# 1959 Boston Red Sox season

The 1959 Boston Red Sox season was the 59th season in the franchise's Major League Baseball history. The Red Sox finished fifth in the American League (AL) with a record of 75 wins and 79 losses, 19 games behind the AL champion Chicago White Sox.

## Offseason

1958 turned out to be Jimmy Piersall's final season with the Red Sox. On December 2, 1958, Piersall was traded to the Cleveland Indians in exchange for Gary Geiger and Vic Wertz.

### Notable transactions

* Prior to 1959 season: Mike Page was signed as an amateur free agent by the Red Sox.
* March 9, 1959: Bob Smith was traded by the Red Sox to the Chicago Cubs for Chuck Tanner.

## Regular season

* The 1959 season was the year that the color barrier was broken for the Red Sox. On July 21, Elijah "Pumpsie" Green became the first black player to play for the Red Sox. A week later, Earl Wilson became the first black pitcher to play for the team.
* Ted Williams would have an off year in his penultimate season, as he batted below .300.

### Season standings

vteAmerican League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Chicago White Sox | 94 | 60 | .610 | — | 47‍–‍30 | 47‍–‍30 |
| Cleveland Indians | 89 | 65 | .578 | 5 | 43‍–‍34 | 46‍–‍31 |
| New York Yankees | 79 | 75 | .513 | 15 | 40‍–‍37 | 39‍–‍38 |
| Detroit Tigers | 76 | 78 | .494 | 18 | 41‍–‍36 | 35‍–‍42 |
| Boston Red Sox | 75 | 79 | .487 | 19 | 43‍–‍34 | 32‍–‍45 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 74 | 80 | .481 | 20 | 38‍–‍39 | 36‍–‍41 |
| Kansas City Athletics | 66 | 88 | .429 | 28 | 37‍–‍40 | 29‍–‍48 |
| Washington Senators | 63 | 91 | .409 | 31 | 34‍–‍43 | 29‍–‍48 |

### Record vs. opponents

1959 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BAL | BOS | CHW | CLE | DET | KCA | NYY | WSH |
| Baltimore | — | 8–14 | 11–11–1 | 10–12 | 13–9 | 8–14 | 12–10 | 12–10 |
| Boston | 14–8 | — | 8–14 | 8–14 | 11–11 | 11–11 | 13–9 | 10–12 |
| Chicago | 11–11–1 | 14–8 | — | 15–7 | 13–9 | 12–10 | 13–9–1 | 16–6 |
| Cleveland | 12–10 | 14–8 | 7–15 | — | 14–8 | 15–7 | 11–11 | 16–6 |
| Detroit | 9–13 | 11–11 | 9–13 | 8–14 | — | 15–7 | 14–8 | 10–12 |
| Kansas City | 14–8 | 11–11 | 10–12 | 7–15 | 7–15 | — | 5–17 | 12–10 |
| New York | 10–12 | 9–13 | 9–13–1 | 11–11 | 8–14 | 17–5 | — | 15–7 |
| Washington | 10–12 | 12–10 | 6–16 | 6–16 | 12–10 | 10–12 | 7–15 | — |

### Notable transactions

* July 26, 1959: Bud Byerly was traded by the Red Sox to the San Francisco Giants for Billy Muffett and cash.
* September 9, 1959: Chuck Tanner was sold by Red Sox to Cleveland Indians.

### Opening day lineup

| 24 | Don Buddin | SS |
| 3 | Pete Runnels | 2B |
| 10 | Gene Stephens | CF |
| 6 | Vic Wertz | 1B |
| 4 | Jackie Jensen | RF |
| 11 | Frank Malzone | 3B |
| 37 | Gary Geiger | RF |
| 22 | Sammy White | C |
| 23 | Tom Brewer | P |

