1979 Boston Red Sox season


The 1979 Boston Red Sox season was the 79th season in the franchise's Major League Baseball history. The Red Sox finished third in the American League East with a record of 91 wins and 69 losses, games behind the Baltimore Orioles, who went on to win the AL championship.

Offseason

On December 7, 1978, pitcher Bill Lee was traded to the Montreal Expos for infielder Stan Papi.

Regular season

The Red Sox only played 160 games, as a home game scheduled against the Milwaukee Brewers on August 12, and an away game scheduled against the Chicago White Sox on August 29, were rained out and not rescheduled.

Highlights

Fred Lynn had a league-leading.333 batting average and had 39 home runs and 122 RBIs, while Jim Rice batted.325 with 39 homers and 130 RBIs. On the pitching staff, Dennis Eckersley was 17–10, down from 20–8 the prior season, and Mike Torrez was 16–13, matching his record of the previous year.
The season also featured Carl Yastrzemski's 3,000th hit and his 400th home run. His 400th home run came off of Mike Morgan of the Athletics on July 24. Yaz became the seventh AL player and 18th MLB player to collect 400 home runs. He joined the 3,000 hit club with a single off of Jim Beattie of the Yankees on September 12. Yaz was the 15th player to collect 3,000 major league hits, and the first AL player to have both 3,000 hits and 400 home runs.
New acquisition Bob Watson hit for the cycle on September 15 to lead a 10–2 win over the Baltimore Orioles. This event distinguished Watson as the first player to hit for the cycle as a member of both of an American League and a National League team. As a member of the Houston Astros on June 24, 1977, he had hit his first cycle with 5 runs batted in in a 6–5 win over the San Francisco Giants.

Notable transactions

Opening Day lineup

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
PosPlayerGABHAvg.HRRBI
C10824149.203322
1B84312105.3371353
2B8030691.297029
SS153627174.278560
3B146528138.2612893
LF158619201.32539130
CF147531177.33339122
RF152489134.2742158
DH147518140.2702187

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
PlayerGABHAvg.HRRBI
9132087.2721042
6419251.266111
4515635.224423
6315451.331223
5011722.18816
7611330.265214
268823.26116
328630.34907
477819.244315
435910.16914
630.00000

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
PlayerGIPWLERASO
36252.116134.49125
33246.217102.99150
40216.216123.9956
27171.01194.1199
20103.2853.8241
628.0126.4311

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
PlayerGIPWLERASO
1664.2315.1534
1557.1034.8725

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
PlayerGWLSVERASO
56103133.0367
443242.7460
413494.2825
111005.0915
81007.0816
81208.807

Awards and honors

;Awards
;All-Star Game
;Offensive achievements

Farm system

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Winston-Salem, Winter Haven
Source: