1981 Boston Red Sox season

Major League Baseball season March 2026 November 2013 Boston Red Sox 1981 American League East Fenway Park Boston, Massachusetts 1st half: 30–26 (.536) 2nd half: 29–23 (.558) Overall: 59–49 (.546) 1st half: 5th 2nd half: 2nd Buddy LeRoux, Haywood Sullivan, Jean Yawkey Jean Yawkey Haywood Sullivan Ralph Houk WSBK-TV, Ch. 38(Ned Martin, Ken Harrelson) WITS-AM 1510(Ken Coleman, Jon Miller) bos BOS The 1981 Boston Red Sox season was the 81st season in the franchise's Major League Baseball history. Due to the 1981 Major League Baseball strike, play during the regular season was suspended for 50 days, and the season was split into two halves, with playoff teams determined by records from each half of the season. In the first half of the season, the Red Sox finished fifth in the American League East with a record of 30 wins and 26 losses, four games behind the New York Yankees. In the second half of the season, the Red Sox finished tied for second in the division with a record of 29 wins and 23 losses, 1 1 2 games behind the Milwaukee Brewers. The Red Sox' overall record for the season was 59–49. Offseason October 27, 1980: the Red Sox lured Ralph Houk out of retirement to become the 35th manager in Red Sox history.The Boston Red Sox: An Illustrated History Milton Cole Jim Kaplan 58 World Publications Group North Dighton, Massachusetts 2009 978-1-57215-412-4 December 10, 1980: The Red Sox traded shortstop Rick Burleson and third baseman Butch Hobson to the California Angels in exchange for Carney Lansford, former Red Sox player Rick Miller, and Mark Clear. Burleson was unhappy with his contract negotiations with the Red Sox and hinted at leaving via free agency.August 2009 January 23, 1981: Fred Lynn and Steve Renko were traded by the Red Sox to the California Angels for Joe Rudi, Jim Dorsey and Frank Tanana.Joe Rudi page at Baseball Reference Regular season +Record by monthhttps://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1981/TBOS01981.htm The 1981 Boston Red Sox Retrosheet October 11, 2020Month Record Cumulative AL East Ref. Won Lost Won Lost Position GB April 7 9 7 9 5th 3 1 2 https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1981/04301981.htm Events of Thursday, April 30, 1981 May 18 12 25 21 5th 4 https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1981/05311981.htm Events of Sunday, May 31, 1981 June 5 5 30 26 5th 4 https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1981/06111981.htm Events of Thursday, June 11, 1981   Second half   August 11 9 11 9 3rd (tie) 1 1 2 https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1981/08311981.htm Events of Monday, August 31, 1981 September 16 13 27 22 3rd 1 1 2 https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1981/09301981.htm Events of Wednesday, September 30, 1981 October 2 1 29 23 2nd (tie) 1 1 2 https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1981/10051981.htm Events of Monday, October 5, 1981 Season standings Boston Red Sox Record vs. opponents BOS Notable transactions April 8, 1981: Dick Drago was traded by the Red Sox to the Seattle Mariners for Manny Sarmiento.Dick Drago page at Baseball Reference June 8, 1981: Steve Lyons was drafted by the Red Sox in the 1st round (19th pick) of the 1981 Major League Baseball draft.Steve Lyons page at Baseball Reference Opening Day lineup 24 Dwight Evans RF11 Dave Stapleton 2B26 Joe Rudi     DH14 Jim Rice LF  5 Tony Pérez 1B  4 Carney Lansford 3B 18 Glenn Hoffman SS39 Gary Allenson C  3 Rick Miller CF43 Dennis Eckersley     P Source:https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1981/B04100BOS1981.htm Chicago White Sox 5, Boston Red Sox 3 April 10, 1981 Retrosheet October 11, 2020 The Chicago White Sox defeated the Red Sox on Opening Day, 5–3. It was the first game that Carlton Fisk played for the White Sox, after 11 seasons with the Red Sox; Fisk hit a three-run home run in the eighth inning.https://sabr.org/gamesproj/game/april-10-1981-carlton-fisk-homers-in-return-to-fenway-park/ April 10, 1981: Carlton Fisk homers in return to Fenway Park Joseph Wancho SABR October 11, 2020 Roster 1981 Boston Red Sox Roster Pitchers 45 Luis Aponte 16 Tom Burgmeier 22 Bill Campbell 25 Mark Clear 28 Steve Crawford 43 Dennis Eckersley 47 Bruce Hurst 19 Bob Ojeda 42 Chuck Rainey 46 Bob Stanley 40 Frank Tanana 21 Mike Torrez 30 John Tudor Catchers 39 Gary Allenson 10 Rich Gedman 29 John Lickert 50 Dave Schmidt Infielders 18 Glenn Hoffman  4 Carney Lansford  5 Tony Pérez  2 Jerry Remy 11 Dave Stapleton 12 Julio Valdez  1 Chico Walker Outfielders 24 Dwight Evans 37 Garry Hancock  3 Rick Miller 51 Reid Nichols 17 Tom Poquette 14 Jim Rice Designated hitters 26 Joe Rudi  8 Carl Yastrzemski Manager 35 Ralph Houk Coaches 32 Tommy Harper (First base) 33 Walt Hriniak (Bullpen)  6 Johnny Pesky (Hitting) 34 Lee Stange (Pitching) 36 Eddie Yost (Third base) Player stats = Indicates team leader = Indicates league leader 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 PlayerGABRH2B3BHRRBISBBBAVGSLGJim Rice108451511281811762234.284.441Dwight Evans1084128412219422*71385.296.522Carney Lansford102399611342334521534.336.439Jerry Remy883585511091031936.307.338Dave Stapleton93355451011711042021.285.423Carl Yastrzemski913383683141753049.246.355Rick Miller973163892172233328.291.377Tony Pérez843063577113939027.252.395Glenn Hoffman782422856100120012.231.285Rich Gedman62205225915052609.288.434Gary Allenson47139233180525023.223.388Joe Rudi4912214223062408.180.352Reid Nichols3948139010302.188.229Garry Hancock264547300302.156.222Dave Schmidt1542610102307.238.405Julio Valdez172315000300.217.217Chico Walker61736000201.353.353Tom Poquette3200000000.000.000John Lickert1000000000.---.---Team totals10838205191052168179049232378.275.399 Source: Tied with Tony Armas (Oakland), Bobby Grich (California) and Eddie Murray (Baltimore) for league lead. 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 PlayerWLERAGGSSVIPHRERBBSODennis Eckersley984.2723230154.016082733579Frank Tanana4104.0124230141.114270634378Mike Torrez1033.6822220127.113061525154Bob Stanley1083.83351098.211046423828John Tudor434.581811178.27444402844Mark Clear834.11340976.26936355182Bob Ojeda623.121010066.15025232528Tom Burgmeier452.87320659.26123191735Steve Crawford054.991411057.26938321829Bill Campbell113.17300748.14523172037Chuck Rainey012.70112040.03921121320Bruce Hurst204.3055023.02311111211Luis Aponte100.5770115.21111311Team totals59493.8110810824987.1983481418354536 Source: Statistical leaders thumb|right|upright=.66|Dwight Evans Category Player Statistic Youngest player Rich GedmanJohn Lickert 21 Oldest player Carl Yastrzemski 41 Wins Above Replacement Dwight Evans 6.7 Source:https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/BOS/1981.shtml 1981 Boston Red Sox Statistics Baseball-Reference.com October 13, 2020 Batting Abbr. Category Player StatisticG Games played Dwight Evans 108 Jim Rice PA Plate appearances Dwight Evans 504 AB At bats Jim Rice 451 R Runs scored Dwight Evans 84 H Hits Carney Lansford 134 2B Doubles Carney Lansford 23 3B Triples Dwight Evans 4 HR Home runs Dwight Evans 22 RBI Runs batted in Dwight Evans 71 SB Stolen bases Carney Lansford 15 CS Caught stealing Carney Lansford 10 BB Base on balls Dwight Evans 85 SO Strikeouts Dwight Evans 85 BA Batting average Carney Lansford .336 OBP On-base percentage Dwight Evans .415 SLG Slugging percentage Dwight Evans .522 OPS On-base plus slugging Dwight Evans .937 OPS+ Adjusted OPS Dwight Evans 163 TB Total bases Dwight Evans 215 GIDP Grounded into double play Jim Rice 14 HBP Hit by pitch Jim Rice 3 SH Sacrifice hits Jerry Remy 13 SF Sacrifice flies Jim Rice 7 IBB Intentional base on balls Carl Yastrzemski 4 Source: Pitching Abbr. Category Player StatisticW Wins Bob Stanley 10 Mike Torrez L Losses Frank Tanana 10 W-L % Winning percentage Mike Torrez .769 (10–3) ERA Earned run average Mike Torrez 3.68 G Games pitched Bob Stanley 35GS Games started Dennis Eckersley 23 Frank Tanana GF Games finished Bill Campbell 23 CG Complete games Dennis Eckersley 8SHO Shutouts Dennis Eckersley 2 Frank Tanana SV Saves Mark Clear 9 IP Innings pitched Dennis Eckersley 154 SO Strikeouts Mark Clear 82 WHIP Walks plus hits per inning pitched Dennis Eckersley 1.266 Source: Awards and honors Mark Clear – AL Pitcher of the Month (May) Dwight Evans – Silver Slugger Award (OF), Gold Glove Award (OF), AL Player of the Month (May) Carney Lansford – Silver Slugger Award (3B) All-Star Game Dwight Evans, reserve OF Farm system Minor League Baseball AAA Pawtucket Red Sox International League Joe Morgan AA Bristol Red Sox Eastern League Tony Torchia A Winston-Salem Red Sox Carolina League Buddy Hunter A Winter Haven Red Sox Florida State League Rac Slider A-Short Season Elmira Suns New York–Penn League Dick Berardino LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Bristol Source:Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007https://archive.org/details/bostonredsoxmedi1981bost/page/52/mode/2up Boston Red Sox Media Guide 1981 52 March 14, 2021 Wayback Machine References 30em External links 1981 Boston Red Sox team page at Baseball Reference 1981 Boston Red Sox season at baseball-almanac.com Category:Boston Red Sox seasons Boston Red Sox Boston Red Sox Red Sox