1983 Boston Red Sox season

1983 Boston Red Sox
Major League affiliations
American League (since 1901)
Eastern Division (since 1969)
Location
Fenway Park (since 1912)
Boston (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, Bob Montgomery)
Local radio	WPLM-FM 99.1 WPLM-AM 1390 (Ken Coleman, Joe Castiglione)
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The 1983 Boston Red Sox season was a season in American baseball. It involved the Red Sox finishing 6th in the American League East with a record of 78 wins and 84 losses.

Offseason

• November 1, 1982: Tony Pérez was released by the Red Sox.^[1]
• December 6, 1982: Carney Lansford‚ Garry Hancock‚ and a minor leaguer (Jerry King) were traded by the Red Sox to the Oakland Athletics for Tony Armas and Jeff Newman.^[2]
• January 10, 1983: Josías Manzanillo was signed as an amateur free agent by the Red Sox.^[3]
• January 11, 1983: Ellis Burks was drafted by the Red Sox in the 1st round of the January portion of the 1983 Major League Baseball draft. Burks signed on May 17.^[4]
• January 13, 1983: Mike Torrez was traded by the Red Sox to the New York Mets for a player to be named later. The Mets completed the deal by sending Mike Davis (minors) to the Red Sox on February 15.^[5]
• March 25, 1983: Brian Kingman was released by the Red Sox.^[6]

Regular season

• Jim Rice led American League in home runs (39) and total bases (344), and tied for lead in RBI (126) while hitting a .305 batting average.
• Wade Boggs led AL hitters with a .361 average and a .444 on-base percentage, ending second in hits (210) and doubles (44).
• Tony Armas may not have had enough hits to keep his average up (.218), but finished second in the league with 36 home runs and seventh with 107 RBI.
• Carl Yastrzemski retired after 23 seasons, all with the Red Sox.

Season standings

AL East	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Baltimore Orioles	98	64	0.605	—	50–31	48–33
Detroit Tigers	92	70	0.568	6	48–33	44–37
New York Yankees	91	71	0.562	7	51–30	40–41
Toronto Blue Jays	89	73	0.549	9	48–33	41–40
Milwaukee Brewers	87	75	0.537	11	52–29	35–46
Boston Red Sox	78	84	0.481	20	38–43	40–41
Cleveland Indians	70	92	0.432	28	36–45	34–47

Record vs. opponents

1983 American League Records Sources:
Team	BAL	BOS	CAL	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	MIL	MIN	NYY	OAK	SEA	TEX	TOR
Baltimore	—	8–5	7–5	7–5	6–7	5–8	8–4	11–2	8–4	6–7	8–4	8–4	9–3	7–6
Boston	5–8	—	6–6	6–6	7–6	4–9	5–7	4–9	5–7	7–6	8–4	7–5	7–5	7–6
California	5–7	6–6	—	3–10	8–4	4–8	6–7	6–6	6–7	5–7	5–8	6–7	6–7	4–8
Chicago	5–7	6–6	10–3	—	8–4	8–4	9–4	4–8	8–5	8–4	8–5	12–1	8–5	5–7
Cleveland	7–6	6–7	4–8	4–8	—	5–8	7–5	3–10	6–6	6–7	7–5	8–4	3–9	4–9
Detroit	8–5	9–4	8–4	4–8	8–5	—	7–5	6–7	9–3	5–8	6–6	8–4	8–4	6–7
Kansas City	4–8	7–5	7–6	4–9	5–7	5–7	—	6–6	6–7	6–6	7–6	8–5	8–5–1	6–6
Milwaukee	2–11	9–4	6–6	8–4	10–3	7–6	6–6	—	8–4	4–9	6–6	5–7	8–4	8–5
Minnesota	4–8	7–5	7–6	5–8	6–6	3–9	7–6	4–8	—	4–8	4–9	9–4	5–8	5–7
New York	7–6	6–7	7–5	4–8	7–6	8–5	6–6	9–4	8–4	—	8–4	7–5	7–5	7–6
Oakland	4–8	4–8	8–5	5–8	5–7	6–6	6–7	6–6	9–4	4–8	—	9–4	2–11	6–6
Seattle	4–8	5–7	7–6	1–12	4–8	4–8	5–8	7–5	4–9	5–7	4–9	—	6–7	4–8
Texas	3–9	5–7	7–6	5–8	9–3	4–8	5–8–1	4–8	8–5	5–7	11–2	7–6	—	4–8
Toronto	6–7	6–7	8–4	7–5	9–4	7–6	6–6	5–8	7–5	6–7	6–6	8–4	8–4	—

Notable transactions

• June 6, 1983: 1983 Major League Baseball draft
  • Roger Clemens was drafted by the Red Sox in the 1st round (19th pick). Clemens signed on June 21.^[7]
  • John Mitchell was drafted by the Red Sox in the 7th round.^[8]

Opening Day lineup

26	Wade Boggs	3B
24	Dwight Evans	RF
14	Jim Rice	LF
20	Tony Armas	CF
8	Carl Yastrzemski	DH
11	Dave Stapleton	1B
10	Rich Gedman	C
18	Glenn Hoffman	SS
12	Julio Valdez	2B
43	Dennis Eckersley	P

Roster

1983 Boston Red Sox
Roster
Pitchers 45 Luis Aponte 42 Doug Bird 23 Oil Can Boyd 27 Mike Brown 25 Mark Clear 43 Dennis Eckersley 47 Bruce Hurst 48 John Henry Johnson 49 Al Nipper 19 Bob Ojeda 46 Bob Stanley 30 John Tudor		Catchers 39 Gary Allenson 10 Rich Gedman  5 Jeff Newman Infielders 17 Marty Barrett 26 Wade Boggs 41 Jackie Gutiérrez 18 Glenn Hoffman 22 Ed Jurak  2 Jerry Remy 11 Dave Stapleton 12 Julio Valdez		Outfielders 20 Tony Armas 24 Dwight Evans 12 Lee Graham  3 Rick Miller 51 Reid Nichols 14 Jim Rice  1 Chico Walker Other batters  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
1B	Stapleton, DaveDave Stapleton	151	542	134	.247	10	66
LF	Rice, JimJim Rice	155	626	191	.305	39	126
CF	Armas, TonyTony Armas	145	574	125	.218	36	107

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

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
Aponte, LuisLuis Aponte	34	5	4	3	3.63	32

Awards and honors

• Jim Rice, OF, American League Leader Home Runs (39)
• Jim Rice, OF, American League Leader RBIs (126)

All-Star Game

• Jim Rice (Starting LF)
• Bob Stanley
• Carl Yastrzemski

Farm system

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

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: New Britain

Notes

1. Tony Pérez at Baseball Reference
2. Tony Armas at Baseball Reference
3. Josías Manzanillo at Baseball-Reference
4. Ellis Burks at Baseball-Reference
5. Mike Torrez at Baseball-Reference
6. Brian Kingman at Baseball-Reference
7. Roger Clemens at Baseball-Reference
8. John Mitchell 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.
• 1983 Boston Red Sox team at Baseball-Reference
• 1983 Boston Red Sox season at baseball-almanac.com