# 1920 Boston Red Sox season

The 1920 Boston Red Sox season was the 20th season in the franchise's Major League Baseball history. The Red Sox finished fifth in the American League (AL) with a record of 72 wins and 81 losses, 25+1⁄2 games behind the Cleveland Indians, who went on to win the 1920 World Series.

## Offseason

On January 5, 1920, news that the Red Sox sold their star pitcher-turned-outfielder Babe Ruth to the Yankees for $125,000 (equivalent to $2,200,000 in 2023) became public, the sub-headline in The New York Times the next day read, "Highest Purchase Price in Baseball History Paid for Game's Greatest Slugger." The trade to the Yankees would live in infamy for generations of Boston red sox fans for nearly 85 years and was one of the worse highlights of that offseason.

## Regular season
### Season standings

vteAmerican League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Cleveland Indians | 98 | 56 | .636 | — | 51‍–‍27 | 47‍–‍29 |
| Chicago White Sox | 96 | 58 | .623 | 2 | 52‍–‍25 | 44‍–‍33 |
| New York Yankees | 95 | 59 | .617 | 3 | 49‍–‍28 | 46‍–‍31 |
| St. Louis Browns | 76 | 77 | .497 | 21½ | 40‍–‍38 | 36‍–‍39 |
| Boston Red Sox | 72 | 81 | .471 | 25½ | 41‍–‍35 | 31‍–‍46 |
| Washington Senators | 68 | 84 | .447 | 29 | 37‍–‍38 | 31‍–‍46 |
| Detroit Tigers | 61 | 93 | .396 | 37 | 32‍–‍46 | 29‍–‍47 |
| Philadelphia Athletics | 48 | 106 | .312 | 50 | 25‍–‍50 | 23‍–‍56 |

### Record vs. opponents

1920 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BOS | CWS | CLE | DET | NYY | PHA | SLB | WSH |
| Boston | — | 12–10 | 6–16 | 13–9 | 9–13 | 13–9–1 | 9–13 | 10–11 |
| Chicago | 10–12 | — | 10–12 | 19–3 | 10–12 | 16–6 | 14–8 | 17–5 |
| Cleveland | 16–6 | 12–10 | — | 15–7 | 9–13 | 16–6 | 15–7 | 15–7 |
| Detroit | 9–13 | 3–19 | 7–15 | — | 7–15 | 12–10–1 | 10–12 | 13–9 |
| New York | 13–9 | 12–10 | 13–9 | 15–7 | — | 19–3 | 12–10 | 11–11 |
| Philadelphia | 9–13–1 | 6–16 | 6–16 | 10–12–1 | 3–19 | — | 8–14 | 6–16 |
| St. Louis | 13–9 | 8–14 | 7–15 | 12–10 | 10–12 | 14–8 | — | 12–9–1 |
| Washington | 11–10 | 5–17 | 7–15 | 9–13 | 11–11 | 16–6 | 9–12–1 | — |

### Opening Day lineup

| Harry Hooper | RF |
| Mike McNally | 2B |
| Mike Menosky | LF |
| Tim Hendryx | RF |
| Stuffy McInnis | 1B |
| Eddie Foster | 3B |
| Everett Scott | SS |
| Roxy Walters | C |
| Allen Russell | 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 | Roxy Walters | 88 | 258 | 51 | .198 | 0 | 28 |
| 1B | Stuffy McInnis | 148 | 559 | 166 | .297 | 2 | 71 |
| 2B | Mike McNally | 93 | 312 | 80 | .256 | 0 | 23 |
| 3B | Eddie Foster | 117 | 386 | 100 | .259 | 0 | 41 |
| SS | Everett Scott | 154 | 569 | 153 | .269 | 4 | 61 |
| OF | Tim Hendryx | 99 | 363 | 119 | .328 | 0 | 73 |
| OF | Mike Menosky | 141 | 532 | 158 | .297 | 3 | 64 |
| OF | Harry Hooper | 139 | 536 | 167 | .312 | 7 | 53 |

#### 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 |
| Wally Schang | 122 | 387 | 118 | .305 | 4 | 51 |
| Ossie Vitt | 87 | 296 | 65 | .220 | 1 | 28 |
| Cliff Brady | 53 | 180 | 41 | .228 | 0 | 12 |
| Gene Bailey | 46 | 135 | 31 | .230 | 0 | 5 |
| Hack Eibel | 29 | 47 | 8 | .186 | 0 | 6 |
| Hob Hiller | 17 | 29 | 5 | .172 | 0 | 2 |
| Ben Paschal | 9 | 28 | 19 | .357 | 0 | 5 |
| Mickey Devine | 8 | 12 | 2 | .167 | 0 | 0 |
| Herb Hunter | 4 | 12 | 1 | .083 | 0 | 0 |
| George Orme | 4 | 6 | 2 | .333 | 0 | 1 |
| Ed Chaplin | 4 | 5 | 1 | .200 | 0 | 0 |
| Ray Grimes | 1 | 4 | 1 | .250 | 0 | 0 |
| Paddy Smith | 2 | 2 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Jigger Statz | 2 | 3 | 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 |
| Sam Jones | 37 | 274.0 | 13 | 16 | 3.94 | 86 |
| Joe Bush | 35 | 243.2 | 15 | 15 | 4.25 | 88 |
| Herb Pennock | 37 | 242.1 | 16 | 13 | 3.68 | 68 |
| Harry Harper | 27 | 162.2 | 5 | 14 | 3.04 | 71 |
| Allen Russell | 16 | 107.2 | 5 | 6 | 3.01 | 53 |
| Elmer Myers | 12 | 97.0 | 9 | 1 | 2.13 | 34 |

#### 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 |
| Waite Hoyt | 22 | 121.1 | 6 | 6 | 4.38 | 45 |
| Gary Fortune | 14 | 41.2 | 0 | 2 | 5.83 | 10 |

#### 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 |
| Benn Karr | 26 | 3 | 8 | 1 | 4.81 | 21 |
| Hack Eibel | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.48 | 5 |
| Hal Deviney | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15.00 | 0 |