1988 Boston Red Sox season

The 1988 Boston Red Sox season was the 88th season in the franchise's Major League Baseball history. The Red Sox finished first in the American League East with a record of 89–73 but were then swept by the Oakland Athletics in the ALCS.
The team is best remembered for its change of fortune following its change of manager; after John McNamara was replaced by Joe Morgan, the team won its next 12 games in a stretch nicknamed "Morgan Magic".

Offseason

December 8, 1987: Lee Smith was traded by the Chicago Cubs to the Red Sox for Al Nipper and Calvin Schiraldi.
January 5, 1988: Dennis Lamp was signed as a free agent with the Red Sox.

Regular season

Highlights

;A rough beginning
The 1988 team seemed to start much better than their chaotic 1987 predecessors, going 14–6 in April; however, the team went sour thereafter, especially for Jim Rice as he moved from left field to designated hitter. Dwight Evans also had problems when he played first base, and the usually reliable Lee Smith had problems closing, including giving up a game-winning home run to the Detroit Tigers on Opening Day.
The Red Sox had an 11–16 record in May, followed by a slightly better June with a 14–12 record, but lost pitcher Jeff Sellers when he was hit by a line drive in Cleveland that broke his hand. Wes Gardner was moved from the bullpen to the rotation, but the team and its fans were losing patience.
;"Morgan Magic"
At the All-Star break, the Red Sox were 43–42, nine games behind the Tigers in the AL East standings. Management had seen enough, firing John McNamara and elevating third base coach Joe Morgan to manager.
On July 15, the first game after the All-Star break, the Red Sox and Roger Clemens beat the Kansas City Royals and Bret Saberhagen, 3–1. This began a 12-game winning streak, which launched the Red Sox to first place over the slumping Tigers and New York Yankees. The Red Sox would later set an American League record of 24 straight home victories. Two months after Morgan became manager, the team was 81–63 and in first place by games. The team cooled off in the final two weeks of the season, finishing with nine losses in their final 13 games, but held on to win the AL East, finishing one game ahead of the Tigers, for their second division title in three seasons.

Notable transactions

April 15, 1988: Rick Cerone signed as a free agent with the Red Sox.
July 29, 1988: Brady Anderson was traded by the Red Sox with minor league pitcher Curt Schilling to the Baltimore Orioles for Mike Boddicker.

Opening Day lineup

Source:

Alumni game

The team held an old-timers game on May 14, before a scheduled home game against the Seattle Mariners. The alumni game marked the 40th anniversary of the 1948 Red Sox team, which had lost a one-game playoff to the Cleveland Indians. The visiting alumni team, skippered by Lou Boudreau—who had been player-manager of the 1948 Cleveland squad—prevailed by an 8–2 score, led by four RBIs from former Pittsburgh Pirate Manny Sanguillén.

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	Rich Gedman	95	299	69	.231	9	39
1B	Todd Benzinger	120	405	103	.254	13	70
2B	Marty Barrett	150	612	173	.283	1	65
3B	Wade Boggs	155	584	214	.366	5	58
SS	Jody Reed	109	338	99	.293	1	28
LF	Mike Greenwell	158	590	192	.325	22	119
CF	Ellis Burks	144	540	159	.294	18	92
RF	Dwight Evans	149	559	164	.293	21	111
DH	Jim Rice	135	485	128	.264	15	72

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
	84	264	71	.269	3	27
	89	257	64	.249	5	18
	52	158	41	.259	7	26
	41	148	34	.230	0	12
	57	78	15	.192	1	6
	31	75	18	.240	0	5
	24	61	9	.148	2	8
	17	45	8	.178	1	1
	10	29	4	.138	0	1
	19	12	2	.167	0	0
	5	6	2	.333	0	2

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
Roger Clemens	35	264.0	18	12	2.93	291
Bruce Hurst	33	216.2	18	6	3.66	166
Oil Can Boyd	23	129.2	9	7	5.34	71
Mike Boddicker	15	89.0	7	3	2.63	56
Steve Ellsworth	8	36.0	1	6	6.75	16
Steve Curry	3	11.0	0	1	8.18	4

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
Wes Gardner	36	149.2	8	6	3.50	106
Mike Smithson	31	126.2	9	6	5.97	73
Jeff Sellers	18	85.2	1	7	4.83	70

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
Lee Smith	64	4	5	29	2.80	96
Bob Stanley	57	6	4	5	3.19	57
Dennis Lamp	46	7	6	0	3.48	49
Tom Bolton	28	1	3	1	4.75	21
John Trautwein	9	0	1	0	9.00	8
Zach Crouch	3	0	0	0	6.75	0
Mike Rochford	2	0	0	0	0.00	1
Rob Woodward	1	0	0	0	13.50	0

Awards and honors

;Awards

;Accomplishments

Wade Boggs, American League Batting Champion,
Wade Boggs, American League Leader, Runs
Wade Boggs, American League Leader, Doubles
Wade Boggs, American League Leader, Walks
Wade Boggs, Major League Baseball Leader, On-base percentage
Roger Clemens, American League Leader, Complete Games
Roger Clemens, American League Leader, Shutouts

All-Star Game

Wade Boggs, third base, starter
Roger Clemens, pitcher, reserve
Mike Greenwell, outfield, reserve

Farm system

The Lynchburg Red Sox replaced the Greensboro Hornets as a Class A affiliate. The Arizona League Red Sox/Mariners were added as a Rookie League affiliate.
Arizona League team affiliation shared with the Seattle Mariners
Source: