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Boston Red Sox: Ranking the top 10 players from the 1970s

By Drew Athans

NEW YORK - CIRCA 1978: Butch Hobson #4 of the Boston Red Sox in action against the New York Yankees during an Major League Baseball game circa 1978 at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx borough of New York City. Hobson played for the Red Sox from 1975-80. (Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images)
NEW YORK - CIRCA 1978: Butch Hobson #4 of the Boston Red Sox in action against the New York Yankees during an Major League Baseball game circa 1978 at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx borough of New York City. Hobson played for the Red Sox from 1975-80. (Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images) /
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OAKLAND, CA – CIRCA 1977: Bill Lee #37 of the Boston Red Sox pitches against the Oakland Athletics during an Major League Baseball game circa 1977 at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum in Oakland, California. Lee played for the Red Sox from 1969-78. (Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images)
OAKLAND, CA – CIRCA 1977: Bill Lee #37 of the Boston Red Sox pitches against the Oakland Athletics during an Major League Baseball game circa 1977 at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum in Oakland, California. Lee played for the Red Sox from 1969-78. (Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images) /

Bill Lee

If Luis Tiant was a fun, colorful personality, then what would you call Bill Lee? The man nicknamed “Spaceman” pitched for the Red Sox from 1969 to 1978 and his iconoclastic and free-spirited ways were directly at odds with baseball’s more traditional conservatism. It didn’t matter, though, because when it came to what he did on the mound, Lee was one of the Red Sox best in the 1970s.

Lee was mainly a relief pitcher in the early years of his career and didn’t become a starter until the 1973 season when he went 17-11. He won 17 games again in both 1974 and 1975 and was brilliant during the 1975 regular season. He pitched really well in both of his World Series starts that year, but earned no decisions in both; he exited both games with the lead only for the bullpen to give it up.

From 1970-1978, Lee racked up a 93-65 record with a 3.81 ERA and 533 strikeouts. He battled arm issues after 1975 (including a separated shoulder suffered in a bench-clearing brawl against the Yankees in 1976). Lee also clashed with Red Sox manager Don Zimmer which eventually precipitated his trade to the Montreal Expos after the 1978 season. Still, in the mid-1970s when the Red Sox almost won a World Series, Lee was one of their best pitchers.

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