1988 BOSTON RED SOX ...
THE SUMMER OF "MORGAN'S MAGIC" ...
 

Things were a lot different in 1988. The Red Sox clubhouse was open for almost three hours before every game. Everything that went on essentially happened in public. Secrets were few, so reporters had a front-row seat to baseball history. The ’88 Sox were supposed to be good, after a profoundly disappointing 1987 season.

The Red Sox opened the 1988 season with expectations. Changes were made in the winter as General Manager Lou Gorman traded Calvin Schiraldi and Al Nipper to the Chicago Cubs for their All-Star closer, Lee Smith on December 8th.

JERRY REMY & NED MARTIN

Reliever Dennis Lamp was signed as a free agent on January 10th and pitcher Mike Smithson was signed on January 18th. Veteran pitcher Ed Lynch was also a free agent in the mix at spring training.

On February 2nd, Jerry Remy was hired to be the color commentator for Ned Martin on the  NESN Red Sox telecasts, while Sean McDonough joined Bob Montgomery to do the Channel 38 games.

On March 9th, the Sox signed Glenn Hoffman to a minor league contract with Pawtucket.

Cut and sent to the PawSox at the end of March from last year's team, were Pat Dodson, Danny Scheaffer, John Leister, Rob Woodward and Tom Bolton.

GM Lou Gorman found no interest in Dodson from other teams. “He deserves to go somewhere,” Gorman said. “He’s one of the best kids in the world.”

Ellis Burks set a personal goal of 40 stolen bases. However, a bone chip in his ankle required surgery and he was unable to open the season with the team and started on the DL. Joining him was Bob Stanley, trying to heal from a severe cut to his right hand over the winter.

During spring training with the Red Sox, Randy Kutcher played every position but pitcher in a game, but on the day the final cuts were made, the team went with Kevin Romine over Kutcher, who had struggled to hit the ball that spring, batting .214.

The Sox broke camp with four new rookies on the roster, the most notably being centerfielder, Brady Anderson, who batted .326 (28-for-86) in spring training. Joining him on the opening day roster were newcomers, pitcher Steve Ellsworth, infielder Jody Reed and pitcher John Trautwein.

While there was no top-heavy favorite in the AL East, the Red Sox were reasonably expected to be one of the top teams. Manager, John McNamara, was an issue. In the final year of his contract, he was under a mandate to win or else from ownership. As early as spring training, it was clear that he was not comfortable with the expectations that fans had for his team, during the final year of his contract.

The Red Sox didn’t fall on their face out of the starting gate. They started well and April was quite successful. After losing the home opener, they came from behind against the Tigers with four runs in the bottom on the eighth for their first win on April 6th, 6 to 5.

"Oil Can" Boyd's first start since last July was a good one, as he shut out the Rangers in Arlington, 4 to 0, on April 8th.

Roger Clemens picked up his first win on April 9th, beating Charlie Hough and the Rangers, 2-1. The only Texas run was unearned. Rich Gedman tied the game with a home run and Sam Horn's sac fly in the ninth brought in the game-winner. The next day, Gedman bounced a grounder that scored the only Red Sox run in a 4-1 loss on April 10th. But in doing so, he broke his big toe.

Ellis Burks made his season debut on April 12th against the Brewers at Fenway and went 2-for-4. Bruce Hurst pitched the game and gave up four hits in seven innings, struck out nine of the first 17 batters he faced, and won, 3 to 1. It was the first of a three-game sweep.

The next day, on April 13th, Burks got three hits, a stolen base, and a home run to support "Oil Can" Boyd's 6-3 win. Lee Smith pitched the ninth and struck out all three batters. In six of the first eight games, Smith's earned run average was 0.00.

Lee Smith had the day off on April 14th as for the first time this season, he didn't contribute to a Sox victory. He wasn't needed because Roger Clemens went the route, fanning 13 with no walks in a 133-pitch, 2-0 masterpiece to sweep the Brewers. The "Rocket" got stronger and faster in the late innings.

RICK CERONE

Catcher John Marzano started the season by hitting .138 over 10 games. With Gedman out, Rick Cerone had been released by the Yankees and signed with the Sox on April 15th.

The Sox next cranked off six straight wins, starting with a 15-2 thrashing of the Texas Rangers on April 17th. Cerone had four hits, while Marty Barrett, Jim Rice and Mike Greenwell each had three. Meanwhile, Bruce Hurst spun a neat four-hitter at Texas.

On April 18th after Lee Smith had proven himself human by allowing the Texas Rangers a run in the ninth inning to tie up the game, Wade Boggs and Rice got on base before Greenwell delivered a sac fly to deliver Boggs for a 4-3 walk-off win.

In Detroit on April 19th, Roger Clemens struck out 11 batters and beat Jack Morris, 3 to 0. The Sox hit men pummeled Morris for 12 hits. Marty Barrett had three hits and scored three runs. Cerone went 2-for-5 and was hitting .583 since coming to the Red Sox.

Ellis Burks had three singles and a triple in Detroit on April 21st, leading the Sox to a 12-3 rout of the Tigers. Rookie Steve Ellsworth got credited with his first major league win. Cerone had two more hits and a free pass to continue making his presence known.

Roger Clemens (4-0) pitched a near-perfect game through eight innings, survived two errors, and stopped the Brewers and Teddy Higuera, with a 4-0 victory in Milwaukee on April 24th.  

Bruce Hurst (3-0, 2.61) followed and held Milwaukee to six hits the next night on April 25th. He struck out eight and walked none. The Brewers were hitting .161 (25 for 155) against the Sox, and in two days against Clemens and Hurst, they collected nine hits and placed only three runners in scoring position. One advanced on an error and all were stranded.

After losing a game to the White Sox in Chicago, the Sox flew to home to host the Twins on April 29th. Roger Clemens was cruising along and needed help from Lee Smith to hold a 5-2 lead after eight innings. But this time, Smith blew the save and gave up three runs that tied the game. However, in the bottom of the ninth, the Sox loaded the bases. Then Dwight Evans hit a fly to right, that rightfielder Mark Davidson dropped, allowing Marty Barrett to romp home from third, for a 6-5 walk-off win.

The next night, on April 30th, the Sox knocked the Twins around 8 to 3. Rick Cerone had a 3-for-4 night, with a home run. When Bruce Hurst needed help after a shaky start, Wes Gardner came in to pitch in the seventh inning with two men on and nobody out. Gardner not only got out of that jam unscathed, but set down all nine batters he faced.

The Sox ended April only one game out of first place. They were 14-6 for the month, and that included a 5-0 mark against Milwaukee, wins that would loom large by the end of the season.

