The Internet Red Sox FAQ -- V 0.1 Copyright 1996 by Keith Woolner (keith@woolner.com) V 0.1 -- 26-APR-96 Credits: Special thanks to the following people in helping write sections of the FAQ: Mark Armour (markjane@peak.org) Chuck Harrison (chuckh@dbtech.net) RElwood@dechert.com Bill Curtis (bcurtis@advocate.pa.state.ky.us) Cliff Otto (otto@erols.com) Andy Gizzarelli (agizzarelli@hollydig.com) Alan MacNeill (wonder@oasis.novia.net) I. General Info/Attending games 1) Who are the Boston Red Sox? The Boston Red Sox were organized in 1901 as one of the eight clubs in the newly formed American League. The team has been known as the Americans, the Pilgrims, the Puritans, the Plymouth Rocks, and the Somersets at various times in their history, as well as the Red Sox. The Red Sox won the first modern World Series in 1903 over the heavily favored Pittsburgh Pirates. The Red Sox play their home games in Fenway Park, their home since 1912. 2) How can I buy tickets? Tickets for Red Sox home games can be purchased in advance by calling: (617) 267-1700 The mailing address for the ticket office is: Boston Red Sox Fenway Park 4 Yawkey Way Boston, MA 02215-3496 [game-day tickets?] The baseball regular season runs from April until the first week of October. 3) How do I get to Fenway? Fenway Park is an urban ballpark, located near Kenmore Square in Boston. There is no parking at the ballpark, and though there are numerous small lots nearby, driving is not recommended. The nearest "T" station (MBTA - Boston's subway system) is Kenmore Square. [more detailed instructions for out of towners?] 4) Any suggested seating locations? [anyone?] 5) Seating map of Fenway A GIF showing the seating sections at Fenway can be found at http://www.best.com/~kwoolner/redsox/ 6) Comments on ballpark vendors, where to eat before/after the game, etc. [anyone?] II. Team history 1) Post season appearances and records The Red Sox have been reached the post-season several times, winning the World Series in 1903, 1912, 1915, 1916, and 1918. They've been to the Series 4 times since then, in 1946, 1967, 1975, and 1986. In each case they lost the decisive seventh game of the Series, leading to what Sox fans have come to call "The Curse of the Bambino" (see question # [##]). The Red Sox have also won a total of 5 division titles since the inception of the ALCS in 1969 -- 1975, 1986, 1988, 1990, and 1995. Lastly, the Red Sox have played a couple of regular-season one-game tiebreakers after tying another club for first place at the end of the regular season. In 1948, the lost a tiebreaker to the Cleveland Indians, and in 1978 they lost of heart-breaker to the New York Yankees. Summary descriptions for each season the Sox reached the playoffs: 2) 1946 , written by Bill Curtis bcurtis@advocate.pa.state.ky.us The Red Sox roared into the 1946 World Series with a 104 - 50 record, clinching the pennant early in September. It was the Bosox first pennant since 1918. The hitting hitting attack was led by: BA HR RBI LF Ted Williams .342 28 123 1B Rudy York .276 17 119 2b Bobby Doerr .271 18 116 SS Johnny Pesky .335 2 55 DF Dom DiMaggio .316 7 73 The pitching staff was led by: Dave Ferris 25-6 3.25 Tex Hughson 20-11 2.75 Mickey Harris 17-9 3.64 Joe Dobson 13-7 3.24 The Red Sox were heavily favored over the St. Louis Cardinals. The Cardinals ended the season in a tie with the the Brooklyn Dodgers and won a one game playoff between the two teams to claim the pennant. The Cardinal hitting attack was led by: 1b Stan Musial .365 16 116 RF Enos Slaugher .300 18 130 3b Whitey Kurowski .301 14 89 Cardinal pitchers of note: Howie Pollet 21-10 2.10 Harry "The Cat" Brecheen 15-15 2.49 Maury Dickson 15-6 2.88 Game 1: October 6, 1946 Game one was a pitching dual between Tex Hughson of the Red Sox and Howie Pollet of the Cardinals. The Sox went up 1-0 in the top of the second. In the bottom of the sixth the Cardinals tied it up 1-1. In bottom of the eighth the Cardinals went ahead 2-1. In the top of the ninth the Red Sox tied the game 2-2 when a ground ball took a freak bounce through SS Marty Marion's legs. This set the stage for Rudy York's heroic home run in the tenth which won the game 3-2. The winning pitcher was Johnson who came in to relieve Hughson in the eighth inning. Game 2: October 7, 1946 In game two Harry "The Cat" Brecheen was the star. He held the Red Sox to only 4 singles while pitching a shutout and winning 3-0. Brecheen drove in the first run of the game. Game 3: October 9, 1946 Rudy York was again the hitting star for Boston, breaking the game open in the first inning with a three-run homer. Dave Ferris pitched a masterful six hit shutout. Ferris's shutout was the 50th in World Series history. Game 4: October 10, 1946 The Red Sox were clobbered by St. Louis 12-3. A no-name pitcher, Munger, went 9 innings for the Cardinals. Hughson, Bagby, and Zuber all pitched with little success for Boston. Enos Slaughter, Whitey Kurowski, and Joe Garagiola (a 20 year old catcher) all had 4 hits for the Cardinals as they tied a World Series record with 20 hits for the game. The only bright spot for the Red Sox was a two run homer by Bobby Doerr. Game 5: October 11, 1946 Joe Dobson went the distance as the Red Sox defeated the Cardinals 4-3. Leon Culberson homered for Boston. Pinky Higgins double in the 7th scored Dom DiMaggio for the deciding run of the game. All three runs off Dobson were unearned. Game 6: October 13, 1946 Harry "The Cat" Brecheen shut down the Red Sox on 7 hits as the Cardinals evened the series winning 4-1. Harris, Hughson, and Johnson pitched for Boston. Game 7: October 15, 1946 The Cardinals took the Series, defeating the Red Sox 4-3. The game was tied 3-3 in the eighth with Slaughter on first. Harry "The Hat" Walker singled. Slaughter did not stop at third. He took off for home. It is written that Pesky took the relay throw and was so surprised that Slaughter had taken off for home that he hesitated throwing the ball to the plate. Slaughter beat the throw from Pesky scoring the deciding run in the eighth. Brecheen was pitching in relief. The Red Sox could do nothing with him in the 9th. Brecheen won his third game in relief and the Cardinals took the Series 4 games to 3. Sum: The Red Sox bats were silenced by Cardinal pitching. Pesky - 7 for 30, all singles, No RBI BA. .233 DiMaggio - 7 for 27, BA .259 Williams - 5 for 25, all singles, 1 RBI, BA .200 Pinky Higgins - 5 for 24, BA .208 Bobby Doerr, 9 for 22, BA .409 and Rudy York with 2 big Hrs were the only hitters who did damage for the Red Sox. On the St. Louis side, Stan Musial did not exactly tear it up with the bat. He was 6 for 27, no HRs, BA. .222. 3) 1967 [awaiting writeup] 4) 1975 written by Chuck Harrison, chuckh@dbtech.net 1. Regular season. In 1975, Boston returned to post-season play for the first time since for the first time since the Impossible Dream year of 1967. Shaking off the disappointment of the late season collapse of 1974, the Red Sox fielded a team balanced between noted veterans-- Carl Yastrzemski at first base, Rico Petrocelli at third, Luis Tiant on the mound-- and a deep vein of youthful talent-- catcher Carlton Fisk, right fielder Dwight Evans, shortstop Rick Burleson, designated hitter Cecil Cooper, and, most significantly, a pair of rookie sensations, Fred Lynn and Jim Rice, in center field and left field, respectively-- and defied early season predictions of mediocrity. Skippered by second-year manager Darrell Johnson, Boston stayed with hailing distance of the American League East lead for most of the early season, taking sole possession of first place for good on June 28 and opening a comfortable six game bulge within a couple of weeks. The mainstay of the 1975 Boston club was, as in so many other years, hitting. While no Boston pitcher had a 20 win season-- Rick Wise paced Sox hurlers with a 19-12 record, Tiant at 18-14-- five Boston starters hit .300 or better. Rice and Lynn combined to account for 43 home runs and 207 runs batted in. The play of Fred Lynn, particularly, energized the Sox throughout the summer. In a single game against Milwaukee in June, Lynn drove in 10 runs-- pounding out three home runs, a triple and a single on the way--missing the American League record for runs batted in for a game by one. As they had the previous year, the Red Sox began September with a seven-game cushion over Baltimore; like 1974, the O's ate steadily into the Boston lead in the final month of the season. A two-game sweep of a critical short series with Baltimore in late September, however-- including a two-hit shutout by Tiant-- assured the Red Sox of the division championship. The Sox ultimately took the flag by 4 ½ games, with a season record of 95-65. 2. American League Championship Series In the league championship series, Boston was regarded as having little chance against Charlie Finley's experienced Oakland A's, a team which in 1975 was coming off its third straight world championship. The Sox were particularly hampered by the loss of Rice, whose hand was broken the last week of the season by an errant pitch. In Game 1 of the ALCS at Fenway, however, the A's committed a then-LCS record four errors, and the venerable Tiant stunned the A's with a three-hit effort en route to a 7-1 Red Sox victory. The A's never recovered from their Game 1 disaster, and were quickly and efficiently dispatched by Boston in a three-game sweep. Yastrzemski and Petrocelli homered to lead the Sox to a 6-3 victory in Game 2 at Fenway, and Yaz-- replacing Rice in his old haunts in left field, after having spent most of the year at first base-- contributed two defensive gems in Boston's 5-3 win in Game 3 at Oakland. 3. World Series The 1975 World Series between the Red Sox and the National League champion Cincinnati Reds is regarded by fans and experts as certainly one of the greatest Series, if not the all-time classic. Five of the seven games were decided by one run; in four games, the winning run was scored in the winning team's last at-bat; in six of the games, the winning team came from behind, and in one game, did so twice; two of the games went to extra innings; and the games were tied or the lead changed hands 13 times. The taut margins of victory were not widely foreseen before the series began. In the National League, Cincinnati's "Big Red Machine"-- a fast, powerful team, led by two-time MVP Joe Morgan, perennial all-stars Pete Rose and Johnny Bench, and anchored by an endlessly deep and effective bullpen-- had steamrollered to a 108-54 record, clinching the NL West by early September, and subsequently had brushed Pittsburgh easily aside in the NLCS. Boston was given little chance against the talented Reds. Tiant, pitching the Series opener at Fenway, again provided the spark for the Red Sox. Whirling through his entire litany of contortionist's tricks, Tiant in Game 1 held the Reds to only five hits in a 6-0 shutout. In Game 2, colorful Boston lefthander Bill "Spaceman" Lee pitched masterfully for 8 innings, allowing only one Reds base runner to advance into scoring position during that stretch. In the 9th inning, however, the Reds plated two runs with two outs to eke out a 3-2 victory over Boston, and the Series was tied 1-1 heading back to Cincinnati. Game 3 was notable for a violently controversial call at home plate in the 10th inning that ultimately determined the contest in favor of the Reds, 6-5. The Reds had gone ahead 5-1 by the 6th inning, when the Red Sox began chipping away at the lead. In the 9th, the Sox tied the score on a two-run home run by Evans, sending the game into extra innings. In the bottom of the 10th, with the score still tied, Cincinnati centerfielder Cesar Geronimo led off with a single. Pinch hitter Ed Armbrister laid down a bunt in front of home plate, which bounced high on the turf and which Boston catcher Carlton Fisk moved to field. The replay on television seemed to show that Armbrister held up deliberately and impeded Fisk's retrieval of the bunt. Fisk's throw to second base sailed high off shortstop Burleson's glove and into centerfield, putting runners at second and third with no outs. Fisk and manager Johnson argued vehemently and at length with home plate umpire Larry Barnett that Armbrister had interfered with Fisk, but Barnett ruled that Armbrister exhibited no intent to interfere with the fielding of the bunt. Rose was walked to load the bases; Morgan then lashed a single to centerfield to push across Geronimo with the winning run, to give the Reds a 2-1 advantage in the Series. In Game 4, Tiant threw an exhausting 163-pitch complete victory, 5-4, to gain his second win of the Series and re-knot the Series at two games apiece. In Game 5, the Reds won big, 6-2, on the strength of two mammoth home runs by first baseman Tony Perez. The Series returned to Boston, with the Reds holding a 3-2 advantage. Game 6, the crucial game for the Red Sox, is widely regarded as perhaps the greatest single World Series game of all time. Rain had forced postponement of the game for three days, which allowed Tiant the opportunity to make his third Series start. Boston jumped out to an early lead on Fred Lynn's three-run home run. In the middle innings, however, with Tiant tiring, Reds rightfielder