1934 Boston Red Sox season

The 1934 Boston Red Sox season was the 34th season in the franchise's Major League Baseball history. The Red Sox finished fourth in the American League (AL) with a record of 76 wins and 76 losses, 24 games behind the Detroit Tigers.

1934 Boston Red Sox
League	American League
Ballpark	Fenway Park
City	Boston, Massachusetts
Record	76–76 (.500)
League place	4th
Owners	Tom Yawkey
President	Tom Yawkey
General managers	Eddie Collins
Managers	Bucky Harris
Radio	WNAC (Fred Hoey)
Stats	ESPN.com Baseball Reference
← 1933 Seasons 1935 →

On January 5, 1934, during renovation work at Fenway Park—including the removal of Duffy's Cliff, an embankment in front of the Green Monster—a fire that started at the ballpark caused significant damage and spread to some nearby buildings on Lansdowne Street. Further repair and renovation work, costing over $1 million, was completed in time for Opening Day.^[1]

Offseason

• December 12, 1933: Bob Kline, Rabbit Warstler, and $125,000 were traded by the Red Sox to the Philadelphia Athletics for Lefty Grove, Max Bishop and Rube Walberg.^[2]

Regular season

In May, pitcher Wes Ferrell, the brother of catcher Rick Ferrell, was acquired for the Red Sox from the Cleveland Indians.^[3]

Season standings

• v
• t
• e

American League

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Detroit Tigers	101	53	.656	—	54‍–‍26	47‍–‍27
New York Yankees	94	60	.610	7	53‍–‍24	41‍–‍36
Cleveland Indians	85	69	.552	16	47‍–‍31	38‍–‍38
Boston Red Sox	76	76	.500	24	42‍–‍35	34‍–‍41
Philadelphia Athletics	68	82	.453	31	34‍–‍40	34‍–‍42
St. Louis Browns	67	85	.441	33	36‍–‍39	31‍–‍46
Washington Senators	66	86	.434	34	34‍–‍40	32‍–‍46
Chicago White Sox	53	99	.349	47	29‍–‍46	24‍–‍53

Record vs. opponents

1934 American League record v t e Sources:
Team	BOS	CWS	CLE	DET	NYY	PHA	SLB	WSH
Boston	—	11–10	7–15	8–14	10–12	12–9	14–8	14–8–1
Chicago	10–11	—	8–14	5–17	5–17	9–13	7–14–1	9–13
Cleveland	15–7	14–8	—	6–16	11–11	13–9	15–7	11–11
Detroit	14–8	17–5	16–6	—	12–10	12–10	15–7	15–7
New York	12–10	17–5	11–11	10–12	—	15–7	17–5	12–10
Philadelphia	9–12	13–9	9–13	10–12	7–15	—	9–12–1	11–9–2
St. Louis	8–14	14–7–1	7–15	7–15	5–17	12–9–1	—	14–8
Washington	8–14–1	13–9	11–11	7–15	10–12	9–11–2	8–14	—

Opening Day lineup

1	Chalmer Cissell	2B
20	Lyn Lary	SS
25	Eddie Morgan	1B
4	Roy Johnson	LF
5	Carl Reynolds	CF
7	Rick Ferrell	C
22	Dick Porter	RF
8	Billy Werber	3B
11	Gordon Rhodes	P

Roster

1934 Boston Red Sox
Roster
Pitchers 12 Wes Ferrell 10 Lefty Grove -- George Hockette 16 Hank Johnson -- Spike Merena 14 Joe Mulligan 19 Fritz Ostermueller 17 Herb Pennock 14 George Pipgras 11 Gordon Rhodes 15 Rube Walberg 12 Bob Weiland 18 Johnny Welch		Catchers  7 Rick Ferrell  9 Gordie Hinkle 24 Lou Legett Infielders  1 Max Bishop  2 Bill Cissell 25 Joe Judge  8 Red Kellett 21 Lyn Lary  3 Ed Morgan 23 Freddie Muller -- Al Niemiec  8 Bucky Walters 20 Billy Werber		Outfielders -- Mel Almada  6 Dusty Cooke -- Skinny Graham  4 Roy Johnson 23 Dick Porter  5 Carl Reynolds 23 Bob Seeds 22 Moose Solters		Manager 27 Bucky Harris Coaches 30 Tom Daly 28 Bibb Falk 26 Jack Onslow (Pitching)

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	Rick Ferrell	132	437	130	.297	1	48
1B	Ed Morgan	138	528	141	.267	3	79
2B	Bill Cissell	102	416	111	.267	4	44
3B	Billy Werber	152	623	200	.321	11	67
SS	Lyn Lary	129	419	101	.241	2	54
OF	Roy Johnson	143	569	182	.320	7	119
OF	Carl Reynolds	113	413	125	.303	4	86
OF	Moose Solters	101	365	109	.299	7	58

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
Dick Porter	79	264	80	.303	0	56
Max Bishop	97	253	66	.261	1	22
Dusty Cooke	74	168	41	.244	1	26
Mel Almada	23	90	21	.233	0	10
Bucky Walters	23	88	19	.216	4	18
Gordie Hinkle	27	75	13	.173	0	9
Skinny Graham	13	47	11	.234	0	3
Lou Legett	19	38	11	.289	0	1
Al Niemiec	9	32	7	.219	0	3
Joe Judge	10	15	5	.333	0	2
Red Kellett	9	9	0	.000	0	0
Bob Seeds	8	6	1	.167	0	1
Freddie Muller	2	1	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
Gordon Rhodes	44	219.0	12	12	4.56	79
Fritz Ostermueller	33	198.2	10	13	3.49	75
Wes Ferrell	26	181.0	14	5	3.63	87
George Hockette	3	27.1	2	1	1.65	14
Spike Merena	4	24.2	1	2	2.92	7

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
Johnny Welch	41	206.1	13	15	4.49	91
Hank Johnson	31	124.1	6	8	5.36	66
Lefty Grove	22	109.1	8	8	6.50	43
Rube Walberg	30	104.2	6	7	4.04	38
Bob Weiland	11	55.2	1	5	5.50	29
George Pipgras	2	3.1	0	0	8.10	0

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
Herb Pennock	30	2	0	1	3.05	16
Joe Mulligan	14	1	0	0	3.63	13

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AA	Kansas City Blues	American Association	Roger Peckinpaugh
A	Reading Red Sox	New York–Pennsylvania League	Nemo Leibold
B	Columbia Sandlappers/Asheville Tourists	Piedmont League	Bill Laval and Possum Whitted
C	Joplin Miners	Western Association	Wally Schang

Columbia franchise transferred and renamed, June 7, 1934^[4]

References

1. Bird, Hayden (July 17, 2016). "The Green Monster emerged from the ashes of Fenway fires". Boston.com. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
2. Lefty Grove page at Baseball Reference
3. Golenbock, Peter (2015). Red Sox Nation: The Rich and Colorful History of the Boston Red Sox (4th ed.). Chicago, Illinois: Triumph Books. p. 78. ISBN 978-1-62937-050-7.
4. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007

External links

• 1934 Boston Red Sox team page at Baseball Reference
• 1934 Boston Red Sox season at baseball-almanac.com