# 1951 Boston Red Sox season

The 1951 Boston Red Sox season was the 51st season in the franchise's Major League Baseball history. The Red Sox finished third in the American League (AL) with a record of 87 wins and 67 losses, 11 games behind the New York Yankees, who went on to win the 1951 World Series.

## Offseason

* November 16, 1950: Joe DeMaestri was drafted from the Red Sox by the Chicago White Sox in the 1950 rule 5 draft.
* November 17, 1950: The Red Sox draft pitcher Paul Hinrichs.
* November 27, 1950: Former Cleveland Indians manager Lou Boudreau signs as a player for the Red Sox.
* December 11, 1950: A five-player trade between the Boston Red Sox and the Chicago White Sox sends pitchers Bill Wight and Ray Scarborough to the Red Sox in exchange for pitchers Joe Dobson and Dick Littlefield, as well as rightfielder Allen Zarilla.
* December 13, 1950: The Cleveland Indians purchase catcher Birdie Tebbetts from the Red Sox for an undisclosed amount; The Boston Red Sox purchase catcher Mike Guerra from the Philadelphia Athletics.
* February 5, 1951: The Red Sox purchase catcher Al Evans from the Washington Senators off of waivers.
* Prior to 1951 season: Bob Smith was signed as an amateur free agent by the Red Sox.

## Regular season
### Season standings

vteAmerican League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| New York Yankees | 98 | 56 | .636 | — | 56‍–‍22 | 42‍–‍34 |
| Cleveland Indians | 93 | 61 | .604 | 5 | 53‍–‍24 | 40‍–‍37 |
| Boston Red Sox | 87 | 67 | .565 | 11 | 50‍–‍25 | 37‍–‍42 |
| Chicago White Sox | 81 | 73 | .526 | 17 | 39‍–‍38 | 42‍–‍35 |
| Detroit Tigers | 73 | 81 | .474 | 25 | 36‍–‍41 | 37‍–‍40 |
| Philadelphia Athletics | 70 | 84 | .455 | 28 | 38‍–‍41 | 32‍–‍43 |
| Washington Senators | 62 | 92 | .403 | 36 | 32‍–‍44 | 30‍–‍48 |
| St. Louis Browns | 52 | 102 | .338 | 46 | 24‍–‍53 | 28‍–‍49 |

### Record vs. opponents

1951 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BOS | CWS | CLE | DET | NYY | PHA | SLB | WSH |
| Boston | — | 11–11 | 8–14 | 12–10 | 11–11 | 15–7 | 15–7 | 15–7 |
| Chicago | 11–11 | — | 12–10–1 | 12–10 | 8–14 | 9–13 | 15–7 | 14–8 |
| Cleveland | 14–8 | 10–12–1 | — | 17–5 | 7–15 | 16–6 | 16–6 | 13–9 |
| Detroit | 10–12 | 10–12 | 5–17 | — | 10–12 | 13–9 | 12–10 | 13–9 |
| New York | 11–11 | 14–8 | 15–7 | 12–10 | — | 13–9 | 17–5 | 16–6 |
| Philadelphia | 7–15 | 13–9 | 6–16 | 9–13 | 9–13 | — | 14–8 | 12–10 |
| St. Louis | 7–15 | 7–15 | 6–16 | 10–12 | 5–17 | 8–14 | — | 9–13 |
| Washington | 7–15 | 8–14 | 9–13 | 9–13 | 6–16 | 10–12 | 13–9 | — |

### Opening Day lineup

| 7 | Dom DiMaggio | CF |
| 10 | Billy Goodman | RF |
| 9 | Ted Williams | LF |
| 5 | Vern Stephens | SS |
| 3 | Walt Dropo | 3B |
| 1 | Bobby Doerr | 2B |
| 4 | Lou Boudreau | SS |
| 11 | Buddy Rosar | C |
| 15 | Bill Wight | P |

