# 1919 Boston Red Sox season

The 1919 Boston Red Sox season was the 19th season in the franchise's Major League Baseball history. The Red Sox finished sixth in the American League (AL) with a record of 66 wins and 71 losses, 20+1⁄2 games behind the Chicago White Sox. The team played its home games at Fenway Park.
While World War I had ended in November 1918, players who had been drafted returned gradually during 1919. The season was shortened from 154 to 140 games and did not begin until mid-April, with the Red Sox playing their first game on April 23.

## Regular season

In his last year playing for the Red Sox, Babe Ruth had his breakout offensive season having been converted into an outfielder. He set a major league record with 29 home runs and also led the league in runs batted in and runs scored. Ruth also made 15 pitching starts, going 9–5 with a 2.97 earned run average.
On July 31, Waite Hoyt made his first start for the Boston Red Sox, beating the Detroit Tigers 2-1 in twelve innings for his first major league victory.

### Trades and Transactions

In July, the Red Sox traded pitcher Carl Mays to the Yankees for pitchers Allen Russell and Bob McGraw, as well as $40,000.
In late July, pitcher Waite Hoyt of the independent Baltimore Dry Docks signed a contract to play for the Red Sox for $600 a month.

### Season standings

vteAmerican League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Chicago White Sox | 88 | 52 | .629 | — | 48‍–‍22 | 40‍–‍30 |
| Cleveland Indians | 84 | 55 | .604 | 3½ | 44‍–‍25 | 40‍–‍30 |
| New York Yankees | 80 | 59 | .576 | 7½ | 46‍–‍25 | 34‍–‍34 |
| Detroit Tigers | 80 | 60 | .571 | 8 | 46‍–‍24 | 34‍–‍36 |
| St. Louis Browns | 67 | 72 | .482 | 20½ | 40‍–‍30 | 27‍–‍42 |
| Boston Red Sox | 66 | 71 | .482 | 20½ | 35‍–‍30 | 31‍–‍41 |
| Washington Senators | 56 | 84 | .400 | 32 | 32‍–‍40 | 24‍–‍44 |
| Philadelphia Athletics | 36 | 104 | .257 | 52 | 21‍–‍49 | 15‍–‍55 |

### Record vs. opponents

1919 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BOS | CWS | CLE | DET | NYY | PHA | SLB | WSH |
| Boston | — | 9–11 | 4–15 | 9–11 | 10–9 | 14–6 | 9–10–1 | 11–9 |
| Chicago | 11–9 | — | 12–8 | 11–9 | 12–8 | 17–3 | 11–9 | 14–6 |
| Cleveland | 15–4 | 8–12 | — | 8–12 | 13–7 | 16–4 | 11–9 | 13–7 |
| Detroit | 11–9 | 9–11 | 12–8 | — | 8–12 | 14–6 | 14–6 | 12–8 |
| New York | 9–10 | 8–12 | 7–13 | 12–8 | — | 18–2 | 12–8 | 14–6–2 |
| Philadelphia | 6–14 | 3–17 | 4–16 | 6–14 | 2–18 | — | 7–13 | 8–12 |
| St. Louis | 10–9–1 | 9–11 | 9–11 | 6–14 | 8–12 | 13–7 | — | 12–8 |
| Washington | 9–11 | 6–14 | 7–13 | 8–12 | 6–14–2 | 12–8 | 8–12 | — |

### Opening Day lineup

| Harry Hooper | RF |
| Jack Barry | 2B |
| Amos Strunk | CF |
| Babe Ruth | LF |
| Stuffy McInnis | 1B |
| Ossie Vitt | 3B |
| Everett Scott | SS |
| Wally Schang | C |
| Carl Mays | 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 | Wally Schang | 113 | 330 | 101 | .306 | 0 | 55 |
| 1B | Stuffy McInnis | 120 | 440 | 134 | .305 | 1 | 58 |
| 2B | Red Shannon | 80 | 290 | 75 | .259 | 0 | 17 |
| 3B | Ossie Vitt | 133 | 469 | 114 | .243 | 0 | 40 |
| SS | Everett Scott | 138 | 507 | 141 | .278 | 0 | 38 |
| LF | Babe Ruth | 130 | 432 | 139 | .322 | 29 | 114 |
| CF | Braggo Roth | 63 | 227 | 58 | .256 | 0 | 23 |
| RF | Harry Hooper | 128 | 491 | 131 | .267 | 3 | 49 |

#### 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 |
| Amos Strunk | 48 | 184 | 50 | .272 | 0 | 17 |
| Bill Lamar | 48 | 148 | 43 | .291 | 0 | 13 |
| Roxy Walters | 48 | 135 | 26 | .193 | 0 | 10 |
| Del Gainer | 47 | 118 | 28 | .237 | 0 | 18 |
| Frank Gilhooley | 48 | 112 | 27 | .241 | 0 | 2 |
| Jack Barry | 31 | 108 | 26 | .241 | 0 | 2 |
| Dave Shean | 29 | 100 | 14 | .140 | 0 | 6 |
| Mike McNally | 33 | 42 | 11 | .262 | 0 | 3 |
| Joe Wilhoit | 6 | 18 | 6 | .333 | 0 | 2 |
| Norm McNeil | 5 | 9 | 3 | .333 | 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 |
| Sam Jones | 35 | 245.0 | 12 | 20 | 3.75 | 67 |
| Herb Pennock | 32 | 219.0 | 16 | 8 | 2.71 | 70 |
| Carl Mays | 21 | 146.0 | 5 | 11 | 2.47 | 53 |
| Babe Ruth | 17 | 133.1 | 9 | 5 | 2.97 | 30 |
| Waite Hoyt | 13 | 105.1 | 4 | 6 | 3.25 | 28 |

#### 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 |
| Allen Russell | 21 | 121.1 | 10 | 4 | 2.52 | 63 |
| Ray Caldwell | 18 | 86.1 | 7 | 4 | 3.96 | 23 |
| Bill James | 13 | 72.2 | 3 | 5 | 4.09 | 12 |
| Paul Musser | 5 | 19.2 | 0 | 2 | 4.12 | 14 |
| Joe Bush | 2 | 7.0 | 0 | 0 | 3.86 | 2 |

#### 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 |
| George Dumont | 13 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4.33 | 12 |
| Bob McGraw | 10 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6.75 | 6 |
| George Winn | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7.71 | 0 |

## Awards and honors
### League top five finishers

Sam Jones
* #2 losses (20)
Babe Ruth
* #1 home runs (29)
* #1 runs batted in (114)
* #1 runs scored (103)
* #1 on-base percentage (.456)
* #1 slugging percentage (.657)
Wally Schang
* #2 on-base percentage (.436)