# 1909 Boston Red Sox season

The 1909 Boston Red Sox season was the ninth season in the franchise's Major League Baseball history. The Red Sox finished third in the American League (AL) with a record of 88 wins and 63 losses, 9+1⁄2 games behind the Detroit Tigers. The team played its home games at Huntington Avenue Grounds.

## Offseason

* February 16, 1909: Cy Young was traded to the Cleveland Naps in exchange for pitchers Jack Ryan and Charlie Chech, and $12,500.
* March: The team held spring training in Hot Springs, Arkansas.

## Regular season

* April 12: The regular season opens with an 8–1 loss to the Philadelphia Athletics at Shibe Park in Philadelphia.
* April 16: Harry Hooper makes his major league debut.
* April 21: In the home opener, Boston defeats Philadelphia, 6–2.
* May 31: The team's longest losing streak of the season, six games, ends with a road win over Philadelphia.
* August 19: The team's longest winning streak of the season, 11 games, ends with a loss to the New York Highlanders at Hilltop Park in New York City.
* October 5: The regular season ends with home doubleheader against New York; Boston loses the first game, 6–5, then wins the second game, 6–1.
The team's longest game of the season was 12 innings, which occurred three times.

### Statistical leaders

The offense was led by Tris Speaker, who hit seven home runs and had 77 RBIs while recording a .309 batting average. The pitching staff was led by Frank Arellanes with 16 wins, Eddie Cicotte with a 1.94 ERA, and Smoky Joe Wood with 88 strikeouts.

### Season standings

vteAmerican League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Detroit Tigers | 98 | 54 | .645 | — | 57‍–‍19 | 41‍–‍35 |
| Philadelphia Athletics | 95 | 58 | .621 | 3½ | 49‍–‍27 | 46‍–‍31 |
| Boston Red Sox | 88 | 63 | .583 | 9½ | 47‍–‍28 | 41‍–‍35 |
| Chicago White Sox | 78 | 74 | .513 | 20 | 42‍–‍34 | 36‍–‍40 |
| New York Highlanders | 74 | 77 | .490 | 23½ | 41‍–‍35 | 33‍–‍42 |
| Cleveland Naps | 71 | 82 | .464 | 27½ | 39‍–‍37 | 32‍–‍45 |
| St. Louis Browns | 61 | 89 | .407 | 36 | 40‍–‍37 | 21‍–‍52 |
| Washington Senators | 42 | 110 | .276 | 56 | 27‍–‍48 | 15‍–‍62 |
The team had one game end in a tie; August 25 at Chicago White Sox. Tie games are not counted in league standings, but player statistics during tie games are counted.

### Record vs. opponents

1909 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BOS | CWS | CLE | DET | NYH | PHA | SLB | WSH |
| Boston | — | 13–9–1 | 14–8 | 9–13 | 13–9 | 10–11 | 13–7 | 16–6 |
| Chicago | 9–13–1 | — | 8–13–1 | 6–15–2 | 14–8–1 | 12–10 | 10–12–1 | 19–3–1 |
| Cleveland | 8–14 | 13–8–1 | — | 8–14–1 | 8–14 | 9–13 | 14–8 | 11–11 |
| Detroit | 13–9 | 15–6–2 | 14–8–1 | — | 14–8 | 8–14 | 18–3–1 | 16–6–2 |
| New York | 9–13 | 8–14–1 | 14–8 | 8–14 | — | 8–14 | 13–8–1 | 14–6 |
| Philadelphia | 11–10 | 10–12 | 13–9 | 14–8 | 14–8 | — | 14–8 | 19–3 |
| St. Louis | 7–13 | 12–10–1 | 8–14 | 3–18–1 | 8–13–1 | 8–14 | — | 15–7–1 |
| Washington | 6–16 | 3–19–1 | 11–11 | 6–16–2 | 6–14 | 3–19 | 7–15–1 | — |

### Opening Day lineup

| Amby McConnell | 2B |
| Harry Lord | 3B |
| Jake Stahl | 1B |
| Doc Gessler | RF |
| Tris Speaker | CF |
| Heinie Wagner | SS |
| Jack Thoney | LF |
| Bill Carrigan | C |
| Frank Arellanes | P |
Source:

### 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 | Bill Carrigan | 94 | 280 | 83 | .296 | 1 | 36 |
| 1B | Jake Stahl | 127 | 435 | 128 | .294 | 6 | 60 |
| 2B | Amby McConnell | 121 | 453 | 108 | .238 | 0 | 36 |
| SS | Heinie Wagner | 124 | 430 | 110 | .256 | 1 | 49 |
| 3B | Harry Lord | 136 | 534 | 168 | .315 | 0 | 31 |
| OF | Tris Speaker | 143 | 544 | 168 | .309 | 7 | 77 |
| OF | Harry Niles | 145 | 546 | 134 | .245 | 1 | 38 |
| OF | Doc Gessler | 111 | 396 | 115 | .290 | 0 | 46 |

#### 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 |
| Harry Hooper | 81 | 255 | 72 | .282 | 0 | 12 |
| Pat Donahue | 65 | 177 | 42 | .237 | 2 | 25 |
| Charlie French | 51 | 167 | 42 | .251 | 0 | 13 |
| Harry Wolter | 54 | 121 | 29 | .240 | 2 | 10 |
| Tubby Spencer | 28 | 74 | 12 | .162 | 0 | 9 |
| Jack Thoney | 13 | 40 | 5 | .125 | 0 | 3 |
| Larry Gardner | 19 | 37 | 11 | .297 | 0 | 5 |
| Bunny Madden | 10 | 17 | 4 | .235 | 0 | 1 |
| Paul Howard | 6 | 15 | 3 | .200 | 0 | 2 |
| Babe Danzig | 6 | 13 | 2 | .154 | 0 | 0 |
| Steve Yerkes | 5 | 7 | 2 | .286 | 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 |
| Frank Arellanes | 45 | 230+2⁄3 | 16 | 12 | 2.18 | 82 |
| Eddie Cicotte | 27 | 162+1⁄3 | 14 | 5 | 1.94 | 82 |
| Smoky Joe Wood | 24 | 160+2⁄3 | 11 | 7 | 2.18 | 88 |
| Charlie Chech | 17 | 106+2⁄3 | 7 | 5 | 2.95 | 40 |
| Ray Collins | 12 | 73+2⁄3 | 4 | 3 | 2.81 | 31 |
| Cy Morgan | 12 | 64+2⁄3 | 2 | 6 | 2.37 | 30 |
| Charlie Smith | 3 | 25 | 3 | 0 | 2.16 | 11 |
| Fred Anderson | 1 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 1.13 | 5 |
| Jack Chesbro | 1 | 6 | 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 |
| Elmer Steele | 16 | 75+2⁄3 | 4 | 4 | 2.85 | 32 |
| Biff Schlitzer | 13 | 69+2⁄3 | 4 | 4 | 3.49 | 23 |
| Ed Karger | 12 | 68 | 5 | 2 | 3.18 | 17 |
| Charley Hall | 11 | 59+2⁄3 | 6 | 4 | 2.56 | 27 |
| Jack Ryan | 13 | 59+1⁄3 | 3 | 3 | 3.34 | 24 |
| Harry Wolter | 11 | 59 | 4 | 9 | 3.51 | 21 |
| Larry Pape | 11 | 57+1⁄3 | 2 | 0 | 2.04 | 18 |
| Fred Burchell | 10 | 52 | 3 | 3 | 2.94 | 12 |
| William Matthews | 5 | 16+2⁄3 | 0 | 0 | 3.24 | 6 |

#### 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 |
| Chet Nourse | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7.20 | 3 |