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1976 Boston Red Sox
League American League
Division East
Ballpark Fenway Park
City Boston, Massachusetts
Record83–79 (.512)
Divisional place3rd (15+1⁄2 GB)
Owners Tom Yawkey, Jean Yawkey [a]
President Tom Yawkey, Jean Yawkey
General manager Dick O'Connell
Managers
Television WSBK-TV, Ch. 38
( Dick Stockton, Ken Harrelson)
Radio WMEX-AM 1510
( Ned Martin, Jim Woods)
Stats ESPN.com
BB-reference
←  1975 Seasons 1977 →

The 1976 Boston Red Sox season was the 76th season in the franchise's Major League Baseball history. The Red Sox finished third in the American League East with a record of 83 wins and 79 losses, 15+1⁄2 games behind the New York Yankees, who went on to win the AL championship.

Offseason

Regular season

Record by month [4]
Month Record Cumulative AL East Ref.
Won Lost Won Lost Position GB
April 6 7 6 7 5th 4 [5]
May 13 15 19 22 4th 7 [6]
June 15 13 34 35 3rd (tie) 9 [7]
July 12 19 46 54 5th 15+1⁄2 [8]
August 16 14 62 68 4th 18 [9]
September 18 11 80 79 4th 16 [10]
October 3 0 83 79 3rd 15+1⁄2 [11]

Highlights

The Red Sox did not come close to repeating the previous year's success. An off-season contract dispute with Fred Lynn was a distraction. In early May, a brawl with the New York Yankees led to a shoulder injury for Bill Lee, one of their best pitchers and a 17-game winner in 1975; Lee would be out until mid-1977, and his loss was keenly felt.

On June 15, Oakland Athletics owner Charlie Finley attempted to sell left fielder Joe Rudi and relief pitcher Rollie Fingers to the Red Sox for $1 million each, and starting pitcher Vida Blue to the New York Yankees for $1.5 million. Three days later, Commissioner of Baseball Bowie Kuhn voided the transactions, citing "the best interests of baseball." [12]

The Red Sox' beloved owner, Tom Yawkey, died of leukemia in July. [13] Manager Darrell Johnson was fired shortly thereafter, and replaced by coach Don Zimmer. Overall, it was a disappointing season for a talented but underachieving team.

Season standings

AL East 		W L Pct. GB Home Road
New York Yankees 97 62 0.610 — 45–35 52–27
Baltimore Orioles 88 74 0.543 10½ 42–39 46–35
Boston Red Sox 83 79 0.512 15½ 46–35 37–44
Cleveland Indians 81 78 0.509 16 44–35 37–43
Detroit Tigers 74 87 0.460 24 36–44 38–43
Milwaukee Brewers 66 95 0.410 32 36–45 30–50

Record vs. opponents

1976 American League record

Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12]
Team BAL BOS CAL CWS CLE DET KC MIL MIN NYY OAK TEX
Baltimore — 7–11 8–4 8–4 7–11 12–6 6–6 11–7 4–8 13–5 4–8 8–4
Boston 11–7 — 7–5 6–6 9–9 14–4 3–9 12–6 7–5 7–11 4–8 3–9
California 4–8 5–7 — 11–7 7–5 6–6 8–10 4–8 8–10 5–7 6–12 12–6
Chicago 4–8 6–6 7–11 — 3–9 6–6 8–10 7–5 7–11 1–11 8–9 7–11
Cleveland 11–7 9–9 5–7 9–3 — 6–12 6–6 11–6 9–3 4–12 4–8 7–5
Detroit 6–12 4–14 6–6 6–6 12–6 — 4–8 12–6 4–8 9–8 6–6 5–7
Kansas City 6–6 9–3 10–8 10–8 6–6 8–4 — 8–4 10–8 7–5 9–9 7–11
Milwaukee 7–11 6–12 8–4 5–7 6–11 6–12 4–8 — 4–8 5–13 5–7 10–2
Minnesota 8–4 5–7 10–8 11–7 3–9 8–4 8–10 8–4 — 2–10 11–7 11–7
New York 5–13 11–7 7–5 11–1 12–4 8–9 5–7 13–5 10–2 — 6–6 9–3
Oakland 8–4 8–4 12–6 9–8 8–4 6–6 9–9 7–5 7–11 6–6 — 7–11
Texas 4–8 9–3 6–12 11–7 5–7 7–5 11–7 2–10 7–11 3–9 11–7 —


