1986 Boston Red Sox season

1986 Boston Red Sox
1986 American League Champions 1986 AL East Champions Roger Clemens named AL MVP
Major League affiliations
American League (since 1901) Eastern Division (since 1969)
Location
Fenway Park (since 1912) Boston, Massachusetts (since 1901)
Results
Record	95–66 (.590)
Divisional place	1st
Other information
Owner(s)	Buddy LeRoux, Haywood Sullivan, Jean Yawkey
General manager(s)	Lou Gorman
Manager(s)	John McNamara
Local television	WSBK-TV, Ch. 38 NESN (Ned Martin, Bob Montgomery)
Local radio	WPLM-FM 99.1 WPLM-AM 1390 (Ken Coleman, Joe Castiglione)
Stats	ESPN.com BB-reference
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The 1986 Boston Red Sox season was the 86th season in the franchise's Major League Baseball history. The Red Sox finished first in the American League East with a record of 95 wins and 66 losses. After defeating the California Angels in the ALCS, the Red Sox lost the World Series to the New York Mets in seven games.

Offseason[]

• November 13, 1985: Bob Ojeda, Tom McCarthy, John Mitchell and Chris Bayer (minors) were traded to the New York Mets for Calvin Schiraldi, Wes Gardner, John Christensen, and La Schelle Tarver.^[1]
• December 11, 1985: Mark Clear was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers for Ed Romero.^[2]
• January 14, 1986: Alan Mills was selected in the first round (13th overall) of the amateur draft, but did not sign.^[3]
• January 14, 1986: Curt Schilling was selected in the second round of the amateur draft, and signed on May 30.^[4]
• March 28, 1986: Mike Easler was traded to the New York Yankees for Don Baylor.^[5]

Spring training[]

The Red Sox held spring training at Chain of Lakes Park in Winter Haven, Florida, for the 21st season.

Regular season[]

Record by month^[6]

Month	Record		Cumulative		AL East		Ref.
	Won	Lost	Won	Lost	Position	GB
April	11	8	11	8	2nd (tie)	2+1⁄2	[7]
May	21	7	32	15	1st	+2+1⁄2	[8]
June	17	10	49	25	1st	+8	[9]
July	10	16	59	41	1st	+4	[10]
August	17	13	76	54	1st	+3+1⁄2	[11]
September	18	8	94	62	1st	+8+1⁄2	[12]
October	1	4	95	66	1st	+5+1⁄2	[13]

The Red Sox played only 161 games, as a road game scheduled against the Milwaukee Brewers on September 24 was rained out, and was not rescheduled as it had no bearing on the divisional race.^[14]

Highlights[]

• On April 29 at Fenway Park, 23-year-old Roger Clemens struck out 20 Seattle Mariners to set a major league record for a nine-inning game.^{[15][16][17][18]}
• Clemens finished the regular season with 24 wins, the most by a Red Sox pitcher since Mel Parnell won 25 games in 1949.

Season standings[]

v t AL East	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Boston Red Sox	95	66	0.590	—	51–30	44–36
New York Yankees	90	72	0.556	5½	41–39	49–33
Detroit Tigers	87	75	0.537	8½	49–32	38–43
Toronto Blue Jays	86	76	0.531	9½	42–39	44–37
Cleveland Indians	84	78	0.519	11½	45–35	39–43
Milwaukee Brewers	77	84	0.478	18	41–39	36–45
Baltimore Orioles	73	89	0.451	22½	37–42	36–47

This was the first season since 1904 that the Yankees franchise (then known as the Highlanders) finished second in the standings to the Red Sox franchise (then known as the Americans).^[19]

Record vs. opponents[]

1986 American League Records v t Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14]
Team	BAL	BOS	CAL	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	MIL	MIN	NYY	OAK	SEA	TEX	TOR
Baltimore	—	4–9	6–6	9–3	4–9	1–12	6–6	6–7	8–4	5–8	5–7	6–6	5–7	8–5
Boston	9–4	—	5–7	7–5	10–3	7–6	6–6	6–6	10–2	5–8	7–5	8–4	8–4	7–6
California	6–6	7–5	—	7–6	6–6	7–5	8–5	5–7	7–6	7–5	10–3	8–5	8–5	6–6
Chicago	3–9	5–7	6–7	—	5–7	6–6	7–6	5–7	6–7	6–6	7–6	8–5	2–11	6–6
Cleveland	9–4	3–10	6–6	7–5	—	4–9	8–4	8–5	6–6	5–8	10–2	9–3	6–6	3–10–1
Detroit	12–1	6–7	5–7	6–6	9–4	—	5–7	8–5	7–5	6–7	6–6	6–6	7–5	4–9
Kansas City	6–6	6–6	5–8	6–7	4–8	7–5	—	6–6	6–7	4–8	8–5	5–8	8–5	5–7
Milwaukee	7–6	6–6	7–5	7–5	5–8	5–8	6–6	—	4–8	8–5	5–7	6–6	4–8	7–6
Minnesota	4–8	2–10	6–7	7–6	6–6	5–7	7–6	8–4	—	4–8	6–7	6–7	6–7	4–8
New York	8–5	8–5	5–7	6–6	8–5	7–6	8–4	5–8	8–4	—	5–7	8–4	7–5	7–6
Oakland	7–5	5–7	3–10	6–7	2–10	6–6	5–8	7–5	7–6	7–5	—	10–3	3–10	8–4
Seattle	6–6	4–8	5–8	5–8	3–9	6–6	8–5	6–6	7–6	4–8	3–10	—	4–9	6–6
Texas	7–5	4–8	5–8	11–2	6–6	5–7	5–8	8–4	7–6	5–7	10–3	9–4	—	5–7
Toronto	5–8	6–7	6–6	6–6	10–3–1	9–4	7–5	6–7	8–4	6–7	4–8	6–6	7–5	—

Notable transactions[]

• June 2, 1986: The Red Sox selected Scott Cooper in the third round of the 1986 Major League Baseball draft.^[20]
• June 29, 1986: Steve Lyons was traded by the Red Sox to the Chicago White Sox for Tom Seaver.^[21]
• August 17, 1986: The Seattle Mariners traded Spike Owen and Dave Henderson to the Red Sox for Rey Quiñones and players to be named later (Mike Brown, Mike Trujillo, and John Christensen).^[22]

Opening day lineup[]

24	Dwight Evans	RF
26	Wade Boggs	3B
6	Bill Buckner	1B
14	Jim Rice	LF
25	Don Baylor	DH
10	Rich Gedman	C
20	Tony Armas	CF
17	Marty Barrett	2B
18	Glenn Hoffman	SS
47	Bruce Hurst	P

Source:^[23]

Alumni game[]

On May 17, the Red Sox held an old-timers game at Fenway, before a scheduled game with the Texas Rangers. The game—themed to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the pennant-winning 1946 Red Sox—welcomed back 19 alumni of the team and was also the first to invite non-Red Sox alumni.^[24] Besides Ted Williams, Luis Tiant, and Rico Petrocelli, the day featured appearances by all three DiMaggio brothers: Joe, Vince, and Dom.^[25] The umpiring crew included Hall of Fame inductee Jocko Conlan.^[25]

Roster[]

1986 Boston Red Sox
Roster
Pitchers 23 Oil Can Boyd 27 Mike Brown 21 Roger Clemens 28 Steve Crawford 44 Wes Gardner 47 Bruce Hurst 48 Tim Lollar 49 Al Nipper 43 Joe Sambito 31 Calvin Schiraldi 41 Tom Seaver 19 Jeff Sellers 46 Bob Stanley 53 Sammy Stewart 45 Mike Trujillo 42 Rob Woodward		Catchers 10 Rich Gedman 50 Dave Sax 15 Marc Sullivan Infielders 17 Marty Barrett 25 Don Baylor 26 Wade Boggs  6 Bill Buckner 27 Pat Dodson 18 Glenn Hoffman  5 Spike Owen 51 Rey Quiñones  7 Ed Romero 11 Dave Stapleton		Outfielders 20 Tony Armas 24 Dwight Evans 39 Mike Greenwell 40 Dave Henderson 12 Steve Lyons 14 Jim Rice 16 Kevin Romine 37 Mike Stenhouse 55 La Schelle Tarver		Manager  1 John McNamara Coaches 34 Bill Fischer (Pitching) 33 Walt Hriniak (Hitting & First base) 36 Rene Lachemann (Third base) 35 Joe Morgan (Bullpen)

