The 1979 Boston Red Sox season was the 79th season in the franchise's Major League Baseball history. The Red Sox finished third in the American League East with a record of 91 wins and 69 losses, games behind the Baltimore Orioles, who went on to win the AL championship.

Offseason On December 7, 1978, pitcher Bill Lee was traded to the Montreal Expos for infielder Stan Papi.

Regular season +Record by monthMonth Record Cumulative AL East Ref. Won Lost Won Lost Position GB April 13 7 13 7 1st + May 14 12 27 19 2nd 2 June 20 8 47 27 2nd July 15 13 62 40 2nd August 16 13 78 53 3rd September 13 16 91 69 3rd The Red Sox only played 160 games, as a home game scheduled against the Milwaukee Brewers on August 12, and an away game scheduled against the Chicago White Sox on August 29, were rained out and not rescheduled.

Highlights Fred Lynn had a league-leading .333 batting average and had 39 home runs and 122 RBIs, while Jim Rice batted .325 with 39 homers and 130 RBIs. On the pitching staff, Dennis Eckersley was 17–10, down from 20–8 the prior season, and Mike Torrez was 16–13, matching his record of the previous year.

The season also featured Carl Yastrzemski's 3,000th hit and his 400th home run. His 400th home run came off of Mike Morgan of the Athletics on July 24. Yaz became the seventh AL player and 18th MLB player to collect 400 home runs. He joined the 3,000 hit club with a single off of Jim Beattie of the Yankees on September 12. Yaz was the 15th player to collect 3,000 major league hits, and the first AL player to have both 3,000 hits and 400 home runs.

New acquisition Bob Watson hit for the cycle on September 15 to lead a 10–2 win over the Baltimore Orioles. This event distinguished Watson as the first player to hit for the cycle as a member of both of an American League and a National League team. As a member of the Houston Astros on June 24, 1977, he had hit his first cycle with 5 runs batted in (RBI) in a 6–5 win over the San Francisco Giants.

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Notable transactions June 13, 1979: Pete Ladd, a player to be named later, and cash were traded by the Red Sox to the Houston Astros for Bob Watson. The Red Sox completed the deal by sending Bobby Sprowl to the Astros on June 19.Bob Watson page at Baseball Reference August 17, 1979: The Red Sox traded a player to be named later and cash to the Chicago Cubs for Ted Sizemore. The Red Sox completed the deal by sending Mike O'Berry to the Cubs on October 23.Ted Sizemore page at Baseball Reference

Opening Day lineup   2 Jerry Remy 2B  7 Rick Burleson SS19 Fred Lynn CF14 Jim Rice DH  8 Carl Yastrzemski     LF15 George Scott 1B  3 Jack Brohamer 3B 24 Dwight Evans RF10 Bob Montgomery C43 Dennis Eckersley P Source:

Roster 1979 Boston Red Sox Roster Pitchers Catchers

Infielders Outfielders 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 108 241 49 .203 3 22 1B 84 312 105 .337 13 53 2B 80 306 91 .297 0 29 SS 153 627 174 .278 5 60 3B 146 528 138 .261 28 93 LF 158 619 201 .325 39 130 CF 147 531 177 .333 39 122 RF 152 489 134 .274 21 58 DH 147 518 140 .270 21 87

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 91 320 87 .272 10 42 64 192 51 .266 1 11 45 156 35 .224 4 23 63 154 51 .331 2 23 50 117 22 .188 1 6 76 113 30 .265 2 14 26 88 23 .261 1 6 32 86 30 .349 0 7 47 78 19 .244 3 15 43 59 10 .169 1 4 6 3 0 .000 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 36 252.1 16 13 4.49 125 33 246.2 17 10 2.99 150 40 216.2 16 12 3.99 56 27 171.0 11 9 4.11 99 20 103.2 8 5 3.82 41 6 28.0 1 2 6.43 11

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 16 64.2 3 1 5.15 34 15 57.1 0 3 4.87 25

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 56 10 3 13 3.03 67 44 3 2 4 2.74 60 41 3 4 9 4.28 25 11 1 0 0 5.09 15 8 1 0 0 7.08 16 8 1 2 0 8.80 7

Awards and honors Awards Rick Burleson – Gold Glove Award (SS) Dwight Evans – Gold Glove Award (OF) Fred Lynn – Gold Glove Award (OF), AL Player of the Month (August)

All-Star Game Rick Burleson, reserve SS Fred Lynn, starting CF Jim Rice, starting RF Bob Stanley, reserve P Carl Yastrzemski, starting 1B

Offensive achievements Hitting for the cycle: Bob Watson, September 15, 1979

Farm system

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Winston-Salem, Winter Haven

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

References

External links 1979 Boston Red Sox team page at Baseball Reference 1979 Boston Red Sox season at baseball-almanac.com