The 1977 Boston Red Sox season was the 77th season in the franchise's Major League Baseball history. The Red Sox finished tied for second in the American League East with a record of 97 wins and 64 losses, games behind the New York Yankees.

Offseason November 22, 1976: Darryl Cias was signed as a free agent by the Red Sox.Darryl Cias page at Baseball Reference December 6, 1976: Cecil Cooper is traded by the Red Sox to the Milwaukee Brewers for Bernie Carbo and George Scott.

Regular season +Record by monthMonth Record Cumulative AL East Ref. Won Lost Won Lost Position GB April 9 9 9 9 4th May 15 12 24 21 3rd June 17 10 41 31 1st + July 17 12 58 43 1st — August 17 12 75 55 2nd (tie) 4 September 22 8 97 63 2nd 2 October 0 1 97 64 2nd (tie) Boston's final game of the season, scheduled for October 2 at home against the Baltimore Orioles, was rained out and not rescheduled.

Highlights Lack of pitching depth might have been a hindrance, but the team was helped by a league-leading offense, which during one ten-game span hit 33 home runs. With that kind of scoring, Boston managed to compete with the Yankees and Orioles—leading the division as late as August 22—but at season's end, not even 97 wins would be enough.

On June 18, during a nationally televised game against the New York Yankees at Fenway Park in Boston, Jim Rice, a powerful hitter but a slow runner, hit a ball into right field. Yankees outfielder Reggie Jackson seemed to approach the ball indifferently, and Rice reached second base. Furious, Yankees manager Billy Martin removed Jackson from the game without even waiting for the end of the inning, sending Paul Blair out to replace him. When Jackson arrived at the dugout, Martin yelled that Jackson had shown him up. They argued, and Jackson said that Martin's heavy drinking had impaired his judgment. Despite Jackson being 18 years younger, about taller and maybe heavier, Martin lunged at him, and had to be restrained by coaches Yogi Berra and Elston Howard. Red Sox fans could see this in the dugout and began cheering wildly, and the NBC television cameras showed the confrontation to the entire country. The Red Sox went on to win the game, 10–4.

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Notable transactions April 5, 1977: Darryl Cias was released by the Red Sox. May 28, 1977: Bobby Darwin was traded by the Red Sox to the Chicago Cubs for Ramón Hernández.Ramón Hernández page at Baseball Reference June 7, 1977: Pete Ladd was drafted by the Red Sox in the 25th round of the 1977 Major League Baseball draft.Pete Ladd page at Baseball Reference August 20, 1977: Ramón Hernández was released by the Red Sox.

Opening Day lineup   7 Rick Burleson SS  5 Denny Doyle 2B14 Jim Rice LF  8 Carl Yastrzemski     RF15 George Scott 1B  1 Bernie Carbo DH24 Dwight Evans CF27 Carlton Fisk C  4 Butch Hobson 3B 31 Ferguson Jenkins P Source:

Roster 1977 Boston Red Sox Roster Pitchers Catchers

Infielders Outfielders

Other batters Manager

Coaches (Bullpen) (Pitching) (First base) (Third base)

Player stats = Indicates team leader

= Indicates league 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 152 536 169 .315 26 102 1B 157 584 157 .269 33 95 2B 137 455 109 .240 2 49 SS 154 663 194 .293 3 52 3B 159 593 157 .265 30 112 LF 150 558 165 .296 28 102 CF 129 497 129 .260 18 76 RF 86 228 66 .289 15 34 DH 160 644 206 .320 39 114

Other batters Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI 73 230 66 .287 14 36 86 189 48 .254 0 24 66 141 34 .241 1 13 21 59 16 .271 1 5 13 58 21 .362 1 6 17 40 12 .300 2 7 11 12 0 .000 0 0 4 9 2 .222 0 1 5 6 0 .000 0 0 2 3 0 .000 0 0 2 2 0 .000 0 0 3 2 0 .000 0 0 2 1 0 .000 0 0 1 0 0 ---- 0 0

Pitching

Starting pitchers Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts Player G IP W L ERA SO 28 193.0 10 10 3.68 105 36 190.1 11 8 4.26 85 32 188.2 12 8 4.53 124 26 128.1 11 5 4.77 85 27 128.0 9 5 4.43 31 13 92.1 6 2 3.12 49

Other pitchers Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts Player G IP W L ERA SO 41 151.0 8 7 3.99 44 29 108.0 10 5 3.83 58

Relief pitchers Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts Player G W L SV ERA SO 69 13 9 31 2.96 114 31 6 2 2 4.94 33 16 0 1 0 6.75 13 12 0 1 1 5.68 8 8 1 0 0 12.91 6 1 0 0 0 0.00 3 1 0 1 0 inf 0

Awards and honors Jim Rice – AL Player of the Month (July) Carl Yastrzemski, Gold Glove Award (OF)

All-Star Game Rick Burleson, starting SS Bill Campbell, reserve P Carlton Fisk, starting C Fred Lynn, reserve OF Jim Rice, reserve OF George Scott, reserve 1B Carl Yastrzemski, starting CF

Farm system

Source:Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007

References

Further reading

External links 1977 Boston Red Sox team page at Baseball Reference 1977 Boston Red Sox season at baseball-almanac.com