1990 Boston Red Sox
American League East Champions
LeagueAmerican League
DivisionEast
BallparkFenway Park
CityBoston, Massachusetts
Record88–74 (.543)
Divisional place1st
OwnersJean Yawkey,
Haywood Sullivan
PresidentJohn Harrington
General managerLou Gorman
ManagerJoe Morgan
TelevisionWSBK-TV, Ch. 38
(Sean McDonough, Bob Montgomery)
NESN
(Ned Martin, Jerry Remy)
RadioWRKO
(Bob Starr, Joe Castiglione)
WROL
(Bobby Serrano, Hector Martinez)
StatsESPN.com
BB-reference
← 1989 Seasons 1991 →

The 1990 Boston Red Sox season was the 90th season in the franchise's Major League Baseball history. The Red Sox finished first in the American League East with a record of 88 wins and 74 losses. It was the third AL East division championship in five years for the Red Sox. However, the team was defeated in a four-game sweep by the Oakland Athletics in the ALCS, as had been the case in 1988.

Offseason

February

Regular season

Record by month[11]
Month Record Cumulative AL East Ref.
Won Lost Won Lost Position GB
April 11 8 11 8 2nd 1+1⁄2 [12]
May 12 14 23 22 3rd 1 [13]
June 20 9 43 31 1st +3+1⁄2 [14]
July 12 17 55 48 1st (tie) — [15]
August 19 9 74 57 1st +6+1⁄2 [16]
September 12 16 86 73 1st +1 [17]
October 2 1 88 74 1st +2 [18]

Highlights

The Red Sox set a major league record, which still stands, for the most times grounding into a double play during a season, 174.[19]

On June 6, the Red Sox got a measure of retribution for Bucky Dent's home run in the 1978 American League East tie-breaker game. While in Boston for a four-game series, the New York Yankees fired Dent as their manager. The Red Sox had just defeated the Yankees in the first two games of the series,[20] giving the Yankees an 18–31 record, 8+1⁄2 games behind the first-place Red Sox.[21] The firing made Fenway Park arguably the scene of Dent's best moment as a player and worst moment as manager.[22] Dan Shaughnessy of The Boston Globe criticized Yankees owner George Steinbrenner for firing Dent—his 18th managerial change in as many years—in Boston, and rhetorically asked if he couldn't have waited to fire Dent elsewhere.[23] Shaughnessy noted, "if Dent had been fired in Seattle or Milwaukee, this would have been just another event in an endless line of George's jettisons. But it happened in Boston and the nightly news had its hook."[23] Author Bill Pennington called the firing of Dent "merciless."[24] However, Yankees television analyst Tony Kubek blasted at Steinbrenner for the firing in a harsh, angry way.[25] At the beginning of the broadcast of the game on MSG Network, he said to Yankees television play-by-play announcer Dewayne Staats, "George Steinbrenner...mishandled this. You don't take a Bucky Dent (at) the site of one of the greatest home runs in Yankee history and fire him and make it a media circus for the Boston Red Sox."[26] He then stared defiantly on camera and said to Steinbrenner, "You don't do it by telephone, either, George. You do it face to face, eyeball to eyeball...If you really are a winner, you should not have handled this like a loser."[26] He then said, angrily, "George, you're a bully and a coward."[27] He then said that "What all this does, it just wrecks George Steinbrenner's credibility with his players, with the front office and in baseball more than it already is–if that's possible. It was just mishandled."[26] The firing of Dent shook New York to its core and the Yankees flagship radio station then, WABC, which also criticized the firing, ran editorials demanding that Steinbrenner sell the team.[28][29][30]

Season standings

AL East 		W L Pct. GB Home Road
Boston Red Sox 88 74 0.543 — 51–30 37–44
Toronto Blue Jays 86 76 0.531 2 44–37 42–39
Detroit Tigers 79 83 0.488 9 39–42 40–41
Cleveland Indians 77 85 0.475 11 41–40 36–45
Baltimore Orioles 76 85 0.472 11½ 40–40 36–45
Milwaukee Brewers 74 88 0.457 14 39–42 35–46
New York Yankees 67 95 0.414 21 37–44 30–51

