# 1968 Boston Red Sox season

The 1968 Boston Red Sox season was the 68th season in the franchise's Major League Baseball history. The Red Sox finished fourth in the American League (AL) with a record of 86 wins and 76 losses, 17 games behind the AL and World Series champion Detroit Tigers.

## Offseason

* October 29, 1968: Elston Howard was released by the Red Sox.

## Regular season

Carl Yastrzemski set an American League record by having the lowest batting average to win a batting title. Yaz hit .301 to claim the batting title.

### Season standings

vteAmerican League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Detroit Tigers | 103 | 59 | .636 | — | 56‍–‍25 | 47‍–‍34 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 91 | 71 | .562 | 12 | 47‍–‍33 | 44‍–‍38 |
| Cleveland Indians | 86 | 75 | .534 | 16½ | 43‍–‍37 | 43‍–‍38 |
| Boston Red Sox | 86 | 76 | .531 | 17 | 46‍–‍35 | 40‍–‍41 |
| New York Yankees | 83 | 79 | .512 | 20 | 39‍–‍42 | 44‍–‍37 |
| Oakland Athletics | 82 | 80 | .506 | 21 | 44‍–‍38 | 38‍–‍42 |
| Minnesota Twins | 79 | 83 | .488 | 24 | 41‍–‍40 | 38‍–‍43 |
| California Angels | 67 | 95 | .414 | 36 | 32‍–‍49 | 35‍–‍46 |
| Chicago White Sox | 67 | 95 | .414 | 36 | 36‍–‍45 | 31‍–‍50 |
| Washington Senators | 65 | 96 | .404 | 37½ | 34‍–‍47 | 31‍–‍49 |

### Record vs. opponents

1968 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BAL | BOS | CAL | CWS | CLE | DET | MIN | NYY | OAK | WSH |
| Baltimore | — | 9–9 | 10–8 | 11–7 | 7–11 | 8–10 | 10–8 | 13–5 | 9–9 | 14–4 |
| Boston | 9–9 | — | 9–9 | 14–4 | 10–8 | 6–12 | 9–9 | 10–8 | 8–10 | 11–7 |
| California | 8–10 | 9–9 | — | 8–10 | 7–11 | 5–13 | 7–11 | 6–12 | 5–13 | 12–6 |
| Chicago | 7–11 | 4–14 | 10–8 | — | 5–13 | 5–13 | 10–8 | 6–12 | 10–8 | 10–8 |
| Cleveland | 11–7 | 8–10 | 11–7 | 13–5 | — | 6–12 | 14–4 | 10–8–1 | 6–12 | 7–10 |
| Detroit | 10–8 | 12–6 | 13–5 | 13–5 | 12–6 | — | 10–8 | 10–8–1 | 13–5–1 | 10–8 |
| Minnesota | 8–10 | 9–9 | 11–7 | 8–10 | 4–14 | 8–10 | — | 12–6 | 8–10 | 11–7 |
| New York | 5–13 | 8–10 | 12–6 | 12–6 | 8–10–1 | 8–10–1 | 6–12 | — | 10–8 | 14–4 |
| Oakland | 9–9 | 10–8 | 13–5 | 8–10 | 12–6 | 5–13–1 | 10–8 | 8–10 | — | 7–11 |
| Washington | 4–14 | 7–11 | 6–12 | 8–10 | 10–7 | 8–10 | 7–11 | 4–14 | 11–7 | — |

### Opening Day lineup

| 2 | Mike Andrews | 2B |
| 3 | Dalton Jones | 3B |
| 8 | Carl Yastrzemski | LF |
| 7 | Reggie Smith | CF |
| 5 | George Scott | 1B |
| 15 | Joe Lahoud | RF |
| 6 | Rico Petrocelli | SS |
| 18 | Elston Howard | C |
| 36 | Dick Ellsworth | P |

### Notable transactions

* August 7, 1968: Norm Siebern was released by the Red Sox.
* August 14, 1968: Galen Cisco was purchased from the Red Sox by the Kansas City Royals.

### Roster
## Player stats
### 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 | Russ Gibson | 76 | 231 | 52 | .225 | 3 | 20 |
| 1B | George Scott | 124 | 350 | 60 | .171 | 3 | 25 |
| 2B | Mike Andrews | 147 | 536 | 145 | .271 | 7 | 45 |
| SS | Rico Petrocelli | 123 | 406 | 95 | .234 | 12 | 46 |
| 3B | Joe Foy | 150 | 515 | 116 | .225 | 10 | 60 |
| LF | Carl Yastrzemski | 157 | 539 | 162 | .301 | 23 | 74 |
| CF | Reggie Smith | 155 | 558 | 148 | .265 | 15 | 69 |
| RF | Ken Harrelson | 150 | 535 | 147 | .275 | 35 | 109 |

#### 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 |
| Dalton Jones | 111 | 354 | 83 | .234 | 5 | 29 |
| Jerry Adair | 74 | 208 | 45 | .216 | 2 | 12 |
| Elston Howard | 71 | 203 | 49 | .241 | 5 | 18 |
| José Tartabull | 72 | 139 | 39 | .281 | 0 | 6 |
| Russ Nixon | 29 | 85 | 13 | .153 | 0 | 6 |
| Joe Lahoud | 29 | 78 | 15 | .192 | 1 | 6 |
| Luis Alvarado | 11 | 46 | 6 | .130 | 0 | 1 |
| Gene Oliver | 16 | 35 | 5 | .143 | 0 | 1 |
| Norm Siebern | 27 | 30 | 2 | .067 | 0 | 0 |
| Floyd Robinson | 23 | 24 | 3 | .125 | 0 | 2 |
| Jerry Moses | 6 | 18 | 6 | .333 | 2 | 4 |
| George Thomas | 12 | 10 | 2 | .200 | 1 | 1 |

### 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 |
| Ray Culp | 35 | 216.1 | 16 | 6 | 2.91 | 190 |
| Gary Bell | 35 | 199.1 | 11 | 11 | 3.12 | 102 |
| Dick Ellsworth | 31 | 196.0 | 16 | 7 | 3.03 | 106 |
| José Santiago | 18 | 124.0 | 9 | 4 | 2.25 | 86 |
| Jim Lonborg | 23 | 113.1 | 6 | 10 | 4.29 | 73 |
| Juan Pizarro | 19 | 107.2 | 6 | 8 | 3.59 | 84 |
| Dave Morehead | 11 | 55.0 | 1 | 4 | 2.45 | 78 |

#### 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 |
| Gary Waslewski | 34 | 105.1 | 4 | 7 | 3.67 | 59 |
| Jerry Stephenson | 23 | 68.2 | 2 | 8 | 5.64 | 51 |

#### 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 |
| Lee Stange | 50 | 5 | 5 | 12 | 3.93 | 53 |
| Sparky Lyle | 49 | 6 | 1 | 11 | 2.74 | 52 |
| Bill Landis | 38 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3.15 | 59 |
| Bucky Brandon | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.39 | 10 |
| John Wyatt | 8 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4.22 | 11 |
| Garry Roggenburk | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.16 | 4 |
| Fred Wenz | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 3 |

## Awards and honors

* George Scott, Gold Glove Award (1B)
* Reggie Smith, Gold Glove Award (OF)
* Carl Yastrzemski, Gold Glove Award (OF)

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Louisville Colonels | International League | Eddie Kasko |
| AA | Pittsfield Red Sox | Eastern League | Billy Gardner |
| A | Winston-Salem Red Sox | Carolina League | Bill Slack |
| A | Waterloo Hawks | Midwest League | Rac Slider |
| A | Greenville Red Sox | Western Carolinas League | Matt Sczesny |
| A-Short Season | Jamestown Falcons | New York–Penn League | Jackie Moore |
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