1955 BOSTON RED SOX ...

The 1955 Red Sox established the precedent that a team can fall from grace quickly and be corrected. On October 9, 1954, Lou Boudreau was fired as the Red Sox manager and Mike Higgins, a Yawkey favorite,  was hired to replace him. The Sox picked up unknown shortstop Billy Klaus, in a December trade with the Giants for Del Wilber. With Ted Williams in retirement, Faye Throneberry won the job in left field. The Sox broke spring training with only four pitchers who had any major league experience.

The Sox opened in Baltimore on April 12th. On the back of two homers by Ted Lepcio, they beat the Orioles, 7 to 1. Jimmy Piersall had three hits and Jackie Jensen had two.

Opening at Fenway, the Sox split two games with then Yankees. They then swept three games from the visiting Orioles. They had slugged out 11 homers in the first five games. Throneberry was batting .400 with two homers and 12 RBIs.

In Washington on April 20th, Norm Zauchin made his first big league hit a winning won, blooping a single into center field that scored Sammy White to give Willard Nixon a 1-0 shutout victory.

The Sox moved into Yankee Stadium and Nixon shut the Yanks out, 1 to 0. Extending back to last season, it was 18 consecutive scoreless inning and six straight wins over the Yankees.

HARRY HOOPER & CY YOUNG

The road trip was a disaster for the Sox, losing 11 of the 15 games played. They returned to Fenway to face the Yankees, but couldn't get back on the winning track, getting swept in three games and falling behind by 8 1/2 games.

Faye Throneberry and his teammates could hit, drew a lot of walks for a high on-base percentage but could not drive in the runs when it mattered the most. Only Harry Agganis was consistent during the first part of the season.

May 6th was Hall-of-Famer day at Fenway Park. Cy Young, Mickey Cochrane, Jimmie Foxx, Harry Hooper, Tris Speaker, Duffy Lewis, Lefty Grove, Gabby Hartnett, Charley Gehringer, Ed Walsh, Al Simmons, Carl Hubbell, Frank Baker, Dazzy Vance, Bill Dickey and Joe DiMaggio were among the stars who all enjoyed the festivities.

Without Ted Williams, Red Sox attendance slipped and fans showed little interest. But behind the scenes something was going on that few knew about. Williams and his wife were going through a nasty divorce and it became evident that Ted had retired because he did not want to sign a lucrative contract and then have any of the money go to his wife. So after the divorce was finalized, Ted re-signed with the Sox for $100K on May 11th.

The news seemed to rejuvenate the Sox. The next day they beat Kansas City, 12 to 7 at Fenway. Gene Stephens led the Sox offense with four hits, including a home run. Then on May 14th, Jackie Jensen wrecked a magnificent rescue performance by Kansas City pitcher, Johnny Sain, when he walloped a tremendous two-run, 13th inning homer for a 3 to 1 Sox victory. The walk-off blast was Jensen's second homer of the game.

On May 15th, Harry Agganis (.307 BA) clipped Detroit Tiger pitchers for five hits, as the Sox split a doubleheader. In the first game, he started a rally with a double and wound up the second game with a three-run triple.

After the game, Agganis came to trainer Jack Fadden told him that he had been playing with a heavy cold and pain in his right side. After being examined by team physician, Timothy Lamphier, Harry was hospitalized the next day with pneumonia in his right lung.

The Sox finally beat the Indians on May 17th. Jensen knocked out a three-run homer and Norm Zauchin, who was filling in for Agganis had two hits that brought in two runs. The win gave the six wins in their last seven games.

In just five innings, Zauchin belted three home runs and a double, and came within one of the record for RBIs in a game, against the Senators on May 27th. The Sox beat Washington 16-0.

Ted Williams returned to the Sox lineup on May 28th. He singled in his first time up, but the Sox lost to Washington by a 5-3 score. The next day, Jackie Jensen pumped out two home runs and drove in five runs to lead the Sox to a 12-7 victory over the Senators. The Sox ended May in 5th place, 12 games behind.