Record vs. opponents

1990 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 — 4–9 7–5 6–6 6–7 6–7 8–3 7–6 6–6 6–7 4–8 3–9 8–4 5–8
Boston 9–4 — 7–5 6–6 9–4 8–5 4–8 5–8 4–8 9–4 4–8 8–4 5–7 10–3
California 5–7 5–7 — 5–8 7–5 5–7 7–6 7–5 9–4 6–6 4–9 5–8 8–5 7–5
Chicago 6–6 6–6 8–5 — 5–7 5–7 9–4 10–2 7–6 10–2 8–5 8–5 7–6 5–7
Cleveland 7–6 4–9 5–7 7–5 — 5–8 6–6 9–4 7–5 5–8 4–8 7–5 7–5 4–9
Detroit 7–6 5–8 7–5 7–5 8–5 — 5–7 3–10 6–6 7–6 6–6 7–5 6–6 5–8
Kansas City 3–8 8–4 6–7 4–9 6–6 7–5 — 4–8 8–5 8–4 4–9 7–6 5–8 5–7
Milwaukee 6–7 8–5 5–7 2–10 4–9 10–3 8–4 — 4–8 6–7 5–7 4–8 5–7 7–6
Minnesota 6–6 8–4 4–9 6–7 5–7 6–6 5–8 8–4 — 6–6 6–7 6–7 5–8 3–9
New York 7–6 4–9 6–6 2–10 8–5 6–7 4–8 7–6 6–6 — 0–12 9–3 3–9 5–8
Oakland 8–4 8–4 9–4 5–8 8–4 6–6 9–4 7–5 7–6 12–0 — 9–4 8–5 7–5
Seattle 9–3 4–8 8–5 5–8 5–7 5–7 6–7 8–4 7–6 3–9 4–9 — 7–6 6–6
Texas 4–8 7–5 5–8 6–7 5–7 6–6 8–5 7–5 8–5 9–3 5–8 6–7 — 7–5
Toronto 8–5 3–10 5–7 7–5 9–4 8–5 7–5 6–7 9–3 8–5 5–7 6–6 5–7 —


Notable transactions

Opening Day lineup

26 Wade Boggs 3B
17 Marty Barrett 2B
39 Mike Greenwell LF
12 Ellis Burks CF
24 Dwight Evans DH
13 Billy Jo Robidoux     1B
  6 Tony Peña C
  3 Jody Reed SS
16 Kevin Romine RF
21 Roger Clemens P

Source:[37]

Red Sox debuts

Player Position Date Game Source
Tony Peña Catcher 4/9/1990 Vs. Detroit Tigers [38]
Billy Jo Robidoux First Base 4/9/1990 Vs. Detroit Tigers [38]
Jeff Reardon Pitcher 4/17/1990 @ Chicago White Sox [39]
Dana Kiecker Pitcher 4/12/1990 @ Detroit Tigers [40]
Daryl Irvine Pitcher 4/28/1990 Vs. Oakland Athletics [41]
Jerry Reed Pitcher 5/4/1990 @ Oakland Athletics [42]
Tom Brunansky Right Field 5/6/1990 @ Oakland Athletics [43]
Jeff Gray Pitcher 6/10/1990 Vs. Cleveland Indians [44]
Tim Naehring Second Base 7/15/1990 Vs. Kansas City Royals [45]
Joe Hesketh Pitcher 8/3/1990 Vs. Detroit Tigers [46]
Rick Lancellotti Pinch Hitter 8/10/1990 @ Seattle Mariners [47]
Mike Marshall Designated Hitter 8/20/1990 Vs. Baltimore Orioles [48]
Phil Plantier Pinch Hitter 8/21/1990 Vs. Baltimore Orioles [49]
Larry Andersen Pitcher 9/2/1990 Vs. New York Yankees [50]
Scott Cooper Pinch Hitter 9/5/1990 @ Oakland Athletics [51]
Jim Pankovits Second Base 9/17/1990 @ Chicago White Sox [52]

Alumni game

The team held an old-timers game on May 19, before a scheduled home game against the Minnesota Twins. Red Sox alumni pitchers Bill Lee, Bill Monbouquette, and Dick Radatz allowed just one hit (to former Detroit Tiger Willie Horton) in the four-inning game, as Boston won by a 2–0 score over a team of MLB alumni from other clubs.[53]

