# 1938 Boston Red Sox season

The 1938 Boston Red Sox season was the 38th season in the franchise's Major League Baseball history. The Red Sox finished second in the American League (AL) with a record of 88 wins and 61 losses, 9+1⁄2 games behind the New York Yankees, who went on to win the 1938 World Series.
Red Sox first baseman Jimmie Foxx had a .349 batting average with 50 home runs and 175 runs batted in; he was named the AL Most Valuable Player.

## Offseason

* December 2, 1937: Red Kress, Buster Mills and Bobo Newsom were traded by the Red Sox to the St. Louis Browns for Joe Vosmik.
On December 6, 1937, the Red Sox purchased outfielder Ted Williams from the Pacific Coast League San Diego Padres for $25,000 and four minor league players, with the deal announced the following day on December 7.

## Regular season

The 1938 Boston Red Sox finished higher than any other Sox team since 1918. The Red Sox finished in second place with 88 wins and 61 losses, finishing 9+1⁄2 games behind the New York Yankees. Jimmie Foxx led the American League with a .349 batting average, 50 home runs and 175 RBIs, becoming the first player to win three American League MVP Awards.

### Season standings

vteAmerican League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| New York Yankees | 99 | 53 | .651 | — | 55‍–‍22 | 44‍–‍31 |
| Boston Red Sox | 88 | 61 | .591 | 9½ | 52‍–‍23 | 36‍–‍38 |
| Cleveland Indians | 86 | 66 | .566 | 13 | 46‍–‍30 | 40‍–‍36 |
| Detroit Tigers | 84 | 70 | .545 | 16 | 48‍–‍31 | 36‍–‍39 |
| Washington Senators | 75 | 76 | .497 | 23½ | 44‍–‍33 | 31‍–‍43 |
| Chicago White Sox | 65 | 83 | .439 | 32 | 33‍–‍39 | 32‍–‍44 |
| St. Louis Browns | 55 | 97 | .362 | 44 | 31‍–‍43 | 24‍–‍54 |
| Philadelphia Athletics | 53 | 99 | .349 | 46 | 28‍–‍47 | 25‍–‍52 |

### Record vs. opponents

1938 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BOS | CWS | CLE | DET | NYY | PHA | SLB | WSH |
| Boston | — | 12–6 | 12–10 | 10–12 | 11–11–1 | 14–8 | 17–5 | 12–9 |
| Chicago | 6–12 | — | 9–13 | 7–15 | 8–14 | 12–10 | 13–8–1 | 10–11 |
| Cleveland | 10–12 | 13–9 | — | 12–10 | 8–13 | 18–4 | 13–9–1 | 12–9 |
| Detroit | 12–10 | 15–7 | 10–12 | — | 8–14 | 14–8 | 12–10–1 | 13–9 |
| New York | 11–11–1 | 14–8 | 13–8 | 14–8 | — | 16–5–2 | 15–7–1 | 16–6–1 |
| Philadelphia | 8–14 | 10–12 | 4–18 | 8–14 | 5–16–2 | — | 12–9 | 6–16 |
| St. Louis | 5–17 | 8–13–1 | 9–13–1 | 10–12–1 | 7–15–1 | 9–12 | — | 7–15 |
| Washington | 9–12 | 11–10 | 9–12 | 9–13 | 6–16–1 | 16–6 | 15–7 | — |

### Opening Day lineup

| 8 | Doc Cramer | CF |
| 7 | Joe Vosmik | LF |
| 3 | Jimmie Foxx | 1B |
| 4 | Joe Cronin | SS |
| 5 | Pinky Higgins | 3B |
| 9 | Ben Chapman | RF |
| 1 | Bobby Doerr | 2B |
| 2 | Gene Desautels | C |
| 17 | Jim Bagby | 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 | Gene Desautels | 108 | 333 | 97 | .291 | 2 | 48 |
| 1B | Jimmie Foxx | 149 | 565 | 197 | .349 | 50 | 175 |
| 2B | Bobby Doerr | 145 | 509 | 147 | .289 | 5 | 80 |
| SS | Joe Cronin | 143 | 530 | 172 | .325 | 17 | 94 |
| 3B | Pinky Higgins | 139 | 524 | 159 | .303 | 5 | 106 |
| OF | Joe Vosmik | 146 | 621 | 201 | .324 | 9 | 86 |
| OF | Doc Cramer | 148 | 658 | 198 | .301 | 0 | 71 |
| OF | Ben Chapman | 127 | 480 | 163 | .340 | 6 | 80 |

#### 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 |
| Johnny Peacock | 72 | 195 | 59 | .303 | 1 | 39 |
| Red Nonnenkamp | 87 | 180 | 51 | .283 | 0 | 18 |
| Eric McNair | 46 | 96 | 15 | .156 | 0 | 7 |
| Jim Tabor | 19 | 57 | 18 | .316 | 1 | 8 |
| Moe Berg | 10 | 12 | 4 | .333 | 0 | 0 |
| Fabian Gaffke | 15 | 10 | 1 | .100 | 0 | 1 |

### 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 |
| Jack Wilson | 37 | 194.2 | 15 | 15 | 4.30 | 96 |
| Lefty Grove | 24 | 163.2 | 14 | 4 | 3.08 | 99 |
| Johnny Marcum | 15 | 92.1 | 5 | 6 | 4.09 | 25 |
| Joe Heving | 16 | 82.0 | 8 | 1 | 3.73 | 34 |
| Bill Harris | 13 | 80.1 | 5 | 5 | 4.03 | 26 |

#### 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 |
| Jim Bagby | 43 | 198.2 | 15 | 11 | 4.21 | 73 |
| Fritz Ostermueller | 31 | 176.2 | 13 | 5 | 4.58 | 46 |
| Emerson Dickman | 32 | 104.0 | 5 | 5 | 5.28 | 22 |
| Archie McKain | 37 | 99.2 | 5 | 4 | 4.52 | 27 |
| Charlie Wagner | 13 | 36.2 | 1 | 3 | 8.35 | 14 |
| Dick Midkiff | 13 | 35.1 | 1 | 1 | 5.09 | 10 |
| Lee Rogers | 14 | 27.2 | 1 | 1 | 6.51 | 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 |
| Al Baker | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9.39 | 2 |
| Ted Olson | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.43 | 2 |
| Doc Cramer | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.50 | 1 |
| Bill LeFebvre | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13.50 | 0 |
| Byron Humphrey | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9.00 | 1 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AA | Minneapolis Millers | American Association | Donie Bush |
| A1 | Little Rock Travelers | Southern Association | Doc Prothro |
| A | Hazleton Red Sox | Eastern League | Specs Toporcer |
| B | Rocky Mount Red Sox | Piedmont League | Herb Brett |
| C | Clarksdale Red Sox | Cotton States League | Nemo Leibold |
| C | Canton Terriers | Middle Atlantic League | Floyd "Pat" Patterson |
| D | Elizabethton Betsy Red Sox | Appalachian League | Hobe Brummette |
| D | Danville-Schoolfield Leafs | Bi-State League | Red Barnes |
| D | Moultrie Packers | Georgia–Florida League | Dewey Stover |
| D | Crookston Pirates | Northern League | Bill Burwell |