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A Chronological History of Amazing Boston Red Sox Losses, Remarkable Collapses and Other Record Breaking Feats
1900- | 1910- | 1920- | 1930- | 1940- | 1950- | 1960- | 1970-1979 | 1980- | 1990- | 2000-1970 87-75, 3rd place in the AL East, 15 games back of the Baltimore Orioles
May 31, 1970: The White Sox beat the Red Sox 22-13 at Fenway.
June 25, 1970: The Orioles were down 7-0 in the fifth inning, and tied the game in the ninth at Fenway. Baltimore won, 13-8, by scoring six runs in the fourteenth inning.
September 1, 1970: The Red Sox blew an 8-1 lead when the Tigers rallied to win 10-9 while visiting Fenway Park.
October 11, 1970: Despite Tom Yawkey's promise that he would never be traded, Tony Conigliaro was sent to the California Angels. On August 18, 1967, Angel pitcher Jack Hamilton had beaned Conigliaro, knocking him out of baseball for almost two years.
1971 85-77, 3rd place in the AL East, 18 games back of the Baltimore Orioles
July 30, 1971: Rico Petrocelli homered with one out in the top of the ninth at Comiskey in a game that the Red Sox lost, 5-1. Boston had not scored since the fourth inning of the second game of a doubleheader on July 27 -- a span of 31-2/3 innings.
August 26, 1971: The Red Sox lost to the Royals, 7-0. They had not won against Kansas City in over a year, losing twelve consecutive games against the Royals.
For the third year in a row, Boston finished third in the AL East. The Kansas City Royals took eleven out of twelve games against the Red Sox during 1971 (including all six played at Fenway).
October 11, 1971: In a multi-player deal, the Red Sox received ex-All Stars Marty Pattin and Tommy Harper. The Brewers received future All Stars Ken Brett and George Scott.
1972 85-70, 2nd place in the AL East, 1/2 game back of the Detroit Tigers
March 22, 1972: In a rare Red Sox/Yankees trade, New York sent 32-year-old 1B Danny Cater to Boston. Boston GM Dick O'Connell sent 27-year-old lefty Sparky Lyle to New York. The Red Sox also received Mario Guerrero on June 30 (the player to be named later) to complete the trade. Cater played (primarily as a reserve) for three years in Boston. He batted .262 and had 14 homers over that span. He was traded in 1975 to the Cardinals for Danny Godby, who never played a game for the Sox. Guerrero played as a reserve infielder for the '73 and '74 Sox, batting .241. Lyle pitched for seven years with the Yanks, appearing in 420 games in relief, and playing in three World Series. He had a 57-40 record with a 2.41 ERA, while notching 141 saves. Sparky Lyle became the first reliever to win a Cy Young award and was named to the All-Star team three times as a Yankee.
April 29, 1972: Red Sox pitchers walked twelve Rangers, and gave up a pair of Frank Howard home runs, in a nine inning game. Texas won 7-6.
June 15, 1972: Kansas City 1B John Mayberry had three hits and six RBIs during a 13-9 Royals drubbing of the Red Sox.
June 20, 1972: Toby Harrah had three stolen bases as the Rangers beat the Red Sox, 5-2, at Fenway. Harrah swiped three bases only twice in his career; both times were against the Red Sox.
July 9, 1972: California pitcher Nolan Ryan struck out the last two Red Sox batters he faced in the first inning. He pitched a perfect second inning, striking out all three Red Sox batters on three pitches each. He fanned the side in the third, racking up eight consecutive strikeouts. Ryan struck out a total of sixteen. He gave up only one hit and one walk, while pitching a 3-0 shutout.
July 14, 1972: Minnesota had a three-run rally in the bottom of the ninth to top Boston, 7-6. The Twins won when Harmon Killebrew was walked with the bases loaded by Don Newhauser. Red Sox SS Juan Beniquez had his second straight three-error game.
August 23, 1972: Roger Nelson walked one, and allowed one hit (an eighth inning single) as the Kansas City Royals shut out the Red Sox, 3-0.
