1959 BOSTON RED SOX ...

With Joe Cronin gone, Tom Yawkey's circle of friends on the team was shrinking. He was losing interest and seriously considering selling the team. He had no black ballplayers, having lost his chance to sign many of the baseball's current stars in years past. He also didn't take advantage of the departure of the Braves at the gate, fielding only mediocre teams since they left.

Yawkey, however, blamed his flat attendance on a lack of parking at Fenway Park. He came up with a plan to move the left field wall to the other side of Lansdowne Street, add stands and an access road right into an underground parking lot directly from the newly constructed Massachusetts Turnpike. He could have accomplished everything he wanted with his own money, but the state and the city were funding other major renewal projects in Boston and Yawkey thought they should fund his project also. The politicians had no desire to give money to a millionaire owner of the Boston Red Sox.

Yawkey also decided to move the Sox spring training site from Sarasota, Florida to Scottsdale, Arizona. His rationale was to attract some of Ted Williams' fans from his hometown area in San Diego. When spring training started, Ted was not there. He reported late and if fans wanted to see him actually play, they were soon disappointed. Ted played in very few spring training games and it irritated those fans, who had traveled a great distance to see him.

On December 2nd, Jimmy Piersall was packed off to Cleveland for Vic Wertz and Gary Geiger. During spring training, the Cardinals traded pitcher Nelson Chittum to the Red Sox for left-handed pitcher Dean Stone and other considerations.

Over the winter, a youngster named Carl Yastrzemski signed with the Sox for a $108,000 bonus, a two-year deal for the minors at $5000 each season and to pay for the rest of his college education at Notre Dame. After the first of what would be many spring training camps, Yaz was assigned to the Raleigh Caps in the Carolina League, a Class B team.

TED WILLIAMS & PUMNPSIE GREEN

There also was another fresh face at spring training, in a kid named Pumpsie Green. He signed his 1959 contract in Scottsdale on February 25th, suited up in a Red Sox uniform, and immediately took part in his first workout.

But because of racism in the area, Pumpsie lived an isolated existence. After the workouts he had to travel alone to the Frontier Motel, in Phoenix, some 17 miles out of town. He’d been turned away at the team hotel, the Safari, because Negroes were not permitted to live in Scottsdale.

Pumpsie woke up alone, ate alone, went to the movies every night alone because there’s nothing more for him to do, and then got a sandwich, a glass of milk and a book to read himself to sleep.

Pumpsie was considered the top rookie in camp, but he was a middle infielder. Pete Runnels, who had battled Ted down to the very end for the batting championship the year before, was their secondbaseman. And even though the Sox had the much maligned Don Buddin, who led all shortstops with 31 errors, Mike Higgins made no secret that he hated blacks and openly told writers that none would play for him as long as he was the manager.

Ted Williams, who stood head and shoulders above everyone else in star power, went out of his way to take Pumpsie under his wing and invited the youngster to work-out with him.

Pumpsie did have a great camp, batting .327 with four home runs and was good enough to head north with the team. He played four exhibition dates against the Chicago Cubs in Texas as both teams headed for their respective openers. Pumpsie traveled separately. The Cubs had selected hotels that were integrated; the Red Sox had failed to do so – Pumpsie’s luggage was transferred to the Cubs plane and he had a Cubs roommate throughout the games.

When the Sox played their final exhibition game on April 7th, at Victoria, Texas, to the surprise of many, Mike Higgins cut Pumpsie and sent him back to Minneapolis. Even with a late slump, Pumpsie still held the fifth highest average on the team during the spring, batting .327 (18-for-55) with four home runs and 10 RBIs.

The move outraged members of Boston's black community. The Boston chapter of the NAACP asked the Massachusetts Commission against Discrimination (MCAD) to look into the team’s overall hiring practices. The Red Sox tried to defend themselves before the MCAD and in the press, but clumsily. It was a PR nightmare, prompted because of their segregated status.

Ted meanwhile, had a pinched nerve in his neck, which made it painful for him to swing a bat. He thought it was a condition he could work out in spring training, but it didn't come around. He flew back to Boston, was hospitalized for three weeks, fitted with a neck collar and started the season on the DL.

While chasing a foul ball, outfielder Gary Geiger collided with Don Buddin late in the spring and was knocked unconscious and severely bruised, but made the Opening Day roster. With Ted on the disabled list with a pinched nerve, Geiger began the season in a left-field platoon with Bill Renna.

Opening day at Fenway Park was on April 14th. Picketers were outside the park and there were complaints registered by the NAACP, charging racial discrimination over the way Pumpsie was treated. To make things worse, Don Buddin was loudly booed by the fans for his many frequent errors, when he was introduced as the Sox shortstop in the opening ceremony. The box score saw the Washington Senators give the game away to the Sox 7-5, on errors and a Dick Gernert homer.

In the next game, on April 15th, rookie pitcher Jerry Casale hit a three-run homer 450 feet over the left-centerfield wall to help him gain his first major league victory over the Senators. He said it might have been the happiest day of his playing career, winning the game and hitting the home run.

In spite of a virus infection, Tom Brewer pitched a two-hitter against the Yankees at Fenway, hurling the Sox to a 4-0 shutout victory on April 17th. Two dsays later, Frank Malzone came to bat in the last of the 12th inning and the score was tied at 4-4 on April 19th. Against the fastest pitcher in baseball, Ryne Duren of the Yankees, Frank drilled a ball on a line toward the top of the left field fence. It cleared by six inches to give the Sox a 5 to 4 walk-off win.

Jackie Jensen, who hardly had been hitting like the league MVP in the early season, had four hits against the Orioles on April 22nd, a game the Sox won 8 to 4.

In the April issue of the Saturday Evening Post, Jackie Jensen said he was unhappy in an article entitled, “My Ambition Is To Quit.” One photo accompanying the story showed Jackie departing for another long stay away, as his two children looked on unhappily. Jensen also addressed his fear of flying, which he said he could handle only with tranquilizers and sleeping pills. In fact, Jackie often drove from city to city rather than fly with the team. For Jensen, flying had become not only terrifying, but also humiliating. His medication made him appear drunk and more than once he had to be helped on and off a plane while onlookers gazed.

In Washington on April 24th, newcomer Vic Wertz had a big day. The Sox won, 7 to 2 and Wertz drove in five of the runs. He doubled two runs in the first inning, and followed with a three-run homer in the third. With a 6-7 record, the Sox were in fifth place, 3 1/2 games out.

The Red Sox fought off eighth and ninth inning rallies in Chicago and aided buy homers by Pete Runnels and Jackie Jensen, Ike Delock beat the White Sox, 5-4 on May 2nd.

Bill Monbouquette came in to relieve Frank Baumann on May 4th, in the second inning with the bases loaded. The Sox were losing to the Kansas City As by three runs and Monbo shut them down while the Sox came from behind for an 8 to 4 win.

Against the Tigers, in Detroit on May 6th, Dick Gernert, Marty Keough, Frank Malzone, Jackie Jensen and Gary Geiger each slammed homers, to beat the Tigers, 17 to 6. The 18 hits, for 40 bases was the biggest offensive production for the Sox in three years.

Runnels and Jensen homered again on May 8th, helping Frank Sullivan win a 5-hit shutout of the Orioles 5-0, in Baltimore.

The Sox (12-12) broke even in their 14 game road trip. Malzone was batting .345 on the road, Jensen was hitting more homers than he did last year, Sammy White was batting .300 and Gary Geiger was showing some power when they returned to Fenway.

On May 10th, Don Buddin homered in the 10th inning to give the Sox a 3-2 win in Baltimore in the first game of a doubleheader.

In the second game, Gary Geiger's seventh inning double broke a 1-1 tie. Pitcher Frank Baumann used his bat as well. With the bases loaded to get to the bottom of the Sox lineup in that inning, Baumann was heading to the plate when Ted Williams grabbed him and pulled him back. He said, "Move up in the front of the batting box. But don’t let their catcher catch you doing it, because they’ll throw you a fastball". So Baumann inched up to the front of the box and hit a line drive. The center fielder came in, but the ball was hit so hard it skipped over his head. Baumann had a triple and cleared the bases for an eventual, 5 to 1 complete game victory.

But the Sox were terrible and lost 9 of the 13 games in the home stand were eight games out. Ted Williams made his return on May 12th against the White Sox, but then just was able to produce just one hit in his first 22 at bats.

After losing five straight, on May 17th, Marty Keough hit a doubleplay grounder that Tigers' secondbaseman Frank Bolling booted away. Pete Runnels followed with a three-run triple and led the Sox to a 10-1 win at Fenway.

On May 21st, there were only 2572 fans in the park, watching Tom Brewer shut out the Athletics, 5-0. The next day, there were 15,109 fans that saw Ted and Frank Malzone hit back-to-back doubles, to break a 3-3 tie and give the Sox a 4 to 3 victory over the Senators. Dick Gernert, who went 3-for-4, was the Sox batting leader, hitting .336

Pete Daley had three hits in an 8-3 loss to Washington on May 24th, and two days later in New York, on May 26th, he batted in four runs with two hits and a sacrifice fly. With Ted (.159 BA) on the bench and Dick Gernert in left field, they pummeled the Yanks, 12-2.

On May 28th, Vic Wertz homered, with a man on in the eighth inning, breaking a 1-1 tie, as the Sox beat the Senators in Washington, 3 to 1.

But pitching was the major obstacle. The pitching staff's ERA was 4.94, the worst since 1950. On May 29th, trailing 5-1, the Sox came back in Washington. Then in the top of the ninth, they tied the score at 6-6, when Jackie Jensen slugged a three-run homer. Unfortunately in the bottom of the ninth, Murray Wall walked three men, and then gave up a walk-off single to make it all disappear.

On May 30th, Ted Williams had to play both ends of a doubleheader. He rose to the occasion by belting his first home run of the year in the second game and sparking the Sox to their first doubleheader sweep of the season. The Baltimore Orioles were the victims, losing 5 to 4 and then 8 to 3. Teds' homer curled around the right field foul pole. He had hit longer homers, but few had been more welcome. It was Ted's first of the season, the 483rd of his career and 2499th lifetime hit.

The Sox started the month of June, in last place, eight games behind. In Kansas City on June 2nd, Ted Williams got his 2500th hit.

It was the Gary Geiger show in Kansas City on June 4th. In the second inning he robbed Harry Chiti of a potential two-run triple with a web gem against the fence in center. In the fourth connected for a two run single, and homered in the sixth inning. He helped the Sox win 5 to 2.

In Chicago, against the first place White Sox, homers by Frank Malzone and Vic Wertz gave the Red Sox a come-from-behind, 4 to 2 win on June 6th.

In the second game of a June 7th doubleheader against the White Sox in Chicago, Frank Sullivan shut them out for eight innings. When he needed some help in the ninth, Mike Fornieles came in to rescue him for a 4 to 2 victory. Jerry Casale pitched the Sox to a 5 to 2 win at Fenway, over the Tigers on June 9th.

On June 11th, the Red Sox traded pitcher Murray Wall to the Washington Senators, with infielder Billy Consolo, for submarining pitcher Dick Hyde and second baseman Herb Plews. When it was discovered that Hyde had a sore arm, he was sent back to Washington.

Pete Daley's homer in the seventh inning broke a 1-1 tie in Kansas City, as the Sox went on to win 6-1, on June 13th. The next day, June 14th, the Red Sox won again by a 6 to 1 score and Daley' was 4-for-4, with a double and three singles for the second time in his big-league career.

Mike Higgins had benched Ted (.175 BA). When he came back in May, the Sox were 12-12 and in fifth place, three games behind. Since then they had played only four games without him, winning only 10 and losing 19.

On June 18th, the Sox got a gift 7 to 6 decision over the Indians. Jim Perry wild pitched Pete Runnels to second in the eighth after he was walked in a 6-6 tie game. Vic Wertz then brought him home with a single for the eventual deciding run.

Without Ted Williams, the Sox swept a doubleheader from the White Sox on June 20th at Fenway. Tom Brewer pitched a six-hitter, winning 8-2 and Jerry Casale shut out Chicago, 9-0 on a three hitter. The sweep gave the Red Sox their first three game winning streak of the season.

After winning 6 of the 13 games played at Fenway, the Sox headed to Detroit. Ted was back in the lineup, hitting a home run to go along with a single, raising his average to .202. Frank Malzone and Jackie Jensen also homered and  they beat the Tigers 10 to 4 on June 23rd. Don Buddin was the star on June 24th. He had three hits, batted in a run and scored another, leading the Sox to a 4 to 2 win in Detroit.

On June 26th, Tom Brewer got beaten by the Tigers, 10-5. His ERA against the Tigers soared to 11.45 while against the rest of the league it was 2.39

Then the next day, June 27th, in Cleveland, Jackie Jensen hit a grandslam homer. He homered again the next game, as did Ted. But it was Pete Runnels who was the only Sox player who wielded a hot bat with a .356 batting average. Over the past 17 games, Runnels piled up 33 hits for an average of .471, good for second place in the AL batting race.

Pitching in Cleveland on July 28th, rookie pitcher Ted Wills and Herb Score hooked up in a duel that remained scoreless until Indians second baseman Jim Baxes hit a solo home run in the bottom of the seventh. The game ended 1-0. Wills had allowed seven hits and Score two, one of which was a double by Wills. 

The Sox showed they were just a team that floundered with occasional flashes of brilliance. One of the reasons was because their power hitters weren't hitting the long ball or coming through with men on base. They finished June going 12-15 and were 9 1/2 games out, in eighth place.

The players were discouraged and tuned on Mike Higgins, who also was struggling with alcoholism. He had lost their respect and after losing six straight games, Bucky Harris fired him on July 3rd and replaced him with Washington Senators coach, Billy Jurges.

Jurges’ big opportunity to fulfill his longtime dream of managing in the major leagues came as a surprise to him and to everyone else. He had never worked in the Boston organization, nor met owner Tom Yawkey. Jurges began the job expecting the players to reflect his competitiveness. Losing really irritated Jurges, so he had his players hustling. Though most managers ruled from the bench, he planned to coach at third base.

The Soix swept a doubleheader in Baltimore on July 5th, just before the All Star break. Don Buddin's homer in the seventh inning broke a 3-3 tie in the second game.

Billy Jurges surprisingly started turning the team around. Sammy White’s batting average increased significantly immediately after Higgins’ dismissal. He went 44-for-135 (.326 batting average) over the next five weeks.

There were two All Star games played in 1959. The first was at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. The National All Stars, behind Hank Aaron and Willie Mays beat the American Leaguers, 5 to 4. Frank Malzone, Pete Runnels and Ted Williams were named as reserves. Runnels and Williams appeared as pinch hitters, while Malzone split third base duties with Harmon Killebrew. None of them got a base hit.

After the break, the Sox returned home and, in their first game back, thumped the Yankees, 14 to 3, on July 9th. Ted and Vic Wertz homered, and Frank Sullivan limited the Yanks to six hits. They beat the Yankees again the next night, 8-5. Ted raised his average to .239, with a two-run double. In his last 13 at bats, he had thumped out eight hits.

Don Buddin's best game came on July 11th. The Sox and Yankees were tied at 4-4 when Buddin came up in the bottom of the 10th inning and one out. He was 0-for-5, failed to get the ball out of the infield but Jurges stayed with him. He came through with a grandslam homer that won the game, 8-to-5.

The Sox made it five straight over the Yankees, winning 7-3 the next day, and then clobbered them, 13-3 on July 13th. Jackie Jensen was swinging a hot bat, accounting for 18 of the runs, going 10-for-19 with two homers. Gene Stephens connected for a sixth-inning grand slam. He had entered that game in the sixth as a pinch-runner for Ted and when the Red Sox batted around, he connected for his blast.

Tickets to see the Sox under Jurges, became a hot commodity and Fenway filled up to see the first place Chicago White Sox. But the Red Sox came back to earth, losing 2 of 3, and then losing 3 of 4 to the Indians.

But they fought hard. On July 17th, the Indians were winning 8-1 after six innings. The Sox came thundering back with three runs in the seventh and three runs in the ninth, just falling short with the winning runs on base.

Then two days later, in the first game of a doubleheader on July 19th, the Sox were down 4-0, when Gary Geiger slugged a 3-run homer in the sixth inning to put them back in the game. Now down, 5-3 in the ninth inning, Frank Malzone rifled a double off the wall with two men on base, to give the Sox a 6 to 5 comeback walk-off win.

On July 20th, the Braves came back to town to play in the second Jimmy Fund game. The Braves radio announcer, Jim Britt, took some bows before the game and Lolly Hopkins, the head of 24 gals dubbed the Lollipop Gang at Braves Field, was back. The game was called after five innings because of rain. The Braves with a three-run fourth inning on Del Crandall's three-run homer and four runs in the fifth inning, were leading 7 to 3. Pete Runnels' bases loaded single had chased home two of the Sox runs.

Jurges finally brought up Pumpsie Green, who was hitting .325 in Minneapolis, and named to the American Association All Star team for the second straight year, on July 21st in Chicago. After the game, Pumpsie was able to stay in the same Chicago hotel as the rest of the team. The Red Sox showed some thoughtfulness and made arrangements to fly Marie Green to Boston to join her husband when the team returned home 10 days later. However awkwardly the Red Sox had handled the situation in the spring, here they went the extra mile.

A week later, another black player, pitcher Earl Wilson, who was 10-2 with Minneapolis, was also brought up.

The new manager's euphoria quickly wore off, as the Red Sox again went on another losing streak. The team lost six straight games, fell 16 games out, and Billy Jurges thought the answer was to impose a 1AM curfew. A few days later, an unnamed player told the press that their manager was hurting the team and at that point, Jurges blew his top.

The Red Sox had a six-game losing streak in late July but Jerry Casale's shutout on July 27th put a stop to that, beating the Indians. 4 to 0.

Earl Wilson's first appearance came in Detroit on July 30th and was something to remember. In the first inning he walked the first three Tiger hitters. And then, with his career hanging in the balance, he struck out Al Kaline, Lou Berberet and got Gail Harris on a grounder. He then walked the first two batters in the second inning and got out of it. In the third inning he walked the leadoff batter and then retired three straight. In the fourth inning, with two outs, he again loaded the bases on walks. At that point Jurges had seen enough and pulled him. The Sox went on to win, 6-5.

On July 31st, Pumpsie Green had a 3-for-4 day, with a triple, and scored three runs. Usually in the leadoff position, he’d also walked seven times in the seven games in which he’d appeared, and held an on-base percentage of .522 after his first week on the job to go with his .313 average. Pete Runnels had four hits in the game, leading the Sox to a 6 to 5 decision in Detroit.

Called up to Boston after the Red Sox sold pitcher Jack Harshman to Cleveland on July 30th, Nelson Chittum became a staple of the Sox bullpen. In his debut, on August 1st against Detroit, he gave up a single to the first batter he faced but then retired the next six.

In Detroit on August 2nd, Jackie Jensen homered with two outs in the eighth inning, and the Sox trailing 4-2., The Sox beat the Tigers 5 to 4.

A second All Star game was played in Los Angeles on August 3rd. Pete Runnels was the starting firstbaseman for the American League and Frank Malzone started at third base The AL stars beat the National Leaguers, 5 to 3. Malzone was one of five players to homer. His came off Don Drysdale in the second inning and tied the game.

Pumpsie Green's first game at Fenway Park came on August 4th. Boston Celtics basketball star Bill Russell was there to greet him when he arrived. They’d known each other since high school. Pumpsie also took a call in the Red Sox clubhouse from Jackie Robinson.

Pumpsie promptly tripled off the left-field wall, pouring on speed rather than pulling up at second base. He scored on Runnels’ grounder to first. In the seventh, he sacrificed to advance two runners; both scored on Runnels’ single. The Sox never lost the lead and won the first game, 4-1. The Sox lost the second game, 8-6, but Pumpsie reached base four times on a single, two walks, and on an error.

On August 10th, Pumpsie went 4-for-5 against the Yankees, but his average declined after that, as the pressure began to affect him. He lacked the confidence needed to play full time and was relegated to a utility role for the rest of the season.

On August 8th, Tiger pitcher, Frank Lary, was one strike from shutting out the Red Sox, 3 to 0, with two outs in the last of the ninth, the bases empty and he had two strikes on Vic Wertz. But Wertz singled to left and up came Sammy White. Lary had him down two strikes and hit him with a pitch. So, in came Dick Gernert to pinch-hit, with runners on first and second. He thumped Lary's first pitch off the left field wall for a double, scoring Wertz. Now it was up to Pumpsie. He hit the first pitch he saw into center field, scoring the two base runners and the game was tied, 3-3, sending it into extra innings.

In the 10th inning, Pete Burnside took the mound for the Tigers to face Gary Geiger, leading off for the Sox. The count went to 3-2 and Geiger hit Burnside's next pitch into the Red Sox bullpen, for a walk-off 4 to 3 victory.

The game was the NBC Saturday "Game of the Week". What made it even more special was that his proud parents watched as broadcaster Leo Durocher interviewed Geiger as the player of the game and gave him a new watch. 

During that game, Ted Williams called for and caught a fly ball in medium left-center and casually threw it back to the infield, enabling a runner to tag up from second to third. Later in the game, a similar situation occurred and although Ted called for it, Geiger, playing center field, called him off to prevent a runner advance. After the game, Ted screamed at Geiger to “never embarrass me again on national television.” But overall they were quite friendly and Geiger appreciated how Ted would warn him whenever he was getting close to the wall.

In Baltimore, Geiger's ninth inning homer off Hoyt Wilhelm, won the game, 5-4 on August 12th. Then, in Yankee Stadium on August 14th, Vic Wertz hit a grandslam homer to tie the game. And Geiger hit another homer in a nine-run eighth inning, while the Sox went on to win 11-6. Geiger was responsible for winning the last three Red Sox games.

The next night the Sox posted six runs in the third inning, added four more two innings later, and went on to annihilate the Yankees again, 12 to 4. Sammy White had four hits, including a triple. He also had four hits the game before. The Sox then split a doubleheader in the finale with the Yankees, taking 3-of-4 games. Pete Runnels received nine walks in the series. White had banged out 10 hits in 16 trips.

Against the Triple-A Millers in Minneapolis the next night, Earl Wilson went the distance with an eight hitter, Vic Wertz clubbed two doubles and two singles, and both Gene Stephens and Dick Gernert homered, in a 9-2 victory.

The Sox were off to play in Kansas City on August 18th. With the score tied in the ninth inning, Frank Malzone doubled, was sacrificed to second and scored the winning run in a 5 to 4 game.

Wilson picked up his first major league win on August 20th in Kansas City, 11-10. The slugging pitcher was 2-for-2 with a double and three RBIs.

In Detroit on August 22nd, Ted Williams made his presence known, hitting his ninth homer of the season. He later sliced an RBI single in the sixth inning, helping the Sox win, 7 to 1.