The Sox bats then went dead as they were shut out on two consecutive nights to start the month, and lost four straight games, having scored only five runs. The Red Sox, who had scored just five runs in their last 36 innings, had been held to three runs or fewer in 12 of their first 24 games.

But then on May 5th, the slumbering Red Sox pounded the Chicago White Sox pitching staff into submission, 16-3. Marty Barrett, Dwight Evans and Todd Benzinger each banged out four hits. Bruce Hurst improved his record to 5-0.

The Sox were shut out in Minnesota the next night and scored only two runs the night after. Then on May 8th, Ellis Burks had three hits, a homer, a stolen base and three RBIs in a 10-6 win over the Twins. Burks jammed his wrist over a week ago and sat out eight straight games. The Sox dropped six of those eight and were 11-3 when he played and 5-9 when he didn't.

Next in Kansas City, Roger Clemens was magnificent on the mound as he allowed only one hit after the first inning and struck out every batter in the Royals' lineup at least once on his way to a 2-0 win on May 9th. In striking out 16, Clemens made it five times in his eight starts that he has struck out 11 or more batters this season. 

Back home on May 13th, Wade Boggs went 4 for 4 as Mike Greenwell hit a homer in two consecutive at-bats. Sam Horn also crashed one beyond the bullpen with two on. And "Oil Can" Boyd won his fourth game, 14-8, against the Mariners, although he gave up six runs.

The next night on May 14th, Clemens (6-1) went the distance for the second straight outing, running his string of scoreless innings to 18, with 26 strikeouts, and lowering his earned run average to 1.78, beating Seattle, 3 to 0.

After losing two to the Oakland A's, the Sox bounced back in the third game, winning 4-1 on May 18th. "Oil Can" Boyd handcuffed them, 4 to 1, out-pitching Dave Stewart. Lee Smith struck out two in the ninth to pick up his first save in over a month.

A new number was added to the two others below the "Jimmy Fund" sign on the facade above right field at Fenway Park on May 21st. Bobby Doerr finally saw his No. 1 immortalized as it joined Ted Williams' No. 9 and Joe Cronin's No. 4.

In the game that day, Mike Greenwell's three-run homer propelled the Sox to an 8-4 victory over the Angels. Rich Gedman came back to the lineup and Rick Cerone was used as the DH over the slumping Sam Horn and Jim Rice. He had three of the team's eight hits the previous night and went 2-for-4 today. Cerone was hitting .441 at Fenway Park.

The Sox bats continued pounding opponent pitching on  May 22nd, as the Red Sox enjoyed a 16-hit, 12-run barrage against the California Angels. Bob Stanley pitched superbly for the second time since coming off the DL, striking out four in 5 2/3 innings.

John Marzano (.138 BA) was sent to Pawtucket and pitcher Mike Smithson was called up before they embarked on a trip to the West Coast.

In Seattle, on May 25th, Roger Clemens wound up with his fifth shutout of the season and lowered his earned run average to 1.80 with a four-hitter. He struck out five. That was the only game the Sox won in Seattle. The Sox next dropped three straight in Oakland.

Clemens created a minor stir by deciding to pitch against the Angels in Anaheim rather than return to Houston for the birth of his second son, Kory. He earned a complete-game victory in that May 30th game distracted the Angels and walked away with a 5-2 victory. When it counted Clemens blanked the Angels, making just the right pitches to raise his record to 8-2 and stop a Sox slide at 1-5.

An example of the growing frustration born of too many losses and too many injuries erupted in Anaheim as Dwight Evans sat in the Red Sox dugout and overheard a conversation on the subject of moving him from first base to right field because of the absence of injured Mike Greenwell, who left the club with a sore shoulder. When John McNamara approached Todd Benzinger about replacing him in left, Benzinger said he couldn't play because of a sore groin.

"The man's always hurt," Evans snapped. "How's he going to play first base if he's always hurt? How can you put him in the lineup? What are you going to do, move everybody else around to cater to him?" With that, Evans turned his back and ran up the dugout steps, bat in hand.

Mike Smithson won his first major league game in almost a year when he pitched the Red Sox to a 4-3 victory on May 31st in Anaheim. He gave up five hits after pitching seven shutout innings.

In the end, May wasn’t kind, and the Sox (25-22) struggled to an 11-16 mark for the month, in 4th place, seven games behind the Yankees.

"Oil Can" Boyd's arm started acting up. After his June 3rd loss to Toronto, he had given up 56 hits and 37 earned runs in his last 39 1/ 3 innings for an earned run average of 8.47, and his ERA for the season had risen from 2.29 to 6.41.

Brought up from Pawtucket were pitchers Zach Crouch and Steve Curry and sent down were Brady Anderson and Sam Horn.

The Sox were bombed out of Fenway, in June's first home stand, losing four straight to the Toronto Blue Jays, and falling below .500 and 9 games out of the race. Zach Crouch’s major league debut was on June 4th. The young pitcher came into the game, with the Blue Jays leading the Red Sox, 7-2, in the top of the ninth. The Jays had already scored four runs in the inning, off Lee Smith. There was one out. For Crouch, a left-hander, it was a dream come true to have the opportunity to pitch in the majors. He faced the Jays again the next day on June 5th and a third time in Toronto on June 10th, pitching a total of 1 1/3 innings in his major league career.

Jim Rice was also off to a slow start. He had no home runs with only five extra-base hits and 18 runs batted in. He had hit into eight double plays and was 0 for 7 in bases-loaded situations.

Mike Greenwell (.303 BA) was in left field and drove in all of the Sox runs in a 3-2 win at Yankee Stadium on June 6th. After losing the next fame, the Sox won again on June 8th, 4-3 behind Roger Clemens who struck out ten Yankees. Lee Smith saved both games.

McNamara started fiddling with the lineup and nothing was set. The young players wanted to play more as did the older veterans. In the front office, Jean Yawkey put John Harrington in charge over Haywood Sullivan.  On the field and off, the team was divided. Meanwhile, the Sox ownership let McNamara slowly twist in the wind, and the manager admitted that he'd gone to Sullivan to get public clarification of his status. In one of the more bizarre episodes of this soap opera, the Sox manager called a press conference on June 14th, to announce that he's no longer talking about his job security.

June got a little bit better on the field, but not by much. After losing two in Toronto the Sox bounced back on June 12th. The slumping Jim Rice was benched and Mike Greenwell launched a three-run homer. Staked to a big lead "Oil Can" Boyd gave up eight hits and won 8 to 2.

