# 1941 Boston Red Sox season

The 1941 Boston Red Sox season was the 41st season in the franchise's Major League Baseball history. The Red Sox finished second in the American League (AL) with a record of 84 wins and 70 losses, 17 games behind the New York Yankees, who went on to win the 1941 World Series.
The Red Sox featured five future Hall of Famers: player-manager Joe Cronin, Bobby Doerr, Jimmie Foxx, Lefty Grove, and Ted Williams.

## Offseason

* Prior to 1941 season: Virgil Stallcup was signed as an amateur free agent by the Red Sox.

## Regular season

Williams was one of the biggest stories of the 1941 major league season, becoming, as of 2022, the last player to bat .400 (batting .406) in a full season. He led an offense that scored the most runs of any major league team. During the season, Williams reached base safely in 69 consecutive games.

### Transactions

* September 8: The Red Sox announce that they have purchased shortstop Johnny Pesky from the Louisville Colonels and shortstop Eddie Pellagrini from the San Diego Padres of the Pacific Coast League.

### Season standings

vteAmerican League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| New York Yankees | 101 | 53 | .656 | — | 51‍–‍26 | 50‍–‍27 |
| Boston Red Sox | 84 | 70 | .545 | 17 | 47‍–‍30 | 37‍–‍40 |
| Chicago White Sox | 77 | 77 | .500 | 24 | 38‍–‍39 | 39‍–‍38 |
| Cleveland Indians | 75 | 79 | .487 | 26 | 42‍–‍35 | 33‍–‍44 |
| Detroit Tigers | 75 | 79 | .487 | 26 | 43‍–‍34 | 32‍–‍45 |
| St. Louis Browns | 70 | 84 | .455 | 31 | 40‍–‍37 | 30‍–‍47 |
| Washington Senators | 70 | 84 | .455 | 31 | 40‍–‍37 | 30‍–‍47 |
| Philadelphia Athletics | 64 | 90 | .416 | 37 | 36‍–‍41 | 28‍–‍49 |

### Record vs. opponents

1941 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BOS | CWS | CLE | DET | NYY | PHA | SLB | WSH |
| Boston | — | 16–6 | 9–13 | 11–11 | 9–13–1 | 16–6 | 9–13 | 14–8 |
| Chicago | 6–16 | — | 17–5 | 12–10–1 | 8–14 | 10–12 | 11–11–1 | 13–9 |
| Cleveland | 13–9 | 5–17 | — | 10–12 | 7–15 | 15–7 | 13–9–1 | 12–10 |
| Detroit | 11–11 | 10–12–1 | 12–10 | — | 11–11 | 13–9 | 11–11 | 7–15 |
| New York | 13–9–1 | 14–8 | 15–7 | 11–11 | — | 14–8 | 18–4 | 16–6–1 |
| Philadelphia | 6–16 | 12–10 | 7–15 | 9–13 | 8–14 | — | 11–11 | 11–11 |
| St. Louis | 13–9 | 11–11–1 | 9–13–1 | 11–11 | 4–18 | 11–11 | — | 11–11–1 |
| Washington | 8–14 | 9–13 | 10–12 | 15–7 | 6–16–1 | 11–11 | 11–11–1 | — |

### Opening Day lineup

| 7 | Dom DiMaggio | CF |
| 8 | Lou Finney | RF |
| 12 | Pete Fox | LF |
| 3 | Jimmie Foxx | 1B |
| 4 | Joe Cronin | SS |
| 1 | Bobby Doerr | 2B |
| 5 | Jim Tabor | 3B |
| 2 | Frankie Pytlak | C |
| 10 | Lefty Grove | P |

### Roster
## Player stats

Note: Stats in brackets are derived from Retrosheet which differ from official MLB stats.

