1981 Boston Red Sox season

Last updated

1981  Boston Red Sox
League American League
Division East
Ballpark Fenway Park
City Boston, Massachusetts
Record
  • 1st half: 30–26 (.536)
  • 2nd half: 29–23 (.558)
  • Overall: 59–49 (.546)
Divisional place
  • 1st half: 5th
  • 2nd half: 2nd
Owners Buddy LeRoux, Haywood Sullivan, Jean Yawkey
President Jean Yawkey
General manager Haywood Sullivan
Manager Ralph Houk
Television WSBK-TV, Ch. 38
(Ned Martin, Ken Harrelson)
Radio WITS-AM 1510
(Ken Coleman, Jon Miller)
Stats ESPN.com
Baseball Reference
←  1980 Seasons 1982  →

The 1981 Boston Red Sox season was the 81st season in the franchise's Major League Baseball history. Due to the 1981 Major League Baseball strike, play during the regular season was suspended for 50 days, and the season was split into two halves, with playoff teams determined by records from each half of the season. In the first half of the season, the Red Sox finished fifth in the American League East with a record of 30 wins and 26 losses, four games behind the New York Yankees. In the second half of the season, the Red Sox finished tied for second in the division with a record of 29 wins and 23 losses, 1+1⁄2 games behind the Milwaukee Brewers. The Red Sox' overall record for the season was 59 wins and 49 losses.

Contents

Offseason

Regular season

Record by month [3]
MonthRecordCumulative AL East Ref.
WonLostWonLostPosition GB
April79795th3+1⁄2 [4]
May181225215th4 [5]
June5530265th4 [6]
 Second half 
August1191193rd (tie)1+1⁄2 [7]
September161327223rd1+1⁄2 [8]
October2129232nd (tie)1+1⁄2 [9]

Season standings

AL East
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
Milwaukee Brewers 6247.569—28‍–‍2134‍–‍26
Baltimore Orioles 5946.562133‍–‍2226‍–‍24
New York Yankees 5948.551232‍–‍1927‍–‍29
Detroit Tigers 6049.550232‍–‍2328‍–‍26
Boston Red Sox 5949.5462½30‍–‍2329‍–‍26
Cleveland Indians 5251.505725‍–‍2927‍–‍22
Toronto Blue Jays 3769.34923½17‍–‍3620‍–‍33
AL East
First Half Standings		WLPct.GB
New York Yankees 3422.607—
Baltimore Orioles 3123.5742
Milwaukee Brewers 3125.5543
Detroit Tigers 3126.5443+1⁄2
Boston Red Sox 3026.5364
Cleveland Indians 2624.5205
Toronto Blue Jays 1642.27619
AL East
Second Half Standings		WLPct.GB
Milwaukee Brewers 3122.585—
Boston Red Sox 2923.5581+1⁄2
Detroit Tigers 2923.5581+1⁄2
Baltimore Orioles 2823.5492
Cleveland Indians 2627.4915
New York Yankees 2526.4905
Toronto Blue Jays 2127.4387+1⁄2

Record vs. opponents

1981 American League record

Sources:
TeamBALBOSCALCWSCLEDETKCMILMINNYYOAKSEATEXTOR
Baltimore —2–26–63–64–26–75–32–46–07–67–54–22–15–2
Boston 2–2—2–45–47–66–13–36–72–53–37–59–33–64–0
California 6–64–2—6–77–53–30–64–33–32–22–86–42–46–6
Chicago 6–34–57–6—2–53–32–04–12–45–77–63–32–47–5
Cleveland 2–46–75–75–2—1–54–43–62–17–53–28–42–24–2
Detroit 7–61–63–33–35–1—3–25–89–33–71–25–19–36–4
Kansas City 3–53–36–00–24–42–3—4–59–42–103–36–73–45–3
Milwaukee 4–27–63–41–46–38–55–4—9–33–34–22–24–56–4
Minnesota 0–65–23–34–21–23–94–93–9—3–32–83–6–15–85–1
New York 6–73–32–27–55–77–310–23–33–3—4–32–35–42–3
Oakland 5–75–78–26–72–32–13–32–48–23–4—6–14–210–2
Seattle 2–43–94–63–34–81–57–62–26–3–13–21–6—5–83–3
Texas 1–26–34–24–22–23–94–35–48–54–52–48–5—6–2
Toronto 2–50–46–65–72–44–63–54–61–53–22–103–32–6—

Notable transactions

Opening Day lineup

24 Dwight Evans RF
11 Dave Stapleton 2B
26 Joe Rudi   DH
14 Jim Rice LF
  5 Tony Pérez 1B
  4 Carney Lansford 3B
18 Glenn Hoffman SS
39 Gary Allenson C
  3 Rick Miller CF
43 Dennis Eckersley   P

Source: [12]

The Chicago White Sox defeated the Red Sox on Opening Day, 5–3. It was the first game that Carlton Fisk played for the White Sox, after 11 seasons with the Red Sox; Fisk hit a three-run home run in the eighth inning. [13]

