1971 Boston Red Sox
LeagueAmerican League
DivisionEast
BallparkFenway Park
CityBoston, Massachusetts
Record85–77 (.525)
Divisional place3rd (18 GB)
OwnerTom Yawkey
PresidentTom Yawkey
General managerDick O'Connell
ManagerEddie Kasko
TelevisionWHDH-TV, Ch. 5
RadioWHDH-AM 850
(Ken Coleman, Ned Martin, Johnny Pesky)
StatsESPN.com
BB-reference
← 1970 Seasons 1972 →

The 1971 Boston Red Sox season was the 71st season in the franchise's Major League Baseball history. The Red Sox finished third in the American League East with a record of 85 wins and 77 losses, 18 games behind the Baltimore Orioles, who went on to win the AL championship.

Offseason

Regular season

Record by month[5]
Month Record Cumulative AL East Ref.
Won Lost Won Lost Position GB
April 12 7 12 7 1st +1⁄2 [6]
May 17 11 29 18 1st +1+1⁄2 [7]
June 14 13 43 31 2nd 3+1⁄2 [8]
July 16 14 59 45 2nd 6+1⁄2 [9]
August 11 19 70 64 3rd 13+1⁄2 [10]
September 15 13 85 77 3rd 18 [11]

Highlights

In the second year of Eddie Kasko's management, the Red Sox finished 16 games behind the eventual American League champions Baltimore Orioles. The Sox did not have a .300 hitter in 1971, with Reggie Smith's .283 batting average being the best among their regulars. Tony Conigliaro, his health still a question, had been traded the previous October to the California Angels for reliever Ken Tatum and rookie infielder Doug Griffin. Conigliaro played in 74 games for the Angels in 1971 but then had to give up baseball, his sight having deteriorated greatly. Tatum was 2–4 with the Red Sox, and Griffin batted .244, while becoming the regular second baseman.

Highlights of an otherwise forgettable season included the late arrival of a big catcher from Bellows Falls, Vermont, Carlton Fisk, who got into 14 games for the 1971 Sox and hit two home runs. Making a bigger splash was a utility fielder who had been acquired in 1970 from the New York Yankees but came into his own in 1971. John Kennedy hit .272, with five homers and 22 RBIs, and was nicknamed "Super Sub".

Another bright spot for the Sox in '71 was Jim Lonborg's winning 10 games (and losing 7). But Sonny Siebert, a pitcher acquired in a deal with the Cleveland Indians in 1969, was the top hurler for Boston, winning 16 games. A feisty left-hander, Sparky Lyle was 6–4, with 16 saves and a 2.75 ERA.

Season standings

AL East 		W L Pct. GB Home Road
Baltimore Orioles 101 57 0.639 — 53–24 48–33
Detroit Tigers 91 71 0.562 12 54–27 37–44
Boston Red Sox 85 77 0.525 18 47–33 38–44
New York Yankees 82 80 0.506 21 44–37 38–43
Washington Senators 63 96 0.396 38½ 35–46 28–50
Cleveland Indians 60 102 0.370 43 29–52 31–50

Record vs. opponents

1971 American League record

Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12]
Team BAL BOS CAL CWS CLE DET KC MIL MIN NYY OAK WSH
Baltimore — 9–9 7–5 8–4 13–5 8–10 6–5 9–3 10–2 11–7 7–4 13–3
Boston 9–9 — 6–6 10–2 11–7 12–6 1–11 6–6 8–4 7–11 3–9 12–6
California 5–7 6–6 — 8–10 8–4 6–6 8–10 6–12 12–6 6–6 7–11 4–8
Chicago 4–8 2–10 10–8 — 3–9 7–5 9–9 11–7 7–11 5–7 11–7 10–2
Cleveland 5–13 7–11 4–8 9–3 — 6–12 2–10 4–8 4–8 8–10 4–8 7–11
Detroit 10–8 6–12 6–6 5–7 12–6 — 8–4 10–2 6–6 10–8 4–8 14–4
Kansas City 5–6 11–1 10–8 9–9 10–2 4–8 — 8–10 9–9 5–7 5–13 9–3
Milwaukee 3–9 6–6 12–6 7–11 8–4 2–10 10–8 — 10–7 2–10 3–15 6–6
Minnesota 2–10 4–8 6–12 11–7 8–4 6–6 9–9 7–10 — 8–4 8–10 5–6
New York 7–11 11–7 6–6 7–5 10–8 8–10 7–5 10–2 4–8 — 5–7 7–11
Oakland 4–7 9–3 11–7 7–11 8–4 8–4 13–5 15–3 10–8 7–5 — 9–3
Washington 3–13 6–12 8–4 2–10 11–7 4–14 3–9 6–6 6–5 11–7 3–9 —