In the year of the first player's strike, Boston played .500 ball through the first four months of the season. They went 36-27 at the end to catch up with the Tigers (managed by Billy Martin). Boston was up by a half game going into their final series in Detroit; whoever took two out of three games would win the division.
October 2, 1972: Al Kaline took John Curtis deep early in the first game. The Sox were down by that one run in the third with Tommy Harper on third and Hall of Fame shortstop Luis Aparicio on first. With two outs, Yastrzemski tripled off of Mickey Lolich to deep center, but Aparicio slipped twice while rounding third -- doubling up Yaz as he came into base. Harper represented the only run that Boston scored, as Detroit won 4-1 and took back the division lead by a half game. Lolich struck out fifteen in the critical game.
October 3, 1972: Detroit's Woodie Fryman beat Luis Tiant 3-1 to clinch the division pennant. It was the fourth game in a row that the Red Sox only scored one run.
Boston won the final, meaningless, game of the season. Detroit won the AL East by a half game and went on to face Oakland in the League Championship Series.
1973 89-73, 2nd place in the AL East, 8 games back of the Baltimore Orioles
March 9, 1973: Aaron Boone was born in LaMesa, California.
April 22, 1973: The Indians were down 7-4 against the Red Sox. With two outs (and the bases loaded) in the bottom of the eleventh, Cleveland's Ron Lolich hit a walk-off grand slam off of Sonny Siebert to win the game, 8-7.
July 13, 1973: The Rangers beat the Red Sox, 4-1 at Fenway, as Texas starter Jim Bibby struck out thirteen Boston batters.
August 10, 1973: In the first inning of a game against the Angels, Boston outfielder Reggie Smith was booed when he failed to run out a grounder. Fans booed him when he missed a pop fly to short center. In the middle of the inning, he doffed his cap to the crowd as he went into the dugout. Without talking to his teammates or coaches, he went into the clubhouse, changed out of his uniform, and went home. California won the game 5-3.
September 3, 1973: Baltimore's Paul Blair hit an inside-the-park, three-run, homer off of Boston starter Jack Curtis to give the Orioles a 3-1 lead in the third inning. He hit another three-run homer in the following inning off of Jack Tatum. Baltimore won the game 13-8.
September 15, 1973: Red Sox right-handed starter Marty Pattin gave up three runs in the first four innings. After he allowed the first three runners on base in the fifth, lefty Jack Curtis was brought in to pitch. Cleveland countered by replacing DH Oscar Gamble (who had already homered off of Pattin) with John Ellis. Ellis hit a double to score the three base runners. He hit a three-run homer in the sixth, giving him a total of six RBIs in the game in which he had three at bats over five innings.
September 23, 1973: Joe Coleman one-hit the Red Sox, as Detroit beat Boston, 3-0. Boston had three base runners all day; Doug Griffin reached base on an error and Luis Aparicio walked in the third inning, and Bob Montgomery singled in the fifth.
October 21, 1973: The Oakland Athletics beat the New York Mets in game seven of the World Series. Oakland's championship team featured two former Red Sox; utilitymen Mike Andrews and Billy Conigliaro.
October 23, 1973: The Red Sox traded Ben Oglivie to the Tigers for Dick McAuliffe. Oglivie played leftfield for Detroit and Milwaukee for thirteen years, appearing in three All Star games. He led the majors with 41 home runs in 1980. McAuliffe was a reserve infielder for the Red Sox in 1974, batting .210. He had two hits in seven at-bats for the '75 Sox and retired from baseball after that season.
The 1973 Red Sox had a 3-15 record (.167) versus the Detroit Tigers.
1974 84-78, 3rd place in the AL East, 7 games back of the Baltimore Orioles
April 8, 1974, Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium: Henry Aaron hit his 715th homerun in the fourth inning, on a 1-0 fastball, off of L.A. Dodger Al Downing (an ex-Yankee). The homer broke Babe Ruth's record. As the ball sailed over leftfielder Bill Buckner into the Braves bullpen, Red Sox fans everywhere prayed that the curse was broken. Atlanta pitcher Tom House, who later played for the Red Sox in 1976 and '77, caught the ball.