### Roster
## Player stats
### Batting
#### Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
| Pos | Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
| C | Les Moss | 71 | 202 | 40 | .198 | 3 | 26 |
| 1B | Walt Dropo | 99 | 360 | 86 | .239 | 11 | 57 |
| 2B | Bobby Doerr | 106 | 402 | 116 | .289 | 13 | 73 |
| SS | Johnny Pesky | 131 | 480 | 150 | .313 | 3 | 41 |
| 3B | Vern Stephens | 109 | 377 | 113 | .300 | 17 | 78 |
| OF | Ted Williams | 148 | 531 | 169 | .318 | 30 | 126 |
| OF | Dom DiMaggio | 146 | 639 | 189 | .296 | 12 | 72 |
| OF | Clyde Vollmer | 115 | 386 | 97 | .251 | 22 | 85 |

#### Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
| Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
| Billy Goodman | 141 | 546 | 162 | .297 | 0 | 50 |
| Lou Boudreau | 82 | 273 | 73 | .267 | 5 | 47 |
| Buddy Rosar | 58 | 170 | 39 | .229 | 1 | 13 |
| Fred Hatfield | 80 | 163 | 28 | .172 | 2 | 14 |
| Charlie Maxwell | 49 | 80 | 15 | .188 | 3 | 12 |
| Aaron Robinson | 26 | 74 | 15 | .203 | 2 | 7 |
| Tom Wright | 28 | 63 | 14 | .222 | 1 | 9 |
| Mike Guerra | 10 | 32 | 5 | .156 | 0 | 2 |
| Matt Batts | 11 | 29 | 4 | .138 | 0 | 2 |
| Al Evans | 12 | 24 | 3 | .125 | 0 | 2 |
| Mel Hoderlein | 9 | 14 | 5 | .357 | 0 | 1 |
| Norm Zauchin | 5 | 12 | 2 | .167 | 0 | 0 |
| Sammy White | 4 | 11 | 2 | .182 | 0 | 0 |
| Al Richter | 5 | 11 | 1 | .091 | 0 | 0 |
| Bob DiPietro | 4 | 11 | 1 | .091 | 0 | 0 |
| Karl Olson | 5 | 10 | 1 | .100 | 0 | 0 |

### Pitching
#### Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
| Mel Parnell | 36 | 221.0 | 18 | 11 | 3.26 | 77 |
| Chuck Stobbs | 34 | 170.0 | 10 | 9 | 4.76 | 75 |
| Leo Kiely | 17 | 113.1 | 7 | 7 | 3.34 | 46 |
| Harley Hisner | 1 | 6.0 | 0 | 1 | 4.50 | 3 |

#### Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
| Ray Scarborough | 37 | 184.0 | 12 | 9 | 5.09 | 71 |
| Mickey McDermott | 34 | 172.0 | 8 | 8 | 3.35 | 127 |
| Willard Nixon | 33 | 125.0 | 7 | 4 | 4.90 | 70 |
| Bill Wight | 34 | 118.1 | 7 | 7 | 5.10 | 38 |
| Harry Taylor | 31 | 81.1 | 4 | 9 | 5.75 | 22 |

#### Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
| Ellis Kinder | 63 | 11 | 2 | 16 | 2.55 | 84 |
| Walt Masterson | 30 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 3.34 | 39 |
| Bill Evans | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.11 | 3 |
| Paul Hinrichs | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21.60 | 1 |
| Ben Flowers | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 2 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Louisville Colonels | American Association | Pinky Higgins |
| AA | Birmingham Barons | Southern Association | Red Marion |
| A | Scranton Red Sox | Eastern League | Jack Burns |
| B | Roanoke Ro-Sox | Piedmont League | Wally Millies |
| C | San Jose Red Sox | California League | Marv Owen |
| C | Oneonta Red Sox | Canadian–American League | Owen Scheetz |
| D | High Point-Thomasville Hi-Toms | North Carolina State League | Jim Gruzdis |
| D | Marion Red Sox | Ohio–Indiana League | Elmer Yoter |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Birmingham, Oneonta, High Point-Thomasville, Marion