1970 Boston Red Sox season

1970  Boston Red Sox
League	American League
Division	East
Ballpark	Fenway Park
City	Boston, Massachusetts
Record	87–75 (.537)
Divisional place	3rd
Owner	Tom Yawkey
President	Tom Yawkey
General manager	Dick O'Connell
Manager	Eddie Kasko
Television	WHDH-TV, Ch. 5
Radio	WHDH-AM 850 (Ken Coleman, Ned Martin, Johnny Pesky)
Stats	ESPN.com Baseball Reference
←  1969 Seasons 1971  →

The 1970 Boston Red Sox season was the 70th season in the franchise's Major League Baseball history. The Red Sox finished third in the American League East with a record of 87 wins and 75 losses, 21 games behind the Baltimore Orioles, who went on to win the AL championship and the 1970 World Series.

Offseason

• December 13, 1969: Dalton Jones was traded by the Red Sox to the Detroit Tigers for Tom Matchick. ^[1]

Regular season

The 1970s began with a new manager for the Red Sox. After the firing of Dick Williams near the end of the 1969 season, general manager Dick O'Connell reached down into the farm system again for a replacement and came up with Eddie Kasko, who had managed the Red Sox Triple-A farm team, the Louisville Colonels, to a second-place finish in 1969. Kasko had been a major league infielder from 1957 to 1966, with the St. Louis Cardinals, Cincinnati Reds, Houston Astros, and the Red Sox.

Record by month ^[2]

Month	Record		Cumulative		AL East		Ref.
	Won	Lost	Won	Lost	Position	GB
April	11	8	11	8	3rd (tie)	2	[3]
May	9	17	20	25	5th	11+1⁄2	[4]
June	14	11	34	36	4th	10+1⁄2	[5]
July	18	13	52	49	4th	11	[6]
August	16	14	68	63	4th	17	[7]
September	19	12	87	75	3rd	20+1⁄2	[8]
October†	0	0	87	75	3rd	21	[9]

† Several other teams finished their season on October 1.

Kasko took over a team in transition in 1970. Its leading pitcher was Ray Culp, with 17 wins. Jim Lonborg, the superstar of 1967, still was not back in form and went 4–1. Carl Yastrzemski led the American League with a .329 batting average, and Tony Conigliaro appeared to have recovered from the horrible beaning of 1967, hitting .266, with 36 home runs and 116 RBIs. Reggie Smith hit .303, and George Scott had a banner year at .296, with 16 homers and 63 RBIs. Unfortunately, the Red Sox finished 21 games behind the rampaging Baltimore Orioles, who won 108 games and then went on to defeat the Cincinnati Reds in the 1970 World Series.

There were no scheduled doubleheaders this season at Fenway Park. ^[10]

Season standings

• v
• t
• e

AL East

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Baltimore Orioles	108	54	.667	—	59‍–‍22	49‍–‍32
New York Yankees	93	69	.574	15	53‍–‍28	40‍–‍41
Boston Red Sox	87	75	.537	21	52‍–‍29	35‍–‍46
Detroit Tigers	79	83	.488	29	42‍–‍39	37‍–‍44
Cleveland Indians	76	86	.469	32	43‍–‍38	33‍–‍48
Washington Senators	70	92	.432	38	40‍–‍41	30‍–‍51

Record vs. opponents

1970 American League record v t e Sources:
Team	BAL	BOS	CAL	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	MIL	MIN	NYY	OAK	WSH
Baltimore	—	13–5	7–5	9–3	14–4	11–7	12–0	7–5	5–7	11–7	7–5	12–6
Boston	5–13	—	5–7	8–4	12–6	9–9	7–5	5–7	7–5	10–8	7–5	12–6
California	5–7	7–5	—	12–6	6–6	6–6	10–8	12–6	8–10	5–7	8–10	7–5
Chicago	3–9	4–8	6–12	—	6–6	6–6	7–11	7–11	6–12	5–7	2–16	4–8
Cleveland	4–14	6–12	6–6	6–6	—	7–11	8–4	7–5	6–6	8–10	7–5	11–7
Detroit	7–11	9–9	6–6	6–6	11–7	—	6–6	8–4	4–8	7–11	6–6	9–9
Kansas City	0–12	5–7	8–10	11–7	4–8	6–6	—	12–6	5–13	1–11	7–11	6–6
Milwaukee	5–7	7–5	6–12	11–7	5–7	4–8	6–12	—	5–13	3–9–1	8–10	5–7
Minnesota	7–5	5–7	10–8	12–6	6–6	8–4	13–5	13–5	—	5–7	13–5	6–6
New York	7–11	8–10	7–5	7–5	10–8	11–7	11–1	9–3–1	7–5	—	6–6	10–8
Oakland	5–7	5–7	10–8	16–2	5–7	6–6	11–7	10–8	5–13	6–6	—	10–2
Washington	6–12	6–12	5–7	8–4	7–11	9–9	6–6	7–5	6–6	8–10	2–10	—

