1981 Boston Red Sox season

1981 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)	JRY Trust, Buddy LeRoux, Haywood Sullivan
General manager(s)	Haywood Sullivan
Manager(s)	Ralph Houk
Local television	WSBK-TV, Ch. 38 (Ned Martin, Ken Harrelson)
Local radio	WITS-AM 1510 (Ken Coleman, Jon Miller)
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The 1981 Boston Red Sox season was a season in American baseball. It involved the Red Sox finishing 5th in the American League East with a record of 59 wins and 49 losses. The season was suspended for 50 days due to the infamous 1981 players strike.

Offseason

• On October 27, 1980: the Red Sox lured Ralph Houk out of retirement to become the 35th Manager in Red Sox history.^[1]
• December 10, 1980: The Red Sox traded shortstop Rick Burleson and third baseman Butch Hobson to the California Angels in exchange for Carney Lansford, former Red Sox player Rick Miller, and Mark Clear.^[1] Burleson was unhappy with his contract negotiations with the Red Sox and hinted at leaving via free agency.
• January 23, 1981: Fred Lynn and Steve Renko were traded by the Red Sox to the California Angels for Joe Rudi, Jim Dorsey and Frank Tanana.^[2]

Regular season

Notable transactions

• April 8, 1981: Dick Drago was traded by the Red Sox to the Seattle Mariners for Manny Sarmiento.^[3]
• June 8, 1981: Steve Lyons was drafted by the Red Sox in the 1st round (19th pick) of the 1981 Major League Baseball Draft.^[4]

Season standings

AL East	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Milwaukee Brewers	62	47	0.569	—	28–21	34–26
Baltimore Orioles	59	46	0.562	1	33–22	26–24
New York Yankees	59	48	0.551	2	32–19	27–29
Detroit Tigers	60	49	0.550	2	32–23	28–26
Boston Red Sox	59	49	0.546	2½	30–23	29–26
Cleveland Indians	52	51	0.505	7	25–29	27–22
Toronto Blue Jays	37	69	0.349	23½	17–36	20–33

AL East First Half Standings	W	L	Pct.
New York Yankees	34	22	.607
Baltimore Orioles	31	23	.574
Milwaukee Brewers	31	25	.554
Detroit Tigers	31	26	.544
Boston Red Sox	30	26	.536
Cleveland Indians	26	24	.520
Toronto Blue Jays	16	42	.276

AL East Second Half Standings	W	L	Pct.
Milwaukee Brewers	31	22	.585
Boston Red Sox	29	23	.558
Detroit Tigers	29	23	.558
Baltimore Orioles	28	23	.549
Cleveland Indians	26	27	.491
New York Yankees	25	26	.490
Toronto Blue Jays	21	27	.438

Record vs. opponents

1981 American League Records Sources:
Team	BAL	BOS	CAL	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	MIL	MIN	NYY	OAK	SEA	TEX	TOR
Baltimore	—	2–2	6–6	3–6	4–2	6–7	5–3	2–4	6–0	7–6	7–5	4–2	2–1	5–2
Boston	2–2	—	2–4	5–4	7–6	6–1	3–3	6–7	2–5	3–3	7–5	9–3	3–6	4–0
California	6–6	4–2	—	6–7	7–5	3–3	0–6	4–3	3–3	2–2	2–8	6–4	2–4	6–6
Chicago	6–3	4–5	7–6	—	2–5	3–3	2–0	4–1	2–4	5–7	7–6	3–3	2–4	7–5
Cleveland	2–4	6–7	5–7	5–2	—	1–5	4–4	3–6	2–1	7–5	3–2	8–4	2–2	4–2
Detroit	7–6	1–6	3–3	3–3	5–1	—	3–2	5–8	9–3	3–7	1–2	5–1	9–3	6–4
Kansas City	3–5	3–3	6–0	0–2	4–4	2–3	—	4–5	9–4	2–10	3–3	6–7	3–4	5–3
Milwaukee	4–2	7–6	3–4	1–4	6–3	8–5	5–4	—	9–3	3–3	4–2	2–2	4–5	6–4
Minnesota	0–6	5–2	3–3	4–2	1–2	3–9	4–9	3–9	—	3–3	2–8	3–6–1	5–8	5–1
New York	6–7	3–3	2–2	7–5	5–7	7–3	10–2	3–3	3–3	—	4–3	2–3	5–4	2–3
Oakland	5–7	5–7	8–2	6–7	2–3	2–1	3–3	2–4	8–2	3–4	—	6–1	4–2	10–2
Seattle	2–4	3–9	4–6	3–3	4–8	1–5	7–6	2–2	6–3–1	3–2	1–6	—	5–8	3–3
Texas	1–2	6–3	4–2	4–2	2–2	3–9	4–3	5–4	8–5	4–5	2–4	8–5	—	6–2
Toronto	2–5	0–4	6–6	5–7	2–4	4–6	3–5	4–6	1–5	3–2	2–10	3–3	2–6	—