Nelson Chittum’s sacrifice bunt drove in the game-winner in the top of the eighth in Chicago on August 26th, 7 to 6.

The Sox (58-69) concluded their first winning road trip of the season, going 8-7. Sammy White led the hitters with a .339 BA. He tied Malzone and Jackie Jensen with 9 RBIs, although Jensen only batted .188 on the trip. The Red Sox knocked out 8 homers, with Ted and Geiger hitting two apiece. Their opponents, however homered 13 times. The Sox returned home 19 games out of first.

At Fenway, Dick Gernert pumped his 11th home run, with a man on base, to give the Red Sox a 6 to 4 win, in a 10 inning thriller, against the Orioles on August 28th. Pete Runnels and Geiger accounted for seven of the twelve Red Sox hits in the game.

Runnels, who specialized in line drive base hits, slammed a homer into the Washington Senators bullpen to give the Red Sox a 4-3, 10th inning win on August 31st. But it was Jackie Jensen, who had the big game for the Sox. He smashed a two-run homer into the nets in the sixth inning, his 26th of the season, and also made two outstanding defensive plays in right field.  The Sox ended the month of August winning 18 and losing 12.

After the Sox lost five straight to start September, Tom Brewer had enough. On September 6th, in Washington, he took things into his own hands. He hit a home run, struck out 10 batters and beat the Senators, 2 to 1.

On consecutive pitches on September 7th, Don Buddin hit a three-run homer into the center field bleachers, Jerry Casale slammed the ball over Lansdowne Street and onto the railroad tracks and Pumpsie Green hit one into the bullpen. The three consecutive homers helped to give the Red Sox a 12-4 win over the Yankees.

Prospect Carl Yastrzemsk worked out at Fenway in early September, hitting three out of the park and then rushing out to take some balls at shortstop. He had batted .377 for Raleigh in the Carolina League, and was voted Most Valuable Player.

Gene Stephens collected three hits, including two doubles and driving in three runs to help the Sox beat the Tigers 7-3, on September 10th, back at Fenway.

On September 14th the Sox started a four game winning streak. They received five walks in the sixth inning from four different White Sox pitchers and scored six runs. Then rookie pinch-hitter, Jim Mahoney, belted a three-run homer and the Red Sox had a 9-3 victory.

Next, against the Cleveland Indians, who were trying to chase down the White Sox in the AL pennant race, Tom Brewer pitched a 1-0 shutout. Frank Malzone's single in the 9th inning, chased home Pete Runnels from second, for the walk-off win on September 15th. The Sox were the spoilers again on September 16th. The Sox came from behind twice to beat the Indians again, 6 to 5. Gary Geiger's bases-loaded sacrifice fly in the ninth inning, brought home Jim Mahoney with the game winner.

Frank Baumann came within one inning of pitching his first shutout on September 18th in New York, as the Sox emerged with a 6 to 4 win, for their fourth straight.

JACKIE JENSEN

As the season wore down, the only interest was the race for the AL RBI title between Jackie Jensen and Rocky Colavito. Going into the Sox final homestand, Colavito led by two RBIs, 108-106. Jensen brought in two runs with a double against the Orioles on September 23rd and one against the Senators on the 25th.

Then on September 26th, Jensen doubled in the ninth inning to tie the score and slugged a walk-off homer in the 11th inning, to beat Washington, 5 to 4. On the final day of the season, Don Buddin banged out a home run, giving Jerry Casale his 13th win and beating the Senators, 6 to 2.

The Red Sox finished by sweeping their last five games and finished the year by winning 13 and losing 10 in September. They played well, with a final 75-79 record in fifth place, 19 games behind the Chicago White Sox.

Jackie Jensen finished with 112 RBIs to Colavito's 111 RBIs, to lead the league for the third time. It went along with his 8 home runs and a .277 average. He also won his first Gold Glove Award.

