Sunday, December 11, 2016

The Worst Red Sox Team of All Time Pt. 2: Ivy Andrews

Failure is often even more fascinating than success. I am definitely intrigued by the 1932 Boston Red Sox, the worst Red Sox team of all time. The team finished with a record of 43-111, for a winning percentage of .279 and very little went right.
Ivy Andrews was the only Red Sox pitcher to have a winning record in 1932.  That's right.  That is how bad the Red Sox were that season.  Andrews finished the season 8-6 and had the second-most wins on the team, as well as the second-lowest ERA.  Not bad for a rookie and it gave the Red Sox some hope for the future.  Hopes that were eventually dashed.

Andrews started his career with the Yankees (7 games in 1931) and was traded to the Red Sox early in the 1932 season in a deal that sent Danny MacFayden, one of the few good pitchers the Red Sox had, to the Yankees.  Hank Johnson was also acquired by the Red Sox in the deal.  Luckily it was a trade that ended up working out okay for the Red Sox.  MacFayden did not provide much for the Yankees and Andrews was decent enough in 1932 for the Red Sox.  The 25-year-old right-hander finished the season with a 3.81 ERA over 141.2 innings.  He struck out 30 while walking 53.  Andrews led the league in home runs per nine innings (0.216) and was ninth in WHIP (1.359).

The Red Sox believed enough in his rookie season that Andrews was named the Opening Day starting pitcher in 1933.  That season saw Andrews finish with a record of 7-13 with a 4.95 ERA.  His rate stats declined as well.  He ended up relieving as often as he started.  After the season, he was packaged along with Smead Jolley and sent to the Browns for Carl Reynolds, who would have a couple of decent seasons in Boston.  Andrews had some up-and-down seasons with the Browns and Indians before returning to the Yankees.

For his Red Sox career, Andrews was 15-19 with a 4.38 ERA.  He struck out 67 and walked 114 in 281.2 innings and had a WHIP of 1.473.  He pitched in 59 games, 36 of them as the starting pitcher.  His career was not particularly memorable, but Andrews is notable for being the only pitcher with a winning record on the worst Red Sox team of all time.

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