1968 Boston Red Sox season
Major League Baseball season
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 1968 Boston Red Sox season was the 68th season in the franchise's Major League Baseball history. The Red Sox finished fourth in the American League (AL) with a record of 86 wins and 76 losses, 17 games behind the AL and World Series champion Detroit Tigers.
| 1968 Boston Red Sox | |
|---|---|
| League | American League |
| Ballpark | Fenway Park |
| City | Boston, Massachusetts |
| Record | 86–76 (.531) |
| League place | 4th |
| Owners | Tom Yawkey |
| President | Tom Yawkey |
| General managers | Dick O'Connell |
| Managers | Dick Williams |
| Television | WHDH-TV, Ch, 5 |
| Radio | WHDH-AM 850 (Ken Coleman, Ned Martin, Mel Parnell) |
| Stats | ESPN.com Baseball Reference |
Offseason
- October 29, 1968: Elston Howard was released by the Red Sox.[1]
Regular season
Carl Yastrzemski set an American League record by having the lowest batting average to win a batting title. Yaz hit .301 to claim the batting title.[2]
Season standings
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Detroit Tigers | 103 | 59 | .636 | — | 56–25 | 47–34 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 91 | 71 | .562 | 12 | 47–33 | 44–38 |
| Cleveland Indians | 86 | 75 | .534 | 16½ | 43–37 | 43–38 |
| Boston Red Sox | 86 | 76 | .531 | 17 | 46–35 | 40–41 |
| New York Yankees | 83 | 79 | .512 | 20 | 39–42 | 44–37 |
| Oakland Athletics | 82 | 80 | .506 | 21 | 44–38 | 38–42 |
| Minnesota Twins | 79 | 83 | .488 | 24 | 41–40 | 38–43 |
| California Angels | 67 | 95 | .414 | 36 | 32–49 | 35–46 |
| Chicago White Sox | 67 | 95 | .414 | 36 | 36–45 | 31–50 |
| Washington Senators | 65 | 96 | .404 | 37½ | 34–47 | 31–49 |
Record vs. opponents
Sources: | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | BAL | BOS | CAL | CWS | CLE | DET | MIN | NYY | OAK | WAS | |||
| Baltimore | — | 9–9 | 10–8 | 11–7 | 7–11 | 8–10 | 10–8 | 13–5 | 9–9 | 14–4 | |||
| Boston | 9–9 | — | 9–9 | 14–4 | 10–8 | 6–12 | 9–9 | 10–8 | 8–10 | 11–7 | |||
| California | 8–10 | 9–9 | — | 8–10 | 7–11 | 5–13 | 7–11 | 6–12 | 5–13 | 12–6 | |||
| Chicago | 7–11 | 4–14 | 10–8 | — | 5–13 | 5–13 | 10–8 | 6–12 | 10–8 | 10–8 | |||
| Cleveland | 11–7 | 8–10 | 11–7 | 13–5 | — | 6–12 | 14–4 | 10–8–1 | 6–12 | 7–10 | |||
| Detroit | 10–8 | 12–6 | 13–5 | 13–5 | 12–6 | — | 10–8 | 10–8–1 | 13–5–1 | 10–8 | |||
| Minnesota | 8–10 | 9–9 | 11–7 | 8–10 | 4–14 | 8–10 | — | 12–6 | 8–10 | 11–7 | |||
| New York | 5–13 | 8–10 | 12–6 | 12–6 | 8–10–1 | 8–10–1 | 6–12 | — | 10–8 | 14–4 | |||
| Oakland | 9–9 | 10–8 | 13–5 | 8–10 | 12–6 | 5–13–1 | 10–8 | 8–10 | — | 7–11 | |||
| Washington | 4–14 | 7–11 | 6–12 | 8–10 | 10–7 | 8–10 | 7–11 | 4–14 | 11–7 | — | |||
Opening Day lineup
| 2 | Mike Andrews | 2B |
| 3 | Dalton Jones | 3B |
| 8 | Carl Yastrzemski | LF |
| 7 | Reggie Smith | CF |
| 5 | George Scott | 1B |
| 15 | Joe Lahoud | RF |