Billy Jurges inherited a paltry 31-42 won-loss record (.425 percentage), and the Jurges-led Red Sox went 44-36 (.550 percentage) the rest of the season. Despite his early success, rumors of unrest began to arise among the players, who resisted his attempts to instill discipline and hustle. An unnamed Red Sox player remembers Jurges would put on these rah-rah speeches in the clubhouse.

Very sensitive to criticism, Jurges became particularly perturbed when baseball writers printed a player interview hinting that some players were simply going through the motions to finish the season. The rookie manager addressed the team in front of the writers, embarrassing both sides, writers, and players, causing both to question the skipper’s managerial savvy.

Ted Williams, who was shackled all season with a long series of frustrating injuries, finished batting only .254, with 10 homers, failing to hit .300 for the first time in his career.

When Ted returned from his pinched nerve, his replacement Gary Geiger continued to play both in center field and as a late-inning defensive replacement for Ted in left. By season’s end, Geiger had appeared in 120 games, batted .245, and hit 11 home runs. He had particular allegiance to Jackie Jensen because they shared a common fear of flying. The two often avoided air travel and traveled together on long train rides, talking about baseball as the countryside went by. Rumors of Jensen's retirement had swirled all season, but he waited until the end of the year before officially announcing that he was through. He was unhappy and was just 32, and seemingly still at the top of his game when he quit.

Frank Malzone's goal for 1959 was to hit .300. He didn’t make it and in fact, declined to .280, although he boosted his homers up to 19 and bumped his RBI total up to 92. He played in another All-Star Game and won another Gold Glove. He started out strong, and was over .300 through almost all of May, but then cooled off just a bit and was very consistent around .280 for the rest of the season.

Sammy White’s batting average increased significantly immediately after Mike Higgins’ dismissal. He went 44-for-135 (.326 batting average) during the five weeks following Higgins’ departure and finished with a .284 BA.

Pumpsie Green got into an even 50 games, accumulating 172 at-bats, and hit for a .233 average, which his 29 walks boosted to a .350 on-base percentage.

Tom Brewer got off to a slow start again in 1959. He came down with the flu in April that caused him to miss a workout. In early June, he suffered a hairline fracture on his pitching hand when the Baltimore Orioles’ Gus Triandos hit a ball back at him. It was the second time during the season that Brewer had been hit on his pitching hand by hard-hit balls. The injury was so severe that he was unable to grip a bat and reportedly swung with one hand during one game, even getting a single. Brewer was characterized as the team’s “hard-luck champ” as the season wore on. In August, he lost a 1-0 game when Tito Francona of the Cleveland Indians hit a game-ending home run in the ninth inning for the game’s only run. That loss was his ninth, six of which were by one run. For the season he was 10-12 with a 3.76 ERA.

Frank Sullivan was diagnosed with pneumonia at the beginning of the season and spent time in the hospital. He never did get on track and ended with a record of 9-11, his first losing season in seven years in the major leagues.

Ike Delock came to spring training determined to add another pitch to his repertoire – a changeup slider. But when he struggled as a starter in the first half of the season, as a result of elbow and shoulder injuries, he was moved back to the bullpen. He relished the change, as he went 5-0 over seven relief appearances through the middle of August. Always a poor hitter, with a lifetime .086 batting average, he hit his first and only home run in a game against the Tigers on June 10th.

Jerry Casale after spending two years in the army, made the Red Sox out of spring training. For the season he went 13-8 with nine complete games and three shutouts. He was selected the Red Sox’ rookie of the year.

Mike Fornieles posted a 3.07 ERA in 82 innings, striking out 54. He was often the last man to come out of the bullpen, as he finished the game in 26 of his 46 appearances. As later calculated, he picked up 11 saves, the highest total on the Red Sox that year.

In August and September relief appearances, Nelson Chittum gave up only four earned runs in 30 1/3 innings pitched. He did not give up a single homer, allowed just four extra-base hits (all doubles), and finished with a team-best 1.19 ERA. Over his first 17 innings, he had an ERA of 0.52