## 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 | 119 | 377 | 107 | .284 | 1 | 42 |
| 1B | Dick Gernert | 117 | 298 | 78 | .262 | 11 | 42 |
| 2B | Pete Runnels | 147 | 560 | 176 | .314 | 6 | 57 |
| SS | Don Buddin | 151 | 485 | 117 | .241 | 10 | 53 |
| 3B | Frank Malzone | 154 | 604 | 169 | .280 | 19 | 92 |
| LF | Ted Williams | 103 | 272 | 69 | .254 | 10 | 43 |
| CF | Marty Keough | 96 | 251 | 61 | .243 | 7 | 27 |
| RF | Jackie Jensen | 148 | 535 | 148 | .277 | 28 | 112 |

#### 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 |
| Gary Geiger | 120 | 335 | 82 | .245 | 11 | 48 |
| Gene Stephens | 92 | 270 | 75 | .278 | 3 | 39 |
| Vic Wertz | 94 | 247 | 68 | .275 | 7 | 49 |
| Pumpsie Green | 50 | 172 | 40 | .233 | 1 | 10 |
| Pete Daley | 65 | 169 | 38 | .225 | 1 | 11 |
| Jim Busby | 61 | 102 | 23 | .225 | 1 | 5 |
| Bobby Ávila | 22 | 45 | 11 | .244 | 3 | 6 |
| Jim Mahoney | 31 | 23 | 3 | .130 | 1 | 4 |
| Bill Renna | 14 | 22 | 2 | .091 | 0 | 2 |
| Jerry Mallett | 4 | 15 | 4 | .267 | 0 | 1 |
| Billy Consolo | 10 | 14 | 3 | .214 | 0 | 0 |
| Herb Plews | 13 | 12 | 1 | .083 | 0 | 0 |
| Don Gile | 3 | 10 | 2 | .200 | 0 | 1 |
| Ted Lepcio | 3 | 3 | 1 | .333 | 0 | 1 |
| Haywood Sullivan | 4 | 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 |
| Tom Brewer | 36 | 215.1 | 10 | 12 | 3.76 | 121 |
| Jerry Casale | 31 | 179.2 | 13 | 8 | 4.31 | 93 |
| Frank Sullivan | 30 | 177.2 | 9 | 11 | 3.95 | 107 |
| Ted Wills | 9 | 56.1 | 2 | 6 | 5.27 | 24 |

#### 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 |
| Bill Monbouquette | 34 | 151.2 | 7 | 7 | 4.15 | 87 |
| Ike Delock | 28 | 134.1 | 11 | 6 | 2.95 | 55 |
| Frank Baumann | 26 | 95.2 | 6 | 4 | 4.05 | 48 |
| Al Schroll | 14 | 46.0 | 1 | 4 | 4.70 | 26 |
| Jack Harshman | 8 | 24.2 | 2 | 3 | 6.57 | 14 |
| Earl Wilson | 9 | 23.2 | 1 | 1 | 6.08 | 17 |
| Billy Hoeft | 5 | 17.2 | 0 | 3 | 5.60 | 8 |
| Ted Bowsfield | 5 | 9.0 | 0 | 1 | 15.00 | 4 |
| Herb Moford | 4 | 8.2 | 0 | 2 | 11.42 | 7 |

#### 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 |
| Mike Fornieles | 46 | 5 | 3 | 11 | 3.07 | 54 |
| Leo Kiely | 41 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 4.20 | 30 |
| Murray Wall | 26 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 5.51 | 14 |
| Nelson Chittum | 21 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1.19 | 12 |
| Dave Sisler | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.75 | 3 |

## Awards and honors

* Jackie Jensen, Gold Glove Award (OF)
* Frank Malzone, Gold Glove Award (3B)

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Minneapolis Millers | American Association | Gene Mauch |
| A | Allentown Red Sox | Eastern League | Sheriff Robinson |
| B | Raleigh Capitals | Carolina League | Ken Deal |
| D | Waterloo Hawks | Midwest League | Elmer Yoter |
| D | Corning Cor-Sox | New York–Penn League | Len Okrie |
| D | Alpine Cowboys | Sophomore League | Eddie Popowski |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Minneapolis, Waterloo, Alpine
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