### Batting
#### Starters by position

Abbreviations: Pos=Position; GP=Games Played; AB=At Bats; R=Runs; H=Hits; 2B=Doubles; 3B=Triples; HR=Home Runs; RBI=Runs Batted In; BB=Walks; AVG=Batting Average; OBP=On Base Percentage; SLG=Slugging Percentage
| Pos | Player | GP | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | AVG | OBP | SLG |
| C | Frankie Pytlak | 107 | 336 (339) | 36 | 91 | 23 | 1 | 2 | 39 | 28 (30) | .271 (.268) | .329 (.330) | .363 (.360) |
| 1B | Jimmie Foxx | 135 | 487 | 87 | 146 | 27 | 8 | 19 | 105 (104) | 93 | .300 | .412 | .505 |
| 2B | Bobby Doerr | 132 | 500 | 74 | 141 | 28 | 4 | 16 | 93 (91) | 43 | .282 | .339 | .450 |
| SS | Joe Cronin | 143 | 518 | 98 | 161 | 38 | 8 | 16 | 95 (96) | 82 | .311 | .406 | .508 |
| 3B | Jim Tabor | 126 | 498 | 65 | 139 | 29 | 3 | 16 | 101 (103) | 36 | .279 | .328 | .446 |
| OF | Ted Williams | 143 | 456 | 135 | 185 | 33 | 3 | 37 | 120 (119) | 145 (147) | .406 | .551 (.553) | .735 |
| OF | Lou Finney | 127 | 497 | 83 | 143 | 24 | 10 | 4 | 53 (54) | 38 | .288 | .340 | .400 |
| OF | Dom DiMaggio | 144 | 584 | 117 | 165 | 37 | 6 | 8 | 58 | 90 | .283 | .385 | .408 |

#### Other batters

Abbreviations: GP=Games Played; AB=At Bats; R=Runs; H=Hits; 2B=Doubles; 3B=Triples; HR=Home Runs; RBI=Runs Batted In; BB=Walks; AVG=Batting Average; OBP=On Base Percentage; SLG=Slugging Percentage
| Player | GP | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | AVG | OBP | SLG |
| Pete Fox | 73 | 268 | 38 | 81 | 12 | 7 | 0 | 31 | 21 | .302 | .357 | .399 |
| Johnny Peacock | 78 | 261 (258) | 28 | 74 | 20 | 1 | 0 | 27 (26) | 21 (19) | .284 (.287) | .339 (.338) | .368 (.372) |
| Skeeter Newsome | 93 | 227 | 28 | 51 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 17 | 22 (20) | .225 | .296 (.290) | .278 |
| Stan Spence | 86 | 203 | 22 | 47 | 10 | 3 | 2 | 28 | 18 | .232 | .304 | .340 |
| Al Flair | 10 | 30 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | .200 | .226 | .333 |
| Odell Hale | 12 | 24 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | .208 | .296 | .417 |
| Tom Carey | 25 | 21 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .190 | .190 | .190 |
| Paul Campbell | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 (─) | .000 (─) | .000 (─) |

#### Pitchers

Abbreviations: GP=Games Played; AB=At Bats; R=Runs; H=Hits; 2B=Doubles; 3B=Triples; HR=Home Runs; RBI=Runs Batted In; BB=Walks; AVG=Batting Average; OBP=On Base Percentage; SLG=Slugging Percentage
| Player | GP | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | AVG | OBP | SLG |
| Dick Newsome | 36 | 78 | 3 | 19 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 2 | .244 | .263 | .282 |
| Charlie Wagner | 29 | 63 | 5 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | .159 | .197 | .175 |
| Mickey Harris | 35 | 55 | 9 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | .109 | .319 | .127 |
| Joe Dobson | 27 | 47 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 4 | .149 | .216 | .213 |
| Lefty Grove | 21 | 45 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | .111 | .184 | .156 |
| Jack Wilson | 27 | 44 | 2 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 | .159 | .178 | .182 |
| Mike Ryba | 40 | 37 | 2 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | .216 | .256 | .270 |
| Earl Johnson | 17 | 34 | 4 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | .294 | .333 | .294 |

### Pitching

Note: GP=Games Played; GS=Games Started; IP=Innings Pitched; H=Hits; BB=Walks; R=Runs; ER=Earned Runs; SO=Strikeouts; W=Wins; L=Losses; SV=Saves; ERA=Earned Run Average

