1977 Boston Red Sox season
The 1977 Boston Red Sox season was the 77th season in the franchise's Major League Baseball history. The Red Sox finished tied for second in the American League East with a record of 97 wins and 64 losses, games behind the New York Yankees.
Offseason
Regular season
Boston's final game of the season, scheduled for October 2 at home against the Baltimore Orioles, was rained out and not rescheduled.
Highlights
Lack of pitching depth might have been a hindrance, but the team was helped by a league-leading offense, which during one ten-game span hit 33 home runs. With that kind of scoring, Boston managed to compete with the Yankees and Orioles—leading the division as late as August 22—but at season's end, not even 97 wins would be enough.
On June 18, during a nationally televised game against the New York Yankees at Fenway Park in Boston, Jim Rice, a powerful hitter but a slow runner, hit a ball into right field. Yankees outfielder Reggie Jackson seemed to approach the ball indifferently, and Rice reached second base. Furious, Yankees manager Billy Martin removed Jackson from the game without even waiting for the end of the inning, sending Paul Blair out to replace him. When Jackson arrived at the dugout, Martin yelled that Jackson had shown him up. They argued, and Jackson said that Martin's heavy drinking had impaired his judgment. Despite Jackson being 18 years younger, about taller and maybe heavier, Martin lunged at him, and had to be restrained by coaches Yogi Berra and Elston Howard. Red Sox fans could see this in the dugout and began cheering wildly, and the NBC television cameras showed the confrontation to the entire country. The Red Sox went on to win the game, 10–4.
Notable transactions
Source:
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 | | 152 | 536 | 169 | .315 | 26 | 102 |
| 1B | | 157 | 584 | 157 | .269 | 33 | 95 |
| 2B | | 137 | 455 | 109 | .240 | 2 | 49 |
| SS | | 154 | 663 | 194 | .293 | 3 | 52 |
| 3B | | 159 | 593 | 157 | .265 | 30 | 112 |
| LF | | 150 | 558 | 165 | .296 | 28 | 102 |
| CF | | 129 | 497 | 129 | .260 | 18 | 76 |
| RF | | 86 | 228 | 66 | .289 | 15 | 34 |
| DH | | 160 | 644 | 206 | .320 | 39 | 114 |
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 |
| 73 | 230 | 66 | .287 | 14 | 36 |
| 86 | 189 | 48 | .254 | 0 | 24 |
| 66 | 141 | 34 | .241 | 1 | 13 |
| 21 | 59 | 16 | .271 | 1 | 5 |
| 13 | 58 | 21 | .362 | 1 | 6 |
| 17 | 40 | 12 | .300 | 2 | 7 |
| 11 | 12 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | 9 | 2 | .222 | 0 | 1 |
| 5 | 6 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | 3 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | 2 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | 2 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | 1 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| 1 | 0 | 0 | ---- | 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 |
| 28 | 193.0 | 10 | 10 | 3.68 | 105 |
| 36 | 190.1 | 11 | 8 | 4.26 | 85 |
| 32 | 188.2 | 12 | 8 | 4.53 | 124 |
| 26 | 128.1 | 11 | 5 | 4.77 | 85 |
| 27 | 128.0 | 9 | 5 | 4.43 | 31 |
| 13 | 92.1 | 6 | 2 | 3.12 | 49 |
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 |
| 41 | 151.0 | 8 | 7 | 3.99 | 44 |
| 29 | 108.0 | 10 | 5 | 3.83 | 58 |
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 |
| 69 | 13 | 9 | 31 | 2.96 | 114 |
| 31 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 4.94 | 33 |
| 16 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6.75 | 13 |
| 12 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5.68 | 8 |
| 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 12.91 | 6 |
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 3 |
| 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | inf | 0 |
Awards and honors
;All-Star Game
Farm system
Source: