1990 Boston Red Sox season
The 1990 Boston Red Sox season was the 90th season in the franchise's Major League Baseball history. The Red Sox finished first in the American League East with a record of 88 wins and 74 losses. It was the second AL East division championship in three years for the Red Sox. However, the team was defeated in a four-game sweep by the Oakland Athletics in the ALCS, as had been the case in 1988.
1990 Boston Red Sox | |
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1990 AL East Champions | |
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Owner(s) | Jean Yawkey, Haywood Sullivan |
General manager(s) | Lou Gorman |
Manager(s) | Joe Morgan |
Local television | WSBK-TV, Ch. 38 (Sean McDonough, Bob Montgomery) NESN (Ned Martin, Jerry Remy) |
Local radio | WRKO (Bob Starr, Joe Castiglione) WROL (Bobby Serrano, Hector Martinez) |
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Offseason
- December 6, 1989: Dennis Lamp was signed as a Free Agent with the Boston Red Sox.[1]
- December 6, 1989: Jeff Reardon signed as a Free Agent with the Boston Red Sox.[2]
- December 19, 1989: Rick Cerone was released by the Boston Red Sox.[3]
- December 20, 1989: Sam Horn was released by the Boston Red Sox.[4]
- February 15, 1990: Bill Buckner signed as a Free Agent with the Boston Red Sox.[5]
- February 15, 1990: Greg A. Harris was signed as a Free Agent with the Boston Red Sox.[6]
Regular season
On June 6, 1990, the Red Sox got retribution for Bucky Dent's home run when the New York Yankees fired Dent as their manager, making Fenway Park the scene of his greatest moment as a player—and his worst moment as manager.[7] Dan Shaughnessy of The Boston Globe criticized Yankees Owner George Steinbrenner for firing Dent—his 18th managerial change in as many years—in Boston and said he should "have waited until the Yankees got to Baltimore" to fire Dent.[8] He said that "if Dent had been fired in Seattle or Milwaukee, this would have been just another event in an endless line of George's jettisons. But it happened in Boston and the nightly news had its hook."[8] He also said that "the firing was only special because...it's the first time a Yankee manager...was purged on the ancient Indian burial grounds of the Back Bay."[8] However, Bill Pennington called the firing of Dent "merciless."[9]
The Red Sox also set a Major League record which still stands for the most double plays grounded into in a season, with 174.[10]
Season standings
AL East | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
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Boston Red Sox | 88 | 74 | 0.543 | — | 51–30 | 37–44 |
Toronto Blue Jays | 86 | 76 | 0.531 | 2 | 44–37 | 42–39 |
Detroit Tigers | 79 | 83 | 0.488 | 9 | 39–42 | 40–41 |
Cleveland Indians | 77 | 85 | 0.475 | 11 | 41–40 | 36–45 |
Baltimore Orioles | 76 | 85 | 0.472 | 11½ | 40–40 | 36–45 |
Milwaukee Brewers | 74 | 88 | 0.457 | 14 | 39–42 | 35–46 |
New York Yankees | 67 | 95 | 0.414 | 21 | 37–44 | 30–51 |
Record vs. opponents
1990 American League Records Sources: | ||||||||||||||
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Team | BAL | BOS | CAL | CWS | CLE | DET | KC | MIL | MIN | NYY | OAK | SEA | TEX | TOR |
Baltimore | — | 4–9 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 6–7 | 6–7 | 8–3 | 7–6 | 6–6 | 6–7 | 4–8 | 3–9 | 8–4 | 5–8 |
Boston | 9–4 | — | 7–5 | 6–6 | 9–4 | 8–5 | 4–8 | 5–8 | 4–8 | 9–4 | 4–8 | 8–4 | 5–7 | 10–3 |
California | 5–7 | 5–7 | — | 5–8 | 7–5 | 5–7 | 7–6 | 7–5 | 9–4 | 6–6 | 4–9 | 5–8 | 8–5 | 7–5 |
Chicago | 6–6 | 6–6 | 8–5 | — | 5–7 | 5–7 | 9–4 | 10–2 | 7–6 | 10–2 | 8–5 | 8–5 | 7–6 | 5–7 |
Cleveland | 7–6 | 4–9 | 5–7 | 7–5 | — | 5–8 | 6–6 | 9–4 | 7–5 | 5–8 | 4–8 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 4–9 |
Detroit | 7–6 | 5–8 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 8–5 | — | 5–7 | 3–10 | 6–6 | 7–6 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 5–8 |
Kansas City | 3–8 | 8–4 | 6–7 | 4–9 | 6–6 | 7–5 | — | 4–8 | 8–5 | 8–4 | 4–9 | 7–6 | 5–8 | 5–7 |
Milwaukee | 6–7 | 8–5 | 5–7 | 2–10 | 4–9 | 10–3 | 8–4 | — | 4–8 | 6–7 | 5–7 | 4–8 | 5–7 | 7–6 |
Minnesota | 6–6 | 8–4 | 4–9 | 6–7 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 5–8 | 8–4 | — | 6–6 | 6–7 | 6–7 | 5–8 | 3–9 |
New York | 7–6 | 4–9 | 6–6 | 2–10 | 8–5 | 6–7 | 4–8 | 7–6 | 6–6 | — | 0–12 | 9–3 | 3–9 | 5–8 |
Oakland | 8–4 | 8–4 | 9–4 | 5–8 | 8–4 | 6–6 | 9–4 | 7–5 | 7–6 | 12–0 | — | 9–4 | 8–5 | 7–5 |
Seattle | 9–3 | 4–8 | 8–5 | 5–8 | 5–7 | 5–7 | 6–7 | 8–4 | 7–6 | 3–9 | 4–9 | — | 7–6 | 6–6 |
Texas | 4–8 | 7–5 | 5–8 | 6–7 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 8–5 | 7–5 | 8–5 | 9–3 | 5–8 | 6–7 | — | 7–5 |
Toronto | 8–5 | 3–10 | 5–7 | 7–5 | 9–4 | 8–5 | 7–5 | 6–7 | 9–3 | 8–5 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 5–7 | — |
Opening Day Line Up
26 | Wade Boggs | 3B |
17 | Marty Barrett | 2B |
39 | Mike Greenwell | LF |
12 | Ellis Burks | CF |
24 | Dwight Evans | DH |
13 | Billy Jo Robidoux | 1B |
6 | Tony Peña | C |
3 | Jody Reed | SS |
16 | Kevin Romine | RF |
21 | Roger Clemens | P |
Roster
1990 Boston Red Sox | |||||||||
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Roster | |||||||||
Pitchers
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Catchers
Infielders
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Outfielders
Designated Hitters
Pinch hitter
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Manager
Coaches
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Notable transactions
- May 4, 1990: Lee Smith was traded by the Boston Red Sox to the St. Louis Cardinals for Tom Brunansky.[11]
- June 4, 1990: Les Norman was drafted by the Boston Red Sox in the 26th round of the 1990 amateur draft, but did not sign.[12]
- June 5, 1990: Bill Buckner was released by the Boston Red Sox.[5]
- August 23, 1990: Cecilio Guante signed as a Free Agent with the Boston Red Sox.
- August 30, 1990: The Boston Red Sox traded Jeff Bagwell to the Houston Astros for Larry Andersen.