Notable transactions

Opening Day lineup

17 Cecil Cooper DH
  5 Denny Doyle 2B
19 Fred Lynn CF
14 Jim Rice LF
  8 Carl Yastrzemski     1B
27 Carlton Fisk C
24 Dwight Evans RF
  6 Rico Petrocelli 3B
  7 Rick Burleson SS
31 Ferguson Jenkins P

Source: [17]

Roster

1976 Boston Red Sox
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders Managers

Coaches

Player stats

Batting

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen bases; BB = Walks; AVG = Batting average; SLG = Slugging average

Player G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB AVG SLG
Jim Rice 153 581 75 164 25 8 25 85 8 28 .282 .482
Carl Yastrzemski 155 546 71 146 23 2 21 102 5 80 .267 .432
Rick Burleson 152 540 75 157 27 1 7 42 14 60 .291 .383
Fred Lynn 132 507 76 159 32 8 10 65 14 48 .314 .467
Dwight Evans 146 501 61 121 34 5 17 62 6 57 .242 .431
Carlton Fisk 134 487 76 124 17 5 17 58 12 56 .255 .415
Cecil Cooper 123 451 66 127 22 6 15 78 7 16 .282 .457
Denny Doyle 117 432 51 108 15 5 0 26 8 22 .250 .308
Rick Miller 105 269 40 76 15 3 0 27 11 34 .283 .361
Butch Hobson 76 269 34 63 7 5 8 34 0 15 .234 .387
Rico Petrocelli 85 240 17 51 7 1 3 24 0 34 .213 .288
Steve Dillard 57 167 22 46 14 0 1 15 6 17 .275 .377
Doug Griffin 49 127 14 24 2 0 0 4 2 9 .189 .205
Bobby Darwin 43 106 9 19 5 2 3 13 1 2 .179 .349
Bob Montgomery 31 93 10 23 3 1 3 13 0 5 .247 .398
Bob Heise 32 56 5 15 2 0 0 5 0 1 .268 .304
Bernie Carbo 17 55 5 13 4 0 2 6 1 8 .236 .418
Deron Johnson 15 38 3 5 1 1 0 0 0 5 .132 .211
Jack Baker 12 23 1 3 0 0 1 2 0 1 .130 .261
Ernie Whitt 8 18 4 4 2 0 1 3 0 2 .222 .500
Andy Merchant 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000
Pitcher Totals 162 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000
Team Totals 162 5511 716 1448 257 53 134 664 95 500 .263 .402

Source: [13]

Pitching

Note: W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; SV = Saves; IP = Innings pitched; H = Hits allowed; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; SO = Strikeouts

Player W L ERA G GS SV IP H R ER BB SO
Luis Tiant 21 12 3.06 38 38 0 279.0 274 107 95 64 131
Rick Wise 14 11 3.53 34 34 0 224.1 218 100 88 48 93
Fergie Jenkins 12 11 3.27 30 29 0 209.0 201 85 76 43 142
Reggie Cleveland 10 9 3.07 41 14 2 170.0 159 73 58 61 76
Dick Pole 6 5 4.33 31 15 0 120.2 131 62 58 48 49
Rick Jones 5 3 3.36 24 14 0 104.1 133 48 39 26 45
Jim Willoughby 3 12 2.82 54 0 10 99.0 94 38 31 31 37
Bill Lee 5 7 5.63 24 14 3 96.0 124 68 60 28 29
Tom Murphy 4 5 3.44 37 0 8 81.0 91 43 31 25 32
Tom House 1 3 4.33 36 0 4 43.2 39 22 21 19 27
Rick Kreuger 2 1 4.06 8 4 0 31.0 31 14 14 16 12
Team Totals 83 79 3.52 162 162 27 1458.0 1495 660 571 409 673

Source: [14]

Statistical leaders

Luis Tiant
Category Player Statistic
Youngest player Rick Jones 21
Oldest player Deron Johnson 37
Wins Above Replacement Luis Tiant 6.2

Source: [18]

