# 1945 Boston Red Sox season

The 1945 Boston Red Sox season was the 45th season in the franchise's Major League Baseball history. The Red Sox finished seventh in the American League (AL) with a record of 71 wins and 83 losses, 17+1⁄2 games behind the Detroit Tigers, who went on to win the 1945 World Series.

## Offseason

* Prior to 1945 season: Tom Poholsky was signed as an amateur free agent by the Red Sox.
* November 13, 1944: The Athletics sell catcher Bob Garbark to the Louisville Colonels for an undisclosed sum.

## Regular season

* April 1945: At the urging of Boston City Councillor Isadore H. Y. Muchnick and with the active involvement of noted African American journalist Wendell Smith, General Manager Eddie Collins allowed three players from the Negro leagues to try out for the Red Sox. The players included Sam Jethroe from the Cleveland Buckeyes, Marvin Williams from the Philadelphia Stars, and Jackie Robinson from the Kansas City Monarchs.
* August 14, 1945: Handicapped Washington Senators coach Bert Shepard pitched in a game against the Red Sox. Shepard, who had an artificial leg, managed to give up only one run in five innings to the Red Sox.

### Transactions

* May 25: The Chicago Cubs claim outfielder Lloyd Christopher off of waivers from the Red Sox.
* May 28: The Cincinnati Reds claim pitcher Joe Bowman off of waivers from the Red Sox.
* May 31: The Philadelphia Phillies claim pitcher Oscar Judd off of waivers from the Red Sox.
* June 16: Dolph Camilli announces that he has signed for the Red Sox to play as first baseman.
* July 27: The St. Louis Browns purchase Lou Finney from the Red Sox.

### Season standings

vteAmerican League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Detroit Tigers | 88 | 65 | .575 | — | 50‍–‍26 | 38‍–‍39 |
| Washington Senators | 87 | 67 | .565 | 1½ | 46‍–‍31 | 41‍–‍36 |
| St. Louis Browns | 81 | 70 | .536 | 6 | 47‍–‍27 | 34‍–‍43 |
| New York Yankees | 81 | 71 | .533 | 6½ | 48‍–‍28 | 33‍–‍43 |
| Cleveland Indians | 73 | 72 | .503 | 11 | 44‍–‍33 | 29‍–‍39 |
| Chicago White Sox | 71 | 78 | .477 | 15 | 44‍–‍29 | 27‍–‍49 |
| Boston Red Sox | 71 | 83 | .461 | 17½ | 42‍–‍35 | 29‍–‍48 |
| Philadelphia Athletics | 52 | 98 | .347 | 34½ | 39‍–‍35 | 13‍–‍63 |

### Record vs. opponents

1945 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BOS | CWS | CLE | DET | NYY | PHA | SLB | WSH |
| Boston | — | 9–13 | 11–11 | 12–10–1 | 6–16 | 14–8 | 8–14–1 | 11–11–1 |
| Chicago | 13–9 | — | 11–8–1 | 10–12 | 9–12 | 12–10 | 8–13 | 8–14 |
| Cleveland | 11–11 | 8–11–1 | — | 11–11 | 12–9 | 12–6–1 | 11–10 | 8–14 |
| Detroit | 10–12–1 | 12–10 | 11–11 | — | 15–7 | 15–7–1 | 15–6 | 10–12 |
| New York | 16–6 | 12–9 | 9–12 | 7–15 | — | 16–6 | 7–15 | 14–8 |
| Philadelphia | 8–14 | 10–12 | 6–12–1 | 7–15–1 | 6–16 | — | 10–12–1 | 5–17 |
| St. Louis | 14–8–1 | 13–8 | 10–11 | 6–15 | 15–7 | 12–10–1 | — | 11–11–1 |
| Washington | 11–11–1 | 14–8 | 14–8 | 12–10 | 8–14 | 17–5 | 11–11–1 | — |

