1979 Boston Red Sox season

The 1979 Boston Red Sox season was the 79th season in the franchise's Major League Baseball history. The Red Sox finished third in the American League East with a record of 91 wins and 69 losses, 11½ games behind the Baltimore Orioles.

1979 Boston Red Sox
Major League affiliations
Location
Other information
Owner(s)Buddy LeRoux, Haywood Sullivan, Jean Yawkey
General manager(s)Haywood Sullivan
Manager(s)Don Zimmer
Local televisionWSBK-TV, Ch. 38
(Ned Martin, Ken Harrelson)
Local radioWITS-AM 1510
(Ken Coleman, Rico Petrocelli)
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Regular season

In 1979, Fred Lynn hit a league-leading .333 and had 39 homers and 122 RBIs. Jim Rice batted .325, with 39 homers and 130 RBIs, but Dennis Eckersley fell to 17 wins, and Mike Torrez had 16 wins again.

Another highlight was Carl Yastrzemski's 3,000th hit and his 400th home run. He was the first American Leaguer ever to do that and the 15th in Major League Baseball history. Yaz joined the 3,000-Hit Club with a single off Jim Beattie on September 12.[1] The hit came against the New York Yankees. The same game also marked the final appearance at Fenway Park for Hall of Fame pitcher Catfish Hunter.

Season standings
AL East W L Pct. GB Home Road
Baltimore Orioles 10257 0.642 — 55–24 47–33
Milwaukee Brewers 9566 0.590 8 52–29 43–37
Boston Red Sox 9169 0.569 11½ 51–29 40–40
New York Yankees 8971 0.556 13½ 51–30 38–41
Detroit Tigers 8576 0.528 18 46–34 39–42
Cleveland Indians 8180 0.503 22 47–34 34–46
Toronto Blue Jays 53109 0.327 50½ 32–49 21–60

Record vs. opponents
1979 American League Records

Sources:
Team BAL BOS CAL CWS CLE DET KC MIL MIN NYY OAK SEA TEX TOR
Baltimore —8–59–38–38–57–66–68–58–45–68–410–26–611–2
Boston 5–8—5–75–66–78–58–48–49–35–89–38–46–69–4
California 3–97–5—9–46–64–87–67–59–47–510–37–65–87–5
Chicago 3–86–54–9—6–63–95–85–75–84–89–45–811–27–5
Cleveland 5–87–66–66–6—6–66–64–98–45–88–47–55–78–5
Detroit 6–75–88–49–36–6—5–76–74–87–67–57–56–69–4
Kansas City 6–64–86–78–56–67–5—5–77–65–79–47–66–79–3
Milwaukee 5–84–85–77–59–47–67–5—8–49–46–69–39–310–3
Minnesota 4–83–94–98–54–88–46–74–8—7–59–410–34–911–1
New York 6–58–55–78–48–56–77–54–95–7—9–36–68–49–4
Oakland 4–83–93–104–94–85–74–96–64–93–9—8–52–114–8
Seattle 2–104–86–78–55–75–76–73–93–106–65–8—6–78–4
Texas 6–66–68–52–117–56–67–63–99–44–811–27–6—7–5
Toronto 2–114–95–75–75–84–93–93–101–114–98–44–85–7—

Notable transactions

Opening Day lineup
  2Jerry Remy2B
  7Rick BurlesonSS
19Fred LynnCF
14Jim RiceDH
  8Carl Yastrzemski    LF
15George Scott1B
  3Jack Brohamer3B
24Dwight EvansRF
10Bob MontgomeryC
43Dennis EckersleyP

Roster
1979 Boston Red Sox
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders
  • 24 Dwight Evans
 Manager

Coaches

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
CGary Allenson10824149.203322
1BBob Watson84312105.3371353
2BJerry Remy8030691.297029
SSRick Burleson153627174.278560
3BButch Hobson146528138.2612893
LFJim Rice158619201.32539130
CFFred Lynn147531177.33339122
RFDwight Evans152489134.2742158
DHCarl Yastrzemski147518140.2702187

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
Carlton Fisk9132087.2721042
Jack Brohamer6419251.266111
George Scott4515635.224423
Tom Poquette6315451.331223
Stan Papi5011722.18816
Jim Dwyer7611330.265214
Ted Sizemore268823.26116
Bob Montgomery328630.34907
Larry Wolfe477819.244315
Mike O'Berry435910.16914
Frank Duffy630.00000

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
Mike Torrez36252.116134.49125
Dennis Eckersley33246.217102.99150
Bob Stanley40216.216123.9956
Steve Renko271711194.1199
Chuck Rainey20103.2853.8241
John Tudor628126.4311

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
Allen Ripley1664.2315.1534
Joel Finch1557.1034.8725

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
Dick Drago56103133.0367
Tom Burgmeier443242.7460
Bill Campbell413494.2825
Jim Wright111005.0915
Win Remmerswaal81007.0816
Andy Hassler81208.807

Awards and honors
All-Star Game

Farm system
See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Pawtucket Red Sox International League Joe Morgan
AA Bristol Red Sox Eastern League Tony Torchia
A Winston-Salem Red Sox Carolina League Bill Slack
A Winter Haven Red Sox Florida State League Rac Slider
A-Short Season Elmira Pioneers New York–Penn League Dick Berardino

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Winston-Salem, Winter Haven

Notes
  1. The 3,000 Hit Club: Carl Yastrzemski
  2. Bob Watson page at Baseball Reference
  3. Ted Sizemore page at Baseball Reference

References
  • Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (1997). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (2nd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America. ISBN 978-0-9637189-8-3.
  • 1979 Boston Red Sox team page at Baseball Reference
  • 1979 Boston Red Sox season at baseball-almanac.com
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