# 1943 Boston Red Sox season

The 1943 Boston Red Sox season was the 43rd season in the franchise's Major League Baseball history. The Red Sox finished seventh in the American League (AL) with a record of 68 wins and 84 losses, 29 games behind the New York Yankees, who went on to win the 1943 World Series.
The Red Sox set a major league record, which still stands, by playing in 31 extra innings games. In those games, the Red Sox compiled a record of 15 wins and 14 losses, with two ties. They played 73 extra innings in total, equivalent to playing an additional eight 9-inning games.

## Offseason

* Due to wartime considerations, the team held spring training at Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts.
* Prior to 1943 season: Bill Howerton was signed as an amateur free agent by the Red Sox.

## Regular season
### Season standings

vteAmerican League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| New York Yankees | 98 | 56 | .636 | — | 54‍–‍23 | 44‍–‍33 |
| Washington Senators | 84 | 69 | .549 | 13½ | 44‍–‍32 | 40‍–‍37 |
| Cleveland Indians | 82 | 71 | .536 | 15½ | 44‍–‍33 | 38‍–‍38 |
| Chicago White Sox | 82 | 72 | .532 | 16 | 40‍–‍36 | 42‍–‍36 |
| Detroit Tigers | 78 | 76 | .506 | 20 | 45‍–‍32 | 33‍–‍44 |
| St. Louis Browns | 72 | 80 | .474 | 25 | 44‍–‍33 | 28‍–‍47 |
| Boston Red Sox | 68 | 84 | .447 | 29 | 39‍–‍36 | 29‍–‍48 |
| Philadelphia Athletics | 49 | 105 | .318 | 49 | 27‍–‍51 | 22‍–‍54 |

### Record vs. opponents

1943 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BOS | CWS | CLE | DET | NYY | PHA | SLB | WSH |
| Boston | — | 8–14 | 12–10 | 11–11–1 | 5–17–1 | 11–11 | 11–9–1 | 10–12 |
| Chicago | 14–8 | — | 7–15 | 9–13 | 10–12 | 18–4–1 | 10–12 | 14–8 |
| Cleveland | 10–12 | 15–7 | — | 15–7 | 9–13 | 16–6 | 9–13 | 8–13 |
| Detroit | 11–11–1 | 13–9 | 7–15 | — | 10–12 | 13–9 | 11–11 | 13–9 |
| New York | 17–5–1 | 12–10 | 13–9 | 12–10 | — | 16–6 | 17–5 | 11–11 |
| Philadelphia | 11–11 | 4–18–1 | 6–16 | 9–13 | 6–16 | — | 8–14 | 5–17 |
| St. Louis | 9–11–1 | 12–10 | 13–9 | 11–11 | 5–17 | 14–8 | — | 8–14 |
| Washington | 12–10 | 8–14 | 13–8 | 9–13 | 11–11 | 17–5 | 14–8 | — |

### Opening Day lineup

| 7 | Eddie Lake | SS |
| 12 | Pete Fox | RF |
| 1 | Bobby Doerr | 2B |
| 14 | Johnny Lazor | LF |
| 3 | Tony Lupien | 1B |
| 15 | Ford Garrison | CF |
| 26 | Skeeter Newsome | 3B |
| 11 | Johnny Peacock | C |
| 21 | Tex Hughson | P |

### Transactions

June 2: Joe Green, a pitcher for the University of North Carolina Baseball Team, signs a contract with the Red Sox and joins the Roanoke Red Sox.
June 14: The Red Sox trade pitcher Ken Chase to the New York Giants in exchange for outfielder Babe Barna.

### 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 | Roy Partee | 96 | 299 | 84 | .281 | 0 | 31 |
| 1B | Tony Lupien | 154 | 608 | 155 | .255 | 4 | 47 |
| 2B | Bobby Doerr | 155 | 604 | 163 | .270 | 16 | 75 |
| SS | Skeeter Newsome | 114 | 449 | 119 | .265 | 1 | 22 |
| 3B | Jim Tabor | 137 | 537 | 130 | .242 | 13 | 85 |
| OF | Leon Culberson | 81 | 312 | 85 | .272 | 3 | 34 |
| OF | George Metkovich | 78 | 321 | 79 | .246 | 5 | 27 |
| OF | Pete Fox | 127 | 489 | 141 | .288 | 2 | 44 |

#### 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 |
| Eddie Lake | 75 | 216 | 43 | .199 | 3 | 16 |
| Johnny Lazor | 83 | 208 | 47 | .226 | 0 | 13 |
| Al Simmons | 40 | 133 | 27 | .203 | 1 | 12 |
| Ford Garrison | 36 | 129 | 36 | .279 | 1 | 11 |
| Dee Miles | 45 | 121 | 26 | .215 | 0 | 10 |
| Johnny Peacock | 48 | 114 | 23 | .202 | 0 | 7 |
| Babe Barna | 30 | 112 | 19 | .170 | 2 | 10 |
| Tom McBride | 26 | 96 | 23 | .240 | 0 | 7 |
| Bill Conroy | 39 | 89 | 16 | .180 | 1 | 6 |
| Joe Cronin | 59 | 77 | 24 | .312 | 5 | 29 |
| Danny Doyle | 13 | 43 | 9 | .209 | 0 | 6 |

### 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 |
| Tex Hughson | 35 | 266.0 | 12 | 15 | 2.64 | 114 |
| Joe Dobson | 25 | 164.1 | 7 | 11 | 3.12 | 63 |
| Yank Terry | 30 | 163.2 | 7 | 9 | 3.52 | 63 |
| Oscar Judd | 23 | 155.1 | 11 | 6 | 2.90 | 53 |
| Dick Newsome | 25 | 154.1 | 8 | 13 | 4.49 | 40 |

#### 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 |
| Mike Ryba | 40 | 143.2 | 7 | 5 | 3.26 | 50 |
| Pinky Woods | 23 | 100.2 | 5 | 6 | 4.92 | 32 |
| Lou Lucier | 16 | 74.0 | 3 | 4 | 3.89 | 23 |
| Emmett O'Neill | 11 | 57.2 | 1 | 4 | 4.53 | 20 |
| Ken Chase | 7 | 27.1 | 0 | 4 | 6.91 | 9 |

#### 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 |
| Mace Brown | 49 | 6 | 6 | 9 | 2.12 | 40 |
| Andy Karl | 11 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3.46 | 6 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AA | Louisville Colonels | American Association | Bill Burwell |
| A | Scranton Red Sox | Eastern League | Nemo Leibold |
| B | Roanoke Red Sox | Piedmont League | Heinie Manush |