) and the most extra base hits in a game (17). They had scored 104 runs in a week. In 49 games, the Sox scored 372 runs, hit 63 homers and batted .307, surpassing the records of the 1940 club. Clyde Vollmer became the only player in major league history to come to the plate eight times in eight innings.

But even with five of the Sox batters in the top 10 of the American League, they showed that their hitting alone would not carry them. They lost 11 of their next 13 games and scored only 45 runs in those games. The pitching gave up 84 runs and they fell 9 1/2 games behind by June 18th.

In addition, Sox manager, Joe McCarthy's drinking was becoming a problem. He showed up late to the ball park and was finally warned by Cronin that if he showed up drunk again, he’d be fired. After losses on Father’s Day in Detroit, McCarthy got drunk and stayed drunk. On June 23rd, he resigned with the team citing his physical exhaustion.

Steve O'Neill took over and although he was not much of a leader, under him, the bats came back to life and the Sox went on an 8-1 streak to start for him.

In St. Louis on June 23rd, Mickey McDermott started a eighth inning rally that gave the Sox four runs and a 12 to 9 triumph. Billy Goodman, filling in for Johnny Pesky, had four hits.

The next day, Goodman belted a grandslam in leading the Sox to a 12-3 thumping of the Browns. On June 25th, the Sox scored 11-5 win in the first of two games and then behind Walt Masaterson, won the second game of the doubleheader, 8 to 2, to sweep the series.

On June 25th North Korea invaded South Korea and President Harry Truman ordered a naval blockade of the Korean coast. He then sent in ground combat troops.

First Lieutenant Ted Williams was not on active duty, but after being discharged for World War II, had signed up for the reserves. Ted's picture was now going to be used as a recruitment tool for the Marines.

Meanwhile in Philadelphia, the Sox won the game on June 27th, 7 to 5 in 11 innings. After the Sox had tied the game on Billy Hitchcock's triple, Joe Dobson held the A's in check and actually brought home the game winner when he was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.

Ted belted one of his longest homers the next game, on July 28th in Philly. It was a twisting smash just inside the right field foul pole with Billy Goodman aboard, breaking 2-2 pitching duel between Ellis Kinder and Lou Brissie. The final was in the Sox favor, 6 to 2.

The Sox scored 22 runs in the final game of the series and the road trip, beating the A's 22-14 on June 29th. The 36 runs broke the American League record for runs scored in a game. The Sox and A's had scored 35 runs in 1901 match-up. Ted was credited for furnishing most of the Sox runs. He drove in six, boosting his league-leading RBI total to 80. He hit his 24th homer in the seventh inning.

On June 30th, the Red Sox were in fourth place, seven game behind Detroit and hosted the Yankees for four games at Fenway. On June 30th, they split a doubleheader, losing the opener 9 to 6 on a double steal and winning the nitecap, 10 to 2 behind Walt Masterson.

On July 1st, Whitey Ford made is major league debut for the Yankees at Fenway. He got belted for five runs on seven hits and gave up six walks to the Sox. He lasted only 4 2/3 innings, losing 11 to 4. The Sox then lost three straight to fall 8 1/2 game back.

In New York, they lost 2 of 3 to the Yankees. Walt Masterson won his third straight in the Sox only victory on July 8th, 4 to 2. Masterson was cutch when it mattered, stranding ten Yankee baserunners. Vern Stephens was the difference, knocking out a two-run homer, his 18th in the sixth inning.

The All Star game was a very dark day for the Red Sox. Walt Dropo, Bobby Doerr and Ted Williams (.321 BA, 25 HR, 83 RBI) were all starters for the American League All Stars. Dom DiMaggio and Vern Stephens also made the All Star team. In the first inning of the game at Comiskey Park, Ted smashed into the scoreboard, chasing down a line drive hit by Ralph Kiner, and injured his elbow. He continued to play, however, and saw the National League win in fourteen inning, 4-3. But Ted was in agony on the flight back and knew something was very wrong. He had x-rays and found out he broken a bone in his elbow. Two days later he had the surgery and would be out for two months.