April 30, 1974: Angels 2B Denny Doyle had five singles during a 16-6 California victory at Fenway. It was the only five-hit game of his career. Boston's Reggie Cleveland gave up nine hits, walked four, and allowed nine runs to score before being pulled in the fourth inning. Nolan Ryan struck out fifteen Red Sox in the game.
June 14, 1974: California's Nolan Ryan struck out nineteen Red Sox in twelve innings; Cecil Cooper represented six of those Ks -- in consecutive at-bats. Barry Raziano struck out one more Boston batter after Ryan left the game (which went to fifteen innings). The Angels won 4-3. Luis Tiant got the loss; he pitched a 14-1/3 inning complete game. Raziano got the only major league win of his career.
July 26, 1974: The Tigers shut out the Red Sox for the 100th time in their history when they beat Boston, 1-0, in Detroit.
August 5, 1974: Bill Lee gave up fourteen hits, and eight runs, over seven innings pitched as the Yankees beat the Red Sox, 8-0. Rudy May spun a two-hitter while going the distance for New York.
August 12, 1974: California's Nolan Ryan struck out eighteen Red Sox during a nine-inning (4-2) victory. It was the third time that Ryan struck out fifteen or more Red Sox in 1974. Angels DH Frank Robinson walked in all four of his plate appearances of the game.
August 31 - September 1, 1974. Boston came to Minnesota five games up in the standings over the Yankees. In the top of the first, Rick Miller, Cecil Cooper and Darrell Evans were all struck out by Bert Blyleven (who had a total of 14 Ks in the game which the Twins won 3-2). Tommy Harper, Miller and Evans were fanned in the first inning on the following day by Dave Goltz. The Twins won that game, 6-2. In the third game of the series, Minnesota won, 9-6. New York had a three-game sweep of Chicago and Boston's lead was cut to two.
September 2, 1974: In a doubleheader against Boston, Baltimore won both games 1-0. Their next game was on September 4, when the Orioles won 6-0. The Red Sox had a total of eight hits in the three games. It is only one of four occasions since 1973 that a team swept a series without allowing a run.
September 5, 1974: In the sixth inning, Cecil Cooper doubled to left and drove in two to take a 2-0 lead over the Brewers. It was the first Red Sox run since the seventh inning on September 1 -- a span of 34-2/3 innings. Milwaukee scored two in the seventh, and two more in the ninth to beat Boston, 4-2. Fred Lynn came in as a pinch runner for Cooper in the sixth in his major league debut.
September 6, 1974: Boston lost their first two games in Milwaukee (after being swept by both Minnesota and Baltimore). The five game lead that they held after the games of August 29 was eliminated as they dropped to 1-1/2 back in the AL East.
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September 29, 1974: The Red Sox (who led the AL East from July through early September) were eliminated by Detroit. Baltimore (after trailing Boston by eight games on August 29) won the division. The Sox finished third. In the 35 days between August 29 and October 2, they dropped twelve games in the standings -- falling from five games up in the American League East to seven games back.
Bill Lee allowed 320 hits during the 1974 season (the most in the major leagues).
1975 95-65, AL Champions, lost to the Cincinnati Reds in the World Series
Boston led the AL East through most of the season, and swept the League Championship against Oakland. They faced Cincinnati's Big Red Machine in the Series.
October 11, 1975: The National Trust for Historic Preservation was holding its' annual convention in Boston as the 1975 World Series commenced at Fenway. The Red Sox won game one 6-0.
October 12, 1975: The Red Sox missed a number of opportunities early in the game; Cecil Cooper got doubled up rounding third in the first inning. Dwight Evans got picked off of second base in the following inning. The Red Sox had six base runners in the first two innings, but scored only one run. Still, Bill Lee carried a 2-1 lead over the Reds into the ninth. Johnny Bench led off with a double. Dick Drago replaced Lee on the mound. Drago got Tony Perez to ground out (advancing Bench to third), and George Foster to fly out; Boston was one out away from taking the first two games of the Series. Dave Concepcion beat out a hit up the middle to score Bench. Concepcion stole second and scored on Ken Griffey's double. Rawley Eastwick got the win in two innings of relief, and the Series was tied at one game apiece.
