1989 Boston Red Sox season

1989 Boston Red Sox
Major League affiliations
American League (since 1901) Eastern Division (since 1969)
Location
Fenway Park (since 1912) Boston, Massachusetts (since 1901)
Results
Record	83–79 (.512)
Divisional place	3rd (6 GB)
Other information
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	WPLM-FM 99.1 WPLM-AM 1390 (Ken Coleman, Joe Castiglione) WRCA (Bobby Serrano, Hector Martinez)
Stats	ESPN.com BB-reference
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The 1989 Boston Red Sox season was the 89th season in the franchise's Major League Baseball history. The Red Sox finished third in the American League East with a record of 83 wins and 79 losses, six games behind the Toronto Blue Jays.

Offseason[]

• November 20, 1988: Dennis Lamp was signed as a free agent by the Red Sox.^[1]
• December 8, 1988: Spike Owen was traded with Dan Gakeler to the Montreal Expos for John Dopson and Luis Rivera.^[2]
• February 6, 1989: Danny Heep signed as a free agent with the Red Sox.^[3]

Regular season[]

Record by month^[4]

Month	Record		Cumulative		AL East		Ref.
	Won	Lost	Won	Lost	Position	GB
April	10	12	10	12	3rd (tie)	1	[5]
May	14	12	24	24	2nd	2	[6]
June	12	15	36	39	3rd	6+1⁄2	[7]
July	14	12	50	51	3rd	3	[8]
August	18	15	68	66	3rd	4	[9]
September	14	13	82	79	3rd	7	[10]
October	1	0	83	79	3rd	6	[11]

Highlights[]

Wade Boggs had 205 hits and 107 walks,^[12] becoming the first player in MLB history to have at least 200 hits and 100 walks in four consecutive seasons.^[13] He also became the first player in the modern era (after 1900) to have at least 200 hits in seven consecutive seasons.^[13]

Season standings[]

v t AL East	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Toronto Blue Jays	89	73	0.549	—	46–35	43–38
Baltimore Orioles	87	75	0.537	2	47–34	40–41
Boston Red Sox	83	79	0.512	6	46–35	37–44
Milwaukee Brewers	81	81	0.500	8	45–36	36–45
New York Yankees	74	87	0.460	14½	41–40	33–47
Cleveland Indians	73	89	0.451	16	41–40	32–49
Detroit Tigers	59	103	0.364	30	38–43	21–60

Record vs. opponents[]

1989 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	—	6–7	6–6	6–6	7–6	10–3	6–6	7–6	4–8	8–5	5–7	6–6	9–3	7–6
Boston	7–6	—	4–8	7–5	8–5	11–2	4–8	6–7	6–6	7–6	7–5	5–7	6–6	5–8
California	6–6	8–4	—	8–5	5–7	11–1	4–9	7–5	11–2	6–6	5–8	7–6	6–7	7–5
Chicago	6–6	5–7	5–8	—	7–5	4–8	6–7	10–2	5–8	5–6	5–8	7–6	3–10	1–11
Cleveland	6–7	5–8	7–5	5–7	—	5–8	8–4	3–10	5–7	9–4	2–10	6–6	7–5	5–8
Detroit	3–10	2–11	1–11	8–4	8–5	—	6–6	6–7	5–7	6–7	4–8	4–8	4–8	2–11
Kansas City	6–6	8–4	9–4	7–6	4–8	6–6	—	8–4	7–6	6–6	7–6	9–4	8–5	7–5
Milwaukee	6–7	7–6	5–7	2–10	10–3	7–6	4–8	—	9–3	8–5	5–7	7–5	5–7	6–7
Minnesota	8–4	6–6	2–11	8–5	7–5	7–5	6–7	3–9	—	6–6	6–7	7–6	5–8	9–3
New York	5–8	6–7	6–6	6–5	4–9	7–6	6–6	5–8	6–6	—	3–9	8–4	5–7	7–6
Oakland	7–5	5–7	8–5	8–5	10–2	8–4	6–7	7–5	7–6	9–3	—	9–4	8–5	7–5
Seattle	6–6	7–5	6–7	6–7	6–6	8–4	4–9	5–7	6–7	4–8	4–9	—	6–7	5–7
Texas	3–9	6–6	7–6	10–3	5–7	8–4	5–8	7–5	8–5	7–5	5–8	7–6	—	5–7
Toronto	6–7	8–5	5–7	11–1	8–5	11–2	5–7	7–6	3–9	6–7	5–7	7–5	7–5	—

Notable transactions[]

• August 5, 1989: Ed Romero was released by the Red Sox.^[14]
• August 7, 1989: Greg A. Harris was selected off waivers by the Red Sox from the Philadelphia Phillies.^[15]

Opening Day lineup[]

26	Wade Boggs	3B
17	Marty Barrett	2B
24	Dwight Evans	RF
39	Mike Greenwell	LF
12	Ellis Burks	CF
14	Jim Rice	DH
7	Nick Esasky	1B
10	Rich Gedman	C
3	Jody Reed	SS
21	Roger Clemens	P

Source:^[16]