On July 13th, replacing Ted in left field, Clyde Vollmer hit a home run and two doubles, beating the White Sox, 8 to 7.

But the Sox did not fold. On July 14th, the Sox scored 11 runs in the third inning against the White Sox. It was their second 11-run inning of the season. It was the 12th win in 17 games under Steve O'Neill.

Walt Dropo continued his assault on American League pitchers as he slugged three homers against the Cleveland Indians in the split of a doubleheader on July 16th.

Dropo was the difference the next day. On July 17th, with another doubleheader split with the Indians. His two-run seventh inning homer was the difference in a 7 to 5 win.

Then Billy Goodman went on a tear. He played every position in both the infield and the outfield, although his opportunity to play steadily came after Ted went down. Against the league-leading Detroit Tigers on July 18th, Goodman banged out four hits in his first four trips to the plate. The Sox won 12-9.

On July 20th, the Sox came from behind and beat the Tigers in extra innings.  Vern Stephens' single in the last of the 9th inning scored the Goodman with the tying run, and DiMaggio's double scored Goodman with the game winner in the 11th inning.

The Sox needed Billy Goodman (.344 BA) to play but didn't have a position to call his. He started the season at first base until he was displaced by Walt Dropo. When Johnny Pesky pulled his leg muscle, he filled in at third base. He spelled Bobby Doerr at second base when he was hurt. He had played every infield positon and could have started on any other team.

Against the Browns on July 21st, Dom DiMaggio got four straight hits including his 6th homer, leading the Sox to an 7-4 victory.

The next day on July 22nd, the Browns stopped Walt Dropo's hitting streak at 12 games. But that was all they could do. Sox batters banged out 14 hits. Tom Wright and Matt Batts each had three of them in the 11-2 rout.

The Red Sox concluded a three game sweep of St. Louis by beating them 6-2 on July 23rd. Bobby Doerr hit his 15th homer, a three run job in the first inning. It was his 5th in the last six games.

It was back on the road and the first stop was a meeting with the first place Tigers on July 25th. A three run eighth inning gave the Sox a 7-6 triumph. Billy Goodman's double tied the score and Dom DiMaggio brought home the game winner with a sac fly.

Mel Parnell shutout the Tigers in the next game on July 26th, while Bobby Doerr slugging a homer to give the Sox a 1-0 victory. It was the sixth straight win for the Sox and inched them up to 4 1/2 games of the Tigers.

But the Sox then lost the next four games and were back up to seven games behind at the end of the month.

The Sox went on the road as July turned into August and took twelve of the twenty games they played. On August 1st, Walt Dropo had three hits and drove in two runs, to back Mel Parnell in St. Louis, 7-3. His RBI total reached 101, to lead the AL over Vern Stephens' 100 RBIs.

The next day, on August 2nd, three runs in the ninth inning gave the Red Sox an 8-6 win. A double by Vern Stephens scored Johnny Pesky and Dom DiMaggio. Then Dropo's bloop single scored him with the game winner.

In Chicago on August 5th, the White Sox awarded Red Sox hitters twelve bases on balls and thus gave their visitors a 12-7 win.

The Red Sox next swept a doubleheader from the White Sox the next day, August 6th, 9-2 and 4-3. Ellis Kinder pitched a no-hit ball for 5 1/3 innings and picked up his 14th consecutive win over Chicago over the past three seasons in the first game. But that was overshadowed by his grandslam home run five rows into the left field seats in the fifth inning with Doerr, Zarilla and Tebbetts on base. Kinder's six RBIs was a record for a pitcher at the time. Joe Dobson held on and pitched himself out of ninth inning trouble to preserve the second win.

In New York on August 8th, the Sox kept winning by beating the Yankees 7 to 4. Al Zarilla and Billy Goodman both homered in helping Mel Parnell notch his ninth win.

