The 1970 Boston Red Sox season was the 70th season in the franchise's Major League Baseball history. The Red Sox finished third in the American League East with a record of 87 wins and 75 losses, 21 games behind the Baltimore Orioles, who went on to win the AL championship and the 1970 World Series.
Offseason December 13, 1969: Dalton Jones was traded by the Red Sox to the Detroit Tigers for Tom Matchick.Tom Matchick page at Baseball Reference
Regular season The 1970s began with a new manager for the Red Sox. After the firing of Dick Williams near the end of the 1969 season, general manager Dick O'Connell reached down into the farm system again for a replacement and came up with Eddie Kasko, who had managed the Red Sox Triple-A farm team, the Louisville Colonels, to a second-place finish in 1969. Kasko had been a major league infielder from 1957 to 1966, with the St. Louis Cardinals, Cincinnati Reds, Houston Astros, and the Red Sox.
+Record by monthMonth Record Cumulative AL East Ref. Won Lost Won Lost Position GB April 11 8 11 8 3rd (tie) 2 May 9 17 20 25 5th June 14 11 34 36 4th July 18 13 52 49 4th 11 August 16 14 68 63 4th 17 September 19 12 87 75 3rd October 0 0 87 75 3rd 21 Several other teams finished their season on October 1.
Kasko took over a team in transition in 1970. Its leading pitcher was Ray Culp, with 17 wins. Jim Lonborg, the superstar of 1967, still was not back in form and went 4–1. Carl Yastrzemski led the American League with a .329 batting average, and Tony Conigliaro appeared to have recovered from the horrible beaning of 1967, hitting .266, with 36 home runs and 116 RBIs. Reggie Smith hit .303, and George Scott had a banner year at .296, with 16 homers and 63 RBIs. Unfortunately, the Red Sox finished 21 games behind the rampaging Baltimore Orioles, who won 108 games and then went on to defeat the Cincinnati Reds in the 1970 World Series.
There were no scheduled doubleheaders this season at Fenway Park.
Season standings
Record vs. opponents
Notable transactions May 28, 1970: Tom Matchick was traded by the Red Sox to the Kansas City Royals for Mike Fiore. July 14, 1970: Chuck Hartenstein was acquired by the Red Sox from the St. Louis Cardinals as part of a conditional deal.Chuck Hartenstein page at Baseball-Reference
Opening Day lineup 2 Mike Andrews 2B 7 Reggie Smith CF 8 Carl Yastrzemski LF 5 George Scott 1B 6 Rico Petrocelli SS25 Tony Conigliaro RF 1 Luis Alvarado 3B10 Jerry Moses C43 Gary Peters P Source:
Roster 1970 Boston Red Sox Roster Pitchers Catchers
Infielders Outfielders Manager
Coaches (Bullpen) (First base) (Third base)
(Pitching)
Player stats
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 PlayerGABRH2B3BHRRBISBBBAVGSLGMike Andrews151589911492811765281.253.390Rico Petrocelli1575838215231329103167.261.473Reggie Smith14758010917632722741051.303.497Carl Yastrzemski1615661251862904010223128.329.592Tony Conigliaro1465608914920136116443.266.498George Scott127480501422451663444.296.467Billy Conigliaro114398591081631858335.271.462Jerry Moses923152683181635121.263.384Luis Alvarado59183194111011019.224.301Tom Satriano59165213991313021.236.358Ducky Schofield76139162612114021.187.245John Kennedy4312915337141706.256.419George Thomas3899133480213011.343.485Bob Montgomery2278814201406.179.244Don Pavletich3265491106110.138.185Mike Fiore415057000408.140.140Joe Lahoud1749612102507.245.388Mike Derrick243337100500.212.242Carmen Fanzone101503100302.200.267Tommy Matchick101421000002.071.071Pitcher totals1624454379122533021.178.247Team totals162553578614502522820374350594.262.428 Source:
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 PlayerWLERAGGSSVIPHRERBBSORay Culp17143.0433330251.12111048591197Sonny Siebert1583.4433330222.2207988560142Gary Peters16114.0634340221.222111410083155Ken Brett894.0741142139.1118716379155Mike Nagy654.4823200128.213871646456Vicente Romo734.0848106108.011551494371Cal Koonce343.54238276.16432302937Sparky Lyle173.886302067.16237293451Gary Wagner313.35380740.03621151920Bill Lee224.62115137.04820191419Jim Lonborg413.1894034.0331212921Lee Stange225.60200227.13424171214Ed Phillips025.32180023.22914141023Chuck Hartenstein038.05170119.02117171212Ray Jarvis013.94150016.017127148José Santiago0210.3280111.118131388Roger Moret103.243108.173342Bobby Bolin200.006028.020058Dick Mills002.452003.264133John Curtis0011.571002.144311Team totals87753.87162162441446.113917226225941003 Source:
Statistical leaders
Category Player Statistic Youngest player Roger Moret 20 Oldest player Ducky Schofield 35 Wins Above Replacement Carl Yastrzemski 9.5 Source:
Batting Abbr. Category Player Statistic G Games played Carl Yastrzemski 161 PA Plate appearances Carl Yastrzemski 698 AB At bats Mike Andrews 589 R Runs scored Carl Yastrzemski 125 H Hits Carl Yastrzemski 186 2B Doubles Reggie Smith 32 3B Triples Reggie Smith 7 HR Home runs Carl Yastrzemski 40 RBI Runs batted in Tony Conigliaro 116 SB Stolen bases Carl Yastrzemski 23 CS Caught stealing Carl Yastrzemski 13 BB Base on balls Carl Yastrzemski 128 SO Strikeouts George Scott 95 BA Batting average Carl Yastrzemski .329 OBP On-base percentage Carl Yastrzemski .452 SLG Slugging percentage Carl Yastrzemski .592 OPS On-base plus slugging Carl Yastrzemski 1.044 OPS+ Adjusted OPS Carl Yastrzemski 177 TB Total bases Carl Yastrzemski 335 GIDP Grounded into double play Rico Petrocelli 16 HBP Hit by pitch Tony Conigliaro 8 SH Sacrifice hits Ray Culp 5 SF Sacrifice flies Rico Petrocelli 10 IBB Intentional base on balls Carl Yastrzemski 12 Source:
Pitching Abbr. Category Player Statistic W Wins Ray Culp 17 L Losses Ray Culp 14 W-L % Winning percentage Vicente Romo .700 (7–3) ERA Earned run average Ray Culp 3.04 G Games pitched Sparky Lyle 63 GS Games started Gary Peters 34 GF Games finished Sparky Lyle 40 CG Complete games Ray Culp 15 SHO Shutouts Gary Peters 4 SV Saves Sparky Lyle 20 IP Innings pitched Ray Culp SO Strikeouts Ray Culp 197 WHIP Walks plus hits per inning pitched Sonny Siebert 1.199 Source:
Awards and honors Tony Conigliaro, Hutch AwardHutch Award
Farm system
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Winston-Salem, Greenville
Source:Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007
References
External links 1970 Boston Red Sox team page at Baseball Reference 1970 Boston Red Sox season at baseball-almanac.com