October 14, 1975: Boston tied the game at five on a Dwight Evans two-run homer in the ninth inning of game three. In the tenth, Cincinnati's Ed Armbrister hesitated after a bunt, and then bumped and became entangled with catcher Carlton Fisk, causing a Fisk throwing error. Although replays would later indicate a clear case of batter interference, Boston's appeal to umpire Larry Barnett was denied. Armbrister's bunt led to the winning run when Joe Morgan hit the ball over Fred Lynn's head with the bases loaded. Rawley Eastwick won games two and three in relief. Two relief wins in the World Series is the record.
October 16, 1975: Boston took game four by one run on October 15. On October 16, Tony Perez hit a three-run homer and a solo homer to help Cincinnati beat the Red Sox 6-2. After five games the Sox were down three games to two; they might have been up three to two (needing only one win for the championship) if not for the controversial call in game three.
October 21, 1975: Game six of the Series was one of baseball's greatest games ever. In a must-win game, down 6-3 in the bottom of the eighth, Boston's Bernie Carbo hit a three-run pinch-hit homer to tie it up. Boston had the bases loaded with no outs in the ninth. Pedro Borbon stopped the Red Sox rally with the help of George Foster, who gunned down Denny Doyle at the plate. The game went into extra innings. In the eleventh, Dwight Evans robbed Joe Morgan of a home run with an incredible leaping one-handed catch in right field -- doubling up Ken Griffey on first. In the bottom of the 12th, Carlton Fisk hit the game winning home run off of Cincinnati's eighth pitcher of the game, Pat Darcy, to force game seven. The image of Fisk jumping up the first base line, waving the ball fair, will endure in baseball history forever.
October 22, 1975: In game seven, Boston held a 3-0 lead going into the sixth. Pete Rose hit a lead off single; Joe Morgan flew out to right. Johnny Bench grounded to short, but the Red Sox missed a double play opportunity when 2B Denny Doyle threw the ball into the dugout. Bench advanced to second on the mistake. Tony Perez jacked a Bill Lee curve over the Green Monster for his third home run of the Series; Boston's lead was cut to 3-2. Roger Moret took over on the mound after Lee gave up a one-out walk to Ken Griffey in the seventh inning. He got Cesar Geronimo to pop out. Griffey stole second, and Ed Armbrister was walked. Moret gave up a hit to Pete Rose, which scored Griffey to tie the game. Jim Willoughby came into pitch and held the Reds scoreless through the eighth inning. With the bases empty and two outs in the bottom of the eighth, Willoughby (who had pitched well all Series) was due up to hit for the Sox. Boston manager Darrell Johnson pinch-hit Cecil Cooper (who had one hit in eighteen Series at-bats). Cooper fouled out. Johnson was forced to bring in rookie Jim Burton to pitch the top of the ninth. Ken Griffey walked, was sacrificed to second, and moved to third on a grounder. Rose walked. With one ball and two strikes, Cincinnati's Joe Morgan broke the three-all tie with an RBI single to right. Cincinnati carried that one run lead into the bottom of the ninth inning. The Red's Will McEnaney got Juan Beniquez to fly out and Bob Montgomery to ground out. The Red Sox final hope was Carl Yasztremski, who flied out to Cesar Geronimo. Cincinnati emerged victorious, 4-3. Red Sox owner Tom Yawkey was denied his first championship since purchasing the team from J.A. Robert Quinn in 1933. Yawkey passed away the next summer.
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Tony Perez hit three, and Cesar Geronimo had a pair of, home runs for the Reds in the Series. Boston scored more runs, had a better team batting average and a better team ERA than Cincinnati during the 1975 World Series.
1976 83-79, 3rd place in the AL East, 15-1/2 games back of the New York Yankees
May 12, 1976: The Red Sox broke a ten-game losing streak with a twelve-inning victory over Cleveland. A local radio station had utilized the services of a modern-day Salem witch to help break the streak.