Batting

Abbr. Category Player Statistic
G Games played Carl Yastrzemski 155
PA Plate appearances Carl Yastrzemski 636
AB At bats Jim Rice 581
R Runs scored Carlton Fisk 76
Fred Lynn
H Hits Jim Rice 164
2B Doubles Dwight Evans 34
3B Triples Fred Lynn 8
Jim Rice
HR Home runs Jim Rice 25
RBI Runs batted in Carl Yastrzemski 102
SB Stolen bases Rick Burleson 14
Fred Lynn
CS Caught stealing Rick Miller 10
BB Base on balls Carl Yastrzemski 80
SO Strikeouts Jim Rice 123
BA Batting average Fred Lynn .314
OBP On-base percentage Fred Lynn .367
SLG Slugging percentage Jim Rice .482
OPS On-base plus slugging Fred Lynn .835
OPS+ Adjusted OPS Fred Lynn 132
TB Total bases Jim Rice 280
GIDP Grounded into double play Jim Rice 18
HBP Hit by pitch Dwight Evans 6
Carlton Fisk
SH Sacrifice hits Cecil Cooper 9
SF Sacrifice flies Fred Lynn 10
IBB Intentional base on balls Cecil Cooper 6
Carl Yastrzemski

Source: [18]

Pitching

Abbr. Category Player Statistic
W Wins Luis Tiant 21
L Losses Luis Tiant 12
Jim Willoughby
W-L % Winning percentage Luis Tiant .636 (21–12)
ERA Earned run average Luis Tiant 3.06
G Games pitched Jim Willoughby 54
GS Games started Luis Tiant 38
GF Games finished Jim Willoughby 40
CG Complete games Luis Tiant 19
SHO Shutouts Rick Wise 4
SV Saves Jim Willoughby 10
IP Innings pitched Luis Tiant 279
SO Strikeouts Ferguson Jenkins 142
WHIP Walks plus hits per inning pitched Ferguson Jenkins 1.167

Source: [18]

Awards and honors

All-Star Game

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Pawtucket Red Sox† International League Joe Morgan
AA Bristol Red Sox Eastern League John Kennedy
A Winston-Salem Red Sox Carolina League Tony Torchia
A Winter Haven Red Sox Florida State League Rac Slider
A-Short Season Elmira Red Sox New York–Penn League Dick Berardino

† The Pawtucket Red Sox were known as the Rhode Island Red Sox during the 1976 season. [19]
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Winston-Salem, Elmira
Source: [20] [21]

Notes

  1. ^ Tom Yawkey died in July; ownership and oversight of the club passed to his wife, Jean.

References

  1. ^ The Montreal Gazette – Google News Archive Search
  2. ^ a b Gene Michael page at Baseball Reference
  3. ^ Dick Drago page at Baseball Reference
  4. ^ "The 1976 Boston Red Sox". Retrosheet. Retrieved October 10, 2020.
  5. ^ "Events of Friday, April 30, 1976".
  6. ^ "Events of Monday, May 31, 1976".
  7. ^ "Events of Wednesday, June 30, 1976".
  8. ^ "Events of Saturday, July 31, 1976".
  9. ^ "Events of Tuesday, August 31, 1976".
  10. ^ "Events of Thursday, September 30, 1976".
  11. ^ "Events of Sunday, October 3, 1976".
  12. ^ "Kuhn void sale of A's stars to Sox, Yankees". The Boston Globe. June 19, 1976. p. 1. Retrieved October 10, 2020 – via newspapers.com.
  13. ^ Driscoll, Edgar (July 10, 1976). "Tom Yawkey, Red Sox owner, dies at 73". The Boston Globe. Retrieved April 28, 2021.
  14. ^ Diego Seguí page at Baseball Reference
  15. ^ Bobby Darwin page at Baseball Reference
  16. ^ Wade Boggs page at Baseball Reference
  17. ^ "Baltimore Orioles 1, Boston Red Sox 0". Retrosheet. April 9, 1976. Retrieved October 11, 2020.
  18. ^ a b c "1976 Boston Red Sox Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 14, 2020.
  19. ^ "Name change is made at Pawtucket". The Berkshire Eagle. Pittsfield, Massachusetts. UPI. January 16, 1976. p. 10. Retrieved September 29, 2020 – via newspapers.com.
  20. ^ Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007
  21. ^ Boston Red Sox Official Yearbook. 1976. p. 36. Retrieved March 14, 2021 – via Wayback Machine.

External links

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