Ken Griffey stroked a double that drove in two runs, with Lynn crashing violently against the wall in left- center field in vain pursuit. Geronimo's 8th-inning home run put Cincinnati up 6-3, and Boston's predicament, faced with the prospect of the many-headed Reds bullpen, appeared hopeless. In the bottom of the 8th inning, however, the Red Sox put two runners aboard, and Johnson sent outfielder Bernie Carbo to pinch-hit. Carbo, looking utterly ineffective against fireballer Eastwick for most of his at-bat, smashed a 2-2 pitch into the centerfield bleachers, tying the game at 6-6. Carbo's home run was his second pinch-home run of the Series, a record; his first, in Game 3, also helped send the Sox into extra innings. From that point, the momentum swung dangerously from team to team. The Red Sox almost won the game in the bottom of the 9th, loading the bases with no outs, but Geronimo's perfect throw nipped Boston second baseman Denny Doyle at the plate and took the heart out of the Sox uprising. In the top of the 11th inning, with a runner at first, Morgan slashed a deep, sharp line drive that looked as though it would carry several rows into the right field bleachers, for a go-ahead home run; right fielder Evans, sprinting backwards, made a spectacular catch at the wall, and doubled off the runner at first with his subsequent throw, to end the Cincinnati threat. In the bottom of the 12th inning, catcher Carlton Fisk stepped in to lead off against Pat Darcy, the eighth Cincinnati pitcher of the evening. On Darcy's second pitch, Fisk swung-- and the result was a historic home run, hit just fair down the left field line, punctuated by Fisk's wild gyrations along the first baseline as he waved and willed the ball fair, and giving the Red Sox the dramatic 7-6 victory. Game 7, an excellent baseball game on its own merits, was anticlimactic after the fevered heroics of Game 6. As in that game, the Red Sox struck early against the Red's starting pitching early, scoring three runs by the 3rd inning and sending Cincinnati ace Don Gullett to the showers after four. The resilient Reds began nibbling at the lead. In the 5th, with one runner aboard, Tony Perez hit Bill Lee's "Leephus" pitch high into the left field screen, his third home run of the Series. The Reds tied the game in the 7th inning on a Pete Rose single; and in the 9th, with Griffey at second base, Morgan poked a soft single to center field, scoring what would prove to be the Series winning run. The 1975 World Series is considered something of a watershed event in baseball. Aside from the excellent level of baseball played during the Series, it has been viewed as the beginning of a rebirth of national interest in baseball after a relatively flat and uninteresting stretch in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Conversely, given the labor situation then percolating in baseball and the dawn of free agency in 1976 after the Messersmith decision, the Series has also been considered to be the end of an era. 4. Other In the aftermath of the 1975 season, Lynn, who hit .331 with 21 home runs and 105 runs batted in, and was the first rookie slugging champion ever, was voted Rookie of the Year and MVP in the American League. Rice, with a .309 average and 102 runs batted in, finished second in Rookie of the Year voting, and third in MVP voting. 5) 1986 [awaiting writeup] 6) 1988, written by Mark Armour, markjane@peak.org The 1988 Boston Red Sox won the American League East with an 89-73 record, beating Detroit by 1 game, Milwaukee by 2, Toronto by 2.5 and New York by 3.5. The 89 wins were then the lowest ever by an AL East champion in a non-strike year. The theme of the season was "Morgan Magic", as the Red Sox mid-season turn-around coincided with the ascension of Joe Morgan to the managerial chair. The team was 43-42 at the All Star break, when the long anticipated axe fell on 1986 Manager of the Year John McNamara. The Red Sox were the pre-season favorites of many, despite a disappointing 1987 season, mainly because of promising '87 rookies Ellis Burks, Mike Greenwell, Sam Horn, Todd Benziger, and John Marzano, and the addition of the supposed missing piece, closer Lee Smith. But many of the Sox bats (Rich Gedman, Jim Rice, Dwight Evans) and arms (Dennis Boyd, Jeff Sellers) heavily counted on did not deliver early on. In June Wade Boggs was served with a palimony suit by Margo Adams, a cause