Boston Red Sox - The Golden Era (1950-1959)

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1950

1953

1957

Decade

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Titles:

Top Red Sox Players of the Fifties

None

Pitchers:

BallPark:

Frank Sullivan (22.92) - 57

Fenway Park

Tom Brewer (11.67) - 54

Mel Parnell (17.08) - 50

Team Name:

Ellis Kinder (20.45) - 37

Red Sox

Ike DeLock (9.25) - 34

Willard Nixon (6.4) - 32

Owner:

Mickey McDermott (10.23) - 26

Tom Yawkey

Jerry Casale (1.66) - 10

Dave Sisler (-0.49) - 9

General Managers:

Leo Kiely (6.33) - 8

Joe Cronin (1950-1958)

Skinny Brown (0.5) - 7

Bucky Harris (1959)

Dick Brodowski (-0.63) - 3

Russ Kemmerer (0.56) - 0

Managers:

Fred Newman (0) - 0

Joe McCarthy (1950)

Steve O'Neil (1950-1951)

Catchers:

Lou Boudreau (1952-1954)

Sammy White (1.63) - 58

Pinky Higgins (1955-1959)

Pete Daley (0.72) - 1

Rudy York (1959)

Haywood Sullivan (-0.12) - 0

Billy Jurges (1959)

First Basemen:

No Hitters:

Dick Gernert (6.32) - 40

Mel Parnell (1956)

Walt Dropo (1.65) - 14

Mickey Vernon (3.27) - 8

Hall of Famers:

Norm Zauchin (1.25) - 8

Tom Yawkey

Harry Agganis (0.35) - 6

Joe McCarthy

Lou Boudreau

Second Basemen:

Bobby Doerr

Billy Goodman (19.36) - 45

George Kell

Pete Runnels (10.7) - 19

Ted Williams

Bobby Doerr (6.29) - 14

Milt Bolling (2.84) - 11

Rookie of the Year:

Ted Lepcio (5.15) - 4

Walt Dropo (1950)

Gene Mauch (0.03) - 0

MVP:

ShortStop:

Jackie Jensen (1958)

John Pesky (6.92) - 20

Billy Klaus (6.14) - 17

Cy Young:

Don Buddin (3.29) - 16

None

Third Base:

Notable Events:

Vern Stephens (8.04) - 25

Frank Malzone (8.53) - 23

1950 - Boston begins their descent from the top of the American

George Kell (5.3) - 9

League. After a pennant in '46 and two close as you can get misses

Pumpsie Green (0.95) - 0

in '48 and '49, the club falls to third in '50, altho they still win 94

games In '50. In '51, Bobby Doerr hurts his back and Vern Stephens

Outfield:

hurts his knee, the Sox still finish third, but now it’s only 87 wins.

Ted Williams (47.48) - 79

The bottom falls out in '52, however. Doerr retires. Ted Williams

Jackie Jensen (21.77) - 73

goes to war for two years, Pesky and Stephens drop out of the

Jimmy Piersall (20.3) - 62

starting lineup. DiMaggio retires after the '52 season even tho' he's

Dom DiMaggio (7.26) - 33

still got some tread on the tires at the age of thirty five. Playing for

Clyde Vollmer (2.86) - 12

a crappy team and his brother retiring probably had a lot to do with

Gene Stephens (2.32) - 2

his decision. Anyway, the run of good teams is now over. It's unclear

why Tom Yawkey stopped spending to keep Boston on top. Maybe the

Notable Events:

novelty just wore off. Tom was very young when he bought the club in the

Thirties and befriended many of the players. The guess is that now that he

1954 - Williams misses a month due to injury. The Sox

was older, he moved on in his life as his buddies aged out of the team.

flounder, finishing fourth.

1950 - CF Jimmy Piersall, 20, is a rookie. He had been signed out of High School

1955 - Williams is injured again. The Sox finish fourth

by the Sox two years earlier. A great fielder, Jimmy battled psychological issues

during his career and a movie "Fear Strikes Out" documented his struggles.

1956 - The Sox finish fourth for the fourth straight year.

1951 - C Sammy White, 23, is a rookie. He had been picked up from Seattle

1957 - Ted Williams bats .388 at age thirty nine

in 1949. White had been an All American basketball player at Washington U.

1958 - RHP Bill Monbouquette, 21, is a rookie. He was signed

1952 - RHP Ike DeLock, 22, is a rookie. He was signed out of HS in '48.

out of high school in '55.

1953 - Lanky six foot six righthander Frank Sullivan, 23, is a rookie. Frank had

1959 - Pumpsie Green plays for the Sox. He is their first

been signed out of high school by the Sox in '48. Sullivan was one of the tallest

black player. Due to the severe issues the Braves had when they

players in the big leagues.

started playing black players earlier in the decade, it is understandable

that the Red Sox needed to tread lightly in this area. This really hurts

1953 - The Braves leave Boston for Milwaukee. With the Braves hemorraging

them competitively as other AL teams are routinely now playing blacks.

money due to fans completely abandoning the franchise, the move by the

The common thought is that Yawkey was a racist because they were the

Braves from Boston was sudden and forced. The underlying reason for the

last team in baseball to integrate. Unclear what Yawkey's attitude towards

move was that Boston fans were turned off by both the Braves and the

blacks actually was. Also, in the mid to late fifties when other American

National League for playing blacks. Boston fans lived with this new paradigm

League teams were starting to add black players, Boston manager at the

for a year or two while the Braves had been big winners. but Boston's

time, Pinky Higgins, was also later accused of being a racist. These two

underlying deep racism bubbled to the surface before too long and the fans

men were scapegoats. The reason the Red Sox were the last team to

in Boston began staying away from Braves games in droves.

integrate is because of what happened to the Braves. Because Boston is

such a racially divided city, it would have been financial suicide to introduce

1954 - 1B Harry Agganis, 25, an All American football player is a rookie.

blacks into the Red Sox lineup sooner and risk the fate that the Braves

Harry dies tragically in '55 of a pulmonary embolism

had recently suffered in Boston in he early Fifties.

It reminds you of the age old issue of white flight when blacks move into a

1954 - Jackie Jensen, 27, is acquired from the hapless Senators

white neighborhood. Are you a racist when you are about to lose the

He becomes a superstar in Boston

biggest investment in your life, your house, if you don't sell and move?

It doesn't not make you a racist, but does it prove you are one if you sell?

1954 - RHP Tom Brewer, 22, is a rookie. He was signed out of HS in '51.

Brewer retired from the game midway thru the '61 season at the age of 29.

1959 - The Red Sox have now not developed a star player for two

He was still one of the better pitchers in baseball at the time, but had enough

decades since the Williams, DiMaggio, Doerr and Pesky acquisitions.

apparently. Boston had a lot of drama in this era between the racial stuff

The only new star, Jensen, was stolen from Washington. Not a good

and early retirements of Brewer, Jackie Jensen and Tony Horton.and also

time to be a Red Sox fan as Yawkey appears to have abdicated his

Jimmy Piersall's personal struggles.

responsibility as an owner to try to field a winning team.