Back at Fenway, Mike Smithson came through with seven strong innings and beat the league-leading Yankees, 7 to 3. Mike Greenwell had the first four-hit game of his career and he and his teammates racked up fourteen of them.

On the 15th, powered by Ellis Burks' grand slam, the Sox beat the Yankees, 8-3.  Burks drove a 2-2 pitch deep off a stanchion atop the wall in left-center, 45 feet over the 379-foot sign.

In Baltimore on June 16th,  Marty Barrett stole home. In the fourth inning, Barrett singled and was on third base with two outs. Mike Greenwell was the Red Sox batter. At an opportune moment, Barrett dashed home. His steal of home gave the Red Sox the early lead, but Baltimore eventually won. Entering in the fourth inning just after the Orioles had tied the score, 2-2. Rookie John Trautwein was tagged for a single, hit a batter, and then on a 3-2 count gave up a two-run double to Cal Ripken Jr. A single scored Ripken and it was 5-2, Orioles. Trautwein took the loss, the only decision of his major-league career, 8 to 4.

Roger Clemens couldn't explain it, but he'd become almost unbeatable on the road while he struggled slightly at Fenway Park. After beating the Orioles, 5-0, at Memorial Stadium on June 18th, he was 8-0 in road games with four shutouts and a 0.92 earned-run average. Rival hitters were batting .181 (45 for 249) against him on the road.

Then the Red Sox smashed a Memorial Stadium record 23 hits en route to a 15-7 victory over the hapless O's on June 19th. They banged out 21 hits and four homers (two by Mike Greenwell) the next night, June 20th, in a 14-7 shellacking of the Indians in Cleveland. No Red Sox team had collected 20 or more hits in back-to-back games since 1950, when the Sox took two from the St. Louis Browns on June 7th (20-4) and June 8th (29-4). The next night, on June 21st, the Sox banged out 15 hits and beat the Indians again, 10 to 6.

Mike Greenwell was the hottest hitter in the American League with a 13-game hitting streak and in his last four games, he was 12 for 20 with four homers and 12 RBIs. He carried a 14-game hitting streak into the first game back at Fenway against the Orioles and ranked among the league leaders in eight offensive categories.

The Sox then cranked out a five-game winning streak. They struck for seven runs in the eighth inning of a 10-3 bashing of the Orioles on June 25th. Marty Barrett had three hits and Greenwell drove in three of the runs with two hits.

On June 26th, the Sox produced seven doubles by six players, plus first-inning two-run homers by Greenwell (No. 14) and Jim Rice (No. 4), as they belted the Orioles, 10-1. Greenwell's homer was his sixth in the last seven games. Mike Smithson benefitted from the offensive support, pitching a complete game, four-hit, six-strikeout masterpiece.

Against the Indians, the Sox pounded out 14 hits and won 9-5 on June 27th. Jody Reed, filling in for the injured Spike Owen, turned a 5-4 deficit into a 6-5 lead by depositing a ball over the Green Monster.

Wes Gardner made his first start of the year and the second of his major-league career when he was pressed into service after Jeff Sellers suffered a broken hand on June 28th. John McNamara said, "I’ve got to have a starter", and he came up to Gardner one night and said "I’m going to start you in a ballgame. I just want you to go as far as you can go.” Giving up one run and three hits in seven innings and striking out four, Gardner won 6-1 in his 99th appearance in the major leagues, and he lowered his ERA to 1.49.

MARGO ADAMS AND WADE BOGGS

But still, the Sox were in turmoil off the field. Wade Boggs was slapped with his palimony suit by Margo Adams.  Things turned ugly in the clubhouse as Adams implicated other players in similar indiscretions. Mrs. Yawkey was embarrassed and the organization seemed out of control. 

John McNamara had been accused from time to time of taking naps in the dugout, and sometimes in his office. This was the suspicion when the starting lineup wasn't posted until 20 minutes before game time. His imminent firing was a daily story. The team’s problems were not dealt with. In this latest episode on the trip from Baltimore to Cleveland, the players started drinking in the clubhouse. The plane was not scheduled to depart until two hours later than normal, so the players drank more than usual. The feelings underneath surfaced as they started going after Wade Boggs verbally because some of them had been notified they must give depositions in Adams' palimony suit against him. There were clashes between Dwight Evans and his teammates. First, it was with Boggs, then Cerone, and words with Wes Gardner and Burks. Mike Greenwell and Evans had problems and met to iron out their differences. Mike Greenwell was upset over an incident in New York when Evans yelled at Greenwell from the dugout for not running out a ground ball.

On the field, backed by Ellis Burks' three-run homer and Roger Clemens' first Fenway Park triumph in five starts, the Sox banged out their fifth consecutive win on June 29th, a 5-1 decision over the Indians. Clemens looked like a three-time "Cy Young" Award winner. Hobbled by a groin injury in his last outing, he allowed just three hits and struck out 10 in seven innings as he improved his record to 11-5.

After winning their fifth straight, the Sox were in third place, six games behind the first-place Tigers.

The Red Sox finished just over. 500 for the month of June, but 9 of the 14 wins came against Cleveland and Baltimore, the only East teams that would finish sub-.500. The Orioles in fact, were headed for a 107-loss catastrophe. The Sox followed that up by losing nine of July’s first twelve games.

The only bright pitching spot belonged to the stopper, Roger Clemens. After losing four in Kansas City, Clemens handed the Royals a 9 to 2 loss on July 4th. His hitters supplied the fireworks and gave him 17 hits of support, including an inside-the-park homer from Dwight Evans. Wade Boggs (.359 BA) had his second four-hit night of the season, knocking in three runs and stealing a base. Jim Rice, who held the major league record for hitting into double plays in a season, became the first Red Sox player to hit into a triple play since 1965.

In Minnesota they lost 2-of-3, winning the finale, 4 to 3 on July 7th. "Oil Can" Boyd got the win and Bob Stanley pitched three shutout innings for his first save in almost two years. Jody Reed executed a perfect suicide squeeze, to score Todd Benzinger with the winning run.

A twinight doubleheader was split with the White Sox on July 8th. The opener was dropped 6 to 5 and the night game was won 10-7, with a seven-run fifth inning. Ellis Burks' three-run homer was the key. The two teams split another doubleheader the next day, July 9th. They blew a 4-0 lead in the opener, losing 8 to 7. A three-hit 15-strikeout effort by Roger Clemens in the second game resulted in a no-decision for him, but they took the second game, 8 to 2 with six runs in the 10th inning, with Lee Smith getting credit for the win.