May 21, 1976: The Yankees tied the game against the Sox (at 5-5) when Roy White sacrificed Sandy Alomar home in the bottom of the ninth. With nobody on and two outs in the bottom of the twelfth inning, Carlos May reached first on Denny Doyle's error (Doyle had grounded into a doubleplay to end the Red Sox 12th inning). Graig Nettles singled May to third, and Kerry Dineen singled him home to win the game 6-5.
June 11, 1976: Boston reliever Jim Willoughby hit Minnesota 3B Mike Cubbage twice and 2B Bob Randall once over 1-2/3 innings pitched.
June 19, 1976: Nolan Ryan struck out fifteen Red Sox during a 5-3 Angels victory at Anaheim stadium.
July 19, 1976: Boston lost, 4-3, to the Rangers. They had not beaten Texas all year. Their losing streak to the Rangers dated back almost a year to July 21, 1975 (a span of nine games).
August 22, 1976: Oakland's Bert Campaneris had one double, four singles, and a stolen base during a 6-5 victory at Fenway.
September 29, 1976: Graig Nettles hit a two run homer in the first and a grand slam in the second inning, sending Luis Tiant to the showers. Nettles had two doubles later in the game and finished with four runs and six RBI, as the visiting Yankees beat Boston 9-6.
December 6, 1976: The Brewers traded two former Red Sox, 1B George Scott and OF Bernie Carbo, back to Boston in exchange for Cecil Cooper. Scott would have three more years left in the twilight his career (never batting better than .254), while Carbo played for four more years as a reserve. Cecil Cooper finished his career with Milwaukee eleven years later. He batted over .300 in his first seven years after the trade. Cooper appeared in five All-Star games, and was one of the league's premier hitters during the early eighties.
1977 97-64, tied for 2nd place in the AL East, 2-1/2 games back of the New York Yankees
April 10, 1977: Boston and Cleveland set the major league record for the most runs scored by both clubs in an inning. In the eighth, Cleveland outscored Boston thirteen to six. Cleveland won the game 19-9.
May 6, 1977: Nolan Ryan struck out fifteen as the California Angels beat the Red Sox 8-4 in Fenway. It marked the fifth time in his career that he had fifteen or more strikeouts in one game against Boston.
June 24, 1977: New York was down by two runs in the bottom of the ninth against Boston. After the first two batters grounded out, Willie Randolph tripled off of Red Sox closer Bill Campbell. Roy White homered to tie the game at five. Only one Boston batter reached base over the next two innings (on a walk). In the bottom of the eleventh, Ramon Hernandez replaced Campbell on the mound for the Red Sox. He walked Graig Nettles, and balked him to second. After Mickey Rivers was intentionally walked, Reggie Jackson hit a game-winning RBI-single to score Nettles.
August 23, 1977: The Yankees won 8-3 over the White Sox, as Dave Goltz spun a one-hitter for Minnesota, beating Boston 7-0. New York took over first place from the Sox, and did not relinquish their hold on the top of the AL East for the rest of the season.
In a season long, three-team, race, Baltimore and New York fought Boston for the AL East title. Boston finished the season tied with Baltimore for second place, 2-1/2 games short of the Yankees (who went on to win it all).
November 23, 1977: The Red Sox signed Mike Torrez as a free agent. Torrez is the pitcher who gave up Bucky Dent's home run in the 1978 AL East tiebreaker in which the Yankees won the AL Championship. In 1979, Torrez led the league in both Walks Allowed and Earned Runs Allowed.
December 14, 1977: Boston traded future Hall-Of-Famer Fergie Jenkins to the Rangers for 23-year-old pitcher John Poloni and cash. Poloni (who had two appearances for Texas in 1977) would never play in another major league game. Jenkins continued to pitch for six more years, going 69-56 with a 3.71 ERA as a starter for both Texas and the Cubs.
1978 99-64, 2nd place in the AL East, 1 game back of the New York Yankees
April 22, 1978: With the Indians leading 13-1, Cleveland's Jim Cage replaced Andre Thornton at first base in the bottom of the eighth against the Red Sox. Thornton had completed the cycle when he doubled in the top half of the inning. Cleveland won the game 13-4.