Roster

1981 Boston Red Sox
Roster
PitchersCatchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Designated hitters

Manager

Coaches

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

PlayerGABRH2B3BHRRBISBBBAVGSLG
Jim Rice 108451511281811762234.284.441
Dwight Evans 108412841221942271385.296.522
Carney Lansford 102399611342334521534.336.439
Jerry Remy 883585511091031936.307.338
Dave Stapleton 93355451011711042021.285.423
Carl Yastrzemski 913383683141753049.246.355
Rick Miller 973163892172233328.291.377
Tony Pérez 843063577113939027.252.395
Glenn Hoffman 782422856100120012.231.285
Rich Gedman 62205225915052609.288.434
Gary Allenson 47139233180525023.223.388
Joe Rudi 4912214223062408.180.352
Reid Nichols 3948139010302.188.229
Garry Hancock 264547300302.156.222
Dave Schmidt 1542610102307.238.405
Julio Valdez 172315000300.217.217
Chico Walker 61736000201.353.353
Tom Poquette 3200000000.000.000
John Lickert 1000000000.---.---
Team Totals10838205191052168179049232378.275.399

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

PlayerWLERAGGSSVIPHRERBBSO
Dennis Eckersley 984.2723230154.016082733579
Frank Tanana 4104.0124230141.114270634378
Mike Torrez 1033.6822220127.113061525154
Bob Stanley 1083.83351098.211046423828
John Tudor 434.581811178.27444402844
Mark Clear 834.11340976.26936355182
Bob Ojeda 623.121010066.15025232528
Tom Burgmeier 452.87320659.26123191735
Steve Crawford 054.991411057.26938321829
Bill Campbell 113.17300748.14523172037
Chuck Rainey 012.70112040.03921121320
Bruce Hurst 204.3055023.02311111211
Luis Aponte 100.5770115.21111311
Team Totals59493.8110810824987.1983481418354536

Source:

Statistical leaders

Dwight Evans Dwight Evans 1976.jpg
Dwight Evans
CategoryPlayerStatistic
Youngest player Rich Gedman
John Lickert 		21
Oldest player Carl Yastrzemski 41
Wins Above Replacement Dwight Evans 6.7

Source: [14]

Batting

Abbr.CategoryPlayerStatistic
G Games played Dwight Evans 108
Jim Rice
PA Plate appearances Dwight Evans504
AB At bats Jim Rice451
R Runs scoredDwight Evans84
H Hits Carney Lansford 134
2B Doubles Carney Lansford23
3B Triples Dwight Evans4
HR Home runs Dwight Evans22
RBI Runs batted in Dwight Evans71
SB Stolen bases Carney Lansford15
CS Caught stealing Carney Lansford10
BB Base on balls Dwight Evans85
SO Strikeouts Dwight Evans85
BA Batting average Carney Lansford.336
OBP On-base percentage Dwight Evans.415
SLG Slugging percentage Dwight Evans.522
OPS On-base plus slugging Dwight Evans.937
OPS+ Adjusted OPS Dwight Evans163
TB Total bases Dwight Evans215
GIDP Grounded into double play Jim Rice14
HBP Hit by pitch Jim Rice3
SH Sacrifice hits Jerry Remy 13
SF Sacrifice flies Jim Rice7
IBB Intentional base on balls Carl Yastrzemski 4

Source: [14]

Pitching

Abbr.CategoryPlayerStatistic
W Wins Bob Stanley 10
Mike Torrez
L Losses Frank Tanana 10
W-L % Winning percentage Mike Torrez.769 (10–3)
ERA Earned run average Mike Torrez 3.68
GGames pitchedBob Stanley35
GSGames started Dennis Eckersley 23
Frank Tanana
GFGames finished Bill Campbell 23
CG Complete games Dennis Eckersley8
SHO Shutouts Dennis Eckersley2
Frank Tanana
SV Saves Mark Clear 9
IP Innings pitched Dennis Eckersley154
SO Strikeouts Mark Clear82
WHIP Walks plus hits per inning pitched Dennis Eckersley1.266

Source: [14]

Awards and honors

All-Star Game

Farm system

LevelTeamLeagueManager
AAA Pawtucket Red Sox International League Joe Morgan
AA Bristol Red Sox Eastern League Tony Torchia
A Winston-Salem Red Sox Carolina League Buddy Hunter
A Winter Haven Red Sox Florida State League Rac Slider
A-Short Season Elmira Suns New York–Penn League Dick Berardino

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Bristol
Source: [15] [16]

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References

  1. 1 2 Cole, Milton; Kaplan, Jim (2009). The Boston Red Sox: An Illustrated History. North Dighton, Massachusetts: World Publications Group. p. 58. ISBN   978-1-57215-412-4.
  2. ↑ Joe Rudi page at Baseball Reference
  3. ↑ "The 1981 Boston Red Sox". Retrosheet . Retrieved October 11, 2020.
  4. ↑ "Events of Thursday, April 30, 1981".
  5. ↑ "Events of Sunday, May 31, 1981".
  6. ↑ "Events of Thursday, June 11, 1981".
  7. ↑ "Events of Monday, August 31, 1981".
  8. ↑ "Events of Wednesday, September 30, 1981".
  9. ↑ "Events of Monday, October 5, 1981".
  10. ↑ Dick Drago page at Baseball Reference
  11. ↑ Steve Lyons page at Baseball Reference
  12. ↑ "Chicago White Sox 5, Boston Red Sox 3". Retrosheet . April 10, 1981. Retrieved October 11, 2020.
  13. ↑ Wancho, Joseph. "April 10, 1981: Carlton Fisk homers in return to Fenway Park". SABR . Retrieved October 11, 2020.
  14. 1 2 3 "1981 Boston Red Sox Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved October 13, 2020.
  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 Media Guide. 1981. p. 52. Retrieved March 14, 2021– via Wayback Machine.
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