Mike Greenwell's strong start paid the dividend he coveted, his selection to the American League All-Star team. As expected, Roger Clemens also was selected and received a $150K bonus.

A 43-42 record at the All-Star break was simply not acceptable when the lineup has Wade Boggs, Mike Greenwell, Jim Rice, Dwight Evans and Rich Gedman in it. While Gedman and Barrett were having subpar years, Boggs was delivering a vintage year, with a .355 BA, Greenwell was hitting .345 and Evans was at .318

However, the Red Sox starting pitching had become a problem. While Clemens (12-5) and Hurst (9-4) were consistent, there was no consistency below them. "Oil Can" Boyd (7-7) was struggling, and while Wes Gardner was providing some help, it was clear the team needed another starting pitcher. But more than that, they needed to get back into the race.

Roger Clemens, Wade Boggs and Mike Greenwell all made the American League All-Star team for the game played on July 12th at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. Boggs started at third base and went 1-for-3. Clemens pitched one inning and struck out two as the AL prevailed, 2 to 1.

Meanwhile, Jean Yawkey had had enough of the bickering. She blamed John McNamara for failing to control his players and being content to not be a winning team. So as the second half of the season was to get underway, McNamara was fired with his team nine games out of first place.

Joe Morgan, his third base coach, was named interim manager while the team searched for a bigger name. When team president John Harrington told him of his interim status, Morgan replied, “Mr. Harrington, the word ‘interim’ is not in my vocabulary.”

JOE MORGAN

The hiring of Joe Morgan jump-started one of the most epic win streaks in team history. It would be called “Morgan’s Magic” and it electrified Red Sox Nation immediately. He reprimanded captain Jim Rice, who had not provided leadership and had become a disruptive presence in the clubhouse. He then benched Spike Owen and made Jody Reed the shortstop.

The game of July 14th was rained out, so the Sox and Royals played two on Friday, July 15th. The Sox won under their new manager, Joe Morgan, not once but twice. Roger Clemens rocketed his way to 16 strikeouts in a 3-1 victory in the opener. Rick Cerone and Wade Boggs hit homers to back a 7-4 triumph in the nightcap, giving the Sox a doubleheader sweep of the Kansas City Royals. It was the first two of a 12-game winning streak.

On July 15th, the Sox signed Larry Parrish who had been released by the Texas Rangers. To make room they optioned Steve Ellsworth to Pawtucket.

On Saturday, July 16th, the Sox trailed after five, 6-0 with the first run scoring on Bo Jackson’s home run over, the center field wall. They tied it in the eighth on Dwight Evans’ two-run homer and went into the bottom of the ninth tied, 6-6. The leadoff hitter was Kevin Romine, batting .154 for the season and with no home runs in parts of four big-league years. Romine smoked the second pitch of the inning into the screen above the "Green Monster" and the Sox had a 7-6 victory. After that, miracles seemed to happen on a daily basis.

Unlike McNamara, Joe Morgan used his bench players. He opened the game with a lineup that had Randy Kutcher starting in right field to give Dwight Evans a rest. He also dropped Wade Boggs down to his coveted No. 3 spot and let Jody Reed lead off. It was the Sox’s biggest come-from-behind victory of the season.

On Sunday, July 17th, in 99-degree heat, after blowing a 7-0 lead, the Sox hung on and won, 10-6, to finish a sweep of the Royals. Ellis Burks collected five RBIs to lead the Sox. But as ugly as it was, it was the fourth straight victory under the new manager. After four games, the Red Sox were playing like a team, rather than a collection of nine or ten guys.

On  July 18th, the Sox rolled up their fifth consecutive win with a 6-5 trimming of the Minnesota Twins. The Sox rallied from deficits of 1-0 and 2-1, and broke a 3-3 tie on newcomer Larry Parrish's sacrifice fly in the sixth. The ninth began with the Sox holding a 6-4 lead. Lee Smith gave up the Twins' fifth run in the ninth and didn't get the last out until the Twins had the tying and go-ahead runs at second and third.

Mike Smithson had a no-hitter for 6-1/3 innings in a 5-0 Red Sox victory over the Twins on July 19th, and it lifted them to within five games of first-place Detroit. Smithson eventually gave up two hits in 7 1/3 innings and dazzled the team that cut him loose last winter. Larry Parrish went 3-for-3 including a home run. Jim Rice had a pair of hits, a double and a triple.

The Sox had their most improbable victory of all on July 20th. They were leading in the eighth, 5-4, and Joe Morgan sent up Spike Owen to bat for Jim Rice. Upset by the move, Rice slammed his bat into the rack and jostled Morgan in the dugout. Morgan took complete control and later suspended Rice for three games. The Twins tied it in the ninth, 5-5, then scored two in the 10th to make the score 7-5. But then Twins reliever Juan Berenguer, came unglued and the Sox rallied in the bottom of the inning. Todd Benzinger won the game, wrapping a home run around the rightfield foul pole and winning 9 to 7.

Next, on, July 21st, "Oil Can" Boyd was near perfect in a 6-1 victory over the Chicago White Sox, retiring the first 19 batters he faced before Steve Lyons ended his bid for a perfect game with one-out single in the seventh. As a result, the Red Sox moved within 4 1/2 games of Detroit and rewrote a couple of lines in the club record book. Their 8-0 mark was their best getaway ever after the All-Star break. It also gave Joe Morgan the best start ever by a Red Sox manager, with one more win than Steve O'Neill chalked up in his debut in 1950.

The Red Sox rallied from two runs down for a 4-3 victory over the Chicago White Sox on July 22nd. This time they fell behind, 2-0, in the first inning. They then trailed, 3-1, in the sixth. Larry Parrish belted a monster of a double to score two runners and tie the game. A Chicago error on a hit-and-run ball by Marty Barrett in the seventh, set up Wade Boggs for the game-winner, when he scored on a double-play ball.

On July 23rd, the Red Sox made Chicago their 10th straight victim and remained perfect under Joe Morgan, courtesy of an 11-5 victory. The Sox rallied from a 5-1 deficit en route to a 20-hit performance. Every starter got into the act, but Ellis Burks (.327 BA) was perfect with four hits. Marty Barrett and Jody Reed each had three and Todd Benzinger banged out a pair of doubles.

Coupled with Detroit's 4-1 loss to Oakland, the Sox moved within 2 1/2 games of the AL East-leading Tigers. The Sox had made up 6 1/2 games on the leaders since Morgan took over nine days ago.

The Sox made 11 straight victories at Fenway Park, finishing it off with a 3-2 triumph over the White Sox on July 24th. To go along with timely hitting and great defense, the Sox added the ingredient of solid pitching. Five innings by Bruce Hurst was then followed by strong relief performances by Dennis Lamp and Lee Smith, who picked up his 15th save.