Game log[]

1986 Regular Season Game Log (95-66) (Home: 51-30; Road: 44-36)
April (11-8) (Home: 7-4; Road: 4-4) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Stadium Record Report Rank GB 1 April 7 @ Tigers 2 April 9 @ Tigers 3 April 10 @ Tigers 4 April 11 @ White Sox 5 April 12 @ White Sox 6 April 13 @ White Sox 7 April 14 Royals 8 April 16 Royals 9 April 17 Royals 10 April 18 White Sox 11 April 19 White Sox 12 April 20 White Sox 13 April 21 Tigers 14 April 22 Tigers 15 April 23 Tigers 16 April 25 @ Royals 17 April 26 @ Royals 18 April 29 Mariners 19 April 30 Mariners
May (21-7) (Home: 9-3; Road: 12-4) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Stadium Record Report Rank GB 20 May 1 Mariners 21 May 2 Athletics 22 May 3 Athletics 23 May 4 Athletics 24 May 5 Angels 25 May 6 Angels 26 May 7 @ Mariners 27 May 8 @ Mariners 28 May 9 @ Athletics 29 May 10 @ Athletics 30 May 11 @ Athletics 31 May 12 @ Angels 32 May 13 @ Angels 33 May 14 @ Angels 34 May 16 Rangers 35 May 17 Rangers 36 May 18 Rangers 37 May 19 Twins 38 May 20 Twins 39 May 21 Twins 40 May 23 @ Rangers 41 May 24 @ Rangers 42 May 25 @ Rangers 43 May 26 @ Indians 44 May 27 @ Indians 45 May 28 @ Indians 46 May 30 @ Twins 47 May 31 @ Twins
June (17-10) (Home: 7-6; Road: 10-4) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Stadium Record Report Rank GB 48 June 1 @ Twins 49 June 2 Indians 50 June 3 Indians 51 June 4 Indians 52 June 5 @ Brewers 53 June 6 @ Brewers 54 June 7 @ Brewers 55 June 8 @ Brewers 56 June 9 @ Blue Jays 57 June 10 @ Blue Jays 58 June 11 @ Blue Jays 59 June 13 Brewers 60 June 14 Brewers 61 June 15 Brewers 62 June 16 @ Yankees 63 June 17 @ Yankees 64 June 18 @ Yankees 65 June 20 Orioles 66 June 21 Orioles 67 June 22 Orioles 68 June 23 Yankees 69 June 24 Yankees 70 June 25 Yankees 71 June 27 @ Orioles 72 June 28 @ Orioles 73 June 29 @ Orioles 74 June 30 Blue Jays
July (10-16) (Home: 7-6; Road: 3-10) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Stadium Record Report Rank GB 75 July 1 Blue Jays 76 July 2 Blue Jays 77 July 3 Blue Jays 78 July 4 Mariners 79 July 5 Mariners 80 July 6 Mariners 81 July 7 Athletics 82 July 8 Athletics 83 July 9 Athletics 84 July 10 Angels 85 July 11 Angels 86 July 12 Angels 87 July 13 Angels 88 July 17 @ Mariners 89 July 18 @ Mariners 90 July 19 @ Mariners 91 July 20 @ Mariners 92 July 21 @ Athletics 93 July 22 @ Athletics 94 July 23 @ Athletics 95 July 25 @ Angels 96 July 26 @ Angels 97 July 27 @ Angels 98 July 28 @ White Sox 99 July 29 @ White Sox 100 July 30 @ White Sox
August (17-13) (Home: 7-5; Road: 10-8) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Stadium Record Report Rank GB 101 August 1 Royals 102 August 2 Royals 103 August 3 Royals 104 August 4 White Sox 105 August 5 White Sox 106 August 6 White Sox 107 August 8 @ Tigers 108 August 9 @ Tigers 109 August 10 @ Tigers 110 August 11 @ Tigers 111 August 12 @ Royals 112 August 12 @ Royals 113 August 13 @ Royals 114 August 14 @ Royals 115 August 15 Tigers 116 August 16 Tigers 117 August 17 Tigers 118 August 18 @ Twins 119 August 19 @ Twins 120 August 20 @ Twins 121 August 21 @ Indians 122 August 22 @ Indians 123 August 23 @ Indians 124 August 24 @ Indians 125 August 25 @ Rangers 126 August 26 @ Rangers 127 August 27 @ Rangers 128 August 29 Indians 129 August 30 Indians 130 August 31 Indians
September (18-8) (Home: 13-2; Road: 5-6) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Stadium Record Report Rank GB 131 September 1 Rangers 132 September 2 Rangers 133 September 3 Rangers 134 September 5 Twins 135 September 6 Twins 136 September 7 Twins 137 September 8 @ Orioles 138 September 9 @ Orioles 139 September 10 @ Orioles 140 September 11 @ Orioles 141 September 12 @ Yankees 142 September 13 @ Yankees 143 September 14 @ Yankees 144 September 16 Brewers 145 September 16 Brewers 146 September 17 Brewers 147 September 18 Brewers 148 September 19 @ Blue Jays 149 September 20 @ Blue Jays 150 September 21 @ Blue Jays 151 September 23 @ Brewers 152 September 26 Blue Jays 153 September 27 Blue Jays 154 September 28 Blue Jays 155 September 29 Orioles 156 September 30 Orioles
October (1-4) (Home: 1-4) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Stadium Record Report Rank GB 157 October 1 Orioles 158 October 2 Yankees 159 October 4 Yankees 160 October 4 Yankees 161 October 5 Yankees