Alumni game
The team held an old-timers game on May 19, before a scheduled home game against the Minnesota Twins. Red Sox alumni pitchers Bill Lee, Bill Monbouquette, and Dick Radatz allowed just one hit (to former Detroit Tiger Willie Horton) in the four-inning game, as Boston won by a 2–0 score over a team of MLB alumni from other clubs.[13]
Player stats
= Indicates team leader |
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 |
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C | Tony Peña | 143 | 491 | 129 | .263 | 7 | 56 |
1B | Carlos Quintana | 149 | 512 | 147 | .287 | 7 | 67 |
2B | Jody Reed | 155 | 598 | 173 | .289 | 5 | 51 |
3B | Wade Boggs | 155 | 619 | 187 | .302 | 6 | 63 |
SS | Luis Rivera | 118 | 346 | 78 | .225 | 7 | 45 |
LF | Mike Greenwell | 159 | 610 | 181 | .297 | 14 | 73 |
CF | Ellis Burks | 152 | 588 | 174 | .296 | 21 | 89 |
RF | Tom Brunansky | 129 | 461 | 123 | .267 | 15 | 71 |
DH | Dwight Evans | 123 | 445 | 111 | .249 | 13 | 63 |
Pitching
Starting pitchers
Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
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Roger Clemens | 31 | 228.1 | 21 | 6 | 1.93 | 209 |
Mike Boddicker | 34 | 228 | 17 | 8 | 3.16 | 143 |
Tom Bolton | 21 | 119.2 | 10 | 5 | 3.38 | 65 |
ALCS
Game 1
October 6, 1990, at Fenway Park
Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
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Oakland | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 9 | 13 | 0 |
Boston | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 1 |
W: Dave Stewart (1-0) L: Larry Andersen (0-1) | ||||||||||||
HR: BOS – Wade Boggs (1) |
Game 2
October 7, 1990, at Fenway Park
Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
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Oakland | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 13 | 1 |
Boston | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 0 |
W: Bob Welch (1-0) L: Greg Harris (0-1) S: Dennis Eckersley (1) | ||||||||||||
HR: None |
Game 3
October 9, 1990, at Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum
Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
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Boston | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 3 |
Oakland | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | x | 4 | 6 | 0 |
W: Mike Moore (1-0) L: Mike Boddicker (0-1) S: Dennis Eckersley (2) | ||||||||||||
HR: None |
Game 4
October 10, 1990, at Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum
Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
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Boston | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 |
Oakland | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | x | 3 | 6 | 0 |
W: Dave Stewart (2-0) L: Roger Clemens (0-1) S: Rick Honeycutt (1) | ||||||||||||
HR: None |
Awards and honors
- Awards
- Mike Boddicker – Gold Glove Award (P)
- Ellis Burks – Silver Slugger Award (OF), Gold Glove Award (OF)
- Roger Clemens – AL Pitcher of the Month (August)
- Accomplishments
- Roger Clemens, American League Leader, Shutouts (4)
- Wade Boggs, Third Base, Starter
- Ellis Burks, Outfield, Reserve
- Roger Clemens, Pitcher, Reserve
Farm system
The Lynchburg Red Sox and Winter Haven Red Sox changed classification from Class A to Class A-Advanced.
Level | Team | League | Manager |
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AAA | Pawtucket Red Sox | International League | Ed Nottle and Johnny Pesky |
AA | New Britain Red Sox | Eastern League | Butch Hobson |
A-Advanced | Lynchburg Red Sox | Carolina League | Gary Allenson |
A-Advanced | Winter Haven Red Sox | Florida State League | Dave Holt |
A-Short Season | Elmira Pioneers | New York–Penn League | Mike Verdi |
Rookie | GCL Red Sox | Gulf Coast League | Felix Maldonado |
References
- Dennis Lamp Statistics and History - Baseball-Reference.com
- Jeff Reardon Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com
- Rick Cerone Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com
- Sam Horn Statistics and History - Baseball-Reference.com
- Bill Buckner Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com
- Greg Harris Statistics and History - Baseball-Reference.com
- Cafardo, Nick (June 7, 1990). "Dent Dumped by Yankees". The Boston Globe. p. 37.
- Shaughnessy, Dan (June 7, 1990). "His Back Was Against the Wall". The Boston Globe. p. 37.
- Pennington, Bill (2019). Chumps to Champs: How the Worst Teams in Yankees History Led to the '90s Dynasty. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. p. 32. ISBN 9781328849854.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- "Single Season Grounding Into Double Play Records". Baseball-Almanac.com. Retrieved May 14, 2012.
- Lee Smith Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com
- Les Norman Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com
- "Baseball". The Burlington Free Press. Burlington, Vermont. May 20, 1990. p. 2C. Retrieved May 24, 2018 – via newspapers.com.
- Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007