2008 Boston Red Sox season

The 2008 Boston Red Sox season was the 108th season in the franchise's Major League Baseball history. The Red Sox, as [2007 Boston Boston Red Sox|Red Sox season|the defending World Series champions], finished in second place in the American League East with a record of 95–67, two games behind the Tampa Bay Rays. The Red Sox qualified for the postseason as the AL wild card and defeated the American League West champion Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in the ALDS. The Red Sox then lost to the Rays in the ALCS in seven games. This was the franchise's fourth appearance in the ALCS in six seasons.
In late March, the team started the regular season playing in Tokyo against the Oakland Athletics for MLB Japan Opening Day 2008. In July, seven Red Sox players were selected for the AL All-Star team, with outfielder J. D. Drew being named the game's MVP. On July 31, the Red Sox traded long-time star player Manny Ramirez to the Dodgers in a three-way blockbuster for Jason Bay and minor leaguer Josh Wilson. In September, the team officially retired uniform number 6 in honor of Johnny Pesky.

Regular season

Prior to the season, three large Coca-Cola bottles, which had been placed on the left light tower above the Green Monster prior to the 1997 season as an advertisement, were removed.

Notable transactions

May 22, 2008: Julián Tavárez was released by the Red Sox.
July 12, 2008: Bobby Kielty was released by the Red Sox.
July 31, 2008: As part of a three-team trade, star outfielder Jason Bay was acquired by the Red Sox from the Pirates for pitcher Craig Hansen and outfielder/first baseman Brandon Moss. Also in exchange, the Red Sox sent star outfielder Manny Ramirez to the Dodgers.
August 12, 2008: Paul Byrd was acquired by the Red Sox from the Indians in exchange for a player to be named later.
August 22, 2008: David Ross signed as a free agent with the Red Sox.
August 27, 2008: Mark Kotsay was acquired by the Red Sox from the Braves in exchange for minor leaguer Luis Sumoza.

Player stats

Batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs scored; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; AVG = Batting average; SB = Stolen bases; Bold Indicates team leader in category.

Player	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	AVG	SB
	5	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	0
	27	50	10	14	1	1	2	6	.280	0
	49	184	39	54	12	2	9	37	.293	3
	2	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	0
	9	18	5	6	0	0	0	3	.333	0
	69	199	14	64	14	0	0	17	.322	1
	61	142	11	32	7	0	3	15	.225	0
	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	0
	75	152	14	41	8	2	0	9	.270	1
	118	361	55	102	18	3	7	41	.283	20
	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	0
	109	368	79	103	23	4	19	64	.280	4
	145	554	98	155	22	7	9	47	.280	50*
	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	0
	22	84	6	19	8	1	0	12	.226	0
	3	5	1	1	1	0	0	0	.200	0
	2	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	0
	3	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	0
	113	419	58	115	27	0	17	73	.274	2
	81	260	34	67	25	3	2	46	.258	1
	82	261	27	70	13	0	1	22	.268	1
	2	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	0
	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	0
	34	78	7	23	5	1	2	11	.295	1
	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	0
	109	416	74	110	30	1	23	89	.264	1
	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	0
	157	653	118*	213**	54**	2	17	83	.326	20
	100	365	66	109	22	1	20	68	.299	1
	8	8	1	1	0	0	0	0	.125	0
	4	8	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	0
	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	0
	11	17	0	4	0	1	0	5	.235	0
	131	423	37	93	20	0	13	43	.220	0
	3	8	0	1	0	0	0	1	.125	0
	1	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	0
	145	538	91	168	43	4	29	115	.312	3
Team Totals	162	5596	845	1565	353	33	173	807	.280	120

Pitchers

Note: W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; SV = Saves; IP = Innings pitched; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; K = Strikeouts

Player	W	L	ERA	G	GS	SV	IP	R	ER	BB	K
	4	2	5.55	47	0	0	48.2	32	30	35	49
	12	10	4.03	27	27	0	174.1	80	78	34	172
	1	0	3.60	1	1	0	5.0	2	2	1	3
	2	9	6.75	16	15	0	76.0	63	57	41	72
	4	2	4.78	8	8	0	49.0	26	26	10	26
	4	2	3.92	7	7	0	39.0	23	17	10	27
	0	0	10.50	7	0	0	6.0	7	7	3	4
	1	2	3.27	73	0	2	74.1	28	27	28	72
	1	0	4.05	4	0	0	6.2	5	3	1	5
	1	3	5.58	32	0	2	30.2	23	19	23	25
	16	6	3.21	33	33	0	210.1	78	75	66	152
	2	0	2.43	70	0	0	59.1	18	16	27	38
	6	5	3.16	36	9	0	88.1	31	31	40	68
	18	3	2.90	29	29	0	167.2	58	54	94	154
	3	2	2.61	64	0	1	62.0	18	18	23	60
	5	4	2.34	67	0	41	69.1	24	18	8	77
	0	1	11.68	6	2	0	12.1	17	16	5	11
	1	0	7.85	12	0	0	18.1	16	16	7	13
	0	0	21.60	2	0	0	1.2	4	4	2	1
	0	1	6.39	9	0	0	12.2	12	9	9	6
	4	4	5.66	47	0	1	49.1	32	31	20	32
	10	11	4.13	30	30	0	181.0	89	83	60	117
	0	0	16.62	1	1	0	4.1	8	8	1	1
Team Totals	95	67	4.01	162	162	47	1446.1	694	645	548	1185

* indicates player led their respectable league in that certain category
** indicates player led all of baseball in that certain category
Led team in starters ERA
Led in team ERA
Allowed fewest runs as a starter for the Red Sox
Led team in runs allowed.
Led team in walks allowed.
Led starters in walks allowed.

Awards and honors

;All-Star Game

Farm system

Source: