1976 Boston Red Sox | ||
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League | American League | |
Division | East | |
Ballpark | Fenway Park | |
City | Boston, Massachusetts | |
Record | 83–79 (.512) | |
Divisional place | 3rd | |
Owners | Tom Yawkey, Jean Yawkey[a] | |
President | Tom Yawkey, Jean Yawkey | |
General manager | Dick O'Connell | |
Managers |
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Television | WSBK-TV, Ch. 38 (Dick Stockton, Ken Harrelson) | |
Radio | WMEX-AM 1510 (Ned Martin, Jim Woods) | |
Stats | ESPN.com Baseball Reference | |
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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.
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] |
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.
Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
New York Yankees | 97 | 62 | .610 | — | 45–35 | 52–27 |
Baltimore Orioles | 88 | 74 | .543 | 10½ | 42–39 | 46–35 |
Boston Red Sox | 83 | 79 | .512 | 15½ | 46–35 | 37–44 |
Cleveland Indians | 81 | 78 | .509 | 16 | 44–35 | 37–43 |
Detroit Tigers | 74 | 87 | .460 | 24 | 36–44 | 38–43 |
Milwaukee Brewers | 66 | 95 | .410 | 32 | 36–45 | 30–50 |
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 | — |
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]
1976 Boston Red Sox | |||||||||
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Roster | |||||||||
Pitchers
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Catchers
Infielders
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Outfielders
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Managers
Coaches
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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]
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]
Category | Player | Statistic |
---|---|---|
Youngest player | Rick Jones | 21 |
Oldest player | Deron Johnson | 37 |
Wins Above Replacement | Luis Tiant | 6.2 |
Source:[18]
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]
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]
† 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]