Managed by Don Zimmer, Boston led second place Milwaukee in the AL East by nine games on July 19. The Yankees, in fourth place, were back by fourteen. Going into September, the Boston lead over New York was cut to 7-1/2.
September 7, 1978: New York arrived in Boston for a four games series, four games back (with 24 remaining). Ex-Yankee Mike Torrez faced Catfish Hunter. The first inning began with Butch Hobson throwing away a routine grounder that the Yankees turned into two unearned runs. Torrez gave up four straight singles in the second and was sent to the showers. Before Boston's number-nine hitter (Hobson) had his first at-bat, Thurman Munson had three hits and the Yankees had a 7-0 lead. By the end of the fourth, the Yankees were ahead 12-2. New York finished the game with 21 hits and a 15-3 victory. Willie Randolph and Roy White joined Munson with three hits each.
September 8, 1978: Mickey Rivers hit Jim Wright's first pitch of the game for a single. Rivers stole second on Wright's second pitch, and advanced to third when Carlton Fisk's throw got away from Rick Burleson. Before the Red Sox rookie had delivered his third pitch, New York's leadoff hitter was on third base. Wright gave up four runs before being relieved by Tom Burgmeir in the second inning. Burgmeir gave up a single, a walk, and a homer to the first three batters he faced. Boston had seven errors that led to seven runs, and the game ended with a 13-2 Yankee victory.
September 9, 1978: Dennis Eckersley took his 16-6 record (9-0 at Fenway) to the mound to face Ron Guidry. Guidry worked out of trouble in the first inning, and the game was calm until the fourth. With two outs, Chris Chambliss singled. Graig Nettles walked, and Lou Piniella's single to short-center fell in between five Red Sox. Bucky Dent blooped a two-strike pitch to short left. Another walk, a passed ball, a wild pitch, and an error contributed to a total of seven Yankee runs. Those were the only runs scored, as the game ended at 7-0. Ron Guidry, throwing a two-hitter, became the first lefty to shut out Boston at Fenway in four years.
September 10, 1978: Boston's rookie lefthander, Bobby Sprowl, started the game by walking both Mickey Rivers and Willie Randolph. Sprowl could not make it out of the first inning. Ed Figueroa built up a 6-0 lead, and Goose Gossage finished the game with a 7-4 victory. Graig Nettles, Roy White, Thurman Munson, and Bucky Dent all had three hits.
The weekend of September 7 is now known as "The Boston Massacre." The Yankees had a total of 67 hits, and won all four games by an average margin of over eight runs. The Red Sox committed twelve errors. It was the first time since 1943 that New York swept a four-game series at Fenway.
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Two weeks later, the Red Sox were down by 3-1/2 after losing the first two out of a three game series in New York. Boston went on to win twelve of their final fourteen regular season games (including the last eight), forcing a tiebreaker to determine the AL East Champions.
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October 2, 1978: Yankees shortstop Bucky Dent entered the AL East tiebreaker with a batting average of .243, four homers and 37 RBI. Mike Torrez (who had left New York as a free agent after 1977) was chosen as Boston's starter. 24-game winner Ron Guidry was on the mound for New York. Carl Yastrzemski hit a solo home run over the right field fence in the second inning. Boston could not score George Scott after he led off the third with a double. In the sixth inning, Rick Burleson doubled, Jerry Remy sacrificed him to third, and Jim Rice drove him in on with a single to center. The Yankees had only managed two hits and were down 2-0 going into the seventh.
Mike Torrez got Graig Nettles out, but Chris Chambliss and Roy White hit a pair of singles. Jim Spencer (pinch hitting for Brian Doyle) flied out. Yankee Manager Bob Lemon's decision to pinch hit for Doyle left him with no reserve middle infielders; he was forced to let ninth-place hitter SS Bucky Dent go to the plate with two on and two out. Dent's three run homer (with the help of a bat borrowed from Mickey Rivers) made it just over the Green Monster to give the Yankees a 3-2 lead. Mickey Rivers followed with a walk. He stole second and Thurman Munson drove him in on a double off of reliever Bob Stanley. A Reggie Jackson homer to deep center made it 5-2 in the eighth.