Roster

1990 Boston Red Sox
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Designated Hitters

Pinch hitter

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 155 619 89 187 44 5 6 63 0 87 .302 .418
Mike Greenwell 159 610 71 181 30 6 14 73 8 65 .297 .434
Jody Reed 155 598 70 173 45 0 5 51 4 75 .289 .390
Ellis Burks 152 588 89 174 33 8 21 89 9 48 .296 .486
Carlos Quintana 149 512 56 147 28 0 7 67 1 52 .287 .383
Tony Peña 143 491 62 129 19 1 7 56 8 43 .263 .348
Tom Brunansky 129 461 61 123 24 5 15 71 5 54 .267 .438
Dwight Evans 123 445 66 111 18 3 13 63 3 67 .249 .391
Luis Rivera 118 346 38 78 20 0 7 45 4 25 .225 .344
Marty Barrett 62 159 15 36 4 0 0 13 4 15 .226 .252
Kevin Romine 70 136 21 37 7 0 2 14 4 12 .272 .368
Mike Marshall 30 112 10 32 6 1 4 12 0 4 .286 .464
Tim Naehring 24 85 10 23 6 0 2 12 0 8 .271 .412
John Marzano 32 83 8 20 4 0 0 6 0 5 .241 .289
Randy Kutcher 63 74 18 17 4 1 1 5 3 13 .230 .351
Danny Heep 41 69 3 12 1 1 0 8 0 7 .174 .217
Billy Jo Robidoux 27 44 3 8 4 0 1 4 0 6 .182 .341
Bill Buckner 22 43 4 8 0 0 1 3 0 3 .186 .256
Phil Plantier 14 15 1 2 1 0 0 3 0 4 .133 .200
Rich Gedman 10 15 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 5 .200 .200
Rick Lancellotti 4 8 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 .000 .000
Jeff Stone 10 2 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 .500 .500
Scott Cooper 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000
Jim Pankovits 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .--- .---
Team Totals 162 5516 699 1502 298 31 106 660 53 598 .272 .395

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 21 6 1.93 31 31 0 228.1 193 59 49 54 209
Mike Boddicker 17 8 3.36 34 34 0 228.0 225 92 85 69 143
Greg A. Harris 13 9 4.00 34 30 0 184.1 186 90 82 77 117
Dana Kiecker 8 9 3.97 32 25 0 152.0 145 74 67 54 93
Tom Bolton 10 5 3.38 21 16 0 119.2 111 46 45 47 65
Dennis Lamp 3 5 4.68 47 1 0 105.2 114 61 55 30 49
Wes Gardner 3 7 4.89 34 9 0 77.1 77 43 42 35 58
Rob Murphy 0 6 6.32 68 0 7 57.0 85 46 40 32 54
Jeff Reardon 5 3 3.16 47 0 21 51.1 39 19 18 19 33
Jeff Gray 2 4 4.44 41 0 9 50.2 53 27 25 15 50
Jerry Reed 2 1 4.80 29 0 2 45.0 55 27 24 16 17
Eric Hetzel 1 4 5.91 9 8 0 35.0 39 28 23 21 20
Joe Hesketh 0 4 3.51 12 2 0 25.2 37 12 10 11 26
Larry Andersen 0 0 1.23 15 0 1 22.0 18 3 3 3 25
John Dopson 0 0 2.04 4 4 0 17.2 13 7 4 9 9
Daryl Irvine 1 1 4.67 11 0 0 17.1 15 10 9 10 9
Lee Smith 2 1 1.88 11 0 4 14.1 13 4 3 9 17
John Leister 0 0 4.76 2 1 0 5.2 7 5 3 4 3
Mike Rochford 0 1 18.00 2 1 0 4.0 10 10 8 4 0
Danny Heep 0 0 9.00 1 0 0 1.0 4 1 1 0 0
Team Totals 88 74 3.72 162 162 44 1442.0 1439 664 596 519 997

Source:[16]

Statistical leaders

Roger Clemens
Category Player Statistic
Youngest player Phil Plantier 21
Oldest player Bill Buckner 40
Wins Above Replacement Roger Clemens 10.4

Source:[54]

Batting

Abbr. Category Player Statistic
G Games played Mike Greenwell 159
PA Plate appearances Wade Boggs 713
AB At bats Wade Boggs 619
R Runs scored Wade Boggs 89
Ellis Burks
H Hits Wade Boggs 187
2B Doubles Jody Reed 45
3B Triples Ellis Burks 8
HR Home runs Ellis Burks 21
RBI Runs batted in Ellis Burks 89
SB Stolen bases Ellis Burks 9
CS Caught stealing Ellis Burks 11
BB Base on balls Wade Boggs 87
SO Strikeouts Tom Brunansky 105
BA Batting average Wade Boggs .302
OBP On-base percentage Wade Boggs .386
SLG Slugging percentage Ellis Burks .486
OPS On-base plus slugging Ellis Burks .835
OPS+ Adjusted OPS Ellis Burks 128
TB Total bases Ellis Burks 286
GIDP Grounded into double play Tony Peña 23
HBP Hit by pitch 3 tied 4
SH Sacrifice hits Luis Rivera 12
SF Sacrifice flies Tom Brunansky 8
IBB Intentional base on balls Wade Boggs 19

Source:[54]

Pitching

Abbr. Category Player Statistic
W Wins Roger Clemens 21
L Losses Greg A. Harris 9
Dana Kiecker
W-L % Winning percentage Roger Clemens .778 (21–6)
ERA Earned run average Roger Clemens 1.93
G Games pitched Rob Murphy 68
GS Games started Mike Boddicker 34
GF Games finished Jeff Reardon 37
CG Complete games Roger Clemens 7
SHO Shutouts Roger Clemens 4
SV Saves Jeff Reardon 21
IP Innings pitched Roger Clemens 228+1⁄3
SO Strikeouts Roger Clemens 209
WHIP Walks plus hits per inning pitched Rogers Clemens 1.082

Source:[54]

ALCS

Main article: 1990 American League Championship Series

Game 1

October 6, 1990, at Fenway Park

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Oakland 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 7 9 13 0
Boston 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 5 1
W: Dave Stewart (1-0)   L: Larry Andersen (0-1)  
HR: BOS – Wade Boggs (1)

Game 2

October 7, 1990, at Fenway Park

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Oakland 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 2 4 13 1
Boston 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 6 0
W: Bob Welch (1-0)   L: Greg Harris (0-1)  S: Dennis Eckersley (1)
HR: None

Game 3

October 9, 1990, at Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Boston 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 8 3
Oakland 0 0 0 2 0 2 0 0 x 4 6 0
W: Mike Moore (1-0)   L: Mike Boddicker (0-1)  S: Dennis Eckersley (2)
HR: None

Game 4

October 10, 1990, at Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Boston 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 4 1
Oakland 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 x 3 6 0
W: Dave Stewart (2-0)   L: Roger Clemens (0-1)  S: Rick Honeycutt (1)
HR: None

Awards and honors

Awards
Accomplishments

All-Star Game

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

The Lynchburg Red Sox and Winter Haven Red Sox changed classification from Class A to Class A-Advanced.

Level Team League Manager
AAA Pawtucket Red Sox International League Ed Nottle and Johnny Pesky
AA New Britain Red Sox Eastern League Butch Hobson
A-Advanced Lynchburg Red Sox Carolina League Gary Allenson
A-Advanced 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 Detroit Tigers and San Diego Padres.
Source:[55][56]