Notable transactions

• May 28, 1970: Tom Matchick was traded by the Red Sox to the Kansas City Royals for Mike Fiore. ^[1]
• July 14, 1970: Chuck Hartenstein was acquired by the Red Sox from the St. Louis Cardinals as part of a conditional deal. ^[11]

Opening Day lineup

2	Mike Andrews	2B
7	Reggie Smith	CF
8	Carl Yastrzemski	LF
5	George Scott	1B
6	Rico Petrocelli	SS
25	Tony Conigliaro	RF
1	Luis Alvarado	3B
10	Jerry Moses	C
43	Gary Peters	P

Source: ^[12]

Roster

1970 Boston Red Sox
Roster
Pitchers 16 Bobby Bolin 18 Ken Brett 21 Ray Culp 44 John Curtis 23 Chuck Hartenstein 17 Ray Jarvis 17 Cal Koonce 37 Bill Lee 16 Jim Lonborg 28 Sparky Lyle 36 Dick Mills 29 Roger Moret 15 Mike Nagy 43 Gary Peters 27 Ed Phillips 24 Vicente Romo 36 José Santiago 42 Sonny Siebert 20 Lee Stange 35 Gary Wagner		Catchers 39 Bob Montgomery 10 Jerry Moses  4 Tom Satriano Infielders  1 Luis Alvarado  2 Mike Andrews 20 Carmen Fanzone  3 Mike Fiore 12 John Kennedy  3 Tom Matchick 19 Don Pavletich  6 Rico Petrocelli 11 Dick Schofield  5 George Scott  8 Carl Yastrzemski		Outfielders 40 Billy Conigliaro 25 Tony Conigliaro 23 Mike Derrick 14 Joe Lahoud  7 Reggie Smith 22 George Thomas		Manager 30 Eddie Kasko Coaches 34 Doug Camilli (Bullpen) 31 Don Lenhardt (First base) 32 Eddie Popowski (Third base) 22 George Thomas 33 Charlie Wagner (Pitching)

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
Mike Andrews	151	589	91	149	28	1	17	65	2	81	.253	.390
Rico Petrocelli	157	583	82	152	31	3	29	103	1	67	.261	.473
Reggie Smith	147	580	109	176	32	7	22	74	10	51	.303	.497
Carl Yastrzemski	161	566	125	186	29	0	40	102	23	128	.329	.592
Tony Conigliaro	146	560	89	149	20	1	36	116	4	43	.266	.498
George Scott	127	480	50	142	24	5	16	63	4	44	.296	.467
Billy Conigliaro	114	398	59	108	16	3	18	58	3	35	.271	.462
Jerry Moses	92	315	26	83	18	1	6	35	1	21	.263	.384
Luis Alvarado	59	183	19	41	11	0	1	10	1	9	.224	.301
Tom Satriano	59	165	21	39	9	1	3	13	0	21	.236	.358
Ducky Schofield	76	139	16	26	1	2	1	14	0	21	.187	.245
John Kennedy	43	129	15	33	7	1	4	17	0	6	.256	.419
George Thomas	38	99	13	34	8	0	2	13	0	11	.343	.485
Bob Montgomery	22	78	8	14	2	0	1	4	0	6	.179	.244
Don Pavletich	32	65	4	9	1	1	0	6	1	10	.138	.185
Mike Fiore	41	50	5	7	0	0	0	4	0	8	.140	.140
Joe Lahoud	17	49	6	12	1	0	2	5	0	7	.245	.388
Mike Derrick	24	33	3	7	1	0	0	5	0	0	.212	.242
Carmen Fanzone	10	15	0	3	1	0	0	3	0	2	.200	.267
Tommy Matchick	10	14	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	.071	.071
Pitcher Totals	162	445	43	79	12	2	5	33	0	21	.178	.247
Team Totals	162	5535	786	1450	252	28	203	743	50	594	.262	.428

Source:

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	17	14	3.04	33	33	0	251.1	211	104	85	91	197
Sonny Siebert	15	8	3.44	33	33	0	222.2	207	98	85	60	142
Gary Peters	16	11	4.06	34	34	0	221.2	221	114	100	83	155
Ken Brett	8	9	4.07	41	14	2	139.1	118	71	63	79	155
Mike Nagy	6	5	4.48	23	20	0	128.2	138	71	64	64	56
Vicente Romo	7	3	4.08	48	10	6	108.0	115	51	49	43	71
Cal Koonce	3	4	3.54	23	8	2	76.1	64	32	30	29	37
Sparky Lyle	1	7	3.88	63	0	20	67.1	62	37	29	34	51
Gary Wagner	3	1	3.35	38	0	7	40.0	36	21	15	19	20
Bill Lee	2	2	4.62	11	5	1	37.0	48	20	19	14	19
Jim Lonborg	4	1	3.18	9	4	0	34.0	33	12	12	9	21
Lee Stange	2	2	5.60	20	0	2	27.1	34	24	17	12	14
Ed Phillips	0	2	5.32	18	0	0	23.2	29	14	14	10	23
Chuck Hartenstein	0	3	8.05	17	0	1	19.0	21	17	17	12	12
Ray Jarvis	0	1	3.94	15	0	0	16.0	17	12	7	14	8
José Santiago	0	2	10.32	8	0	1	11.1	18	13	13	8	8
Roger Moret	1	0	3.24	3	1	0	8.1	7	3	3	4	2
Bobby Bolin	2	0	0.00	6	0	2	8.0	2	0	0	5	8
Dick Mills	0	0	2.45	2	0	0	3.2	6	4	1	3	3
John Curtis	0	0	11.57	1	0	0	2.1	4	4	3	1	1
Team Totals	87	75	3.87	162	162	44	1446.1	1391	722	622	594	1003

