1988 Boston Red Sox season explained

Boston Red Sox
Season:	1988
Misc:	American League East Champions
League:	American League
Division:	East
Ballpark:	Fenway Park
City:	Boston, Massachusetts
Record:	89–73 (.549)
Divisional Place:	1st
Owners:	Jean Yawkey, Haywood Sullivan
President:	John Harrington
General Manager:	Lou Gorman
Television:	WSBK-TV, Ch. 38 (Sean McDonough, Bob Montgomery) NESN (Ned Martin, Jerry Remy)
Radio:	WPLM-FM 99.1 WPLM-AM 1390 (Ken Coleman, Joe Castiglione) WRCA (Bobby Serrano, Hector Martinez)
Espntn:	bos
Brtn:	BOS

The 1988 Boston Red Sox season was the 88th season in the franchise's Major League Baseball history. The Red Sox finished first in the American League East with a record of 89 wins and 73 losses, but were then swept by the Oakland Athletics in the ALCS.

The team is best remembered for its change of fortune following its change of manager; after John McNamara was replaced by Joe Morgan, the team won its next 12 games in a stretch nicknamed "Morgan Magic".^[1]

Offseason

December 8, 1987: Lee Smith was traded by the Chicago Cubs to the Red Sox for Al Nipper and Calvin Schiraldi.^[2]
January 5, 1988: Dennis Lamp was signed as a free agent with the Red Sox.^[3]

Regular season

Record by month^[4]
Month	Record		Cumulative				Ref.
Month	Won	Lost	Won	Lost	Position	GB	Ref.
April	14	6	14	6	2nd	1	^[5]
May	11	16	25	22	4th	7	^[6]
June	14	12	39	34	3rd	6	^[7]
July	21	9	60	43	3rd		^[8]
August	13	16	73	59	2nd	2	^[9]
September	16	12	89	71	1st	+3	^[10]
October	0	2	89	73	1st	+1	^[11]

Highlights

A rough beginningThe 1988 team seemed to start much better than their chaotic 1987 predecessors, going 14–6 in April;^[4] however, the team went sour thereafter, especially for Jim Rice as he moved from left field to designated hitter. Dwight Evans also had problems when he played first base, and the usually reliable Lee Smith had problems closing, including giving up a game-winning home run to the Detroit Tigers on Opening Day.

The Red Sox had an 11–16 record in May,^[4] followed by a slightly better June with a 14–12 record,^[4] but lost pitcher Jeff Sellers when he was hit by a line drive in Cleveland that broke his hand. Wes Gardner was moved from the bullpen to the rotation, but the team and its fans were losing patience.

"Morgan Magic"At the All-Star break, the Red Sox were 43–42, nine games behind the Tigers in the AL East standings.^[12] Management had seen enough, firing John McNamara and elevating third base coach Joe Morgan to manager.^[13]

On July 15, the first game after the All-Star break, the Red Sox and Roger Clemens beat the Kansas City Royals and Bret Saberhagen, 3–1. This began a 12-game winning streak, which launched the Red Sox to first place over the slumping Tigers and New York Yankees. The Red Sox would later set an American League record of 24 straight home victories. Two months after Morgan became manager, the team was 81–63 and in first place by games.^[14] The team cooled off in the final two weeks of the season, finishing with nine losses in their final 13 games,^[15] but held on to win the AL East, finishing one game ahead of the Tigers, for their second division title in three seasons.

Notable transactions

April 15, 1988: Rick Cerone signed as a free agent with the Red Sox.^[16]
July 29, 1988: Brady Anderson was traded by the Red Sox with minor league pitcher Curt Schilling to the Baltimore Orioles for Mike Boddicker.^[17]

Opening Day lineup

5		CF
17		2B
26	Wade Boggs	3B
14		LF
39	Mike Greenwell	RF
24		1B
30		DH
10		C
7		SS
21		P

Source:^[18]

Alumni game

The team held an old-timers game on May 14, before a scheduled home game against the Seattle Mariners. The alumni game marked the 40th anniversary of the 1948 Red Sox team, which had lost a one-game playoff to the Cleveland Indians. The visiting (non-Red Sox) alumni team, skippered by Lou Boudreau—who had been player-manager of the 1948 Cleveland squad—prevailed by an 8–2 score, led by four RBIs from former Pittsburgh Pirate Manny Sanguillén.^[19]

Roster

1988 Boston Red Sox
Roster
Pitchers	CatchersInfielders	OutfieldersOther batters	ManagerCoaches (First Base) (Pitching) (Hitting) (Bullpen) (Third Base) (Bullpen, Third Base)

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	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
C	95	299	69	.231	9	39
1B	120	405	103	.254	13	70
2B	150	612	173	.283	1	65
3B	155	584	214	.366	5	58
SS	109	338	99	.293	1	28
LF	158	590	192	.325	22	119
CF	144	540	159	.294	18	92
RF	149	559	164	.293	21	111
DH	135	485	128	.264	15	72

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
84	264	71	.269	3	27
89	257	64	.249	5	18
52	158	41	.259	7	26
41	148	34	.230	0	12
57	78	15	.192	1	6
31	75	18	.240	0	5
24	61	9	.148	2	8
17	45	8	.178	1	1
10	29	4	.138	0	1
19	12	2	.167	0	0
5	6	2	.333	0	2

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
35	264.0	18	12	2.93	291
33	216.2	18	6	3.66	166
23	129.2	9	7	5.34	71
15	89.0	7	3	2.63	56
8	36.0	1	6	6.75	16
3	11.0	0	1	8.18	4

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
36	149.2	8	6	3.50	106
31	126.2	9	6	5.97	73
18	85.2	1	7	4.83	70

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

G	W	L	SV	ERA	SO
64	4	5	29	2.80	96
57	6	4	5	3.19	57
46	7	6	0	3.48	49
28	1	3	1	4.75	21
9	0	1	0	9.00	8
3	0	0	0	6.75	0
2	0	0	0	0.00	1
1	0	0	0	13.50	0

ALCS

See main article: 1988 American League Championship Series.