### Opening Day lineup

| 16 | Ben Steiner | 2B |
| 2 | Catfish Metkovich | 1B |
| 15 | Pete Fox | RF |
| 8 | Bob Johnson | LF |
| 4 | Joe Cronin | 3B |
| 11 | Leon Culberson | CF |
| 6 | Skeeter Newsome | SS |
| 26 | Fred Walters | C |
| 31 | Rex Cecil | 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 | Bob Garbark | 68 | 199 | 52 | .261 | 0 | 17 |
| 1B | George Metkovich | 138 | 539 | 140 | .260 | 5 | 62 |
| 2B | Skeeter Newsome | 125 | 438 | 127 | .290 | 1 | 48 |
| SS | Eddie Lake | 133 | 473 | 132 | .279 | 11 | 51 |
| 3B | Jackie Tobin | 84 | 278 | 70 | .252 | 0 | 21 |
| OF | Leon Culberson | 97 | 331 | 91 | .275 | 6 | 45 |
| OF | Johnny Lazor | 101 | 335 | 104 | .310 | 5 | 45 |
| OF | Bob Johnson | 143 | 529 | 148 | .280 | 12 | 74 |

#### 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 |
| Tom McBride | 100 | 344 | 105 | .305 | 1 | 47 |
| Ben Steiner | 78 | 304 | 78 | .257 | 3 | 20 |
| Pete Fox | 66 | 208 | 51 | .245 | 0 | 20 |
| Ty LaForest | 52 | 204 | 51 | .250 | 2 | 16 |
| Dolph Camilli | 63 | 198 | 42 | .212 | 2 | 19 |
| Jim Bucher | 52 | 151 | 34 | .225 | 0 | 11 |
| Billy Holm | 58 | 135 | 25 | .185 | 0 | 9 |
| Fred Walters | 40 | 93 | 16 | .172 | 0 | 5 |
| Red Steiner | 26 | 59 | 12 | .203 | 0 | 4 |
| Frankie Pytlak | 9 | 17 | 2 | .118 | 0 | 0 |
| Loyd Christopher | 8 | 14 | 4 | .286 | 0 | 4 |
| Joe Cronin | 3 | 8 | 3 | .375 | 0 | 1 |
| Nick Polly | 4 | 7 | 1 | .143 | 0 | 1 |
| Lou Finney | 2 | 2 | 0 | .000 | 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 |
| Dave Ferriss | 35 | 264.2 | 21 | 10 | 2.96 | 94 |
| Jim Wilson | 23 | 144.1 | 6 | 8 | 3.30 | 50 |
| Emmett O'Neill | 24 | 141.2 | 8 | 11 | 5.15 | 55 |
| Randy Heflin | 20 | 102.0 | 4 | 10 | 4.06 | 39 |
| Otey Clark | 12 | 82.0 | 4 | 4 | 3.07 | 20 |
| Rex Cecil | 7 | 45.0 | 2 | 5 | 5.20 | 30 |
| Joe Bowman | 3 | 11.2 | 0 | 2 | 9.26 | 0 |
| Clem Dreisewerd | 2 | 9.2 | 0 | 1 | 4.66 | 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 |
| Clem Hausmann | 31 | 125.0 | 5 | 7 | 5.04 | 30 |
| Mike Ryba | 34 | 123.0 | 7 | 6 | 2.49 | 44 |
| Pinky Woods | 24 | 107.1 | 4 | 7 | 4.19 | 36 |
| Vic Johnson | 26 | 85.1 | 6 | 4 | 4.01 | 21 |
| Yank Terry | 12 | 56.2 | 0 | 4 | 4.13 | 28 |
| Oscar Judd | 2 | 6.1 | 0 | 1 | 8.53 | 5 |

#### 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 |
| Frank Barrett | 37 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2.62 | 35 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AA | Louisville Colonels | American Association | Nemo Leibold |
| A | Scranton Red Sox | Eastern League | Elmer Yoter |
| B | Roanoke Red Sox | Piedmont League | Eddie Popowski |
| C | Durham Bulls | Carolina League | Floyd "Pat" Patterson |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Louisville