Notable transactions

Opening Day lineup

11 Luis Aparicio SS
  7 Reggie Smith CF
  8 Carl Yastrzemski     LF
  6 Rico Petrocelli 3B
  5 George Scott 1B
24 Duane Josephson C
40 Billy Conigliaro CF
  2 Doug Griffin 2B
21 Ray Culp P

Source:[14]

Roster

1971 Boston Red Sox
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders 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

Player G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB AVG SLG
Reggie Smith 159 618 85 175 33 2 30 96 11 63 .283 .489
Rico Petrocelli 158 553 82 139 24 4 28 89 2 91 .251 .461
George Scott 146 537 72 141 16 4 24 78 0 41 .263 .441
Carl Yastrzemski 148 508 75 129 21 2 15 70 8 106 .254 .392
Luis Aparicio 125 491 56 114 23 0 4 45 6 35 .232 .303
Doug Griffin 125 483 51 118 23 2 3 27 11 31 .244 .319
Billy Conigliaro 101 351 42 92 26 1 11 33 3 25 .262 .436
Duane Josephson 91 306 38 75 14 1 10 39 2 22 .245 .395
John Kennedy 74 272 41 75 12 5 5 22 1 14 .276 .412
Joe Lahoud 107 256 39 55 9 3 14 32 2 40 .215 .438
Bob Montgomery 67 205 19 49 11 2 2 24 1 16 .239 .341
Phil Gagliano 47 68 11 22 5 0 0 13 0 11 .324 .397
Mike Fiore 51 62 9 11 2 0 1 6 0 12 .177 .258
Juan Beníquez 16 57 8 17 2 0 0 4 3 3 .298 .333
Carlton Fisk 14 48 7 15 2 1 2 6 0 1 .313 .521
Cecil Cooper 14 42 9 13 4 1 0 3 1 5 .310 .452
Ben Oglivie 14 38 2 10 3 0 0 4 0 0 .263 .342
Rick Miller 15 33 9 11 5 0 1 7 0 8 .333 .576
Don Pavletich 14 27 5 7 1 0 1 3 0 5 .259 .407
George Thomas 9 13 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 .077 .077
Buddy Hunter 8 9 2 2 1 0 0 0 0 2 .222 .333
Pitcher Totals 162 424 29 89 9 0 10 48 0 20 .210 .302
Team Totals 162 5401 691 1360 246 28 161 650 51 552 .252 .397

Source:[13]

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

Player W L ERA G GS SV IP H R ER BB SO
Ray Culp 14 16 3.60 35 35 0 242.1 236 108 97 67 151
Sonny Siebert 16 10 2.91 32 32 0 235.1 220 84 76 60 131
Gary Peters 14 11 4.37 34 32 1 214.0 241 111 104 70 100
Jim Lonborg 10 7 4.13 27 26 0 167.2 167 86 77 67 100
Bill Lee 9 2 2.74 47 3 2 102.0 102 35 31 46 74
Luis Tiant 1 7 4.85 21 10 0 72.1 73 42 39 32 59
Roger Moret 4 3 2.92 13 7 0 71.0 50 24 23 40 47
Bobby Bolin 5 3 4.26 52 0 6 69.2 74 34 33 24 51
Ken Brett 0 3 5.34 29 2 1 59.0 57 38 35 35 57
Ken Tatum 2 4 4.19 36 1 9 53.2 50 27 25 25 21
Sparky Lyle 6 4 2.75 50 0 16 52.1 41 16 16 23 37
Mike Nagy 1 3 6.63 12 7 0 38.0 46 29 28 20 9
John Curtis 2 2 3.12 5 3 0 26.0 30 9 9 6 19
Cal Koonce 0 1 5.57 13 1 0 21.0 22 16 13 11 9
Mike Garman 1 1 3.86 3 3 0 18.2 15 8 8 9 6
Team Totals 85 77 3.80 162 162 35 1443.0 1424 667 610 535 871

