1990 Boston Red Sox season

1990 Boston Red Sox
1990 AL East Champions
Major League affiliations
American League (since 1901)
Eastern Division (since 1969)
Location
Fenway Park (since 1912)
Boston, Massachusetts (since 1901)
Other information
Owner(s)	Jean Yawkey, Haywood Sullivan
General manager(s)	Lou Gorman
Manager(s)	Joe Morgan
Local television	WSBK-TV, Ch. 38 (Sean McDonough, Bob Montgomery) NESN (Ned Martin, Jerry Remy)
Local radio	WRKO (Bob Starr, Joe Castiglione) WROL (Bobby Serrano, Hector Martinez)
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The 1990 Boston Red Sox season was a season in American baseball. It involved the Red Sox finishing first in the American League East with a record of 88 wins and 74 losses. It was the second AL East division championship in three years for the Red Sox. However, as in 1988, the team fell victim to a four-game sweep at the hands of the Oakland Athletics in the ALCS.

Offseason

• December 6, 1989: Dennis Lamp was signed as a Free Agent with the Boston Red Sox.^[1]
• December 6, 1989: Jeff Reardon signed as a Free Agent with the Boston Red Sox.^[2]
• December 19, 1989: Rick Cerone was released by the Boston Red Sox.^[3]
• December 20, 1989: Sam Horn was released by the Boston Red Sox.^[4]
• February 15, 1990: Bill Buckner signed as a Free Agent with the Boston Red Sox.^[5]
• February 15, 1990: Greg A. Harris was signed as a Free Agent with the Boston Red Sox.^[6]

Regular season

On June 6, 1990, the Red Sox got retribution for Bucky Dent's home run when the New York Yankees fired Dent as their manager, making Fenway Park the scene of his greatest moment as a player—and his worst moment as manager.^[7] 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 said he should "have waited until the Yankees got to Baltimore" to fire Dent.^[8] He said that "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."^[8] He also said that "the firing was only special because...it's the first time a Yankee manager...was purged on the ancient Indian burial grounds of the Back Bay."^[8]

The Red Sox also set a Major League record which still stands for the most double plays grounded into in a season, with 174.^[9]

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 Records Sources:
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	—

Opening Day Line Up

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

Roster

1990 Boston Red Sox
Roster
Pitchers 42,48 Larry Andersen 52 Mike Boddicker 50 Tom Bolton 21 Roger Clemens 40 John Dopson 44 Wes Gardner 38 Jeff Gray 27 Greg Harris 55 Joe Hesketh 31 Eric Hetzel 59 Daryl Irvine 19 Dana Kiecker 15 Dennis Lamp 38 John Leister 47 Rob Murphy 41 Jeff Reardon 3,45 Jerry Reed 54 Mike Rochford 48 Lee Smith		Catchers 10 Rich Gedman 20 John Marzano  6 Tony Peña Infielders 17 Marty Barrett 26 Wade Boggs 22 Bill Buckner 10 Rick Lancellotti 11 Tim Naehring 42 Jim Pankovits 18 Carlos Quintana  3 Jody Reed  2 Luis Rivera 13 Billy Jo Robidoux		Outfielders 23 Tom Brunansky 12 Ellis Burks 39 Mike Greenwell 29 Danny Heep  5 Randy Kutcher  7 Phil Plantier 16 Kevin Romine Designated Hitters 24 Dwight Evans 22 Mike Marshall 28 Jeff Stone Pinch hitter 45 Scott Cooper		Manager 35 Joe Morgan Coaches 33 Dick Berardino (bullpen) 37 Al Bumbry (first base) 34 Bill Fischer (pitching) 32 Richie Hebner (hitting) 36 Rac Slider (third base)

Notable transactions

• May 4, 1990: Lee Smith was traded by the Boston Red Sox to the St. Louis Cardinals for Tom Brunansky.^[10]
• June 4, 1990: Les Norman was drafted by the Boston Red Sox in the 26th round of the 1990 amateur draft, but did not sign.^[11]
• June 5, 1990: Bill Buckner was released by the Boston Red Sox.^[5]
• August 23, 1990: Cecilio Guante signed as a Free Agent with the Boston Red Sox.
• August 30, 1990: The Boston Red Sox traded Jeff Bagwell to the Houston Astros for Larry Andersen.

Player stats

= Indicates team leader

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	Tony Peña	143	491	129	.263	7	56
1B	Carlos Quintana	149	512	147	.287	7	67
2B	Jody Reed	155	598	173	.289	5	51
3B	Wade Boggs	155	619	187	.302	6	63
SS	Luis Rivera	118	346	78	.225	7	45
LF	Mike Greenwell	159	610	181	.297	14	73
CF	Ellis Burks	152	588	174	.296	21	89
RF	Tom Brunansky	129	461	123	.267	15	71
DH	Dwight Evans	123	445	111	.249	13	63

Other batters

Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Roger Clemens	31	228.1	21	6	1.93	209
Mike Boddicker	34	228	17	8	3.16	143
Tom Bolton	21	119.2	10	5	3.38	65

Other pitchers

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO

Relief pitchers

Player	G	W	L	SV	ERA	SO

ALCS

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

• Roger Clemens, American League Leader, Shutouts (4)

All-Star Game

• Wade Boggs, Third Base, Starter
• Ellis Burks, Outfield, Reserve
• Roger Clemens, Pitcher, Reserve

Farm system

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	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

^[12]

References

1. Dennis Lamp Statistics and History - Baseball-Reference.com
2. Jeff Reardon Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com
3. Rick Cerone Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com
4. Sam Horn Statistics and History - Baseball-Reference.com
5. Bill Buckner Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com
6. Greg Harris Statistics and History - Baseball-Reference.com
7. Cafardo, Nick (June 7, 1990). "Dent Dumped by Yankees". The Boston Globe. p. 37.
8. Shaughnessy, Dan (June 7, 1990). "His Back Was Against the Wall". The Boston Globe. p. 37.
9. "Single Season Grounding Into Double Play Records". Baseball-Almanac.com. Retrieved May 14, 2012.
10. Lee Smith Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com
11. Les Norman Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com
12. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007

• 1990 Boston Red Sox team page at Baseball Reference
• 1990 Boston Red Sox season at baseball-almanac.com