1979 Boston Red Sox season

1979 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)	Buddy LeRoux, Haywood Sullivan, Jean Yawkey
General manager(s)	Haywood Sullivan
Manager(s)	Don Zimmer
Local television	WSBK-TV, Ch. 38 (Ned Martin, Ken Harrelson)
Local radio	WITS-AM 1510 (Ken Coleman, Rico Petrocelli)
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The 1979 Boston Red Sox season was a season in American baseball. It involved the Red Sox finishing third in the American League East with a record of 91 wins and 69 losses. Boston finished 11 games behind the eventual American League champion Baltimore Orioles, and 4 behind the second-place Milwaukee Brewers.

Regular season

In 1979, Fred Lynn hit a league-leading .333 and had 39 homers and 122 RBIs. Jim Rice batted .325, with 39 homers and 130 RBIs, but Dennis Eckersley fell to 17 wins, and Mike Torrez had 16 wins again.

Another highlight was Carl Yastrzemski's 3,000th hit and his 400th home run. He was the first American Leaguer ever to do that and the 15th in Major League Baseball history. Yaz joined the 3,000-Hit Club with a single off Jim Beattie on September 12.^[1] The hit came against the New York Yankees. The same game also marked the final appearance at Fenway Park for Hall of Fame pitcher Catfish Hunter.

Season standings

AL East	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Baltimore Orioles	102	57	0.642	—	55–24	47–33
Milwaukee Brewers	95	66	0.590	8	52–29	43–37
Boston Red Sox	91	69	0.569	11½	51–29	40–40
New York Yankees	89	71	0.556	13½	51–30	38–41
Detroit Tigers	85	76	0.528	18	46–34	39–42
Cleveland Indians	81	80	0.503	22	47–34	34–46
Toronto Blue Jays	53	109	0.327	50½	32–49	21–60

Record vs. opponents

1979 American League Records Sources:
Team	BAL	BOS	CAL	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	MIL	MIN	NYY	OAK	SEA	TEX	TOR
Baltimore	—	8–5	9–3	8–3	8–5	7–6	6–6	8–5	8–4	5–6	8–4	10–2	6–6	11–2
Boston	5–8	—	5–7	5–6	6–7	8–5	8–4	8–4	9–3	5–8	9–3	8–4	6–6	9–4
California	3–9	7–5	—	9–4	6–6	4–8	7–6	7–5	9–4	7–5	10–3	7–6	5–8	7–5
Chicago	3–8	6–5	4–9	—	6–6	3–9	5–8	5–7	5–8	4–8	9–4	5–8	11–2	7–5
Cleveland	5–8	7–6	6–6	6–6	—	6–6	6–6	4–9	8–4	5–8	8–4	7–5	5–7	8–5
Detroit	6–7	5–8	8–4	9–3	6–6	—	5–7	6–7	4–8	7–6	7–5	7–5	6–6	9–4
Kansas City	6–6	4–8	6–7	8–5	6–6	7–5	—	5–7	7–6	5–7	9–4	7–6	6–7	9–3
Milwaukee	5–8	4–8	5–7	7–5	9–4	7–6	7–5	—	8–4	9–4	6–6	9–3	9–3	10–3
Minnesota	4–8	3–9	4–9	8–5	4–8	8–4	6–7	4–8	—	7–5	9–4	10–3	4–9	11–1
New York	6–5	8–5	5–7	8–4	8–5	6–7	7–5	4–9	5–7	—	9–3	6–6	8–4	9–4
Oakland	4–8	3–9	3–10	4–9	4–8	5–7	4–9	6–6	4–9	3–9	—	8–5	2–11	4–8
Seattle	2–10	4–8	6–7	8–5	5–7	5–7	6–7	3–9	3–10	6–6	5–8	—	6–7	8–4
Texas	6–6	6–6	8–5	2–11	7–5	6–6	7–6	3–9	9–4	4–8	11–2	7–6	—	7–5
Toronto	2–11	4–9	5–7	5–7	5–8	4–9	3–9	3–10	1–11	4–9	8–4	4–8	5–7	—

Notable transactions

• June 13, 1979: Pete Ladd, a player to be named later, and cash were traded by the Red Sox to the Houston Astros for Bob Watson. The Red Sox completed the deal by sending Bobby Sprowl to the Astros on June 19.^[2]
• August 17, 1979: The Red Sox traded a player to be named later and cash to the Chicago Cubs for Ted Sizemore. The Red Sox completed the deal by sending Mike O'Berry to the Cubs on October 23.^[3]

Opening Day lineup

2	Jerry Remy	2B
7	Rick Burleson	SS
19	Fred Lynn	CF
14	Jim Rice	DH
8	Carl Yastrzemski	LF
15	George Scott	1B
3	Jack Brohamer	3B
24	Dwight Evans	RF
10	Bob Montgomery	C
43	Dennis Eckersley	P

Roster

1979 Boston Red Sox
Roster
Pitchers 16 Tom Burgmeier 22 Bill Campbell 41 Dick Drago 43 Dennis Eckersley 44 Joel Finch 31 Andy Hassler 42 Chuck Rainey 49 Win Remmerswaal 25 Steve Renko 28 Allen Ripley 46 Bob Stanley 21 Mike Torrez 30 John Tudor 45 Jim Wright		Catchers 39 Gary Allenson 27 Carlton Fisk 10 Bob Montgomery 50 Mike O'Berry Infielders  3 Jack Brohamer  7 Rick Burleson 17 Frank Duffy  1 Jim Dwyer  4 Butch Hobson 12 Stan Papi  2 Jerry Remy  5 George Scott 11 Ted Sizemore  5 Bob Watson 20 Larry Wolfe  8 Carl Yastrzemski		Outfielders 24 Dwight Evans 19 Fred Lynn 17 Tom Poquette 14 Jim Rice		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	Watson, BobBob Watson	84	312	105	.337	13	53
LF	Rice, JimJim Rice	158	619	201	.325	39	130
CF	Lynn, FredFred Lynn	147	531	177	.333	39	122

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
Duffy, FrankFrank Duffy	6	3	0	.000	0	0

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
Torrez, MikeMike Torrez	36	252.1	16	13	4.49	125
Eckersley, DennisDennis Eckersley	33	246.2	17	10	2.99	150

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
Finch, JoelJoel Finch	15	57.1	0	3	4.87	25

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
Drago, DickDick Drago	56	10	3	13	3.03	67
Burgmeier, TomTom Burgmeier	44	3	2	4	2.74	60
Campbell, BillBill Campbell	41	3	4	9	4.28	25

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Pawtucket Red Sox	International League	Joe Morgan
AA	Bristol Red Sox	Eastern League	Tony Torchia
A	Winston-Salem Red Sox	Carolina League	Bill Slack
A	Winter Haven Red Sox	Florida State League	Rac Slider
A-Short Season	Elmira Pioneers	New York–Penn League	Dick Berardino

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Winston-Salem, Winter Haven

Notes

1. The 3,000 Hit Club: Carl Yastrzemski
2. Bob Watson page at Baseball Reference
3. Ted Sizemore 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.
• 1979 Boston Red Sox team page at Baseball Reference
• 1979 Boston Red Sox season at baseball-almanac.com