References

  1. ^ Harber, Paul (November 14, 1989). "Rice Waived by Red Sox: Attention Turned to Esasky". The Boston Globe. pp. 57 & 59.
  2. ^ Dennis Lamp Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com
  3. ^ Jeff Reardon Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com
  4. ^ Rick Cerone Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com
  5. ^ Sam Horn Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com
  6. ^ "Red Sox Sign Three". The Telegraph (Nashua, New Hampshire). Associated Press. February 6, 1990. p. 12.
  7. ^ Cafardo, Nick (February 7, 1990). "Bumbry Agrees to 1-Year Deal". The Boston Globe. p. 79.
  8. ^ Cafardo, Nick (February 10, 1990). "Murphy Agrees on 2-Year Deal". The Boston Globe. pp. 33 & 34.
  9. ^ Cafardo, Nick (February 15, 1990). "Buckner Makes It Official With Sox". The Boston Globe. p. 91.
  10. ^ Greg Harris Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com
  11. ^ "The 1990 Boston Red Sox". Retrosheet. Retrieved October 11, 2020.
  12. ^ "Events of Monday, April 30, 1990".
  13. ^ "Events of Thursday, May 31, 1990".
  14. ^ "Events of Saturday, June 30, 1990".
  15. ^ "Events of Tuesday, July 31, 1990".
  16. ^ "Events of Friday, August 31, 1990".
  17. ^ "Events of Sunday, September 30, 1990".
  18. ^ "Events of Wednesday, October 3, 1990".
  19. ^ "Single Season Grounding Into Double Play Records". Baseball-Almanac.com. Retrieved October 12, 2020.
  20. ^ "The 1990 Boston Red Sox Regular Season Game Log". Retrosheet. Retrieved October 12, 2020.
  21. ^ "Standings At Close of Play of June 5, 1990". Retrosheet. Retrieved October 12, 2020.
  22. ^ Cafardo, Nick (June 7, 1990). "Dent dumped by Yankees". The Boston Globe. p. 37 – via newspapers.com.
  23. ^ a b Shaughnessy, Dan (June 7, 1990). "His back was against the wall". The Boston Globe. p. 37 – via newspapers.com.
  24. ^ Pennington, Bill (2019). Chumps to Champs: How the Worst Teams in Yankees History Led to the '90s Dynasty. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. p. 32. ISBN 9781328849854.
  25. ^ Bock, Hal (June 7, 1990). "Kubek Speaks Out Against Dent Firing". Associated Press.
  26. ^ a b c Raissman, Bob (June 7, 1990). "Kubek: George a Loser". New York Daily News. p. 64.
  27. ^ Raissman, Bob (June 8, 1990). "At MSG, Kubek Reigns Over George". New York Daily News. p. 71.
  28. ^ "Steinbrenner Under Fire In New York". Associated Press. June 8, 1990. Firing the manager is nothing new for George Steinbrenner, who made Bucky Dent the 18th victim in the 17 years he's owned the New York Yankees. But it has touched a nerve in New York, where just about everyone wants to have Steinbrenner fired. Even the team's media outlets have joined the bandwagon...The latest critic is hardly a likely one—Fred Weinhaus, general manager of WABC radio, the Yankees' flagship station. 'We're tired of what we have and we deserve better,' said Weinhaus, who has run editorials demanding that Steinbrenner either sell the team or bring in a knowledgeable baseball man and give him full power to run it.
  29. ^ Raissman, Bob (June 8, 1990). "ABC Exec Gives Boss Static". New York Daily News. p. 68.
  30. ^ Pedulla, Tom; Shuster, Rachel (June 7, 1990). "Players blame themselves; fans point to Steinbrenner". USA Today. p. 7C.
  31. ^ Lee Smith Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com
  32. ^ Les Norman Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com
  33. ^ Bill Buckner Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com
  34. ^ "Rich Gedman Stats".
  35. ^ Cecilio Guante Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com
  36. ^ Jeff Bagwell Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com
  37. ^ "Boston Red Sox 5, Detroit Tigers 2". Retrosheet. April 9, 1990. Retrieved October 12, 2020.
  38. ^ a b Cafardo, Nick; Fainaru, Steve (April 10, 1990). "Robidoux Was Just A Little Bit Nervous At First". The Boston Globe. p. 32.
  39. ^ Cafardo, Nick (April 18, 1990). "Red Sox fall to White Sox". The Boston Globe. pp. 33 & 37.
  40. ^ Atkins, Harry (April 13, 1990). "Tigers snarl at Sox". Lewiston Sun Journal. Associated Press. pp. 37 & 42.
  41. ^ "Boggs, Evans Lead Red Sox To 12-3 Rout Of Athletics". The Mount Airy News. Associated Press. April 28, 1990. pp. 7B.
  42. ^ Cafardo, Nick (May 5, 1990). "Evans: The Right Move". The Boston Globe. p. 33.
  43. ^ "Oakland defeats Bosox". Bangor Daily News. Associated Press. May 7, 1990. pp. 13 & 15.
  44. ^ "Candiotti's Knuckler Puzzles Red Sox". Bangor Daily News. Associated Press. June 11, 1990. p. 13.
  45. ^ Fainaru, Steve (July 16, 1990). "Rivera Will Continue To Fight For Starting Job". The Boston Globe. p. 43.
  46. ^ "Red Sox again rock Robinson". The Argus-Press. Associated Press. August 4, 1990. p. 11.
  47. ^ Cafardo, Nick (August 11, 1990). "Lancellotti To Get His Chance". The Boston Globe. p. 37.
  48. ^ Shaugnessy, Dan (August 21, 1990). "He dodged city for a while, but new Marshall is in town". The Boston Globe. pp. 61 & 63.
  49. ^ Cafardo, Nick (August 22, 1990). "Doctors Examine Evans". The Boston Globe. p. 87.
  50. ^ "Bolton Pitches Red Sox by NY for 10th Straigth". Bangor Daily News. Associated Press. September 3, 1990. p. 9.
  51. ^ "A's, Welch mug Red Sox 10-0". The Robesonian. Associated Press. September 6, 1990. pp. 2B.
  52. ^ Cafardo, Nick (September 17, 1990). "Morgan Is Still Hoping For Change In The Lineup". The Boston Globe. p. 44.
  53. ^ "Baseball". The Burlington Free Press. Burlington, Vermont. May 20, 1990. p. 2C. Retrieved May 24, 2018 – via newspapers.com.
  54. ^ a b c "1990 Boston Red Sox Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 16, 2020.
  55. ^ Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007
  56. ^ Boston Red Sox Media Guide. 1990. p. 141. Retrieved March 14, 2021 – via Wayback Machine.

External links

American League East champions
1990 MLB season by team
Boston Red Sox
Categories