The Red Sox lost their Opening Day game, 5–4 in 11 innings, to the Baltimore Orioles at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. The ceremonial first pitch was thrown by President George H. W. Bush.^[17]

Alumni game[]

The team held an old-timers game on May 6, before a scheduled home game against the Texas Rangers. Festivities included an appearance by Carl Yastrzemski, shortly after his election to the Hall of Fame.^[18] Red Sox alumni lost to a team of former MLB players from other clubs, by a 9–0 score in three innings of play.^[18]

Roster[]

1989 Boston Red Sox
Roster
Pitchers 52 Mike Boddicker 50 Tom Bolton 23 Oil Can Boyd 21 Roger Clemens 40 John Dopson 44 Wes Gardner 27,42 Greg Harris 31 Eric Hetzel 15 Dennis Lamp 47 Rob Murphy 49 Joe Price 54 Mike Rochford 48 Lee Smith 41 Mike Smithson 46 Bob Stanley		Catchers  6 Rick Cerone 10 Rich Gedman 20 John Marzano Infielders 17 Marty Barrett 26 Wade Boggs  7 Nick Esasky 30 Sam Horn  3 Jody Reed  2 Luis Rivera 11 Ed Romero		Outfielders 12 Ellis Burks 24 Dwight Evans 39 Mike Greenwell 29 Danny Heep  5 Randy Kutcher 18 Carlos Quintana 16 Kevin Romine 19 Jeff Stone 19,20 Dana Williams Other batters 14 Jim Rice		Manager 35 Joe Morgan Coaches 33 Dick Berardino (Bullpen) 37 Al Bumbry (First base) 34 Bill Fischer (Pitching) 32 Richie Hebner (Hitting) 36 Rac Slider (Third base)

Statistical leaders[]

Category	Player	Statistic
Youngest player	Carlos Quintana	23
Oldest player	Dwight Evans	37
Wins Above Replacement	Wade Boggs	8.4

Source:^[19]

Batting[]

Abbr.	Category	Player	Statistic
G	Games played	Wade Boggs	156
PA	Plate appearances	Wade Boggs	742
AB	At bats	Wade Boggs	621
R	Runs scored	Wade Boggs	113
H	Hits	Wade Boggs	205
2B	Doubles	Wade Boggs	51
3B	Triples	Wade Boggs	7
HR	Home runs	Nick Esasky	30
RBI	Runs batted in	Nick Esasky	108
SB	Stolen bases	Ellis Burks	21
CS	Caught stealing	Wade Boggs	6
BB	Base on balls	Wade Boggs	107
SO	Strikeouts	Nick Esasky	117
BA	Batting average	Wade Boggs	.330
OBP	On-base percentage	Wade Boggs	.430
SLG	Slugging percentage	Nick Esasky	.500
OPS	On-base plus slugging	Wade Boggs	.879
OPS+	Adjusted OPS	Wade Boggs	142
TB	Total bases	Nick Esasky	282
GIDP	Grounded into double play	Mike Greenwell	21
HBP	Hit by pitch	Wade Boggs	7
SH	Sacrifice hits	Marty Barrett	15
SF	Sacrifice flies	Wade Boggs	7
		Dwight Evans
IBB	Intentional base on balls	Wade Boggs	19

Source:^[19]

Pitching[]

Abbr.	Category	Player	Statistic
W	Wins	Roger Clemens	17
L	Losses	Mike Smithson	14
W-L %	Winning percentage	Lee Smith	.857 (6–1)
ERA	Earned run average	Dennis Lamp	2.32
G	Games pitched	Rob Murphy	74
GS	Games started	Roger Clemens	35
GF	Games finished	Lee Smith	50
CG	Complete games	Roger Clemens	8
SHO	Shutouts	Roger Clemens	3
SV	Saves	Lee Smith	25
IP	Innings pitched	Roger Clemens	253+1⁄3
SO	Strikeouts	Roger Clemens	230
WHIP	Walks plus hits per inning pitched	Dennis Lamp	1.095

Source:^[19]

Awards and honors[]

Awards

• Wade Boggs, Silver Slugger Award (3B)
• Nick Esasky, AL Player of the Month (August)

Accomplishments

• Wade Boggs, American League Leader, Runs (113)
• Wade Boggs, American League Leader, Doubles (51)

All-Star Game

• Wade Boggs, Third Base, Starter
• Mike Greenwell, Outfield, Reserve

Farm system[]

The Gulf Coast League Red Sox replaced the Arizona League Red Sox/Mariners (a cooperative team) as the domestic Rookie League affiliate.

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Pawtucket Red Sox	International League	Ed Nottle
AA	New Britain Red Sox	Eastern League	Butch Hobson
A	Lynchburg Red Sox	Carolina League	Gary Allenson
A	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
Rookie	DSL cooperative	Dominican Summer League

The Red Sox shared a DSL team with the Baltimore Orioles and Milwaukee Brewers.^[20]
Source:^[21][22]

References[]

External links[]

• 1989 Boston Red Sox team page at Baseball Reference
• 1989 Boston Red Sox season at baseball-almanac.com