In Washington, Joe Dobson uncorked a superb four hitter, while his mates knocked the cover off the ball for a 10-1 on August 12th. Walt Dropo tripled home two runs in the seventh while Matt Batts drove in four runs with a single, a double and a triple. But the Sox lost four of the last six games of the road trip to fall eight games back.

They concluded the trip, returned home and won 19 of the next 20 games. The hitters warmed up as did the weather and soon every man in the starting lineup was batting around .300.

On August 15th, the Sox took a doubleheader from Philadelphia. Walt Dropo hit a home run off Hany Wyse and the next time up, Wyse hit him in the head. Now Dropo was out and Billy Goodman took over at first base.

Bobby Doerr's grandslam against the Athletics on August 16th, gave the Sox their second doubleheader sweeps of the A's in two days. That marked 18 straight wins against them at Fenway Park.

The next day, Vern Stephens led the Sox with two doubles and his 27th homer, that boosted his MLB leading RBI mark to 116. The 10-6 win on August 17th, marked 19 straight losses at Fenway for Philly and a sweep of the five game series.

Doerr was the hero again on August 18th, when he drilled a 10th inning walk-off homer to lead to Sox to a 7-6 win over Washington at Fenway.

The next day, August 19th, the Sox pulled out another walk-off win, beating the Nationals, 5-4. Buddy Rosar came off the bench and blasted a single off the left field fence with two out in the ninth inning and the bases loaded, scoring Vern Stephens.

The Sox collected eight runs in the sixth inning on five hits and six base-on-balls, against the Browns on August 22nd, beating them 9 to 5.

In the next game the Sox won again 9 to 5.  Walt Dropo came back and slammed his 28th homer on August 23rd. With Dropo back, Billy Goodman shifted back into left field.

On August 24th, the Browns were leading 2-1 going into the bottom of the ninth inning, when Vern Stephens delivered a walk-off grandslam to win the game, 6 to 2.

Billy Goodman raised his average to .364, 13 points better over Larry Doby of the Indians. Dom DiMaggio was batting .332 and Al Zarilla was hitting .338, while Vern Stephens was leading the league in RBIs, upping his total to 124, seven better than teammate Walt Dropo's. The Red Sox were only 3 1/2 games back, when they met for a showdown with the first place Tigers.

Mel Parnell won his seventh straight game, on August 25th, beating Detroit 6 to 2, striking out seven and not walking a batter. But the Tigers won the next game to split the two game series.

The Cleveland Indians came to town next and blew a 7 to 0 lead when they were beaten by the Red Sox 11 to 9 on August 27th. Clyde Vollmer's pinch hit grandslam homer climaxed a six-run seventh inning when three consecutive errors by the Indians filled the bases for Vollmer with two outs.

The next day, August 28th, the Sox overcame an 11 run deficit losing 12 to 1, and beat the Indians, 15 to 14. Then the Sox scored eight times in the bottom of the fourth inning as they blasted Lemon for six singles and two free passes. Johnny Pesky's base hit, Billy Goodman's double, a sac fly by Clyde Vollmer and Walt Dropo's line triple over Larry Doby's head in center  tied-up the game. Al Zarilla's seventh homer of the season, socked well into the right field seats, put the Sox out front by two runs, 15-13. Billy Goodman's (.370 BA) three hits increased his lead in the A.L. Batting race.

The Sox ended their homestand and the month of August by sweeping the White Sox, and creeping to within 2 1/2 games of the league-leading Detroit Tigers. In the first game on August 29th, the Red Sox won 13-6. The hero was Vollmer, whose two-run homer, gave Parnell his fifth straight win. Billy Goodman knocked out three more hits.

In the second game on August 30th, with the White Sox, Goodman got another hit to extend his hitting streak to 14 consecutive games. Joe Dobson notched his 14th win, 6 to 1.