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
C	Rich Gedman	135	462	119	.258	16	65
1B	Bill Buckner	153	629	168	.267	18	102
2B	Marty Barrett	158	625	179	.286	4	60
3B	Wade Boggs	149	580	207	.357	8	71
SS	Rey Quiñones	62	190	45	.315	2	15
LF	Jim Rice	157	618	200	.324	20	110
CF	Tony Armas	121	425	112	.264	11	58
RF	Dwight Evans	152	529	137	.259	26	97
DH	Don Baylor	160	585	139	.238	31	94

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
Ed Romero	100	233	49	.210	2	23
Spike Owen	42	126	23	.183	1	10
Steve Lyons	59	124	31	.250	1	14
Marc Sullivan	41	119	23	.193	1	14
Dave Henderson	36	51	10	.196	1	3
Dave Stapleton	39	39	5	.128	0	3
Mike Greenwell	31	35	11	.314	0	4
Kevin Romine	35	35	9	.257	0	2
La Schelle Tarver	13	25	3	.120	0	1
Glenn Hoffman	12	23	5	.217	0	1
Mike Stenhouse	21	21	2	.095	0	1
Pat Dodson	9	12	5	.417	1	3
Dave Sax	4	11	5	.455	1	1

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
Roger Clemens	33	254	24	4	2.48	238
Oil Can Boyd	30	214.1	16	10	3.78	129
Al Nipper	26	159	10	12	5.38	79
Bruce Hurst	25	174.1	13	8	2.99	167
Tom Seaver	16	104.1	5	7	3.80	72
Jeff Sellers	14	82	3	7	4.94	51

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
Mike Brown	15	57.1	4	4	5.34	32
Rob Woodward	9	35.2	2	3	5.30	14