In Texas on July 25th, the Sox delivered their 12th and last consecutive win for Joe Morgan. Jody Reed delivered the winning run as Roger Clemens stifled the Texas Rangers, 2-0 with 14 strikeouts. Their 12-game winning streak was the Sox's longest since 1948, when they won 13 in a row. Reed's seventh-inning single gave Clemens the only run he needed as he pitched his fourth three-hitter, seventh shutout and 10th complete game of the season, lowering his earned run average to 2.25. The victory, in which he threw 161 pitches, stretched his road record to 10-0.

The Sox then lost to the Rangers the next night as "Oil Can" Boyd exited in the fourth with a recurrence of tenderness in his right shoulder.  Dwight Evans also was sidelined because of a pulled muscle in his leg.

But they started a new winning streak as the "Morgan's Magic" returned in a 10-7 victory over the Texas Rangers on July 27th. Jim Rice had his second straight three-hit game. He doubled home the tying run and scored the winner on Kevin Romine's single during a three-run eighth-inning surge that gave the Sox an 8-7 advantage.

With Boyd down, Lou Gorman stepped in and pulled the trigger on a hugely consequential trade, both short-term and long-term on July 28th. They acquired Mike Boddicker from Baltimore, whose “foshball”, a mix of fastball and forkball, made him an upper-echelon pitcher. The Red Sox only needed to give up a couple of young players. One was Brady Anderson, who’d been in the Opening Day lineup, but seen little time since then. The other was a young pitcher named Curt Schilling.

On the field, the Red Sox swept the Brewers back at Fenway, 6-4 and 5-4, in a double-fantasy special on July 29th. Dale Sveum's error led to three unearned Sox runs in Game #1, and Paul Molitor's eighth-inning gaffe set up Todd Benzinger's game-winning single in the nightcap.

Then on July 30th, the Red Sox extended their Fenway streak with a 3-2, sudden-death victory over the Milwaukee Brewers. Roger Clemens fanned 13 and walked one (intentional) in a 149-pitch masterpiece. The winning run was knocked in by Marty Barrett, in an inning after he had hurt the cause with a base running blunder. With the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth, Barrett smacked the first pitch to left, past a drawn-in infield, for the game-winning single. The Sox now trailed first-place Detroit by only 1 1/2 half games.

Each day there was a different scenario and on each day there was the same scenario. On July 31st, the crushing blow came in the sixth, when Rich Gedman poked a two-run homer into the right-field grandstands to complete a 5-0 victory over the Brewers. The victory was spiced with the sparkling debut of Mike Boddicker for the Red Sox.

Then it was August 2nd and yes, the Red Sox won again, a 7-2 thumping of the Texas Rangers that was decided in a matter of minutes rather than innings. Mike Greenwell smoked a Jeff Russell first-inning pitch into the visiting bullpen for his first career grand slam and a 4-0 lead. By the time he crossed home plate, Greenwell had helped the Sox tie the team record for most consecutive wins at home, 21, set by the 1949 Red Sox. The Sox also climbed into second place, only a game behind the Tigers.

Finally on August 3rd, thanks to a bizarre 5-4 victory over the Texas Rangers, the Sox shared the AL East lead with the Tigers, erasing the remainder of the nine-game chasm that existed between them and first-place when McNamara was replaced by Joe Morgan, three weeks ago.

The Sox blew a 3-1 lead, then won it by snapping a 4-4 tie. Ellis Burks drew a walk with one out in the eighth. With two outs, he stole second and then Jim Rice was intentionally walked. Jody Reed singled to left, and Rice almost got caught off second before Burks crossed the plate with the winning run, 5 to 4.

With their 22nd straight Fenway Park victory, the Sox passed the 1949 club record and also tied the 1931 Philadelphia Athletics for the longest home winning streak in A.L. history. In addition, they improved their record under Morgan to 19-1.

Officially, "Morgan’s Magic" ended there. Todd Benzinger got one or more base hits in every one of his next 15 starts and raised his average from .231 to .282 in the process.

On August 4th, Roger Clemens lost to the first-place Tigers in Detroit, 11 to 6. The Sox had gone to Detroit for a five-game showdown series and lost the first four, winning one on August 7th. Todd Benzinger had a 10th-inning game-winner, a single that broke a 0-0 tie against the Tigers and earned a win for Bruce Hurst, who shut them out, 3 to 0.

Next, the Sox went to Milwaukee where they lost three of the four games. Mike Boddicker won his start on August 9th, 5 to 1. They returned to Fenway 3 1/2 games behind Detroit having lost seven of the nine games played on the road trip.

With a 9-4 win against the Tigers on August 12th, since June 24th, they were 23-0 at home. No team in American League history had won more consecutive home games than the 1988 Red Sox. Win #24 came the next night, August 13th, in a 16-4 rout of the first-place Tigers, and only one team, the 1916 New York Giants, had ever rattled off more consecutive home victories.  It ended there as the Tigers blasted Roger Clemens and the Sox, 18-6, the next night, August 14th.

After losing two straight the Sox claimed a 7-2 victory over the Mariners at Fenway on August 17th. Bruce Hurst won the game and was 10-1 at Fenway winning his last five decisions. The Sox staked him to a 4-0 lead on 12 hits, led by Rich Gedman who had a single, and belted a two-run homer.

Oakland showed its might with three homers at Fenway Park on August 19th, but the Red Sox won the opening round of an important three-game series, 7-6, thanks largely to the efforts of Marty Barrett, Bob Stanley and Mike Greenwell. The Red Sox broke a 6-6 tie in the seventh on clutch hitting. Barrett doubled and scored the winning run on a single by Greenwell, who had three RBIs. Stanley earned the victory with 2 1/3 innings of shutout relief after replacing starter Mike Smithson. The "Steamer" made it interesting, surviving a bases-loaded jam in the eighth as he subdued perhaps the toughest lineup in baseball.

In the second game of the series on August 20th, Ellis Burks and Todd Benzinger each hit two-run doubles and the Sox sprayed nine other safeties around the yard, but this game turned on two plays in the sixth. Wade Boggs' made a face-saving snatch of a Dave Henderson bad-hop rocket, and then Mike Boddicker came in as a reliever to face Jose Canseco. Canseco tapped out to the mound and the nation gasped at this latest glimpse of "Morgan's Magic". The Sox lost the final game, taking 2 of 3, and fell four games behind the Tigers.