#### Starting pitchers

| Player | GP | GS | IP | H | BB | R | ER | SO | W | L | SV | ERA |
| Dick Newsome | 36 | 29 | 213+2⁄3 | 235 | 79 | 115 | 98 (97) | 58 | 19 | 10 | 0 | 4.13 (4.09) |
| Mickey Harris | 35 | 22 | 194 (194+1⁄3) | 189 | 86 (87) | 86 | 70 | 111 (110) | 8 | 14 | 1 | 3.25 (3.24) |
| Charlie Wagner | 29 | 25 | 187+1⁄3 | 175 | 85 | 76 | 64 (62) | 51 | 12 | 8 | 0 | 3.07 (2.98) |
| Joe Dobson | 27 | 18 | 134+1⁄3 | 136 | 67 | 70 | 67 | 69 | 12 | 5 | 0 | 4.49 |
| Lefty Grove | 21 | 21 | 134 (134+1⁄3) | 155 | 42 | 84 | 65 (64) | 54 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 4.37 (4.29) |
| Jack Wilson | 27 | 12 | 116+1⁄3 | 140 | 70 | 82 | 65 (64) | 55 (54) | 4 | 13 | 1 | 5.03 (4.95) |
| Mike Ryba | 40 | 3 | 121 (120+2⁄3) | 143 | 42 | 72 (73) | 60 (61) | 54 | 7 | 3 | 6 | 4.46 (4.55) |
| Earl Johnson | 17 | 12 | 93+2⁄3 | 90 | 51 | 57 (56) | 47 (46) | 46 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 4.52 (4.42) |
| Tex Hughson | 12 | 8 | 61 | 70 | 13 | 30 | 28 | 22 (24) | 5 | 3 | 0 | 4.13 |
| Bill Fleming | 16 | 1 | 41+1⁄3 | 32 | 24 | 21 | 18 (17) | 20 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3.92 (3.70) |
| Emerson Dickman | 9 | 3 | 31 | 37 | 17 (16) | 23 | 22 | 16 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6.39 |
| Woody Rich | 2 | 1 | 3+2⁄3 | 8 | 2 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17.18 |

#### Relief pitchers

Note: GP=Games Played; GS=Games Started; IP=Innings Pitched; H=Hits; BB=Walks; R=Runs; ER=Earned Runs; SO=Strikeouts; W=Wins; L=Losses; SV=Saves; ERA=Earned Run Average
| Player | GP | GS | IP | H | BB | R | ER | SO | W | L | SV | ERA |
| Nels Potter | 10 | 0 | 20 (19+2⁄3) | 21 | 16 | 10 | 10 | 6 (5) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4.50 (4.58) |
| Oscar Judd | 7 | 0 | 12+1⁄3 | 15 | 10 | 12 | 12 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8.76 |
| Herb Hash | 4 | 0 | 8+1⁄3 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5.40 |

## Awards and honors

* Ted Williams, 20th-century record, Highest on-base percentage in one season (.553)

### All-Stars

* Joe Cronin starting SS
* Dom DiMaggio reserve
* Bobby Doerr starting 2B
* Jimmie Foxx reserve
* Ted Williams starting LF

### League top five finishers

Dom DiMaggio
* Third in MLB in Runs Scored (117).
Dick Newsome
Fifth in MLB in Wins (19).
* Third in AL in Wins.
Charlie Wagner
** 3 in AL in ERA (3.07)
Ted Williams
* AL leader, reached base safely in 69 consecutive games.
* MLB leader in batting average (.406).
* MLB leader in home runs (37).
* MLB leader in runs scored (135).
* MLB leader in on-base percentage (.553).
* MLB leader in slugging percentage (.735).
* MLB leader in walks drawn (145).
** 4 in AL in RBI (120)

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AA | Louisville Colonels | American Association | Bill Burwell |
| A | Scranton Red Sox | Eastern League | Nemo Leibold |
| B | Greensboro Red Sox | Piedmont League | Heinie Manush |
| C | Canton Terriers | Middle Atlantic League | Floyd "Pat" Patterson |
| D | Danville-Schoolfield Leafs | Bi-State League | Elmer Yoter |
| D | Centreville Red Sox | Eastern Shore League | Ed Walls and Eddie Popowski |
| D | Owensboro Oilers | KITTY League | Hughie Wise |
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