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
Bob Stanley	66	6	6	16	4.37	54
Joe Sambito	53	2	0	12	4.84	30
Steve Crawford	40	0	2	4	3.92	32
Tim Lollar	32	2	0	0	6.91	28
Sammy Stewart	27	4	1	0	4.38	47
Calvin Schiraldi	25	4	2	9	1.41	55
Mike Trujillo	3	0	0	0	9.53	4
Wes Gardner	1	0	0	0	9.00	1

^[26]

Postseason[]

ALCS[]

Game	Score	Date	Location	Attendance
1	California – 8, Boston – 1	October 7	Fenway Park	32,993
2	California – 2, Boston – 9	October 8	Fenway Park	32,786
3	Boston – 3, California – 5	October 10	Anaheim Stadium	64,206
4	Boston – 3, California – 4 (11 innings)	October 11	Anaheim Stadium	64,223
5	Boston – 7, California – 6 (11 innings)	October 12	Anaheim Stadium	64,223
6	California – 4, Boston – 10	October 14	Fenway Park	32,998
7	California – 1, Boston – 8	October 15	Fenway Park	33,001

World Series[]

NL New York Mets (4) vs. AL Boston Red Sox (3)

Game	Score	Date	Location	Attendance	Time of Game
1	Red Sox – 1, Mets – 0	October 18	Shea Stadium (New York City)	57,908	3:18
2	Red Sox – 9, Mets – 3	October 19	Shea Stadium (New York City)	57,911	2:44
3	Mets – 7, Red Sox – 1	October 21	Fenway Park (Boston)	33,595	3:09
4	Mets – 6, Red Sox – 2	October 22	Fenway Park (Boston)	33,920	3:22
5	Mets – 2, Red Sox – 4	October 23	Fenway Park (Boston)	34,010	2:55
6	Red Sox – 5, Mets – 6 (10 inn.)	October 25	Shea Stadium (New York City)	57,908	3:18
7	Red Sox – 5, Mets – 8	October 27	Shea Stadium (New York City)	57,911	2:44

Game log[]

1986 Postseason Game Log
1986 American League Championship Series vs. California – Boston wins series 4–3 # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Stadium Report Game Time National TV National Radio 1 October 7 Angels 2 October 8 Angels 3 October 10 @ Angels 4 October 11 @ Angels 5 October 12 @ Angels 6 October 14 Angels 7 October 15 Angels
1986 World Series vs. New York (NL) – New York (NL) wins series 4–3 # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Stadium Report Game Time National TV National Radio 1 October 18 @ Mets 2 October 19 @ Mets 3 October 21 Mets 4 October 22 Mets 5 October 23 Mets 6 October 25 @ Mets 7 October 27 @ Mets

Awards and honors[]

Awards

• Marty Barrett, ALCS MVP
• Don Baylor, Silver Slugger Award (DH)
• Wade Boggs, Silver Slugger Award (3B), AL Player of the Month (May)
• Roger Clemens, American League Cy Young Award, American League Most Valuable Player, AL Pitcher of the Month (June)
• Bruce Hurst, AL Pitcher of the Month (September)

Accomplishments

• Wade Boggs, American League Batting Champion, .357
• Wade Boggs, American League Leader, Walks (105)
• Wade Boggs, Major League Baseball Leader, On-base percentage (.453)
• Roger Clemens, American League Leader, ERA (2.48)
• Roger Clemens, American League Leader, Wins (24)

All-Star Game

• Wade Boggs, Third Base, Starter
• Roger Clemens, Pitcher, Starter
• Rich Gedman, Catcher, Reserve
• Jim Rice, Outfield, Reserve

Farm system[]

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Pawtucket Red Sox	International League	Ed Nottle
AA	New Britain Red Sox	Eastern League	Tony Torchia
A	Winter Haven Red Sox	Florida State League	Dave Holt
A	Greensboro Hornets	South Atlantic League	Doug Camilli
A-Short Season	Elmira Pioneers	New York–Penn League	Bill Limoncelli

Source:^[27][28]

References[]

External links[]

• 1986 Boston Red Sox team page at Baseball Reference
• 1986 Boston Red Sox season at baseball-almanac.com
• 1986 ALCS Official Souvenir Program