The Sox took the next two from the visiting Angels. On August 22nd, Bruce Hurst came through once more, leading the Sox to a 6-2 decision.

Mike Greenwell's 100th RBI on August 23rd, was his 17th game-winner of the season, propelling the Red Sox to a 10-2 victory over California. The hit gave the Sox their fifth win in seven games as the Sox closed the gap on Detroit to two games.

On the West Coast, the Sox next took two of three in Seattle. They first beat the Mariners on August 26th, 5-3, behind "Oil Can" Boyd. After losing the next night, the Sox bounced back winning 7 to 2 on August 28th, fueled by Bruce Hurst, who was a 7-2 winner and moved the Sox to a game behind Detroit.

Hurst ran his record to 16-4, a career-high for victories, and also posted his seventh victory in a row, also a career-high. He was 7-0 in his last eight starts and 10-1 in his last 15. Despite injuries, he had a huge impact on the Sox. They were 10-1 with Hurst pitching after a loss.

On August 30th, Roger Clemens lost a pitchers's duel with Dave Stewart in Oakland, 1 to 0. August was a terrible month for the "Rocket". He lost all five of his starts and ended up with a bloated 7.33 ERA at the end. The Sox were now two games behind Detroit.

In September, pitcher Mike Rochford joined the Red Sox. On September 1st the Sox beat the Angels in Anaheim, 4 to 2, moving back to within a game of first place. Larry Parrish supplied the big blow, a two-run homer.

After four unsuccessful rides down the rough waters of the West Coast, the Red Sox finally reached first place, winning, 6-5, on a 10th-inning home run by Parrish, on September 4th and tying the Tigers atop the AL East.

The Sox took sole possession of first place on September 5th, beating the Orioles in Baltimore, 4 to 1, on home runs by Parrish and Dwight Evans, who had three hits. The win gave them a one-game lead over Detroit, who lost in 10 innings to Toronto.

The next night, on September 6th, Mike Greenwell collected three hits to spark the Sox to a 6-1 victory over the Orioles, highlighted by a two-run homer with three RBIs that raised his total to 107, two behind major league leader Jose Canseco. After enduring three hard-luck losses in August, Wes Gardner pitched the first complete game of his career, throwing 130 pitches, and giving up one run in nine innings, putting the Sox two games ahead of Detroit.

Back at Fenway on September 9th, Lee Smith blew away all six men he faced to preserve a 7-4 Sox triumph over the Indians. The victory, coupled with the dramatic New York ninth-inning conquest of the Tigers, left the Red Sox 2 1/2 games in front with 22 to play.

Roger Clemens’ near no-hitter on September 10th, ended with one out in the eighth, on a clean line drive over Marty Barrett. At the end of the inning, Clemens, who was on his way to a one-hit, 6-0 victory over the Cleveland Indians, walked slowly to the Red Sox dugout, took off his glove and tossed it with his left hand stoutly against the dugout steps. He had won his first game since the end of July.

The Sox then got pinpoint control from Bruce Hurst on September 12th, who finally got his 17th victory, in a 6-1 rout of the Orioles at Fenway Park. They roughed up Curt Schilling, the former Sox farmhand, who was making his Fenway debut. Schilling gave up just five of the ten Sox hits but didn't make it out of the third inning.

With one swing the next night, on September 13th, Jim Rice quieted his critics and gave the Sox the kind of lift he regularly provided in the late '70s and early '80s. That swing produced a grand slam in the third inning and sent the Sox to a 6-4 victory over the Orioles.

On September 14th, Mike Boddicker settled down nicely to do his part in completing a three-game sweep of Baltimore with a 4-3 victory. Mike Greenwell slammed his 21st homer of the year in the second inning. He followed with a double in the fourth and a triple in the sixth, scoring both times. On a 1-2 pitch in the eighth, Greenwell singled to right, completing the cycle.

So it was a battle in the American League East, as the Yankees were now in second place, 4 1/2 games behind the Sox. The Brewers and Tigers sat in third place, a game behind the Yanks.

In the opener on September 15th, the Yanks posted a 5-3 victory and dashed any hopes of a Sox breeze, that hinged directly on a roaring performance by Roger Clemens (16-11), who was treated roughly as he suffered his sixth loss in his last seven starts. Clemens made some mistakes early and this time the Sox could not overcome them, getting eight hits, but stranding 11 runners.

The Sox struck back with a vengeance the next night. On September 16th, they made their designs clear after falling behind in the first inning, 2-0, and won with the aggressive style that had become their trademark since the All-Star break. They tied the game, 2-2, in the second by loading the bases, scoring on a Larry Parrish double-play ball and a Jody Reed single. Then came a five-run rally in the fifth and they never looked back, winning 7 to 4.

In the September 17th third game, Bruce Hurst (18-5) painted and allowed only three hits and fanned nine. Dwight Evans, the link to past pennant duels, broke a 1-1 tie with a shot into the screen in the bottom of the eighth, as the Sox increased its lead to 5 1/2 games with 14 to play.

The Red Sox won three of four from New York with a 9-4 victory in the September 18th, series finale, putting the Yanks 6 1/2 games back and dropping them into fourth place. The Tigers also lost, leaving them six back. Mike Smithson went his usual strong six innings and then Bob Stanley did his job as set-up man for Lee Smith.

After losing the first game to the Blue Jays at  Exhibition Stadium, the Red Sox Pennant Express went into high gear in a 13-2 walloping of Toronto on September 20th. In beating the Jays for only the second time in nine games this season, they pounded out 16 hits. A three-hit performance for Wade Boggs made him only the second player to collect 200 hits in six straight seasons. He also became only the second man to have 200 hits and 100 walks for three straight years, tying a record set by Lou Gehrig.

At Yankee Stadium on September 23rd, the Sox pulled out a heart-stopping 10-9 victory over the New Yorkers. At one point, the Yankees had a 9-4 lead, but that was before the Sox rallied for the 41st time this year and the fifth time over the Yanks. It was pinch hitter Spike Owen, who came through with the game-winner in the ninth inning. He singled with the bases loaded, scoring two runs, and wiping out a 9-8 lead, by bringing in Ellis Burks and Jody Reed.

The Sox shoved the Yankees 5 1/2 games back, with a 6-0 victory on September 25th, after losing the second game. Instead of a "singles" attack, the Sox floored the Yanks with two home runs, a three-run shot by Mike Greenwell in the first inning, and a two-run job by Dwight Evans in the fifth. With a 3-0 lead, Roger Clemens had enough of a cushion to survive a few bad pitches and got stronger as the game went on. When he pitched out of a fourth-inning jam, there was no beating him. Clemens (18-11) lasted seven innings and threw 117 pitches.