After spending ten days in the hospital, Harry Agganis rejoined the team in Chicago on June 1st. The next day, in Mel Parnell's first appearance of the season, Agganis (.313 BA) banged out two hits in what would be his final game. He couldn't shake his illness and after complaining of chest pains, was again sent back to Boston.

On June 5th, in Kansas City, Ted slugged a homer in the sixth inning to break-up a scoreless game and ignite a three-run rally that gave the Sox a 5-1 win over the A's. Ted's next homer came in Cleveland on June 9th, to help the Sox sweep the World Champion Indians. The Sox finished their road trip winning 6 of the last 8 games played.

At Fenway, on June 16th, Billy Klaus drilled a two-run homer in the ninth inning, to supply a dramatic finish to the Sox 7-6 victory and a sweep of the Kansas City Athletics. It was the fourth Sox homer of the game, and provided a storybook ending that found the Red Sox coming from behind with five runs in the last two innings to win the game. In a doubleheader against the Indians, the next day, Klaus (.305 BA) banged out five consecutive hits.

The Sox took 3-of-4 from the Indians and then took three straight from the Tigers. In the second game on June 22nd, Ted (.378 BA) banged out three consecutive doubles in five trips, giving him sole possession of first place in the A.L. batting race. After splitting four games with the White Sox, the Red Sox had won 11 of the 14 games in the homestand.

Harry Agganis' condition deteriorated in June and he was put on the 60-day disabled list while dealing with pneumonia at Sancta Maria Hospital. He had not been allowed any visitors except his mother, when on June 27th, he suddenly took and turn for the worse. Harry quickly passed away, the result of a massive pulmonary embolism. The news sent a shockwave through his Red Sox teammates.

The Sox went on and took 3-of-4 in Washington to end the month, had won 20 and lost only 8 in June, but only gained 2 1/2 games in the standings, and were 11 games out.

July started with Sox sweeping three straight from the Orioles in Baltimore. In the third game, Frank Sullivan won his seventh straight game, the 11th of the season, 7 to 2. It was 22 wins in their last 27 games for the Sox.

On July 4th, the Sox played a doubleheader at Yankee Stadium. In the first game, Ted Williams doubled and homered and Ike Delock pitched the final four innings to lock down a 4-2 victory. In the second game, the Sox tied the game at 5-5 in the third inning, thanks to Jackie Jensen's grandslam. Tom Hurd kept the Yankees in check for 6 1/3 innings, allowing only two hits, while his teammates blew the game open in the ninth inning, capped by Norm Zauchins two-run homer.

Having taken eight of the nine games played on the short road trip, the Sox returned to Fenway, now eight games behind, in fourth place and in the race.

They were the hottest team in the majors. Billy Klaus had hit in 24 of the last 25 games; Billy Goodman batted .382 in the last 23 games; Zauchin hit 16 homers in the last 38 games and knocked in 40 runs; Jensen had 62 RBIs to lead the league; Williams hit 10 homers in 24 games and batted .386; Frank Sullivan had seven consecutive wins and Tom Hurd allowed only one run in his last nine appearances.

The Sox took two from the Senators to start the homestand. Against Baltimore on July 9th, the Sox overcame a 4-0 deficit to win the game, 5 to 4. Tom Brewer and Ellis Kinder held the O's silent for seven innings in the process. They took 2-of-3 from the Orioles and headed into the All Star break.

In the last five weeks, the Sox had gone from the brink of seventh place to within seven games of first place. They played at a .824 clip with a 28-6 record.

FRANK SULLIVAN

Ted Williams was picked to start in left field, and joined by Frank Sullivan and Jackie Jensen on the American League All Star team, played in Milwaukee. Sullivan had pitched 3 1/3 innings when he gave up a home run to Stan Musial that won the game for the N.L. Stars, 6 to 5. Ted drew a walk that scored a run and singled in four times at bat. Jensen pinch hit and popped up.

