1977 Boston Red Sox season

1977 Boston Red Sox
Major League affiliations
American League (since 1901)
Eastern Division (since 1969)
Location
Fenway Park (since 1912)
Boston, Massachusetts (since 1901)
Other information
Owner(s)	Jean Yawkey
General manager(s)	Dick O'Connell
Manager(s)	Don Zimmer
Local television	WSBK-TV, Ch. 38 (Dick Stockton, Ken Harrelson)
Local radio	WMEX-AM 1510 (Ned Martin, Jim Woods)
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The 1977 Boston Red Sox season was a season in American baseball. It involved the Red Sox finishing second in the American League East with a record of 97 wins and 64 losses. Lack of pitching depth might have been a hindrance, but the team was helped by a record-setting offense. During one ten-game span, the Red Sox hit 33 home runs. With that kind of scoring, Boston managed to compete with the Yankees and Orioles, and even held the division lead for a time. But, by season's end, not even 97 wins would be enough.

Offseason

• November 22, 1976: Darryl Cias was signed as a free agent by the Red Sox.^[1]

Regular season

On June 18, 1977, during a nationally-televised game against the New York Yankees at Fenway Park in Boston, Jim Rice, a powerful hitter but a slow runner, hit a ball into right field. Yankees outfielder Reggie Jackson seemed to approach the ball indifferently, and Rice reached second base. Furious, Yankees manager Billy Martin removed Jackson from the game without even waiting for the end of the inning, sending Paul Blair out to replace him. When Jackson arrived at the dugout, Martin yelled that Jackson had shown him up. They argued, and Jackson said that Martin's heavy drinking had impaired his judgment. Despite Jackson being eighteen years younger, about four inches taller and maybe forty pounds heavier, Martin lunged at him, and had to be restrained by coaches Yogi Berra and Elston Howard. Red Sox fans could see this in the dugout and began cheering wildly, and the NBC TV cameras showed the confrontation to the entire country. The Red Sox went on to win the game, 10-4.

Season standings

AL East	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
New York Yankees	100	62	0.617	—	55–26	45–36
Baltimore Orioles	97	64	0.602	2½	54–27	43–37
Boston Red Sox	97	64	0.602	2½	51–29	46–35
Detroit Tigers	74	88	0.457	26	39–42	35–46
Cleveland Indians	71	90	0.441	28½	37–44	34–46
Milwaukee Brewers	67	95	0.414	33	37–44	30–51
Toronto Blue Jays	54	107	0.335	45½	25–55	29–52

Record vs. opponents

1977 American League Records Sources:
Team	BAL	BOS	CAL	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	MIL	MIN	NYY	OAK	SEA	TEX	TOR
Baltimore	—	6–8	5–6	5–5	11–4	12–3	4–7	11–4	6–4	8–7	8–2	7–3	4–6	10–5
Boston	8–6	—	7–3	3–7	8–7	9–6	5–5	9–6	4–6	8–7	8–3	10–1	6–4	12–3
California	6–5	3–7	—	8–7	6–4	4–6	6–9	5–5	7–8	4–7	5–10	9–6	5–10	6–4
Chicago	5–5	7–3	7–8	—	6–4	4–6	8–7	6–5	10–5	3–7	10–5	10–5	6–9	8–3
Cleveland	4–11	7–8	4–6	4–6	—	8–7	3–7	11–4	2–9	3–12	7–3	7–3	2–9	9–5
Detroit	3–12	6–9	6–4	6–4	7–8	—	3–8	10–5	5–5	6–9	5–5	5–6	2–8	10–5
Kansas City	7–4	5–5	9–6	7–8	7–3	8–3	—	8–2	10–5	5–5	9–6	11–4	8–7	8–2
Milwaukee	4–11	6–9	5–5	5–6	4–11	5–10	2–8	—	3–8	8–7	5–5	7–3	5–5	8–7
Minnesota	4–6	6–4	8–7	5–10	9–2	5–5	5–10	8–3	—	2–8	8–6	7–8	8–7	9–1
New York	7–8	7–8	7–4	7–3	12–3	9–6	5–5	7–8	8–2	—	9–2	6–4	7–3	9–6
Oakland	2–8	3–8	10–5	5–10	3–7	5–5	6–9	5–5	6–8	2–9	—	7–8	2–13	7–3
Seattle	3–7	1–10	6–9	5–10	3–7	6–5	4–11	3–7	8–7	4–6	8–7	—	9–6	4–6
Texas	6–4	4–6	10–5	9–6	9–2	8–2	7–8	5–5	7–8	3–7	13–2	6–9	—	7–4
Toronto	5–10	3–12	4–6	3–8	5–9	5–10	2–8	7–8	1–9	6–9	3–7	6–4	4–7	—

Opening Day lineup

7	Rick Burleson	SS
5	Denny Doyle	2B
14	Jim Rice	LF
8	Carl Yastrzemski	RF
16	Rick Miller	CF
15	George Scott	1B
1	Bernie Carbo	DH
27	Carlton Fisk	C
4	Butch Hobson	3B
31	Ferguson Jenkins	P

Notable transactions

• April 5, 1977: Darryl Cias was released by the Red Sox.^[1]
• May 28, 1977: Bobby Darwin was traded by the Red Sox to the Chicago Cubs for Ramón Hernández.^[2]
• June 7, 1977: Pete Ladd was drafted by the Red Sox in the 25th round of the 1977 Major League Baseball Draft.^[3]
• August 20, 1977: Ramón Hernández was released by the Red Sox.^[2]

Roster

1977 Boston Red Sox
Roster
Pitchers 45 Don Aase 43 Jim Burton 22 Bill Campbell 26 Reggie Cleveland 29 Ramón Hernández 29 Tom House 31 Ferguson Jenkins 21 Rick Kreuger 37 Bill Lee 47 Tom Murphy 48 Mike Paxton 46 Bob Stanley 23 Luis Tiant 38 Jim Willoughby 40 Rick Wise		Catchers 39 Bo Díaz 27 Carlton Fisk 10 Bob Montgomery Infielders 11 Ramón Avilés 41 Jack Baker  7 Rick Burleson  3 Steve Dillard  5 Denny Doyle  2 Doug Griffin 12,49 Tommy Helms  4 Butch Hobson 15 George Scott		Outfielders 29 Sam Bowen  1 Bernie Carbo 30 Dave Coleman 42 Bobby Darwin 24 Dwight Evans 19 Fred Lynn 16 Rick Miller 14 Jim Rice  8 Carl Yastrzemski Other batters 30 Bob Bailey 18 Ted Cox		Manager 34 Don Zimmer Coaches 33 Walt Hriniak 32 Al Jackson 35 Johnny Pesky 36 Eddie Yost

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
1B	Scott, GeorgeGeorge Scott	157	584	157	.269	33	95
2B	Doyle, DennyDenny Doyle	137	455	109	.240	2	49
SS	Burleson, RickRick Burleson	154	663	194	.293	3	52
LF	Yastrzemski, CarlCarl Yastrzemski	150	558	165	.296	28	102
RF	Carbo, BernieBernie Carbo	86	228	66	.289	15	34
DH	Rice, JimJim Rice	160	644	206	.320	39	114

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
Miller, RickRick Miller	86	189	48	.254	0	24
Darwin, BobbyBobby Darwin	4	9	2	.222	0	1

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
Jenkins, FergusonFerguson Jenkins	28	193	10	10	3.68	105
Cleveland, ReggieReggie Cleveland	36	190.1	11	8	4.26	85
Aase, DonDon Aase	13	92.1	6	2	3.12	49

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
Paxton, MikeMike Paxton	29	108	10	5	3.83	58

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
Campbell, BillBill Campbell	69	13	9	31	2.96	114
Hernández, RamónRamón Hernández	12	0	1	1	5.68	8
House, TomTom House	8	1	0	0	12.91	6
Burton, JimJim Burton	1	0	0	0	0.00	3

Farm system

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

Notes

1. Darryl Cias page at Baseball Reference
2. Ramón Hernández page at Baseball Reference
3. Pete Ladd page at Baseball Reference

References

• Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (1997). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (2nd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America. ISBN 978-0-9637189-8-3.

External links

• 1977 Boston Red Sox team page at Baseball Reference
• 1977 Boston Red Sox season at baseball-almanac.com