Source:

Statistical leaders

Carl Yastrzemski

Category	Player	Statistic
Youngest player	Roger Moret	20
Oldest player	Ducky Schofield	35
Wins Above Replacement	Carl Yastrzemski	9.5

Source: ^[13]

Batting

Abbr.	Category	Player	Statistic
G	Games played	Carl Yastrzemski	161
PA	Plate appearances	Carl Yastrzemski	698
AB	At bats	Mike Andrews	589
R	Runs scored	Carl Yastrzemski	125
H	Hits	Carl Yastrzemski	186
2B	Doubles	Reggie Smith	32
3B	Triples	Reggie Smith	7
HR	Home runs	Carl Yastrzemski	40
RBI	Runs batted in	Tony Conigliaro	116
SB	Stolen bases	Carl Yastrzemski	23
CS	Caught stealing	Carl Yastrzemski	13
BB	Base on balls	Carl Yastrzemski	128
SO	Strikeouts	George Scott	95
BA	Batting average	Carl Yastrzemski	.329
OBP	On-base percentage	Carl Yastrzemski	.452
SLG	Slugging percentage	Carl Yastrzemski	.592
OPS	On-base plus slugging	Carl Yastrzemski	1.044
OPS+	Adjusted OPS	Carl Yastrzemski	177
TB	Total bases	Carl Yastrzemski	335
GIDP	Grounded into double play	Rico Petrocelli	16
HBP	Hit by pitch	Tony Conigliaro	8
SH	Sacrifice hits	Ray Culp	5
SF	Sacrifice flies	Rico Petrocelli	10
IBB	Intentional base on balls	Carl Yastrzemski	12

Source: ^[13]

Pitching

Abbr.	Category	Player	Statistic
W	Wins	Ray Culp	17
L	Losses	Ray Culp	14
W-L %	Winning percentage	Vicente Romo	.700 (7-3)
ERA	Earned run average	Ray Culp	3.04
G	Games pitched	Sparky Lyle	63
GS	Games started	Gary Peters	34
GF	Games finished	Sparky Lyle	40
CG	Complete games	Ray Culp	15
SHO	Shutouts	Gary Peters	4
SV	Saves	Sparky Lyle	20
IP	Innings pitched	Ray Culp	251+1⁄3
SO	Strikeouts	Ray Culp	197
WHIP	Walks plus hits per inning pitched	Sonny Siebert	1.199

Source: ^[13]

Awards and honors

• Tony Conigliaro, Hutch Award ^[14]

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Louisville Colonels	International League	Billy Gardner
AA	Pawtucket Red Sox	Eastern League	Matt Sczesny
A	Winston-Salem Red Sox	Carolina League	Bill Slack
A	Winter Haven Red Sox	Florida State League	John Butler
A	Greenville Red Sox	Western Carolinas League	Rac Slider
A-Short Season	Jamestown Falcons	New York–Penn League	Jackie Jensen

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Winston-Salem, Greenville
Source: ^{[15] [16]}

References

1. Tom Matchick page at Baseball Reference
2. "The 1970 Boston Red Sox". Retrosheet . Retrieved October 10, 2020.
3. "Events of Thursday, April 30, 1970".
4. "Events of Sunday, May 31, 1970".
5. "Events of Tuesday, June 30, 1970".
6. "Events of Friday, July 31, 1970".
7. "Events of Monday, August 31, 1970".
8. "Events of Wednesday, September 30, 1970".
9. "Events of Thursday, October 1, 1970".
10. "Red Sox boost prices, no twin bills listed". Lewiston Evening Journal. (Maine). Associated Press. December 22, 1969. p. 22.
11. Chuck Hartenstein page at Baseball-Reference
12. "Boston Red Sox 4, New York Yankees 3". Retrosheet . April 7, 1970. Retrieved October 11, 2020.
13. "1970 Boston Red Sox Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved October 13, 2020.
14. Hutch Award
15. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007
16. Boston Red Sox Guide for Press TV Radio. 1970. p. 2. Retrieved March 14, 2021– via Wayback Machine.

External links

• 1970 Boston Red Sox team page at Baseball Reference
• 1970 Boston Red Sox season at baseball-almanac.com