The Boston Red Sox are one of the most storied franchises not just in professional baseball, but in all of sports. Given all of the legends that have donned a Red Sox uniform, arriving at this top-25 list was no short order. Before we dive in, there are a couple of disclaimers to run through.
With respect to the fact that Major League Baseball didn't contain the full scope of the nation's -- and later, the world's -- baseball talent until the latter stages of the 20th century, this list definitely grades with a curve that lends greater weight to seasons from 1947 and onwards (Jackie Robinson broke MLB's color barrier that year).
This wasn't a hard-and-fast rule, as you'll see that Babe Ruth's 1919 season is included on the list, as is Jimmie Foxx's 1938 campaign. Other early 20th-century seasons are not, however, and some of them deserve honorable mention here:
- Dutch Leonard, 1914
- Tris Speaker, 1912
- Smoky Joe Wood, 1912
- Cy Young, 1901
With Young, Wood, and Leonard being dead-ball pitchers who piled up gargantuan numbers of innings within a single season, it's tough to compare them with later Red Sox pitchers. But their three magnum opus seasons, listed above, can certainly be classified as all-time great achievements that "belong" on a top-25 list.
You'll also notice that none of David Ortiz's best seasons are included on the following list, and this results from the fact that his status as a full-time DH during those years put him behind the 8-ball in comparison to so many other great offensive seasons from players who occupied a position defensively.
Alright, without further ado, let's get into it.
These are the 25 greatest individual seasons in Red Sox history
25. Manny RamÃrez, 2002
Limited to 120 games due to a hamstring injury in mid-May, prime RamÃrez still managed to blast 33 home runs, drive in 107 runs, and win the American League batting title with a .349/.450/.647 slash line. He finished ninth in AL MVP voting and bagged a Silver Slugger as a designated hitter -- Boston gave him 50 DH starts that year to help manage the hammy, but he still made the majority of his starts in the outfield.
24. Rico Petrocelli, 1969
Petrocelli was far from a superstar. He only made two All-Star teams in his career, but man, did he put it all together at the plate in '69. The 26-year-old shortstop crushed 40 home runs and drove in 97 runs with a .297/.403/.589 slash line, finishing seventh in AL MVP voting.
Petrocelli's 40 dingers set the record for an AL shortstop -- a mark that stood tall for nearly 30 years until Alex Rodriguez hit 42 homers for the Seattle Mariners in 1998. To this day, only A-Rod (four times) has hit more home runs than Petrocelli in a single season as an AL shortstop.
23. Manny Ramirez, 2005
That Manny guy again! While his batting average and on-base percentage weren't as sparkling as in '02, RamÃrez played in more games this season (152). His .292/.388/.594 slash line with 45 homers and 144 RBI earned him another Silver Slugger trophy and a fourth-place finish in AL MVP voting.
22. Dustin Pedroia, 2008
Pedroia followed up his 2007 Rookie of the Year season with an even more epic campaign. He hit 326/.376/.493 with elite defense, winning a Gold Glove, Silver Slugger, and the AL MVP award.
Pedroia led the AL in runs with 118, and he led MLB in hits (213) and doubles (54). He was the first AL second baseman to win MVP since Nellie Fox in 1959. Only José Altuve (2017) has accomplished the feat since.
21. Jim Rice, 1978
Speaking of AL MVP, Rice won the award in '78 without a shred of doubt. Rice hit .315/.370/.600, leading MLB in home runs (46), RBI (139), slugging percentage, hits (213), triples (15), and total bases (406). He also led the AL in OPS (.970).
Oh, and Rice led MLB with 163 games played. He didn't take a single day off the entire season, which ended in sorrow for the Sox as they lost to Bucky Dent's Yankees in the tie-breaker game No. 163.
20. Wade Boggs, 1985
No Red Sox player has ever tallied more hits in a single season than Boggs' 240 hits in '85. He was pretty much an impossible out for pitchers during this period. Boggs reached base safely in 155 out of the 161 games he played this season, and his mark of 135 games with at least one hit is tied for the MLB record.
Boggs' .368/.450/.478 slash line contained the top marks across MLB for batting average and on-base percentage. He didn't slug much (eight homers), but that didn't stop him from finishing fourth in AL MVP voting.
19. Carl Yastrzemski, 1970
Yastrzemski's 1967 season (which we'll get to much later) makes a lot of fans forget how good he was in 1970. Just take a gander at the numbers: .329 (career-best) /.452/.592 with 40 home runs, 102 RBI, 125 runs, 128 walks, and 23 steals. He led the AL with a 1.044 OPS.
Power, average, speed, plate discipline, and durability (161 games played). What else could you possibly want?
18. Fred Lynn, 1975
Only two players in MLB history have won Rookie of the Year and MVP in the same season. Ichiro Suzuki in 2001 is one of them; Lynn in 1975 is the other. Lynn led the AL in runs (103) and OPS (.967) while leading MLB in doubles (47) and slugging percentage (.566).
He hit .331 with 21 home runs and 105 RBI, and he won a Gold Glove in center field: All-around transcendence at just 23 years of age.
17. Ted Williams, 1949
Williams' "worst" season to make this list is still a campaign that 99% of players in MLB history would kill for. En route to his second AL MVP, Williams hit a career-high and AL-leading 43 home runs and finished atop the MLB leaderboard in runs (150), RBI (159), walks (162), on-base percentage (.490), and OPS (1.141). He also led the AL in doubles (39) and games played (155).
16. Nomar Garciaparra, 2000
If you're looking for absolute peak Nomar, go back to 2000. His .372 batting average for the season remains the highest BA in a single MLB campaign by a right-handed hitter in the postwar era.
Hamstring trouble caused Garciaparra to miss some games, but he still appeared in 140 contests and took home the batting title, along with 21 home runs and 96 RBI. Put it this way: He was hitting .400 at a point in the middle of summer. That doesn't happen anymore.
15. Roger Clemens, 1986
This was Clemens' coming-out party of a season as the baseball world realized what a generational talent he was. He won both the AL Cy Young and AL MVP by posting alien-like stats: 24-4 record with a 2.48 ERA and 238 strikeouts, including 20 strikeouts in a single game against the Mariners.
Clemens started the season 14-0 and had the entire league buzzing. While Boston's season ended just short of a World Series title, this was the year that Clemens' legend took root.
14. Babe Ruth, 1919
This was Ruth's last season in Boston before the infamous sale to the Yankees and the subsequent Curse of the Bambino. The original two-way demon, Ruth hit .322/.456/.657 with a then-MLB-record 29 home runs and 114 RBI, while going 9-5 as a pitcher with a 2.97 ERA in 133.1 innings.
The 24-year-old megastar led MLB in runs (103), homers, RBI, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, and OPS (1.114). All to be shipped off to the Bronx in December.
13. Jimmie Foxx, 1938
Foxx's final MVP season and lone MVP campaign with the Red Sox (he won three in total) saw the slugger hit .349/.462/.704 with 50 home runs. He led the AL in batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, and OPS, and he led MLB in RBI (175) and walks (119).
Foxx was especially dominant at Fenway Park that year, where he hit 35 of his homers and produced 104 of his RBI. Entering his 30s at the time, Foxx's already-robust slug capacity dovetailed with a fully matured plate discipline that was nothing short of legendary. He tallied six walks in a single game against St. Louis on June 16.
12. Wade Boggs, 1987
The Hall of Famer Boggs, a 12-time All-Star and eight-time Silver Slugger, was a career .328 hitter and contact specialist ... but he wasn't known for his power. That's what made this season so ridiculous. It was like injecting a near-perfect Boggs with the only attribute he was missing.
Boggs hit 24 home runs (he never hit more than 11 in another season) while maintaining his elite contact ability. His .363/.461/.588 slash line placed him at the top of the AL leaderboard in batting average and OPS, while his on-base percentage topped MLB. It was one of the best on-base-plus-power seasons by a third baseman in the history of the sport.
11. Mookie Betts, 2016
Exactly three decades after a 23-year-old Roger Clemens announced himself to the world as a superstar in his third MLB season with the Red Sox, a 23-year-old Betts did something similar in his third MLB campaign. Betts put on a season-long, five-tool masterclass over 158 games, hitting .318/.363/.534 with 31 home runs, 113 RBI, and 26 steals. He led MLB with 359 total bases.
There was elite defense, too. Betts won his first Gold Glove in right field with 32 Defensive Runs Saved. He was impossibly young, impossibly complete as a baseball player, and his best season was still yet to come.
10. Pedro MartÃnez, 1999
The first half of a two-year masterpiece saw peak Pedro win the AL Cy Young unanimously and finish second in AL MVP voting after capturing the AL Pitching Triple Crown. He went 23-4 with a 2.07 ERA and 313 strikeouts in 213.1 innings, fanning 13.2 batters every nine frames.
Pedro's performance at the 1999 MLB All-Star Game at Fenway Park won't soon be forgotten. He struck out five batters in the first two innings in front of his home crowd. Other iconic moments that year included a one-hit, 17-strikeout masterclass against the Yankees in September, and even more heroically, an ALDS relief outing in which, while injured, MartÃnez threw six hitless innings to secure the series.
9. Ted Williams, 1947
Williams won the Triple Crown for the second time in his career, hitting .343/.499/.634 with 32 home runs, 114 RBI, and 162 walks. Only Barry Bonds (three times) and Babe Ruth have tallied more walks in a single season.
Sadly, this Williams season is most often remembered by the fact that Williams was heinously snubbed of the AL MVP by a bitter sportswriter who left Williams entirely off his 10-player ballot. Joe DiMaggio ended up winning the award by a single point, a margin that Williams would have undone had he received a single vote from the shameless writer.
Williams had a testy relationship with baseball writers throughout his career. But his numbers are undeniable and ultimately tear down any petty biases from the time period that attempted in vain to lessen his legacy.
8. Roger Clemens, 1990
While we're on the topic of awful snubs, Clemens totally deserved to win the 1990 AL Cy Young Award. Bob Welch received the honor despite Clemens crushing Welch in major categories like ERA (1.93 to 2.95) and strikeouts (209 to 127). Clemens' 10.4 WAR topped MLB that year and completely dwarfed Welch's 2.9 figure.
Despite missing some time due to a shoulder injury, Clemens ended up with a 21-6 record to go along with the sparkling numbers mentioned above. The Red Sox won the AL East but got swept in the ALCS by the Athletics, with Clemens infamously getting ejected during the second inning of Game 4 for arguing balls and strikes.
7. Carl Yastrzemski, 1968
1968 was the Year of the Pitcher, in which MLB raised the mound by 15 inches and expanded the strike zone. Offensive numbers plummeted, but Yastrzemski's quality still shone. He hit 23 home runs and captured his second-straight batting title (.301) while also leading the AL in OPS (.922) and topping MLB in walks (119) and on-base percentage (.426). He also took home a Gold Glove in left field.
6. Ted Williams, 1942
Williams pulled off his first Triple Crown season against a backdrop of off-field unrest related to his draft situation. Williams initally received a draft deferrment, which allowed him to play the '42 season, in the first place. But some baseball historians feel that his public draft status caused sportswriters to develop a bias against him, leading to an AL MVP snub.
As we've said with Williams, though, you simply can't ignore the numbers that still pop off the page decades later: .356/.499/.648 with 36 home runs and 137 RBI in 1942. Williams also led MLB in runs (141), homers, RBI, walks (145), on-base percentage, slugging percentage, and total bases that year. He was unquestionably the most dominant offensive force in the sport, and he missed the next three seasons while serving in World War II.
5. Mookie Betts, 2018
Betts' 2016 season was historic and world-class, but 2018 completely tore the roof off. This was the peak of Betts' career, and it didn't hurt that it ended with a World Series title. On the way to a batting title, AL MVP, Gold Glove, and Silver Slugger, Betts hit .346/.438/.640 with 32 home runs, 47 doubles, 30 steals, and 129 runs in 136 games played.
It was just the second time in MLB history that a player took home MVP, Gold Glove, Silver Slugger, and a championship in the same season (Mike Schmidt did it in 1980). But Betts' season also included a batting title, which Schmidt's did not.
Betts' massive contributions led to a franchise-best 108 wins for the Red Sox, a mark that still stands. This was arguably the most dominant Red Sox team of the century, and Betts was the head of the snake in every single way. For fans forever furious about Boston trading Betts, 2018 contains plenty of evidence as to why that remains one of the dumbest decisions in franchise history, right up there with selling Ruth.
4. Ted Williams, 1946
Williams re-entered MLB after three years of military service without an ounce of rust to be found on his bat. The natural-born slugger hit .342/.497/.667 with 38 home runs, 123 RBI, 142 runs, and 156 walks. He led MLB with 10.6 WAR and, what do you know, was actually awarded the AL MVP trophy!
This was also the only season in which Williams led the Red Sox to a World Series. He struggled in the series due to injury (5-for-25), but that doesn't erase Williams' legendary feat of returning from warfare and somehow maintaining his status as the best hitter in the game. It's also worth noting that the '46 Red Sox finished with 104 wins, the third-most in franchise history to this day.
Williams' late-season performances weren't without clutch heroics, either. He hit an inside-the-park homer (the only one of his career) to clinch the pennant against Cleveland on September 13.
3. Pedro MartÃnez, 2000
The most dominant pitching season in Red Sox history, and arguably the most dominant pitching season of the entire live-ball era for any team. It was the peak of the Steroid Era, and only five pitchers in the entire AL finished with an ERA below 4.00 in 2000. MartÃnez was the shocking outlier, finishing with a 1.74 ERA, an 18-6 record, 284 strikeouts, and a 0.737 WHIP that remains the lowest in history.
MartÃnez led all MLB players with 11.7 WAR and won his second consecutive unanimous Cy Young. What's astounding about Pedro's level of play was that no one else was even close -- not even other living legends. Clemens was second in the AL in ERA that year at 3.70. Alex Rodriguez was second in MLB in WAR with 10.4 -- figures far below MartÃnez's.
Add in the fact that Pedro was under six feet tall and about 165 pounds, and the entire 1999-2000 saga feels too magical to be real. We won't likely see something like this again.
2. Ted Williams, 1941
If you hit over .400 for an entire MLB campaign, you won't be outdone by many (if any) players on all-time greatest seasons lists. Williams did just that. The manner in which Williams arrived at his .406 batting average for the 1941 season is also the stuff of legends. Williams was famously hitting .39955 entering the final-day doubleheader of the regular season. He went 6-for-8 in the doubleheader and etched his name in the history books by doing so.
No MLB player has hit north of .400 since Williams (shout out to Tony Gwynn for his .394 mark in the shortened 1994 season). And while Williams came up short in MVP voting thanks to Joe DiMaggio and his 56-game hitting streak, it was certainly an MVP-caliber year for Williams. In case the .406 batting average didn't already convince you of that, Williams also tallied 37 homers, 120 RBI, 135 runs, 147 walks, a .553 on-base percentage, and a .735 slugging percentage.
1. Carl Yastrzemski, 1967
This is the individual Red Sox season that had it all: All-time statistical brilliance, the awards to show for it, carrying a team on your back to the World Series, and an underdog story that would charm Hollywood. It's called The Impossible Dream season for a reason!
We can get the numbers part out of the way first, but they're not worth rushing through. Yastrzemski won the AL Triple Crown with a .326/.418/.622 slash line, 44 home runs, and 121 RBI. He also led the AL in runs (112), hits (189), total bases (360), won a Gold Glove, and led MLB with 12.5 WAR. And that's not even the good stuff.
The '67 Red Sox were counted out completely entering the season following a 72-90 record the prior year. Yastrzemski single-handedly powered Boston on a World Series run that featured him going nuclear over the final 12 games of the season to clinch the pennant: .523 with five home runs and 16 RBI during that stretch. Although the Red Sox fell short in the Fall Classic, Yastrzemski hit .400 in the series with three home runs.
It would be 45 years before another MLB player won a Triple Crown (Miguel Cabrera, 2012), and it hasn't happened since.
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