Game 1

align=left width=28%	Team	width=6%	1	width=6%	2	width=6%	3	width=6%	4	width=6%	5	width=6%	6	width=6%	7	width=6%	8	width=6%	9	width=6%	R	width=6%	H	width=6%	E
Oakland	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	2	6	0
Boston	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	6	0
W: Rick Honeycutt (1-0) L: Bruce Hurst (0-1) S: Dennis Eckersley (1)
HR: OAK - José Canseco (1)

Game 2

align=left width=28%	Team	width=6%	1	width=6%	2	width=6%	3	width=6%	4	width=6%	5	width=6%	6	width=6%	7	width=6%	8	width=6%	9	width=6%	R	width=6%	H	width=6%	E
Oakland	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	1	4	10	1
Boston	0	0	0	0	0	2	1	0	0	3	4	1
W: Gene Nelson (1-0) L: Lee Smith (0-1) S: Dennis Eckersley (2)
HR: OAK - José Canseco (2) BOS - Rich Gedman (1)

Game 3

align=left width=28%	Team	width=6%	1	width=6%	2	width=6%	3	width=6%	4	width=6%	5	width=6%	6	width=6%	7	width=6%	8	width=6%	9	width=6%	R	width=6%	H	width=6%	E
Boston	3	2	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	6	12	0
Oakland	0	4	2	0	1	0	1	2	X	10	15	1
W: Gene Nelson (2-0) L: Mike Boddicker (0-1) S: Dennis Eckersley (3)
HR: OAK - Mark McGwire (1) Carney Lansford (1) Ron Hassey (1) Dave Henderson (1) BOS - Mike Greenwell (1)

Game 4

align=left width=28%	Team	width=6%	1	width=6%	2	width=6%	3	width=6%	4	width=6%	5	width=6%	6	width=6%	7	width=6%	8	width=6%	9	width=6%	R	width=6%	H	width=6%	E
Boston	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	4	0
Oakland	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	2	X	4	10	1
W: Dave Stewart (1-0) L: Bruce Hurst (0-2) S: Dennis Eckersley (4)
HR: OAK - José Canseco (3)

Awards and honors

Awards

Wade Boggs, Silver Slugger Award (3B)
Roger Clemens, AL Pitcher of the Month (July)
Mike Greenwell, Silver Slugger Award (OF), AL Player of the Month (June)
Bruce Hurst, AL Pitcher of the Month (September)

Accomplishments

Wade Boggs, American League Batting Champion, (.366)
Wade Boggs, American League Leader, Runs (128)
Wade Boggs, American League Leader, Doubles (45)
Wade Boggs, American League Leader, Walks (125)
Wade Boggs, Major League Baseball Leader, On-base percentage (.476)
Roger Clemens, American League Leader, Complete Games (14)
Roger Clemens, American League Leader, Shutouts (8)

All-Star Game

Wade Boggs, third base, starter
Roger Clemens, pitcher, reserve
Mike Greenwell, outfield, reserve

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball. The Lynchburg Red Sox replaced the Greensboro Hornets as a Class A affiliate. The Arizona League Red Sox/Mariners (a cooperative team) were added as a Rookie League affiliate.

Arizona League team affiliation shared with the Seattle Mariners^[20]
Source:^[21] ^[22]

External links

Notes and References

News: Baseball notes . Nick . Cafardo . . C4 . April 24, 2016 . October 12, 2020 . newspapers.com.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/smithle02.shtml Lee Smith Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/l/lampde01.shtml Dennis Lamp Statistics and History - Baseball-Reference.com
Web site: The 1988 Boston Red Sox . . October 12, 2020.
Web site: Events of Saturday, April 30, 1988.
Web site: Events of Tuesday, May 31, 1988.
Web site: Events of Thursday, June 30, 1988.
Web site: Events of Sunday, July 31, 1988.
Web site: Events of Wednesday, August 31, 1988.
Web site: Events of Friday, September 30, 1988.
Web site: Events of Sunday, October 2, 1988.
Web site: Standings At Close of Play of July 10, 1988 . . October 12, 2020.
News: John McNamara's short season . . . E1 . July 15, 1988 . October 12, 2020 . newspapers.com.
Web site: Standings At Close of Play of September 13, 1988 . . October 12, 2020.
Web site: The 1988 Boston Red Sox Regular Season Game Log . . October 12, 2020.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/ceronri01.shtml Rick Cerone Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/a/anderbr01.shtml Brady Anderson Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com
Web site: Detroit Tigers 5, Boston Red Sox 3 . April 4, 1988 . . October 12, 2020.
News: Old-Timers game a '48 reminder . Bob . Sudyk . . B5 . May 15, 1988 . May 24, 2018 . newspapers.com.
Web site: 1988 AZL Red Sox/Mariners . . March 14, 2021.
Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007
Book: Boston Red Sox Media Guide . 1988 . 123 . March 14, 2021 . Wayback Machine.