| 6 | Rico Petrocelli | SS |
| 18 | Elston Howard | C |
| 36 | Dick Ellsworth | P |
Notable transactions
- August 7, 1968: Norm Siebern was released by the Red Sox.[3]
- August 14, 1968: Galen Cisco was purchased from the Red Sox by the Kansas City Royals.[4]
Roster
| 1968 Boston Red Sox | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
Pitchers
|
Catchers
Infielders
|
Outfielders
|
Manager
Coaches
| ||||||
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 | Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | Russ Gibson | 76 | 231 | 52 | .225 | 3 | 20 |
| 1B | George Scott | 124 | 350 | 60 | .171 | 3 | 25 |
| 2B | Mike Andrews | 147 | 536 | 145 | .271 | 7 | 45 |
| SS | Rico Petrocelli | 123 | 406 | 95 | .234 | 12 | 46 |
| 3B | Joe Foy | 150 | 515 | 116 | .225 | 10 | 60 |
| LF | Carl Yastrzemski | 157 | 539 | 162 | .301 | 23 | 74 |
| CF | Reggie Smith | 155 | 558 | 148 | .265 | 15 | 69 |
| RF | Ken Harrelson | 150 | 535 | 147 | .275 | 35 | 109 |
Other batters
Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
| Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dalton Jones | 111 | 354 | 83 | .234 | 5 | 29 |
| Jerry Adair | 74 | 208 | 45 | .216 | 2 | 12 |
| Elston Howard | 71 | 203 | 49 | .241 | 5 | 18 |
| José Tartabull | 72 | 139 | 39 | .281 | 0 | 6 |
| Russ Nixon | 29 | 85 | 13 | .153 | 0 | 6 |
| Joe Lahoud | 29 | 78 | 15 | .192 | 1 | 6 |
| Luis Alvarado | 11 | 46 | 6 | .130 | 0 | 1 |
| Gene Oliver | 16 | 35 | 5 | .143 | 0 | 1 |
| Norm Siebern | 27 | 30 | 2 | .067 | 0 | 0 |
| Floyd Robinson | 23 | 24 | 3 | .125 | 0 | 2 |
| Jerry Moses | 6 | 18 | 6 | .333 | 2 | 4 |
| George Thomas | 12 | 10 | 2 | .200 | 1 | 1 |
Pitching
Starting pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ray Culp | 35 | 216.1 | 16 | 6 | 2.91 | 190 |
| Gary Bell | 35 | 199.1 | 11 | 11 | 3.12 | 102 |
| Dick Ellsworth | 31 | 196.0 | 16 | 7 | 3.03 | 106 |
| José Santiago | 18 | 124.0 | 9 | 4 | 2.25 | 86 |
| Jim Lonborg | 23 | 113.1 | 6 | 10 | 4.29 | 73 |
| Juan Pizarro | 19 | 107.2 | 6 | 8 | 3.59 | 84 |
| Dave Morehead | 11 | 55.0 | 1 | 4 | 2.45 | 78 |
Other pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gary Waslewski | 34 | 105.1 | 4 | 7 | 3.67 | 59 |
| Jerry Stephenson | 23 | 68.2 | 2 | 8 | 5.64 | 51 |
Relief pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lee Stange | 50 | 5 | 5 | 12 | 3.93 | 53 |
| Sparky Lyle | 49 | 6 | 1 | 11 | 2.74 | 52 |
| Bill Landis | 38 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3.15 | 59 |
| Bucky Brandon | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.39 | 10 |
| John Wyatt | 8 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4.22 | 11 |
| Garry Roggenburk | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.16 | 4 |
| Fred Wenz | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 3 |
Awards and honors
- George Scott, Gold Glove Award (1B)
- Reggie Smith, Gold Glove Award (OF)
- Carl Yastrzemski, Gold Glove Award (OF)