# 1976 Boston Red Sox season

The 1976 Boston Red Sox season was the 76th season in the franchise's Major League Baseball history. The Red Sox finished third in the American League East with a record of 83 wins and 79 losses, 15+1⁄2 games behind the New York Yankees, who went on to win the AL championship.

## Offseason

* November 17, 1975: Juan Beniquez and Steve Barr were traded by the Red Sox to the Texas Rangers for pitcher Ferguson Jenkins.
* December 12, 1975: Roger Moret was traded by the Red Sox to the Atlanta Braves for Tom House.
* February 15, 1976: Gene Michael was signed as a free agent by the Red Sox.
* March 3, 1976: Dick Drago was traded by the Red Sox to the California Angels for John Balaz, Dick Sharon, and Dave Machemer.

## Regular season

Record by month :
| Month | Record | Record | Cumulative | Cumulative | AL East | AL East | Ref. |
| Month | Won | Lost | Won | Lost | Position | GB | Ref. |
| April | 6 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 5th | 4 | |
| May | 13 | 15 | 19 | 22 | 4th | 7 | |
| June | 15 | 13 | 34 | 35 | 3rd (tie) | 9 | |
| July | 12 | 19 | 46 | 54 | 5th | 15+1⁄2 | |
| August | 16 | 14 | 62 | 68 | 4th | 18 | |
| September | 18 | 11 | 80 | 79 | 4th | 16 | |
| October | 3 | 0 | 83 | 79 | 3rd | 15+1⁄2 | |

### Highlights

The Red Sox did not come close to repeating the previous year's success. An off-season contract dispute with Fred Lynn was a distraction. In early May, a brawl with the New York Yankees led to a shoulder injury for Bill Lee, one of their best pitchers and a 17-game winner in 1975; Lee would be out until mid-1977, and his loss was keenly felt.
On June 15, Oakland Athletics owner Charlie Finley attempted to sell left fielder Joe Rudi and relief pitcher Rollie Fingers to the Red Sox for $1 million each, and starting pitcher Vida Blue to the New York Yankees for $1.5 million. Three days later, Commissioner of Baseball Bowie Kuhn voided the transactions, citing "the best interests of baseball."
The Red Sox' beloved owner, Tom Yawkey, died of leukemia in July. Manager Darrell Johnson was fired shortly thereafter, and replaced by coach Don Zimmer. Overall, it was a disappointing season for a talented but underachieving team.

### Season standings

vteAL East :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| New York Yankees | 97 | 62 | .610 | — | 45‍–‍35 | 52‍–‍27 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 88 | 74 | .543 | 10½ | 42‍–‍39 | 46‍–‍35 |
| Boston Red Sox | 83 | 79 | .512 | 15½ | 46‍–‍35 | 37‍–‍44 |
| Cleveland Indians | 81 | 78 | .509 | 16 | 44‍–‍35 | 37‍–‍43 |
| Detroit Tigers | 74 | 87 | .460 | 24 | 36‍–‍44 | 38‍–‍43 |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 66 | 95 | .410 | 32 | 36‍–‍45 | 30‍–‍50 |

