The 1995 Boston Red Sox season was the 95th season in the franchise's Major League Baseball history. The Red Sox finished first in the American League East with a record of 86–58, as teams played 144 games (instead of the normal 162) due to the 1994–95 Major League Baseball strike. The Red Sox were swept in 3 games to the American League Central champion Cleveland Indians in the ALDS.

Offseason November 7, 1994: Bill Haselman was signed as a free agent by the Red Sox.Bill Haselman at Baseball Reference November 7, 1994: Juan Bell was signed as a free agent by the Red Sox.Juan Bell at Baseball Reference December 5, 1994: Selected Vaughn Eshelman from the Baltimore Orioles in the Rule 5 draft.Vaughn Eshelman page at Baseball Reference December 7, 1994: Jeff McNeely and Nate Minchey were traded to the St. Louis Cardinals for Luis Alicea.Luis Alicea page at Baseball Reference December 9, 1994: Otis Nixon and Luis Ortiz were traded by the Red Sox to the Texas Rangers for José Canseco.Otis Nixon at Baseball Reference

Regular season In May, the team's grounds crew changed the signage noting the distance along the left-field foul line from home plate to the Green Monster—updated to read , it had been signed for many years as being . This occurred shortly after reporter Dan Shaughnessy of The Boston Globe physically measured the distance as .

+Record by monthMonth Record Cumulative AL East Ref. Won Lost Won Lost Position GB April 3 1 3 1 1st (tie) — May 17 10 20 11 1st +6 June 14 14 34 25 1st +5 July 14 13 48 38 1st + August 23 7 71 45 1st +14 September 15 12 86 57 1st +8 October 0 1 86 58 1st +7

The Red Sox collected an MLB-high of 286 doubles in 1995, for an average of nearly two per game.

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Notable transactions April 8, 1995: Mike MacFarlane was signed as a free agent by the Red Sox.Mike MacFarlane page at Baseball Reference April 9, 1995: Stan Belinda was signed as a free agent by the Red Sox.Stan Belinda at Baseball Reference April 9, 1995: Cory Bailey and Scott Cooper were traded by the Red Sox to the St. Louis Cardinals for Mark Whiten and Rhéal Cormier.Mark Whiten at Baseball Reference April 9, 1995: Reggie Jefferson was signed as a free agent by the Red Sox.Reggie Jefferson at Baseball Reference April 11, 1995: Erik Hanson was signed as a free agent by the Red Sox.Erik Hanson page at Baseball Reference April 14, 1995: Troy O'Leary was selected off waivers from the Milwaukee Brewers.Troy O'Leary page at Baseball Reference April 18, 1995: Zane Smith was signed as a free agent by the Red Sox.Zane Smith at Baseball Reference April 22, 1995: Derek Lilliquist was signed as a free agent by the Red Sox.Derek Lilliquist page at Baseball Reference April 26, 1995: Tim Wakefield was signed as a free agent by the Red Sox.Tim Wakefield at Baseball Reference May 26, 1995: Tuffy Rhodes was selected off waivers by the Red Sox from the Chicago Cubs.Tuffy Rhodes at Baseball Reference May 30, 1995: Mike Maddux was signed as a free agent by the Red Sox.Mike Maddux page at Baseball Reference June 1, 1995: Pat Burrell was drafted by the Red Sox in the 43rd round of the 1995 Major League Baseball draft, but did not sign.Pat Burrell at Baseball Reference June 6, 1995: Willie McGee was signed as a free agent by the Red Sox.Willie McGee at Baseball Reference July 6, 1996: Frankie Rodriguez and a player to be named later were traded to the Minnesota Twins for Rick Aguilera. J. J. Johnson was sent to the Twins on October 11 to complete the trade.Rick Aguilera page at Baseball Reference July 24, 1995: Mark Whiten was traded by the Red Sox to the Philadelphia Phillies for Dave Hollins. July 26, 1995: Wally Whitehurst was released by the Red Sox.Wally Whitehurst at Baseball Reference July 31, 1995: The Red Sox traded players to be named later to the Atlanta Braves for Mike Stanton and a player to be named later. The trade was completed on August 31, when the Braves sent Matt Murray to the Red Sox, and the Red Sox sent Mike Jacobs (minors) and Marc Lewis (minors) to the Braves.Mike Stanton at Baseball Reference August 10, 1995: Eric Gunderson was selected off waivers from the Seattle Mariners.Eric Gunderson page at Baseball Reference August 14, 1995: Wes Chamberlain was traded to the Kansas City Royals for Chris James.Wes Chamberlain page at Baseball Reference August 31, 1995: Dwayne Hosey was selected off waivers from the Kansas City Royals.Dwayne Hosey page at Baseball Reference

Opening Day lineup 10 Luis Alicea 2B13 John Valentin SS33 José Canseco DH 42 Mo Vaughn 1B27 Mark Whiten RF39 Mike Greenwell LF15 Mike MacFarlane     C11 Tim Naehring 3B38 Lee Tinsley CF36 Aaron Sele P

Roster 1995 Boston Red Sox Roster Pitchers Catchers

InfieldersOutfielders

Designated hitters Manager

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

Player stats = Indicates team leader

= Indicates league leader

Batting

Starters by position Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen bases Pos Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI SB C 115 364 82 .225 15 51 2 1B 140 550 165 .300 39 126 11 2B 132 419 113 .270 6 44 13 SS 135 520 155 .298 27 102 20 3B 126 433 133 .307 10 57 0 LF 120 481 143 .297 15 76 9 CF 100 341 97 .284 7 41 18 RF 112 399 123 .308 10 49 5 DH 102 396 121 .306 24 81 4

Other batters Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen bases Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI SB Willie McGee 67 200 57 .285 2 15 5 Bill Haselman 64 152 37 .243 5 23 0 Reggie Jefferson 46 121 35 .289 5 26 0 Mark Whiten 32 108 20 .185 1 10 1 Chris Donnels 40 91 23 .253 2 11 0 Matt Stairs 39 88 23 .261 1 17 0 Dwayne Hosey 24 68 23 .338 3 7 6 Terry Shumpert 21 47 11 .234 0 3 3 Wes Chamberlain 19 42 5 .119 1 1 1 Carlos Rodríguez 13 30 10 .333 0 5 0 Rich Rowland 14 29 5 .172 0 1 0 Juan Bell 17 26 4 .154 1 2 0 Tuffy Rhodes 10 25 2 .080 0 1 0 Chris James 16 24 4 .167 0 1 0 Ron Mahay 5 20 4 .200 1 3 0 Dave Hollins 5 13 2 .154 0 1 0 Steve Rodriguez 6 8 1 .125 0 0 1 Scott Hatteberg 2 2 1 .500 0 0 0

Pitching

All starting and relief pitchers Note: G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G GS IP W L SV ERA SO 27 27 195.1 16 8 0 2.95 119 29 29 186.2 15 5 0 4.24 139 23 23 140.0 10 5 0 4.18 132 48 12 115.0 7 5 0 4.07 69 24 21 110.2 8 8 0 5.61 47 36 4 89.2 4 1 1 3.61 65 23 14 81.2 6 3 0 4.85 41 63 0 69.2 8 1 10 3.10 57 39 0 46.0 0 1 1 4.11 29 28 0 32.2 0 4 7 4.96 34 6 6 32.1 3 1 0 3.06 21 30 0 30.1 2 2 20 2.67 23 17 0 24.1 1 1 0 7.40 25 28 0 23.0 2 1 0 6.26 9 8 3 22.2 1 2 0 5.96 19 22 0 21.0 1 0 0 3.00 10 9 2 15.1 0 2 0 10.57 14 12 0 15.0 0 3 0 6.60 12 19 0 12.1 2 1 0 5.11 9 5 0 7.0 0 0 0 9.00 2 4 1 6.2 0 1 0 9.45 5 3 1 4.2 0 1 0 17.36 2 4 0 4.0 0 1 0 11.25 4 2 1 3.1 0 1 0 18.90 1 3 0 2.1 0 0 0 0.00 0 2 0 1.0 0 0 0 36.00 0

ALDS

GameScoreDate1Boston 4, Cleveland 5October 3, 19952Boston 0, Cleveland 4October 4, 19953Cleveland 8, Boston 2October 6, 1995

Farm system

The Trenton Thunder replaced the New Britain Red Sox as the Red Sox' Double-A affiliate. The Class A Michigan Battle Cats replaced the Class A-Advanced Lynchburg Red Sox.

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

Game log Red Sox Win Red Sox Loss Game postponed Clinched Playoff Spot Clinched Division

|- style="text-align:center; background-color:#bfb;" | 1 || April 26 || Twins || 9–0 || Sele (1–0) || Erickson (0–1) || — || Fenway Park || 32,980 || 1–0 || W1 |- style="text-align:center; background-color:#bfb;" | 2 || April 28 || White Sox || 10–4 || Cormier (1–0) || Bere (0–1) || — || Fenway Park || 23,199 || 2–0 || W2 |- style="text-align:center; background-color:#bfb;" | 3 || April 29 || White Sox || 8–0 || Hanson (1–0) || Álvarez (0–1) || — || Fenway Park || 27,631 || 3–0 || W3 |- style="text-align:center; background-color:#fbb;" | 4 || April 30 || White Sox || 11–17 || DeLeon (1–0) || Rodriguez (0–1) || — || Fenway Park || 30,658 || 3–1 || L1

|- style="text-align:center; background-color:#fbb" | 5 || May 1 || @ Yankees || 3–5 || Howe (1–0) || Lilliquist (0–1) || Wetteland (3) || Yankee Stadium || 17,412 || 3–2 || L2 |- style="text-align:center; background-color:#bfb" | 6 || May 2 || @ Yankees || 8–0 || Eshelman (1–0) || Hitchcock (0–1) || — || Yankee Stadium || 13,694 || 4–2 || W1 |- style="text-align:center; background-color:#fbb;" | 7 || May 3 || @ Yankees || 3–4 (13)|| Wickman (1–0) || Pierce (0–1) || — || Yankee Stadium || 19,990 || 4–3 || L1 |- style="text-align:center; background-color:#fbb;" | 8 || May 4 || @ Yankees || 3–5 || Ausanio (1–0) || Johnston (0–1) || Wetteland (4) || Yankee Stadium || 18,994 || 4–4 || L2 |- style="text-align:center; background-color:#bfb;" | 9 || May 5 || @ Tigers || 10–7 || Lilliquist (1–1) || Lira (0–1) || Ryan (1) || Tiger Stadium || 10,041 || 5–4 || W1 |- style="text-align:center; background-color:#bfb;" | 10 || May 6 || @ Tigers || 5–3 || Sele (2–0) || Bergman (0–3) || Belinda (1) || Tiger Stadium || 16,564 || 6–4 || W2 |- style="text-align:center; background-color:#bfb;" | 11 || May 7 || @ Tigers || 12–1 || Eshelman (2–0) || Groom (0–1) || — || Tiger Stadium || 10,752 || 7–4 || W3 |- style="text-align:center; background-color:#bfb;" | 12 || May 9 || Orioles || 4–3 || Belinda (1–0) || Benítez (0–2) || — || Fenway Park || 22,006 || 8–4 || W4 |- style="text-align:center; background-color:#bfb;" | 13 || May 10 || Orioles || 6–2 || Hanson (2–0) || Fernandez (0–1) || — || Fenway Park || 19,776 || 9–4 || W5 |- style="text-align:center; background-color:#bbb" | — || May 11 || Orioles || colspan=8|Postponed (rain). Makeup date August 10. |- style="text-align:center; background-color:#fbb;" | 14 || May 12 || Yankees || 2–12 || Hitchcock (1–2) || Sele (2–1) || — || Fenway Park || 32,754 || 9–5 || L1 |- style="text-align:center; background-color:#bfb;" | 15 || May 13 || Yankees || 6–4 || Eshelman (3–0) || Wickman (1–1) || Ryan (2) || Fenway Park || 32,695 || 10–5 || W1 |- style="text-align:center; background-color:#bfb;" | 16 || May 14 || Yankees || 3–2 || Peña (1–0) || Howe (1–1) || — || Fenway Park || 32,526 || 11–5 || W2 |- style="text-align:center; background-color:#bfb" | 17 || May 16 || @ Brewers || 5–0 || Hanson (3–0) || Scanlan (1–1) || — || Milwaukee County Stadium || 7,714 || 12–5 || W3 |- style="text-align:center; background-color:#bfb" | 18 || May 17 || @ Brewers || 8–2 || Sele (3–1) || Bones (2–1) || — || Milwaukee County Stadium || 10,934 || 13–5 || W4 |- style="text-align:center; background-color:#bfb" | 19 || May 18 || Indians || 4–3 || Belinda (2–0) || Poole (1–2) || — || Fenway Park || 24,285 || 14–5 || W5 |- style="text-align:center; background-color:#fbb" | 20 || May 19 || Indians || 5–9 || Julián Tavárez (1–0) || Ryan (0–1) || — || Fenway Park || 23,507 || 14–6 || L1 |- style="text-align:center; background-color:#fbb" | 21 || May 20 || Indians || 5–7 || Plunk (2–0) || Peña (1–1) || Mesa (4) || Fenway Park || 29,412 || 14–7 || L2 |- style="text-align:center; background-color:#fbb" | 22 || May 21 || Indians || 10–12 || Assenmacher (1–0) || Pierce (0–2) || Mesa (5) || Fenway Park || 32,339 || 14–8 || L3 |- style="text-align:center; background-color:#bfb" | 23 || May 23 || @ Mariners || 5–4 (10)|| Belinda (3–0) || Frey (0–2) || Ryan (3) || Kingdome || 11,858 || 15–8 || W1 |- style="text-align:center; background-color:#fbb;" | 24 || May 24 || @ Mariners || 6–15 || Carmona (1–1) || Pierce (0–3) || Nelson (1) || Kingdome || 10,041 || 15–9 || L1 |- style="text-align:center; background-color:#fbb;" | 25 || May 25 || @ Mariners || 3–4 || Belcher (2–0) || Smith (0–1) || Ayala (6) || Kingdome || 12,194 || 15–10 || L2