The fans got nervous when the Sox returned to Fenway and lost three straight to the Blue Jays and then left to face Cleveland in the season series finale.  They had a 2 1/2 game lead over the Brewers and a 3 1/2 game lead over the Yankees and Tigers with four games left to play.

In Cleveland on September 29th, Mike Boddicker easily upped his record to 13-15 with a 12-0 win, that guaranteed the Sox at least a tie for the AL East. For 5 1/3 innings he was letter perfect, allowing Cleveland only four balls out of the infield while throwing a perfect game until Brook Jacoby fought off a forkball and punched it into center field for a single in the sixth.

The Sox backed into the AL East championship the next night, big time. Roger Clemens didn't have enough to defeat the Indians, but it didn't matter as Detroit beat the Yankees and Oakland beat the Brewers. A look at the standings showed five teams finished the season within two games of each other.

On October 1st, a day after the Sox clinched the division, Jeff Sellers came within five outs of a no-hitter at Cleveland, winning 1-0. It was broken up by Luis Medina‘s eighth-inning homer.

The story ends there. The A’s had dominated the American League, with Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire forming the “Bash Brothers”. Dave Stewart was an outstanding workhorse in the rotation with Hall-of-Famer Dennis Eckersley slamming the door at the end of the game.

In Game #1 of the American League Championship Series at Fenway Park, Wade Boggs struck out with runners on first and second and two outs in the ninth inning, allowing Eckersley to preserve a 2-1 triumph over the Red Sox in the opener of the best-of-seven series.

The A's took the opener on the strong arms of Dave Stewart, Rick Honeycutt and Eckersley. Bruce Hurst went the distance, limiting Oakland to just six hits.  He faltered only twice, surrendering a fourth-inning homer to Canseco and allowing the winning run in the eighth on Carney Lansford's double and Dave Henderson's RBI single.

Boggs made the only dent in Oakland's pitching, tying the game, 1-1, with a bases-loaded sacrifice fly in the seventh. But other than that, the Sox came out cold and struggled at the plate.

In Game #2 the A's posted a 4-3 victory. The Sox jumped out to a 2-0 lead, but the A's tied it on a home run by Jose Canseco and an RBI single from Mark McGwire in the seventh inning. The A's won it by collecting three singles off Lee Smith in the ninth inning. The last, by Walt Weiss with two out, brought Ron Hassey home to snap a 3-3 tie. Eckersley came out of the Oakland bullpen again to torment his former teammates, breezing through a 1-2-3 ninth, for his second save in as many games.

Down two games to none, the ALCS shifted to Oakland. Mike Boddicker failed to hold a 5-0 lead and was the loser as the A's pounded the Red Sox, 10-6, in Game #3. He surrendered homers to Mark McGwire and Carney Lansford in the second, then yielded a two-run bomb to Ron Hassey in the third, that put the A's ahead for good, 6-5. Mike Greenwell doubled and homered, but Boddicker gave up eight hits and six runs in 2 2/3 innings, his worst outing in a Red Sox uniform.

The A's beat the Sox, 4-1, in Game #4 completing a four-game sweep of the ALCS. Jose Canseco unloaded on Bruce Hurst for his third homer of the series, giving the A's a 1-0 lead. Dave Henderson then doubled in a run in the third for a 2-0 edge.

In the eighth, the A's reached Lee Smith for two insurance runs, produced by a Mark McGwire single, that brought home Canseco and a sacrifice fly by another Sox alum, Don Baylor. The Sox needed some "Morgan's Magic" to avoid extinction, and Joe Morgan was fresh out of ideas. Dennis Eckersley closed down the Sox in the ninth, earning his fourth save, a postseason record, and wrapping up the ALCS "Most Valuable Player" Award.

The grim reality was that the Sox simply were overmatched. It was their eighth straight loss of the year in Oakland. But despite it all, for the first three weeks after the All-Star break, "Morgan’s Magic" gave Red Sox fans a summer to remember.

Mike Greenwell became the starting left fielder as Jim Rice assumed the role of designated hitter. He was third in the league in hits (192), RBIs (119), and batting average (.325), and second in OBP (.416) and finished second in the MVP balloting. Jose Canseco was unanimously voted the league's MVP. Later, in 2005, Greenwell claimed that Canseco's admission that he took steroids, raised questions about the legitimacy of Canseco's MVP award. The Sporting News named Greenwell to its All-Star and Silver Slugger teams. He was also recognized by the Boston Chapter of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America as the Red Sox MVP.

Coming off knee surgery in the winter and still bothered by a sore elbow, Jim Rice batted only .264 with 15 home runs as the Sox's designated hitter. His injuries and eyesight problems continued to plague him.

Dwight Evans had another great season and was second only to Greenwell with 111 RBIs and 21 home runs, batting .293 with 164 hits. He started 78 games in right field and 61 games at first base.

Bone chips in his ankle and later a jammed left wrist slowed Ellis Burks temporarily, but he finished the season with a .294 average, 18 home runs, 92 runs batted in, and 25 stolen bases.

Todd Benzinger got off to something of a slow start and lost almost three weeks, with time on the disabled list, due to a groin pull that had bothered him all spring and then a strained muscle in his right forearm. When he returned, he was moved to first base. By season’s end, 85 of his 120 games were spent as a first baseman. He batted .254 with 13 home runs. He was remarkably good in the clutch; with the bases loaded, he hit .421 with 18 RBIs.

Marty Barrett batted .283 with a career-high 65 RBIs and 173 hits.

When the season began, Jody Reed was not a starter. Behind Spike Owen, Reed got into only seven of the first 20 games. But Owen was benched after he started 3-for-27, in favor of Reed. But then Reed went 1-for-17, so Owen went back in. Reed remained a part-timer until Joe Morgan was promoted and promptly installed him as his starting shortstop for all but five of the team’s remaining 76 games. Reed finished with a .293 batting average, 28 RBIs, 60 runs scored, and a .380 on-base percentage. Reed finished third in the "Rookie of the Year" voting behind Oakland shortstop Walt Weiss and Angels reliever Bryan Harvey.

WADE BOGGS

Scandal began for Wade Boggs when it was revealed that he had a four-year affair with a woman named Margo Adams. She had sued him for millions of dollars in a palimony lawsuit and began telling her story to anyone who would listen, including Penthouse magazine and the Phil Donahue television show. She said she had traveled with Boggs on Red Sox road trips, and that the whole team knew about her. As the scandal broke around the team, Boggs told his wife, Debbie, everything. It was his honesty that made her want them to stay together. The lawsuit was settled out of court and Boggs moved on.

