1989 Boston Red Sox
LeagueAmerican League
DivisionEast
BallparkFenway Park
CityBoston, Massachusetts
Record83–79 (.512)
Divisional place3rd (6 GB)
OwnersJean Yawkey,
Haywood Sullivan
PresidentJohn Harrington
General managerLou Gorman
ManagerJoe Morgan
TelevisionWSBK-TV, Ch. 38
(Sean McDonough, Bob Montgomery)
NESN
(Ned Martin, Jerry Remy)
RadioWPLM-FM 99.1
WPLM-AM 1390
(Ken Coleman, Joe Castiglione)
WRCA
(Bobby Serrano, Hector Martinez)
StatsESPN.com
BB-reference
← 1988 Seasons 1990 →

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

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

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 record

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

Other Transactions

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:[17]

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.[18]

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.[19] Red Sox alumni lost to a team of former MLB players from other clubs, by a 9–0 score in three innings of play.[19]

Roster

1989 Boston Red Sox
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Other batters

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
Wade Boggs 156 621 113 205 51 7 3 54 2 107 .330 .449
Mike Greenwell 145 578 87 178 36 0 14 95 13 56 .308 .443
Nick Esasky 154 564 79 156 26 5 30 108 1 66 .277 .500
Jody Reed 146 524 76 151 42 2 3 40 4 73 .288 .393
Dwight Evans 146 520 82 148 27 3 20 100 3 99 .285 .463
Ellis Burks 97 399 73 121 19 6 12 61 21 36 .303 .471
Marty Barrett 86 336 31 86 18 0 1 27 4 32 .256 .318
Luis Rivera 93 323 35 83 17 1 5 29 2 20 .257 .362
Danny Heep 113 320 36 96 17 0 5 49 0 29 .300 .400
Rick Cerone 102 296 28 72 16 1 4 48 0 34 .243 .345
Kevin Romine 92 274 30 75 13 0 1 23 1 21 .274 .332
Rich Gedman 93 260 24 55 9 0 4 16 0 23 .212 .292
Jim Rice 56 209 22 49 10 2 3 28 1 13 .234 .344
Randy Kutcher 77 160 28 36 10 3 2 18 3 11 .225 .363
Ed Romero 46 113 14 24 4 0 0 6 0 7 .212 .248
Carlos Quintana 34 77 6 16 5 0 0 6 0 7 .208 .273
Sam Horn 33 54 1 8 2 0 0 4 0 8 .148 .185
John Marzano 7 18 5 8 3 0 1 3 0 0 .444 .778
Jeff Stone 18 15 3 3 0 0 0 1 1 1 .200 .200
Dana Williams 8 5 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 .200 .400
Team Totals 162 5666 774 1571 326 30 108 716 56 643 .277 .403

Source:[15]

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
Roger Clemens 17 11 3.13 35 35 0 253.1 215 101 88 93 230
Mike Boddicker 15 11 4.00 34 34 0 211.2 217 101 94 71 145
John Dopson 12 8 3.99 29 28 0 169.1 166 84 75 69 95
Mike Smithson 7 14 4.95 40 19 2 143.2 170 84 79 35 61
Dennis Lamp 4 2 2.32 42 0 2 112.1 96 37 29 27 61
Rob Murphy 5 7 2.74 74 0 9 105.0 97 38 32 41 107
Wes Gardner 3 7 5.97 22 16 0 86.0 97 64 57 47 81
Bob Stanley 5 2 4.88 43 0 4 79.1 102 54 43 26 32
Lee Smith 6 1 3.57 64 0 25 70.2 53 30 28 33 96
Joe Price 2 5 4.35 31 5 0 70.1 71 35 34 30 52
Oil Can Boyd 3 2 4.42 10 10 0 59.0 57 31 29 19 26
Eric Hetzel 2 3 6.26 12 11 0 50.1 61 39 35 28 33
Greg A. Harris 2 2 2.57 15 0 0 28.0 21 12 8 15 25
Tom Bolton 0 4 8.31 4 4 0 17.1 21 18 16 10 9
Mike Rochford 0 0 6.75 4 0 0 4.0 4 7 3 4 1
Team Totals 83 79 4.01 162 162 42 1460.1 1448 735 650 548 1054

Source:[16]

Statistical leaders

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

Source:[20]

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:[20]

Pitching

Abbr. Category Player Statistic
W Wins Roger Clemens 17
L Losses Mike Smithson 14
W-L % Winning percentage Roger Clemens .607 (17-11)
ERA Earned run average Roger Clemens 3.13
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 Roger Clemens 1.216

Source:[20]

Awards and honors

Awards
Accomplishments

All-Star Game

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

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.
Source:[21][22]

References

  1. ^ Dennis Lamp Statistics and History - Baseball-Reference.com
  2. ^ Spike Owen Statistics and History - Baseball-Reference.com
  3. ^ Danny Heep Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com
  4. ^ "The 1989 Boston Red Sox". Retrosheet. Retrieved October 11, 2020.
  5. ^ "Events of Sunday, April 30, 1989".
  6. ^ "Events of Wednesday, May 31, 1989".
  7. ^ "Events of Friday, June 30, 1989".
  8. ^ "Events of Monday, July 31, 1989".
  9. ^ "Events of Thursday, August 31, 1989".
  10. ^ "Events of Saturday, September 30, 1989".
  11. ^ "Events of Sunday, October 1, 1989".
  12. ^ Wade Boggs Statistics and History - Baseball-Reference.com
  13. ^ a b O'Hara, Dave (September 27, 1989). "Boggs' hit parade never seems to end". Daily Record. Morristown, New Jersey. p. 23. Retrieved October 12, 2020 – via newspapers.com.
  14. ^ Ed Romero Statistics and History - Baseball-Reference.com
  15. ^ Greg Harris Statistics and History - Baseball-Reference.com
  16. ^ Fainaru, Steve (September 26, 1989). "Red Sox Win One and Lose Two: Stanley and Rice Check Out". The Boston Globe. pp. 65 & 69.
  17. ^ "Baltimore Orioles 5, Boston Red Sox 4". Retrosheet. April 3, 1989. Retrieved October 12, 2020.
  18. ^ Madron, Jody. "April 3, 1989: New-look Orioles begin season on winning note". SABR. Retrieved October 12, 2020.
  19. ^ a b "Yaz makes return to Fenway Park". Democrat and Chronicle. Rochester, New York. May 7, 1989. p. 4E. Retrieved May 24, 2018 – via newspapers.com.
  20. ^ a b c "1989 Boston Red Sox Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 16, 2020.
  21. ^ Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007
  22. ^ Boston Red Sox Media Guide. 1989. p. 138. Retrieved March 14, 2021 – via Wayback Machine.

External links

1989 MLB season by team
Boston Red Sox
Categories