In Kansas City on July 19th, home runs from Jensen and Norm Zauchin powered the Sox past the A's, 6 to 3. The next day, George Susce hurled a brilliant one hit, 6-0 shutout over the A's. In the series finale, Ellis Kinder came in, in the ninth inning to save he game for Frank Sullivan, 4 to 3.

Then in Chicago, on July 23rd, the Sox scored four runs in the ninth inning to beat the White Sox, 9 to 7. Williams, who slammed a three-run homer earlier in the game, singled in the tying run. Billy Klaus and Sammy White each had four hits, while Ted had four RBIS, to put the Sox only three games behind the first place Yankees.

Back in Fenway Park, the Sox faced the Indians. In the first game, Sullivan held them to five scattered hits and issued only two walks in the 5-1 win. The Sox took two pf the three games. Their hottest hitter was Billy Goodman (.292 BA), who hit safely in 10 of 13 plate appearances.

The Sox played their 100th game on July 29th, when Willard Nixon shutout the Tigers, 5 to 0 on four hits and didn't walk a man. In their first 50 games, the Sox had compiled a 20-30 record and were 14 1/2 games behind. In theses last 50 games, their record was 38-12. During this stretch, Sullivan won eight games, Tom Brewer won seven and Willard Nixon won six. Ted had knocked out 15 homers, Zauchin had 13 and Jensen had nine.

Jimmy Piersall's ninth inning homer off Billy Hoeft carried the Red Sox to a double victory over the Detroit Tigers, by scores of 8-3 and 3-2. Ted's mighty bat cracked a grandslam homer in the first game to give Frank Sullivan his 14th win of the season on July 31st.

August started with the Sox hosting the league leading Chicago White Sox. After the losing the first game, Jackie Jensen put the Red Sox back in the win column with an eighth inning two-run double that gave Boston a 6 to 4 win on August 3rd. In the deciding game, Jensen's triple off the centerfield wall brought in two of his four RBIs in a 7-3 victory.

Next were the Kansas City Athletics, the same team the Sox had beaten the last seven consecutive games. The Sox lost the first two meetings, but so did all the teams in front of the Sox.

In the last game, the Sox and A's out-slugged each other with the Sox prevailing, 16-12. They gained 1/2 game on White Sox and Yankees, who were in a virtual tie for the top spot, and finished the 8-5 homestand, 1 1/2 games behind them in fourth place, with the Indians only 1/2 game out of first.

Next was a literal three game showdown in New York. The first game was 4-1 Sox victory on August 9th. Billy Klaus was the hero, driving in the game-deciding run in the first inning with a two-run homer over the right field fence, 325 ft from home. Willard Nixon had pitched a great game, and was winning 3-1, the result of another homer by Grady Hatton in the fourth inning. In the ninth a single by Sammy White and a double by Nixon, gave the Sox a 4-1 win. But the White Sox had also won, so the Sox remained 1 1/2 games behind.

That would be as close as the Sox would get, losing the next two games in New York and falling three games out.

Frank Sullivan became the first American League pitcher to win 15 games on August 19th, when he blanked the Washington Senators, 8 to 0. It was his third shutout of the season.

On August 25th, Jackie Jensen became the first American Leaguer to knock in 100 runs.

On August 27th, Ted Williams hit a grandslam homer in the ninth inning with two outs. The blast gave the Sox a 4-3 triumph over the Tigers in Detroit. In Kansas City, the next day, Ted went 4-for-4, with another homer and 2 RBIs.

The Sox were still only three games out of first on September 7th. But the pitching could not hold up and the Sox lost 13 of the next 15 and finished 12 games behind the Yankees.

Ted batted .356 with 28 homers in only 96 games and Jackie Jensen led the league with 116 RBIs and knocked out 26 home runs. Norm Zauchin, with 27 homers produced his finest season and Frank Sullivan (.291 ERA) was the league leader with 18 wins. The Sox were second in the league in runs scored and Mike Higgins was named American League "Manager of the Year".