In the finale, On August 31st, White Sox pitcher, Billy Pierce, walked in Vollmer with the bases loaded in the ninth inning, to give the Red Sox the walk-off win, 4 to 3.

With his cast now off, Ted Williams couldn't extend his arm to within four inches of where he could vextend his right arm, but started to take some batting practice. Most felt that the Red Sox had done well in Ted's absence and saw no reason why he should further aggravate his injury. After all the Red Sox were 42-35 when he went down. But Steve O'Neill wanted his bat back in the lineup.

In a brief road trip to start September, the Sox split in Philly and Washington. Against the A's on September 2nd, Matt Batts supplied the pop with a 4-for-4 day and a 9 to 3 Sox win.

The next day, on September 4th, they split a doubleheader with the Nats, winning the opener 5 to 4. They jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning and added two more. The Nationals got to Chuck Stobbs for four runs and Ellis Kinder had to come in and squelch the fire.

VERN STEPHENS

The Red Sox came home and took five straight. Against the Yankees on September 6th, Vern Stephens walloped four hits, including his 29th homer, pacing a 16 hit assault that buried New York, 11-2. It gave Parnell his 15th win.

Ted eased his way back in and made his first appearance as a pinch hitter, in the second game of the Yankees series on September 7th. Walt Dropo slammed two homers and a double in the 10-8 victory.

They swept a doubleheader from the Athletics on September 9th. Stephens had two singles, a triple and a homer that tied Dropo with 137 RBIs, for the AL RBI lead. When they beat Philly, 6 to 2, in the next game on September 10th, they were only one game out of first place. Tom Wright was the hero. He came out of the dugout and delivered a bases full double in the eighth inning that knocked in three runs.

Against the White Sox in Chicago, on September 12th, Parnell won his 15th game, 2 to 1. Dom DiMaggio accounted for the winning run with a single that scored Al Zarilla. It was the Sox 24th victory in 27 games.

In St. Louis, Ted made his second pinch-hitting appearance in the September 14th game and hit a double in a 6-3 loss.

The next day, September 15th,  Ted went 4 for 6 and hit a long home run over the stands in right and onto Grand Avenue, as well as three singles, to lead the Sox to a 12-9 win. Bobby Doerr had three hits including a double and a home run also.

But the Sox ended up losing two of the three games with the Browns. They rebounded to take two from the Tigers in Detroit. The two wins put the Sox in second place, ahead of the Tigers and only 1/2 game behind the first place Yankees.

On September 17th, Vern Stephens had three hits in a 3-2 win over Detroit. The Sox jumped out fron 3-0 behind Mel Parnell. Parnell weakened in the ninth, giving up two runs with nobody out, before getting resuced by Ellis Kinder.

In the second game on September 18th, the Sox scored two ninth inning runs to come from behind and beat the Tigers 3 to 2. Billy Goodman opened the inning with a base hit. Ted bounced a high one down the first base line, but pitcher Hal Newhouser threw it into right field. Ted stole second on him and scored when Walt Dropo blooped a single into center. Rookie Willard Nixon pitched three straight balls to the Tiger's leadoff hitter in the ninth, before Ellis Kinder was called upon the shut the door with his ninth save.

The Sox pennant hopes ended very quickly however, when they then lost two straight in Cleveland. Now they had to win in New York. In the first game of the series on September 23rd, Ed Lopat kept the quiet Sox bats, deadly silent with an 8-0 shutout. Parnell lost his first game in his last ten starts. In the second game, on September 24th, Ted cracked out two homers, but Nixon got hammered in the 9-5 loss. They fell back to four games out with seven left to play.

The damage was done byt false hopes were raised when they shutout the Athletics in both games of a doubleheadewr on September 25th, 8-0 and 3-0. Mel Parnell pitched a three-hitter in the first game for his 18th win and Harry Taylor picked up his first win with a neat two-hitter in the second game. The Yankees swept Washington in a doubleheader so their lead remained at four games with now only five games left.