In the bottom of that inning, the Red Sox (now facing Goose Gossage) responded with two runs of their own. New York did not score in the top of the ninth. In the bottom of the inning, Gossage struck out Dwight Evans. Rick Burleson walked, and Jerry Remy hit a liner to right field. RF Lou Piniella was staring directly into the setting sun. He stabbed blindly, but the ball landed in his glove on one hop. Burleson could only advance to second. Jim Rice moved him to third on a sac fly -- Boston was down 5-4 with two outs in the bottom of the ninth. With Burleson standing 90 feet away from tying the game, Red Sox immortal Carl Yastrzemski stepped to the plate. Gossage delivered ball one. Yaz was late on Gossage's next pitch (a rising fastball) and then popped out to 3B Graig Nettles -- allowing the Yankees to go on to the postseason.
Guidry got his 25th win, to go 25-3 on the season. Guidry's .893 winning percentage is the best ever for any twenty-game winner. Bucky Dent hit a total of only 40 home runs in his twelve-year major league career.
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Mike Torrez, who was once 15-6, lost seven of his final eight decisions to finish 16-13. Luis Tiant lost seven of nine games, and Bill Lee lost his final seven decisions. Over the course of the season, Butch Hobson committed 43 errors while playing 133 games at third; his fielding percentage was .899. In comparison, the entire Orioles starting infield (including the catcher) only committed 36 errors that season. Since 1945, Hobson is the only regular position player to finish a season with a fielding percentage of less than .900 (1945 Brooklyn Dodgers 3B Frenchy Bordagaray had a fielding percentage of .886).
December 7, 1978: Boston traded pitcher Bill "Spaceman" Lee to Montreal for infielder Stan Papi. Lee played four more years, posting a 3.94 ERA while going 25-22 for the Expos. Papi lasted just over a year (batting .188) with Boston before moving onto Detroit where he raised his average to .222 before retiring in 1981.
1979 91-69, 3rd place in the AL East, 11-1/2 games back of the Baltimore Orioles
April 7, 1979: Cleveland's Rick Waits tossed a one-hitter, beating the Sox 3-0. Boston's only hit came in the sixth, when Jerry Remy singled -- but was tagged out trying to advance to second.
May 30, 1979: Richie Zisk singled Al Oliver home in the tenth inning to give the Texas Rangers a 3-2 victory over the Red Sox. Boston's last victory over Texas was on April 18, 1978. The teams met nine times in between.
July 1, 1979: The Yankees hit five home runs off of Boston's Dennis Eckersley, winning 6-5.
August 11, 1979: Mike Torrez allowed fourteen hits, and nine runs, as the Brewers beat the Red Sox, 9-6, at Fenway. In his next two starts, on August 15 and 20, Torrez gave up 22 additional hits; between August 11 and 20, he allowed 36 hits and 21 earned runs over 22-1/3 innings pitched.
August 20, 1979: Minnesota CF Ken Landreaux doubled off of Boston's Mike Torrez in the first inning. He homered in the sixth inning, sending Torrez to the showers. Landreaux tripled off of Win Remmerswaal in the eighth, but never got a single to complete the cycle. He finished the game with three runs and six RBI as the Twins beat the Red Sox 10-5.
September 23, 1979: In the second game of a doubleheader, Ron LeFlore took first base after Mike O'Berry dropped Mike Torrez's third strike in the third inning. LeFlore stole second, and later scored giving the Tigers a 1-0 lead. LeFlore stole second in the fourth after driving Tom Brookens in on a single to give the Tigers a 2-1 lead. LeFlore stole second in the seventh inning after another single. The game was tied at two when he was walked in the tenth. He stole second for the fourth time of the game, and scored the winning run when Champ Summers drove him in later in the inning. LeFlore stole second base six times during the doubleheader at Fenway.
Boston starter Mike Torrez led the league in both Walks Allowed and Earned Runs Allowed.
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