Source:[14]

Statistical leaders

Sonny Siebert
Category Player Statistic
Youngest player Juan Beníquez
Cecil Cooper
Mike Garman
Roger Moret		 21
Oldest player Luis Aparicio 37
Wins Above Replacement Sonny Siebert 6.6

Source:[15]

Batting

Abbr. Category Player Statistic
G Games played Reggie Smith 159
PA Plate appearances Reggie Smith 692
AB At bats Reggie Smith 618
R Runs scored Reggie Smith 85
H Hits Reggie Smith 175
2B Doubles Reggie Smith 33
3B Triples John Kennedy 5
HR Home runs Reggie Smith 30
RBI Runs batted in Reggie Smith 96
SB Stolen bases Doug Griffin 11
Reggie Smith
CS Caught stealing Carl Yastrzemski 7
BB Base on balls Carl Yastrzemski 106
SO Strikeouts Rico Petrocelli 108
BA Batting average Reggie Smith .283
OBP On-base percentage Carl Yastrzemski .381
SLG Slugging percentage Reggie Smith .489
OPS On-base plus slugging Reggie Smith .840
OPS+ Adjusted OPS Reggie Smith 129
TB Total bases Reggie Smith 302
GIDP Grounded into double play George Scott 23
HBP Hit by pitch George Scott 5
Reggie Smith
SH Sacrifice hits Ray Culp 17
SF Sacrifice flies Rico Petrocelli 9
IBB Intentional base on balls Carl Yastrzemski 12

Source:[15]

Pitching

Abbr. Category Player Statistic
W Wins Sonny Siebert 16
L Losses Ray Culp 16
W-L % Winning percentage Bill Lee .818 (9–2)
ERA Earned run average Sonny Siebert 2.91
G Games pitched Bob Bolin 52
GS Games started Ray Culp 35
GF Games finished Sparky Lyle 36
CG Complete games Ray Culp 12
Sonny Siebert
SHO Shutouts Sonny Siebert 4
SV Saves Sparky Lyle 16
IP Innings pitched Ray Culp 242+1⁄3
SO Strikeouts Ray Culp 151
WHIP Walks plus hits per inning pitched Sonny Siebert 1.190

Source:[15]

Awards and honors

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Louisville Colonels International League Darrell Johnson
AA Pawtucket Red Sox Eastern League Billy Gardner
A Winston-Salem Red Sox Carolina League Don Lock
A Winter Haven Red Sox Florida State League John Butler
A Greenville Red Sox Western Carolinas League Rac Slider
A-Short Season Williamsport Red Sox New York–Penn League Dick Berardino

Source:[16][17]

References

  1. ^ Phil Gagliano page at Baseball Reference
  2. ^ Chuck Hartenstein page at Baseball-Reference
  3. ^ John Tamargo page at Baseball Reference
  4. ^ Tony Muser page at Baseball Reference
  5. ^ "The 1971 Boston Red Sox". Retrosheet. Retrieved October 10, 2020.
  6. ^ "Events of Friday, April 30, 1971".
  7. ^ "Events of Monday, May 31, 1971".
  8. ^ "Events of Wednesday, June 30, 1971".
  9. ^ "Events of Saturday, July 31, 1971".
  10. ^ "Events of Tuesday, August 31, 1971".
  11. ^ "Events of Thursday, September 30, 1971".
  12. ^ Tom Satriano page at Baseball-Reference
  13. ^ Luis Tiant page at Baseball Reference
  14. ^ "Boston Red Sox 3, New York Yankees 1". Retrosheet. April 6, 1971. Retrieved October 11, 2020.
  15. ^ a b c "1971 Boston Red Sox Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 13, 2020.
  16. ^ Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007
  17. ^ Boston Red Sox Guide for Press TV Radio. 1971. p. 2. Retrieved March 14, 2021 – via Wayback Machine.

External links

1971 MLB season by team
Boston Red Sox
Categories