# 1958 Boston Red Sox season

The 1958 Boston Red Sox season was the 58th season in the franchise's Major League Baseball history. The Red Sox finished third in the American League (AL) with a record of 79 wins and 75 losses, 13 games behind the AL and World Series champion New York Yankees. It would be the last time the Red Sox finished a season above .500, until their "Impossible Dream" season of 1967.

## Offseason

* January 23, 1958: Norm Zauchin and Albie Pearson were traded by the Red Sox to the Washington Senators for Pete Runnels.
* January 29, 1958: Mickey Vernon was selected off waivers from the Red Sox by the Cleveland Indians.
* Prior to 1958 season: Galen Cisco 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 | 92 | 62 | .597 | — | 44‍–‍33 | 48‍–‍29 |
| Chicago White Sox | 82 | 72 | .532 | 10 | 47‍–‍30 | 35‍–‍42 |
| Boston Red Sox | 79 | 75 | .513 | 13 | 49‍–‍28 | 30‍–‍47 |
| Cleveland Indians | 77 | 76 | .503 | 14½ | 42‍–‍34 | 35‍–‍42 |
| Detroit Tigers | 77 | 77 | .500 | 15 | 43‍–‍34 | 34‍–‍43 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 74 | 79 | .484 | 17½ | 46‍–‍31 | 28‍–‍48 |
| Kansas City Athletics | 73 | 81 | .474 | 19 | 43‍–‍34 | 30‍–‍47 |
| Washington Senators | 61 | 93 | .396 | 31 | 33‍–‍44 | 28‍–‍49 |

### Record vs. opponents

1958 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BAL | BOS | CHW | CLE | DET | KCA | NYY | WSH |
| Baltimore | — | 10–12 | 9–13–1 | 10–11 | 10–12 | 12–10 | 8–14 | 15–7 |
| Boston | 12–10 | — | 10–12 | 12–10 | 10–12 | 12–10 | 9–13–1 | 14–8 |
| Chicago | 13–9–1 | 12–10 | — | 12–10 | 10–12 | 12–10 | 7–15 | 16–6 |
| Cleveland | 11–10 | 10–12 | 10–12 | — | 14–8 | 10–12 | 7–15 | 15–7 |
| Detroit | 12–10 | 12–10 | 12–10 | 8–14 | — | 12–10 | 12–10 | 9–13 |
| Kansas City | 10–12 | 10–12 | 10–12 | 12–10 | 10–12 | — | 9–13 | 12–10–2 |
| New York | 14–8 | 13–9–1 | 15–7 | 15–7 | 10–12 | 13–9 | — | 12–10 |
| Washington | 7–15 | 8–14 | 6–16 | 7–15 | 13–9 | 10–12–2 | 10–12 | — |

### Opening day lineup

| 24 | Don Buddin | SS |
| 3 | Pete Runnels | 1B |
| 10 | Gene Stephens | LF |
| 4 | Jackie Jensen | RF |
| 11 | Frank Malzone | 3B |
| 37 | Jimmy Piersall | CF |
| 7 | Ken Aspromonte | 2B |
| 8 | Pete Daley | C |
| 18 | Frank Sullivan | 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 | Sammy White | 102 | 328 | 85 | .259 | 6 | 35 |
| 1B | Dick Gernert | 122 | 431 | 102 | .237 | 20 | 69 |
| 2B | Pete Runnels | 147 | 568 | 183 | .322 | 8 | 59 |
| SS | Don Buddin | 136 | 497 | 118 | .237 | 12 | 43 |
| 3B | Frank Malzone | 155 | 627 | 185 | .295 | 15 | 87 |
| LF | Ted Williams | 129 | 411 | 135 | .328 | 26 | 85 |
| CF | Jim Piersall | 130 | 417 | 99 | .237 | 8 | 48 |
| RF | Jackie Jensen | 154 | 548 | 157 | .286 | 35 | 122 |

#### 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 |
| Gene Stephens | 134 | 270 | 59 | .219 | 9 | 25 |
| Lou Berberet | 57 | 167 | 35 | .210 | 2 | 18 |
| Ted Lepcio | 50 | 136 | 27 | .199 | 6 | 14 |
| Marty Keough | 68 | 118 | 26 | .220 | 1 | 9 |
| Billy Klaus | 61 | 88 | 14 | .159 | 1 | 7 |
| Billy Consolo | 46 | 72 | 9 | .125 | 0 | 5 |
| Pete Daley | 27 | 56 | 18 | .321 | 2 | 8 |
| Bill Renna | 39 | 56 | 15 | .268 | 4 | 18 |
| Ken Aspromonte | 6 | 16 | 2 | .125 | 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 |
| Tom Brewer | 33 | 227.1 | 12 | 12 | 3.72 | 124 |
| Frank Sullivan | 32 | 199.1 | 13 | 9 | 3.57 | 103 |
| Ike Delock | 31 | 160.0 | 14 | 8 | 3.38 | 82 |
| Dave Sisler | 30 | 149.1 | 8 | 9 | 4.94 | 71 |
| Duane Wilson | 2 | 6.1 | 0 | 0 | 5.68 | 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 |
| Mike Fornieles | 37 | 110.2 | 4 | 6 | 4.96 | 49 |
| Bob Smith | 17 | 66.2 | 4 | 3 | 3.78 | 43 |
| Ted Bowsfield | 16 | 65.2 | 4 | 2 | 3.84 | 38 |
| Bill Monbouquette | 10 | 54.1 | 3 | 4 | 3.31 | 30 |
| Frank Baumann | 10 | 52.1 | 2 | 2 | 4.47 | 31 |
| Willard Nixon | 10 | 43.1 | 1 | 7 | 6.02 | 15 |

#### 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 |
| Leo Kiely | 47 | 5 | 2 | 12 | 3.00 | 26 |
| Murray Wall | 52 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 3.62 | 53 |
| Bud Byerly | 18 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1.78 | 16 |
| Al Schroll | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.50 | 7 |
| Bob Porterfield | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.50 | 1 |
| Jerry Casale | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 3 |
| George Susce | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18.00 | 0 |

## Awards and honors

* Jackie Jensen, American League MVP
* Jimmy Piersall, Gold Glove Award (OF)

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Minneapolis Millers | American Association | Gene Mauch |
| AA | Memphis Chicks | Southern Association | Sheriff Robinson |
| A | Allentown Red Sox | Eastern League | Eddie Popowski |
| B | Raleigh Capitals | Carolina League | Len Okrie |
| D | Waterloo Hawks | Midwest League | Ken Deal |
| D | Lexington Red Sox | Nebraska State League | Jack Kaiser |
| D | Corning Red Sox | New York–Penn League | Elmer Yoter |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Minneapolis, Waterloo
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