1971 Boston Red Sox season

The 1971 Boston Red Sox season was the 71st season in the franchise's Major League Baseball history. The Red Sox finished third in the American League East with a record of 85 wins and 77 losses, 18 games behind the Baltimore Orioles, who went on to win the AL championship.

Offseason

December 3, 1970: Carmen Fanzone was traded by the Red Sox to the Chicago Cubs for Phil Gagliano.
December 31, 1970: Chuck Hartenstein was purchased from the Red Sox by the Chicago White Sox.
January 13, 1971: John Tamargo was drafted by the Red Sox in the 3rd round of the 1971 Major League Baseball draft, but did not sign.
March 31, 1971: Tony Muser and Vicente Romo were traded by the Red Sox to the Chicago White Sox for Duane Josephson and Danny Murphy.

Regular season

Highlights

In the second year of Eddie Kasko's management, the Red Sox finished 16 games behind the eventual American League champions Baltimore Orioles. The Sox did not have a.300 hitter in 1971, with Reggie Smith's.283 batting average being the best among their regulars. Tony Conigliaro, his health still a question, had been traded the previous October to the California Angels for reliever Ken Tatum and rookie infielder Doug Griffin. Conigliaro played in 74 games for the Angels in 1971 but then had to give up baseball, his sight having deteriorated greatly. Tatum was 2–4 with the Red Sox, and Griffin batted.244, while becoming the regular second baseman.
Highlights of an otherwise forgettable season included the late arrival of a big catcher from Bellows Falls, Vermont, Carlton Fisk, who got into 14 games for the 1971 Sox and hit two home runs. Making a bigger splash was a utility fielder who had been acquired in 1970 from the New York Yankees but came into his own in 1971. John Kennedy hit.272, with five homers and 22 RBIs, and was nicknamed "Super Sub".
Another bright spot for the Sox in '71 was Jim Lonborg's winning 10 games. But Sonny Siebert, a pitcher acquired in a deal with the Cleveland Indians in 1969, was the top hurler for Boston, winning 16 games. A feisty left-hander, Sparky Lyle was 6–4, with 16 saves and a 2.75 ERA.

Notable transactions

April 7, 1971: Tom Satriano was released by the Red Sox.
May 17, 1971: Luis Tiant was signed as a free agent by the Red Sox.

Opening Day lineup

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Player stats

Batting

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
Reggie Smith	159	618	85	175	33	2	30	96	11	63	.283	.489
Rico Petrocelli	158	553	82	139	24	4	28	89	2	91	.251	.461
George Scott	146	537	72	141	16	4	24	78	0	41	.263	.441
Carl Yastrzemski	148	508	75	129	21	2	15	70	8	106	.254	.392
Luis Aparicio	125	491	56	114	23	0	4	45	6	35	.232	.303
Doug Griffin	125	483	51	118	23	2	3	27	11	31	.244	.319
Billy Conigliaro	101	351	42	92	26	1	11	33	3	25	.262	.436
Duane Josephson	91	306	38	75	14	1	10	39	2	22	.245	.395
John Kennedy	74	272	41	75	12	5	5	22	1	14	.276	.412
Joe Lahoud	107	256	39	55	9	3	14	32	2	40	.215	.438
Bob Montgomery	67	205	19	49	11	2	2	24	1	16	.239	.341
Phil Gagliano	47	68	11	22	5	0	0	13	0	11	.324	.397
Mike Fiore	51	62	9	11	2	0	1	6	0	12	.177	.258
Juan Beníquez	16	57	8	17	2	0	0	4	3	3	.298	.333
Carlton Fisk	14	48	7	15	2	1	2	6	0	1	.313	.521
Cecil Cooper	14	42	9	13	4	1	0	3	1	5	.310	.452
Ben Oglivie	14	38	2	10	3	0	0	4	0	0	.263	.342
Rick Miller	15	33	9	11	5	0	1	7	0	8	.333	.576
Don Pavletich	14	27	5	7	1	0	1	3	0	5	.259	.407
George Thomas	9	13	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	1	.077	.077
Buddy Hunter	8	9	2	2	1	0	0	0	0	2	.222	.333
Pitcher Totals	162	424	29	89	9	0	10	48	0	20	.210	.302
Team Totals	162	5401	691	1360	246	28	161	650	51	552	.252	.397

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Pitching

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
Ray Culp	14	16	3.60	35	35	0	242.1	236	108	97	67	151
Sonny Siebert	16	10	2.91	32	32	0	235.1	220	84	76	60	131
Gary Peters	14	11	4.37	34	32	1	214.0	241	111	104	70	100
Jim Lonborg	10	7	4.13	27	26	0	167.2	167	86	77	67	100
Bill Lee	9	2	2.74	47	3	2	102.0	102	35	31	46	74
Luis Tiant	1	7	4.85	21	10	0	72.1	73	42	39	32	59
Roger Moret	4	3	2.92	13	7	0	71.0	50	24	23	40	47
Bobby Bolin	5	3	4.26	52	0	6	69.2	74	34	33	24	51
Ken Brett	0	3	5.34	29	2	1	59.0	57	38	35	35	57
Ken Tatum	2	4	4.19	36	1	9	53.2	50	27	25	25	21
Sparky Lyle	6	4	2.75	50	0	16	52.1	41	16	16	23	37
Mike Nagy	1	3	6.63	12	7	0	38.0	46	29	28	20	9
John Curtis	2	2	3.12	5	3	0	26.0	30	9	9	6	19
Cal Koonce	0	1	5.57	13	1	0	21.0	22	16	13	11	9
Mike Garman	1	1	3.86	3	3	0	18.2	15	8	8	9	6
Team Totals	85	77	3.80	162	162	35	1443.0	1424	667	610	535	871

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Statistical leaders

Category	Player	Statistic
Youngest player	Juan Beníquez Cecil Cooper Mike Garman Roger Moret	21
Oldest player	Luis Aparicio	37
Wins Above Replacement	Sonny Siebert	6.6

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Batting

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Pitching

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Awards and honors

Farm system

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