The Sox came home, lost two to Washington and were out. Their only consolation was a game on September 29th, where Walt Dropo hit a walk-off triple in the ninth inning, to give them a 7 to 6 come-back win.

But at the end, the Sox had lost seven of their final eleven games and the Yankees tucked the pennant away.

The Sox were an offensive juggernaut, scoring 1027 runs in 154 games and hitting .302 as a team. Six of their eight starters batted over .300 ... Without Ted Williams, the Red Sox enjoyed a 44-17 record and were only 8-8 when he returned. But even though he missed 67 games, he still batted .317, with 28 homers and 97 RBIs.

Clyde Vollmer, filling in for Ted, batted a career best .284, appearing in 57 games. He hit seven homers and drove in 37 runs. He was a big reason the Sox stayed in contention, with his clutch hitting.

Bobby Doerr and Johnny Pesky (.312 BA) had their usual great seasons. Doerr batted .294 but that was the lowest batting average among all the regulars. He was third on the team with 27 HRs, 120 RBIs and a .294 BA.

Vern Stephens (.295 BA) and Walt Dropo (.322 BA) tied for the league lead with 144 RBIs apiece. Al Rosen belted 37 homers for the Indians and Dropo was in second place with 34 HRs. Walt Dropo won Rookie of the Years honors in the American League and made up for the loss of Ted’s power.

Vern Stephens not only led the league in RBIs but had 30 home runs. Yet he finished 25th in MVP balloting behind six of his teammates.

Billy Goodman played five different positions and led the league in hitting with a .354 average.

Dom DiMaggio had his finest season with the Red Sox with a .328 BA and 193 hits (both third best in the league). He led the league with 131 runs scored and stole 15 bases. He was probably the most valuable player on the team. Behind the scenes he tutored his future replacement Jimmy Piersall, who was a late season call-up, about playing centerfield and hitting at Fenway Park.

Birdie Tebbetts batted .310 with a career-high eight home runs but caught only 74 games, only one more than his back-up Matt Batts (.273 BA).

Al Zarilla was a big part of the story. He batted .325 with 32 doubles, 10 triples, 9 homers and knocked in 74 runs.

Ultimately, the team's pitching (4.88 ERA) held the club down, though no Red Sox hurler finished with a losing record. Mel Parnell  Ellis Kinder and Joe Dobson  all took a step back and the rest of the pitching staff wasn't much help.

Like the previous year, Mel Parnell (18-10 with a 3.61 ERA) walked more batters (106) than he struck out (93). Joe Dobson (15-10, 4.18 ERA) relieved in a dozen games in addition to his 27 starts, but his ERA increased for the third straight year.

Ellis Kinder incurred multiple injuries, breaking a rib shagging fly balls in the spring and suffered a back strain during the summer. He started in the rotation, but was more useful in the bullpen. He appeared in 48 games, but made 23 starts with a 4.26 ERA and had ine saves.

Chuck Stobbs (12-7, 5.10 ERA) also walked more batters (88) than he struck out (78) in 21 starts and 11 relief appearamces. But he batted .246 (15 for 17) with 12 walks and nine RBIs to his credit.

Willard Nixon started the year in Louisville and had an 11-2 record by early July, leading the American Association with 97 strikeouts and keeping a .345 BA. He was then brought up and appeared in 22 games, compiling a record of 8-6 with a 6.04 ERA. He also had more walks (58) than strikeouts (57) in 101 2/3 innings.

Another one who struggled with his control was Walt Masterson (8-6, 5.64 ERA). He struck out 60 but walked 82.

The good looking Mickey McDermott was the toast of Boston. He had fan clubs and women stood in line to get his autograph. He was a night-clubber and had a good voice, singing professionally in the lounges around town. He partied, drank, had multiple girlfriends and commanded $500/night as a singer. For the Sox he made $7500 and had a 7-3 record with a 5.19 ERA.