Opening Day lineup

24	Dwight Evans	RF
11	Dave Stapleton	2B
26	Joe Rudi	DH
14	Jim Rice	LF
5	Tony Pérez	1B
4	Carney Lansford	3B
18	Glenn Hoffman	SS
39	Gary Allenson	C
3	Rick Miller	CF
43	Dennis Eckersley	P

Roster

1981 Boston Red Sox
Roster
Pitchers 45 Luis Aponte 16 Tom Burgmeier 22 Bill Campbell 25 Mark Clear 28 Steve Crawford 43 Dennis Eckersley 47 Bruce Hurst 19 Bob Ojeda 42 Chuck Rainey 46 Bob Stanley 40 Frank Tanana 21 Mike Torrez 30 John Tudor		Catchers 39 Gary Allenson 10 Rich Gedman 29 John Lickert 50 Dave Schmidt Infielders 18 Glenn Hoffman  4 Carney Lansford  5 Tony Pérez  2 Jerry Remy 11 Dave Stapleton 12 Julio Valdez  1 Chico Walker		Outfielders 24 Dwight Evans 37 Garry Hancock  3 Rick Miller 51 Reid Nichols 17 Tom Poquette 14 Jim Rice Designated hitters 26 Joe Rudi  8 Carl Yastrzemski		Manager 35 Ralph Houk Coaches 32 Tommy Harper 33 Walt Hriniak  6 Johnny Pesky 34 Lee Stange 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
C	Gedman, RichRich Gedman	62	205	59	.288	5	26
1B	Pérez, TonyTony Pérez	84	306	77	.252	9	39
2B	Remy, JerryJerry Remy	88	358	110	.307	0	31
3B	Lansford, CarneyCarney Lansford	102	399	134	.336	4	52
SS	Hoffman, GlennGlenn Hoffman	78	242	56	.231	1	20
LF	Rice, JimJim Rice	108	451	128	.284	17	62
CF	Miller, RickRick Miller	97	316	92	.291	2	33
RF	Evans, DwightDwight Evans	108	412	122	.296	22	71
DH	Yastrzemski, CarlCarl Yastrzemski	91	338	83	.246	7	53

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
Stapleton, DaveDave Stapleton	93	355	101	.285	10	42

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

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

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

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	Buddy Hunter
A	Winter Haven Red Sox	Florida State League	Rac Slider
A-Short Season	Elmira Suns	New York–Penn League	Dick Berardino

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Bristol

Notes

1. The Boston Red Sox, Milton Cole and Jim Kaplan, p.58, World Publications Group, North Dighton, Massachusetts, ISBN 1-57215-412-8
2. Joe Rudi page at Baseball Reference
3. Dick Drago page at Baseball Reference
4. Steve Lyons 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.
• 1981 Boston Red Sox team page at Baseball Reference
• 1981 Boston Red Sox season at baseball-almanac.com