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1988 Boston Red Sox season

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Start date
  
1988

Local television
  
WSBK-TV

General manager
  
Lou Gorman

Local radios
  
WPLM-FM, WRCA

Owners
  
Jean R. Yawkey, Haywood Sullivan

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1989 Boston Red Sox season

The 1988 Boston Red Sox season was the 88th season in the franchise's Major League Baseball history. The Red Sox finished first in the American League East with a record of 89 wins and 73 losses, but were then swept by the Oakland Athletics in the ALCS.

Contents

Offseason

  • December 8, 1987: Lee Smith was traded by the Chicago Cubs to the Boston Red Sox for Al Nipper and Calvin Schiraldi.
  • January 5, 1988: Dennis Lamp was signed as a Free Agent with the Boston Red Sox.

    • Notable Transactions

  • April 15, 1988: Rick Cerone signed as a Free Agent with the Boston Red Sox.
  • July 29, 1988: Curt Schilling was traded by the Boston Red Sox with Brady Anderson to the Baltimore Orioles for Mike Boddicker.

    • The Rough Beginning

    The 1988 team seemed to start much better than their chaotic 1987 season as evidenced by their 14-6 record in April; however, the team went sour thereafter specially for Jim Rice as he moved from left field to designated hitter. Dwight Evans also had problems when he played first base; usually reliable Lee Smith had problems including when he gave up a game-winning home run against the Tigers on Opening Day. The Red Sox would have an 11-16 record in May.

    The team would have a slightly better June with a 14-12 record, but lost Jeff Sellers when he was hit by a line drive in Cleveland and broke his hand. Wes Gardner was moved from the bullpen to become a starter, but the team and its fans were losing patience.

    Morgan Magic

    At the All-Star break the Red Sox were 43-42, 9 games behind the front running division champion Detroit Tigers. But management had seen enough, and fired John McNamara and hired 58-year-old Joe Morgan as their manager. On July 15, the Red Sox and Roger Clemens beat Bret Saberhagen's Kansas City Royals 3-1 to begin a 12-game winning streak and launched them to first place over the slumping Yankees and Tigers. The Red Sox would later set an American League record of 24 straight home victories. 60 days after Morgan became Red Sox manager they were 81-63 and 4.5 games ahead of first.

    Staggering But Still Won The East

    After a bad road trip to Toronto, the Sox came to Yankee Stadium up by 4, and won 2 out of 3 to just about clinch the A.L. East title. Unfortunately, the hitting slump the team had been in for a while reasserted itself, and the Sox lost 3 to Toronto in Boston, but they crushed the Indians on September 29 to clinch a tie for first. The Yanks and Milwaukee lost the next day, and the division title was Boston's. Their 2nd A.L. East title in 3 seasons.

    Starters by position

    Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At Bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting Average; HR = Home Runs; RBI = Runs Batted In

    Awards and honors

  • Wade Boggs, American League Batting Champion, .366
  • Wade Boggs, American League Leader, Runs (128)
  • Wade Boggs, American League Leader, Doubles (45)
  • Wade Boggs, American League Leader, Walks (125)
  • Wade Boggs, Major League Baseball Leader, On-base percentage (.476)
  • Roger Clemens, American League Leader, Complete Games (14)
  • Roger Clemens, American League Leader, Shutouts (8)

    • All-Star Game

  • Wade Boggs, Third Base, Starter
  • Roger Clemens, Pitcher, Reserve
  • Mike Greenwell, Outfield, Reserve

    • Farm system

    AZL club affiliation shared with Seattle Mariners

    References

    1988 Boston Red Sox season Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA