Looking back at other shortened Red Sox seasons
Looking back at other shortened Red Sox seasons
Well, it’s official: The 2022 baseball season will not be 162 games. After appearing to put a full season back on the table, Rob Manfred not only re-canceled the first six games, but wiped out two more series as well.
As frustrating as this announcement was, a shortened season is not unprecedented. Let’s take a look back at other Boston Red Sox seasons that went less than the full schedule.
1972 Red Sox (85-70)
The 1972 baseball strike was the first season in which the baseball season was shortened over a dispute. An argument over player’s pension and salary arbitration wiped out the first week and a half of games. MLB didn’t bother making up those games, meaning that each team lost an uneven amount of games. That would come back to haunt the Red Sox.
The 1972 Red Sox were an awesome offensive unit. The leader of the group was Rookie of the Year Carlton Fisk, who slashed a terrific .293/.370/.538 with a team-leading 22 home runs. Reggie Smith was also excellent, getting on base at a .365 clip and pacing the club with 74 RBIs. The ball club led the American League in runs and OPS, even with a down season from Carl Yastrzemski (.264/.357/.391).
The pitching was similarly terrific. Starting pitchers Marty Pattin, Sonny Siebert, John Curtis, Lynn Mcglothen each had ERAs under 4.00, while Luis Tiant was superb in a swingman role (1.91 ERA). Future starter Bill Lee anchored the bullpen with a 3.20 ERA and led the teams in saves, albeit with just five.
The Red Sox stayed in the hunt for the AL East until last week and headed into Detroit for a three-game set leading the Tigers by a half-game in the division. Needing to win two out of three to clinch a playoff spot, the Red Sox lost the first game after Luis Aparicio’s infamous tumble rounding third killed a potential rally. The Tigers took the next game as well, and even though the Red Sox took the finale, the Tigers won the division by half a game, a result of having one fewer canceled game than the Red Sox.
1981 Red Sox (30-26 first half, 29-23 second half)
The 1981 baseball strike was a result of the implementation of free agency just a few years prior. Owners were frustrated that teams weren’t being compensated for losing free agents, an issue that gained prominence when Dave Winfield left the Padres for the big-market Yankees. Without an agreement, the players went on strike on June 12 and stayed off the field until a settlement was finally reached on July 31. The two sides eventually agreed to allow teams that lost “premium” free agents to select from a pool of unprotected players, but 713 games were lost in the process.
Because of the unprecedented midseason strike, 1981 became baseball’s first “split season.” The winners of the pre-strike season would face the winners of the post-strike season. The Red Sox failed to win either half, coming in a distant fifth in the first half before finishing runner-up to the Brewers in the second half.
Like many Red Sox teams of this era, the 1981 BoSox had a potent lineup. They led the AL in runs, average, on-base percentage, slugging, and OPS. Dwight Evans had a breakout, MVP-caliber season, slashing .296/.415/.522 with a league-leading 22 home runs. Unsung infielder Carney Lansford batted .336, while Jim Rice posted a solid 117 OPS+. In all, seven members of the Red Sox lineup batted at least .284.
What doomed this team was, as usual, the pitching. Their 3.81 ERA was just ninth in the majors, offsetting their league-leading offense. Dennis Eckersley struggled through a down season, while Frank Tanana (4-10, 4.01 ERA) and John Tudor (4.58) were not up to snuff. Mike Torres provided some stability, but the Red Sox simply did not have enough capable arms to sneak into the postseason.
1994 Red Sox (54-61)
The 1994 season is the most infamous in MLB history, as it is the only season in the last 117 years in which no World Series was played. Unlike 1904, in which the New York Giants refused to play the upstart American League champion Boston Americans, this World Series was canceled due to the third in-season player strike in 22 years.
This time, the work stoppage was over a proposed salary cap by the owners, who also wanted to eliminate salary arbitration and make any player with less than six years of service time a restricted free agent. The players went on strike on August 12 and wouldn’t return until the following April.
If there was a silver lining to this strike, however, it was that the Red Sox were well out of contention by the time the season was canceled. They sat at just 54-61, a sure bet to extend their playoff drought to four.
There were some standout performers at the plate, such as Mo Vaughn (.310/.408/.576) and John Valentin (.316/.400/.505), but they didn’t have nearly enough help. The club finished 12th in the AL in batting average and 11th in runs.
The pitching staff was a similar story. Roger Clemens was his usual superb self, while Aaron Sele (3.83 ERA) and Joe Hesketh (4.26 ERA) were serviceable behind him. Other than those three, however, no other pitcher who made more than six starts had an ERA under 5.94. The teamwide ERA of 4.93 was 9th in the AL.
With an anemic offense and below-average pitching staff, it was clear the Red Sox had a lot of work to do when baseball returned.
1995 Red Sox (86-58)
The 1995 work stoppage was a continuation of the 1994 player strike, as the dispute remained unresolved headed into April of the following season. Only when the owners threatened to start the season with replacement players did the players finally agree to negotiate. The day before Opening Day was supposed to be played, the strike ended, and a 144 game season was hastily scheduled.
It’s a good thing that the regular players came back because the Red Sox surprised everyone by winning the AL East. Mo Vaughn raised his already elite game to the next level, taking home MVP honors by hitting 39 home runs and driving in 126. He was far from the only slugger in the Red Sox lineup, as John Valentin (.298/.399/.533, 27 HR, 102 RBI) and new acquisition Jose Canseco (.306/.378/.556, 24 HR, 81 RBI) were terrific as well. The Red Sox finished second in the AL in average, on-base percentage, and OPS, trailing only the historic Cleveland Indians.
Things looked far bleaker for the pitching staff when ace Roger Clemens was sidelined with injuries and had a 5.81 ERA through July. Yet unexpected performances from newcomer Tim Wakefield (16-8, 2.95 ERA) and closer Rick Aguilera (20 saves, 2.67 ERA) stabilized the staff, and Clemens’s strong second half (9-3, 2.88 ERA from August 1 on) helped push the Red Sox past the Yankees.
Even with all the stars on the 1995 Red Sox, they were no match for the high-powered Indians in the ALDS. They actually led Game One headed into the bottom of the 11th, but Albert Belle tied the game with a solo shot off Aguilera, and Tony Pena’s 13th inning blast gave the Indians a 1-0 series lead. Orel Hershiser shut out the Red Sox for 7 1/3 innings in Game Two, and they rolled to an 8-2 win in Game Three to close out a series sweep.
2020 Red Sox (24-36)
The first MLB season delayed over something other than a strike or a lockout, the Covid-19 pandemic wiped out over three and a half months of baseball in 2020. After tense negotiations in which players and owners fought over prorated salaries, the 60-game season was scheduled to begin in late July. There would be no fans for the entirety of the regular season, and MLB implemented rules such as 7-inning doubleheaders, a universal DH, and a ghost runner starting on second base in extra innings.
The 2020 Red Sox season, much like the year as a whole, was an unequivocal disaster. The pitching staff was barely major-league caliber, as their 5.58 ERA ranked 14th in the American League. Nine different players who pitched at least ten innings had an ERA over 5.50.
The offense had their individual standouts, such as Rafael Devers, who ranked fourth in the AL with 43 RBIs, and Xander Bogaerts and Alex Verdugo, who each hit over .300. Yet a down season from J.D Martinez (.213/.291/.389) held back the offense, and it was not nearly good enough to overcome one of the worst pitching staff in the league.
The good news is that the Red Sox earned the fourth pick in the draft, picked high school phenom Marcelo Mayer, and were right back to contending in 2021.
Next. 5 Red Sox players who should have their number retired. dark