Despite his carefully regimented lifestyle, Boggs managed to find himself in the headlines for odd reasons over the years. He received a minor cut on the neck from a knife after an altercation outside a bar in Gainesville, Florida. Two men, possibly attempting to rob Boggs and his friends, threatened them with a knife and a gun. In another incident, Boggs fell out of the family Jeep and was run over by his wife. Although he was not seriously injured, his arm had scrapes and bruises.

Wade Boggs had another fine year on the field, batting .366 and enjoying another 200-hit season with 214. He was walked 125 times, scored 128 runs, and knocked out 45 doubles, all of which led the American League.

After offseason knee surgery, the Texas Rangers released Larry Parrish after 68 games when he was hitting .190. The Red Sox picked him up, and despite a good start, he hit only seven homers. He batted .259 for the year and in the ALCS, he went hitless in five at-bats. He was let go after the season, bringing an end to his career as a major leaguer.

Kevin Romine made the Opening Day roster, but he was demoted to Pawtucket in early April. Leading the International League in batting with a .358 average, he was called up by the Red Sox in June. He got only 70 at-bats the rest of the season and hit just .192.

Sam Horn also made the team, but through early June, he hit merely .148 with two home runs in 61 at-bats. He was optioned to Pawtucket, where he remained for the rest of the year.

With Pawtucket, Randy Kutcher played in 86 games and hit for a .233 batting average in 331 at-bats. Not a slugger, his slugging percentage was .317. He was brought to the major league club three times – filling in for injured players and appearing in two games in June and three in July. He was also brought up in September when rosters expanded. Only once did he play a complete game. Twelve of the appearances were as a pinch-runner. He scored two runs and had two base hits, a single in June, and a double in his one complete game, the last game of the season.

John McNamara disliked John Marzano’s gregarious personality and chafed at the Philadelphian’s wisecracking demeanor. After one particularly bad loss, the old-school skipper seethed when some of his young players broke with sports etiquette and joked around in the back of the team bus. McNamara singled out Marzano, telling him, “It’s hard to make it to the big leagues, but it’s even harder to stay." McNamara called Marzano’s catching style “lackadaisical” and it was a blow to the 25-year-old’s reputation.

Within a week of the bus incident, Boston signed former Yankee Rick Cerone to replace the injured Gedman, and Marzano was sent down to Pawtucket. In 84 games with the Red Sox, Cerone had a .269 batting average with three homers and 27 RBI, as he and Rich Gedman shared the catching duties. Gedman batted only .231 with nine home runs and 37 RBIs in 95 games.

Brady Anderson started 41 of the Sox's first 49 games, but a slump sank his batting average to .230. He was demoted to Pawtucket and hit .287 in 49 contests through July 29th, when he was traded to the Baltimore Orioles for former 20-game winner Mike Boddicker. With a more capable squad behind him, Boddicker posted a 7-3 record over the final two months with a 2.63 ERA.

With his free agency looming in the offseason, Bruce Hurst won a career-best 18 games and finished fifth in the "Cy Young" Award balloting. He was named AL "Pitcher of the Month" in August when he won five consecutive starts. Included were a 10-inning shutout and an 11-strikeout performance which pushed him over the 1,000 mark in career whiffs, only the third Sox player to reach the milestone. He was named the Red Sox "Player of the Year" by the Boston chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America.

Roger Clemens (18-12, 2.93 ERA) led the American League with 291 strikeouts and a career-high eight shutouts.

"Oil Can" Boyd was able to start 23 games and went 9-7, with a 5.34 ERA, but he had developed blood clots and wasn’t able to pitch after August 26th.

“Mike Smithson has meant a lot to this team,” said Joe Morgan. “His ERA may not show it, but ERAs and statistics do not reflect a man’s value to a team." He pitched short, middle, and long relief, and was a spot starter. Smithson was 9-6 which tied him with Boyd for third on the Red Sox. His 5.97 ERA was two full runs above the team’s 3.97.

Jeff Sellers was slated to be the fourth man in the rotation and suffered from a lack of run support as the Red Sox managed just three runs in his first three starts. Sellers was 0-2 with a 2.35 ERA and tossed into the sixth inning in each of his first five starts, but the Sox lost them all as Sellers’ record was pushed to 0-4. The offense sputtered with Sellers on the mound, scoring one run or fewer on average in seven of his 12 starts and he was 0-6. He finished the year with a 1-7 record and a 4.83 ERA.

Tom Bolton was with Pawtucket through mid-June. With the Red Sox from mid-June through the end of the season, he made 28 relief appearances, compiling a 4.75 ERA and a 1-3 record.

The Red Sox won the American League East title as Lee Smith finished 57 games and saved 29 with a 2.80 ERA. “Boston would not have won the AL East this year without Lee Smith!” Lou Gorman declared.

Wes Gardner, very quietly, had pitched 10 closeout innings allowing only one run, and very quietly, struck out nine batters at the start of the year. He closed games, pitched middle relief and started 18 games. He was 8-6 with a 3.50 ERA in 149 innings pitched.

During the regular season, Dennis Lamp had brought his ERA down more than a run and a half from the prior year to 3.48 (better than the team’s 3.97). As Gardner was moved from a reliever to a starter in midseason, Lamp got more work. He appeared in 46 games, throwing 82 2/3 innings, and was 7-6 on the season.

Bob Stanley resumed relief work exclusively and was 6-4 with a 3.19 ERA finishing 31 games. The Boston baseball writers gave their "Comeback Players of the Year" award to three from the bullpen: Stanley, Smithson, and Lamp.

Pitcher Rob Woodward was again optioned to Pawtucket after spring training. There, he was converted into a closer and had 13 saves with a 1-4 record and a 3.86 ERA. Woodward was needed for pitching help, as Sellers and Boyd were on the disabled list in September. On September 26th he pitched two-thirds of an inning of mop-up relief. It was his last major league appearance. Woodward’s Red Sox career finished at 4-4 with a 5.04 ERA in 24 games and 100 innings pitched.

John Trautwein pitched only 16 innings but remembered one moment that allowed him to draw on a talent he had other than baseball. Jim Rice approached him one day, explaining that one of the clubhouse boys needed some help with his math homework. Rice brought Trautwein over to the kid, and the Northwestern graduate helped the young student for a half-hour or so. Something clicked, and the kid “got it.” Rice told Trautwein, “I need to tell you something, I know you’re upset because you’re not getting to pitch these days, but I got to tell you, I would do anything to be able to do what you just did for that kid. Anything.”