celebre that threatened to tear the team apart and finally erupted in a shouting match with Boggs and several teammates (who supposedly feared being mentioned in the trial) on a team bus. Johhny Mac was gone a few days later. Morgan made one personnel change, putting Jody Reed at SS over Spike Owen, and the team took off. They won his first 12 games, and 19 of his first 20. Eventually they won 24 straight home games (a new AL record). Along the way Morgan had an altercation with Jim Rice after pinch-hitting for him that made him a hero in the media and in the stands. During the streak, they picked up Mike Boddicker who gave them a third excellent starter (7-3) to go along with Roger Clemens and Bruce Hurst (18 victories each). After starting 19-1, they stumbled on, going 27 and 30 for the rest of the season. The hot three weeks were enough. The offensive stars of the team were sophomore Mike Greenwell, who hit .325 with power (119 RBIs) and walks (87), Boggs, who shrugged off the controversy to have his last great season at .366, Burks, who looked like a blooming superstar who had 18 homeruns, 92 RBI, hit .294 and played a stellar center field, and the 36 year old Dwight Evans (111 RBIs). Greenwell was 2nd in the MVP voting to the A's Jose Canseco. In the playoffs, the Red Sox ran up against the powerhouse A's, who beat them in four games. Hurst lost the first game 2-1, despite a complete game 6 hitter. They lost the second game 4-3 in the ninth on an RBI single by Walt Weiss off Lee Smith. They lost the third game 10-6, as Boddicker was rocked for six runs in less than three innings. Hurst lost the fourth game 4-1. Dennis Eckersley saved all four Oakland wins. 7) 1990 [awaiting writeup] 8) 1995, written by Relwood@dechert.com In 1995 the Boston Red Sox won the American League East Division Championship with a record of 86-58 (.597). The team began the strike-shortened season on April 26 by winning its first three games. The Sox were in first place all but six days of the season. The squad had sole possesion of first from May 13 until the end of the season, culminating in a 15-1/2 game lead as late as September 6. They clinched the division on September 20. Three heros stood out among a team of unheralded achievers. The American League's Most Valuable Player, charismatic first baseman Mo Vaughn, hit .300 with 39 home runs and 126 RBIs (tied for first in the AL). Shortstop John Valentin had a superb year, hitting .298 with 27 home runs, 102 RBIs, 81 walks, and 20 stolen bases. Knuckleballer Tim Wakefield, signed as a free agent to a AAA contract after the Pirates released him in spring training, turned in a stunning season, going 16-8 with a 2.95 ERA. Wakefield finished second in the voting for the Cy Young award. Before the season, most experts had picked the Red Sox to finish third or fourth in the division. The team went from seven games under .500 in 1994 to 28 games over in 1995. Much of the credit for assembling the team belongs to Executive Vice President and General Manager Dan Duquette. Duquette found many undervalued players who produced excellent seasons for the Red Sox, such as Wakefield and outfielder Troy O'Leary, who was claimed off waivers in April and hit .308. In the first round of the play-offs, the American League Champion Cleveland Indians swept the Red Sox 3-0, as Mo Vaughn and DH Jose Canseco went hitless in the series. 9) 1978 [awaiting writeup] 10) Curse of the Bambino [to be written, brief statement of the curse, who coined the phrase, etc] III. Fenway Park 1) When did Fenway Park open? The first game was played at Fenway Park on April 20, 1912. [details of game?] 2) Has Fenway ever hosted an All-Star Game? Yes, Fenway was the site of the 1946 and 1961 All Star games. 3) What kind of grass is used in Fenway Park? Bluegrass. 4) What are the dimensions of the park? The distances from home plate to the different parts of the park have varied over the years. The current official distances are (from Total Baseball): Left Field: 315 Left-Center: 379 Center Field: 390 Deepest part of the park (the triangle just right of center): 420 Right-Center: 383 Right Field: 302 Back-stop: 60 (1934); Foul Territory: Very small, smallest in the majors The left field fence (aka "The Wall" or "The Green Monster") is the dominating feature of the ballpark. The Wall is 37.17 feet high, and is painted green, although in the past it used to be covered with ads. 4a) Come on, what's *really* the distance down the left field line? The left field foul line was measured by Art Keefe and George Sullivan, authors of The Picture History of the Boston Red Sox, in October 1975 as 309 feet 5 inches. On October 19, 1975, the Boston Globe used aerial photography and measured it at 304.779 feet. Osborn Engineering Co. blueprints document the distance at 308 feet. 5) What was Duffy's Cliff, and what happened to it? Duffy's Cliff was a 10-foot-high mound which formed an incline in front of the left field wall from 1912 to 1933, extending from the left field foul pole to the flag pole in center--named after Red Sox left fielder Duffy Lewis, who was the acknowledged master of defensive play on the cliff. It was greatly reduced but not completely eliminated in 1934. (Source: Total Baseball) 6) What's the deal with the scoreboard? The scoreboard is the oldest manually operated scoreboard in the majors. For a while, it was the only such scoreboard, but the Oakland A's added a manual scoreboard some years ago. 7) What is the 600 Club? The 600 Club is a glass-enclosed luxury seating and restaurant constructed above and behind home plate. Membership is very expensive [price?], and raises significant revenue for the club. The 600 Club, and the press box that was built at the same time, changed the wind patterns around the park. [details of MIT study?] 8) What is Williamsburg? In 1940, in an effort to help Ted Williams hit home runs, the Red Sox added the right field bullpens, called Williamsburg, which reduced the distance to the Fence by 23 feet. 9) When was the electronic scoreboard added? The electronic scoreboard behind the center field bleachers was added in 1976, and supposedly changed the wind currents around the park. 10) I heard something about secret initials at the park? Tom A. Yawkey's and his wife Jean R. Yawkey's initials, TAY and JRY, appear in Morse code in two vertical stripes on the scoreboard in left. 11) What's the deal with the one red seat in the right field stands? [Ted Williams' homer] 12) What does the future hold for Fenway Park? [description of current proposals, the architectual study, etc] IV. The players & stats 1) Sox players in the Hall of Fame The following info is taken from the 1996 Media Guide: Fourteen baseball immortals enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame played a significant portion of their careers. In order of admission: Babe Ruth/P-OF Tris Speaker/OF Cy Young/P Jimmy Collins/3B Lefty Grove/P Herb Pennock/P Jimmie Foxx/1B Joe Cronin/SS Ted Williams/OF Red Ruffing/P Harry Hooper/OF Rick Ferrell/C Bobby Doerr/2B Carl Yastrzemski/OF-1B Eddie Collins and Tom Yawkey, two longtime Red Sox executives are also in the Hall. Other Hall of Famers who wore a Sox uniform (briefly) include: Luis Aparicio, Jesse Burkett, Lou Boudreau, Fergie Jenkins, George Kell, Heinie Manush, Al Simmons, Waite Hoyt, Tom Seaver,Juan Marichal, Jack Chesbro. Ten Hall of Famers have managed the Red Sox: Cy Young, Jimmy Collins, Hugh Duffy, Frank Chance, Ed Barrow, Joe Cronin, Joe McCarthy, Lou Boudreau, Bucky Harris, and Billy Herman. 2) Retired numbers The Red Sox have retired 4 numbers: #9 Ted Williams, number retired May 29th, 1984 #4 Joe Cronin, number retired May 29, 1984 #1 Bobby Doerr, number retired May 21st, 1988 #8 Carl Yastrzemski, number retired August 6th, 1989 3) Sox all-time teams (statistical and favorites) 4) Current team roster w/ stats V. The bosox list & Internet [this section is still under construction] 18) History, contact addresses, add/drop information 19) Other Internet resources (Web pages, rec.sport.baseball, etc) Tony K. Olsen's Red Sox radio network page: http://www.achilles.net/~tkolsen/sox_net.html Mark Petrillo's Red Sox Page (http://cutter.ship.edu/~mp5157/www/redsox.html Michael Rawdon's Draft info http://www.msn.fullfeed.com/rawdon/baseball/redsox Jeff Ryan's Trenton Thunder page http://bones.wcupa.edu/~jryan 20) The "Stats vs. Intangibles" Controversy 21) The owners vs players vs fans; The Strike; Money Is Ruining Baseball VI. Other questions. [this section is still under construction] 22) Books, magazines, and other references on the Red Sox 23) Sox minor league affiliates 24) Spring training info 25) TV & radio stations, announcers, talk shows 26) Explanation of 40-man roster, disabled list, waivers, etc. 28) Is Valentin a good defensive shortstop?