### Record vs. opponents

1976 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BAL | BOS | CAL | CWS | CLE | DET | KC | MIL | MIN | NYY | OAK | TEX |
| Baltimore | — | 7–11 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 7–11 | 12–6 | 6–6 | 11–7 | 4–8 | 13–5 | 4–8 | 8–4 |
| Boston | 11–7 | — | 7–5 | 6–6 | 9–9 | 14–4 | 3–9 | 12–6 | 7–5 | 7–11 | 4–8 | 3–9 |
| California | 4–8 | 5–7 | — | 11–7 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 8–10 | 4–8 | 8–10 | 5–7 | 6–12 | 12–6 |
| Chicago | 4–8 | 6–6 | 7–11 | — | 3–9 | 6–6 | 8–10 | 7–5 | 7–11 | 1–11 | 8–9 | 7–11 |
| Cleveland | 11–7 | 9–9 | 5–7 | 9–3 | — | 6–12 | 6–6 | 11–6 | 9–3 | 4–12 | 4–8 | 7–5 |
| Detroit | 6–12 | 4–14 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 12–6 | — | 4–8 | 12–6 | 4–8 | 9–8 | 6–6 | 5–7 |
| Kansas City | 6–6 | 9–3 | 10–8 | 10–8 | 6–6 | 8–4 | — | 8–4 | 10–8 | 7–5 | 9–9 | 7–11 |
| Milwaukee | 7–11 | 6–12 | 8–4 | 5–7 | 6–11 | 6–12 | 4–8 | — | 4–8 | 5–13 | 5–7 | 10–2 |
| Minnesota | 8–4 | 5–7 | 10–8 | 11–7 | 3–9 | 8–4 | 8–10 | 8–4 | — | 2–10 | 11–7 | 11–7 |
| New York | 5–13 | 11–7 | 7–5 | 11–1 | 12–4 | 8–9 | 5–7 | 13–5 | 10–2 | — | 6–6 | 9–3 |
| Oakland | 8–4 | 8–4 | 12–6 | 9–8 | 8–4 | 6–6 | 9–9 | 7–5 | 7–11 | 6–6 | — | 7–11 |
| Texas | 4–8 | 9–3 | 6–12 | 11–7 | 5–7 | 7–5 | 11–7 | 2–10 | 7–11 | 3–9 | 11–7 | — |

### Notable transactions

* April 7, 1976: Diego Seguí was released by the Red Sox.
* May 4, 1976: Gene Michael was released by the Red Sox.
* June 3, 1976: Bernie Carbo was traded by the Red Sox to the Milwaukee Brewers for Bobby Darwin and Tom Murphy.
* June 8, 1976: Wade Boggs was drafted by the Red Sox in the 7th round of the 1976 Major League Baseball Draft. Player signed June 10, 1976.

### Opening Day lineup

| 17 | Cecil Cooper | DH |
| 5 | Denny Doyle | 2B |
| 19 | Fred Lynn | CF |
| 14 | Jim Rice | LF |
| 8 | Carl Yastrzemski | 1B |
| 27 | Carlton Fisk | C |
| 24 | Dwight Evans | RF |
| 6 | Rico Petrocelli | 3B |
| 7 | Rick Burleson | SS |
| 31 | Ferguson Jenkins | P |
Source:

### Roster
## Player stats
### Batting

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen bases; BB = Walks; AVG = Batting average; SLG = Slugging average
| Player | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | AVG | SLG |
| Jim Rice | 153 | 581 | 75 | 164 | 25 | 8 | 25 | 85 | 8 | 28 | .282 | .482 |
| Carl Yastrzemski | 155 | 546 | 71 | 146 | 23 | 2 | 21 | 102 | 5 | 80 | .267 | .432 |
| Rick Burleson | 152 | 540 | 75 | 157 | 27 | 1 | 7 | 42 | 14 | 60 | .291 | .383 |
| Fred Lynn | 132 | 507 | 76 | 159 | 32 | 8 | 10 | 65 | 14 | 48 | .314 | .467 |
| Dwight Evans | 146 | 501 | 61 | 121 | 34 | 5 | 17 | 62 | 6 | 57 | .242 | .431 |
| Carlton Fisk | 134 | 487 | 76 | 124 | 17 | 5 | 17 | 58 | 12 | 56 | .255 | .415 |
| Cecil Cooper | 123 | 451 | 66 | 127 | 22 | 6 | 15 | 78 | 7 | 16 | .282 | .457 |
| Denny Doyle | 117 | 432 | 51 | 108 | 15 | 5 | 0 | 26 | 8 | 22 | .250 | .308 |
| Rick Miller | 105 | 269 | 40 | 76 | 15 | 3 | 0 | 27 | 11 | 34 | .283 | .361 |
| Butch Hobson | 76 | 269 | 34 | 63 | 7 | 5 | 8 | 34 | 0 | 15 | .234 | .387 |
| Rico Petrocelli | 85 | 240 | 17 | 51 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 24 | 0 | 34 | .213 | .288 |
| Steve Dillard | 57 | 167 | 22 | 46 | 14 | 0 | 1 | 15 | 6 | 17 | .275 | .377 |
| Doug Griffin | 49 | 127 | 14 | 24 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 9 | .189 | .205 |
| Bobby Darwin | 43 | 106 | 9 | 19 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 13 | 1 | 2 | .179 | .349 |
| Bob Montgomery | 31 | 93 | 10 | 23 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 13 | 0 | 5 | .247 | .398 |
| Bob Heise | 32 | 56 | 5 | 15 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 1 | .268 | .304 |
| Bernie Carbo | 17 | 55 | 5 | 13 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 8 | .236 | .418 |
| Deron Johnson | 15 | 38 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | .132 | .211 |
| Jack Baker | 12 | 23 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | .130 | .261 |
| Ernie Whitt | 8 | 18 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2 | .222 | .500 |
| Andy Merchant | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 |
| Pitcher Totals | 162 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 |
| Team Totals | 162 | 5511 | 716 | 1448 | 257 | 53 | 134 | 664 | 95 | 500 | .263 | .402 |
Source:

### Pitching

Note: W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; SV = Saves; IP = Innings pitched; H = Hits allowed; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | W | L | ERA | G | GS | SV | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
| Luis Tiant | 21 | 12 | 3.06 | 38 | 38 | 0 | 279.0 | 274 | 107 | 95 | 64 | 131 |
| Rick Wise | 14 | 11 | 3.53 | 34 | 34 | 0 | 224.1 | 218 | 100 | 88 | 48 | 93 |
| Fergie Jenkins | 12 | 11 | 3.27 | 30 | 29 | 0 | 209.0 | 201 | 85 | 76 | 43 | 142 |
| Reggie Cleveland | 10 | 9 | 3.07 | 41 | 14 | 2 | 170.0 | 159 | 73 | 58 | 61 | 76 |
| Dick Pole | 6 | 5 | 4.33 | 31 | 15 | 0 | 120.2 | 131 | 62 | 58 | 48 | 49 |
| Rick Jones | 5 | 3 | 3.36 | 24 | 14 | 0 | 104.1 | 133 | 48 | 39 | 26 | 45 |
| Jim Willoughby | 3 | 12 | 2.82 | 54 | 0 | 10 | 99.0 | 94 | 38 | 31 | 31 | 37 |
| Bill Lee | 5 | 7 | 5.63 | 24 | 14 | 3 | 96.0 | 124 | 68 | 60 | 28 | 29 |
| Tom Murphy | 4 | 5 | 3.44 | 37 | 0 | 8 | 81.0 | 91 | 43 | 31 | 25 | 32 |
| Tom House | 1 | 3 | 4.33 | 36 | 0 | 4 | 43.2 | 39 | 22 | 21 | 19 | 27 |
| Rick Kreuger | 2 | 1 | 4.06 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 31.0 | 31 | 14 | 14 | 16 | 12 |
| Team Totals | 83 | 79 | 3.52 | 162 | 162 | 27 | 1458.0 | 1495 | 660 | 571 | 409 | 673 |
Source:

## Statistical leaders

| Category | Player | Statistic |
| Youngest player | Rick Jones | 21 |
| Oldest player | Deron Johnson | 37 |
| Wins Above Replacement | Luis Tiant | 6.2 |
Source:

### Batting

| Abbr. | Category | Player | Statistic |
| G | Games played | Carl Yastrzemski | 155 |
| PA | Plate appearances | Carl Yastrzemski | 636 |
| AB | At bats | Jim Rice | 581 |
| R | Runs scored | Carlton Fisk | 76 |
| R | Runs scored | Fred Lynn | 76 |
| H | Hits | Jim Rice | 164 |
| 2B | Doubles | Dwight Evans | 34 |
| 3B | Triples | Fred Lynn | 8 |
| 3B | Triples | Jim Rice | 8 |
| HR | Home runs | Jim Rice | 25 |
| RBI | Runs batted in | Carl Yastrzemski | 102 |
| SB | Stolen bases | Rick Burleson | 14 |
| SB | Stolen bases | Fred Lynn | 14 |
| CS | Caught stealing | Rick Miller | 10 |
| BB | Base on balls | Carl Yastrzemski | 80 |
| SO | Strikeouts | Jim Rice | 123 |
| BA | Batting average | Fred Lynn | .314 |
| OBP | On-base percentage | Fred Lynn | .367 |
| SLG | Slugging percentage | Jim Rice | .482 |
| OPS | On-base plus slugging | Fred Lynn | .835 |
| OPS+ | Adjusted OPS | Fred Lynn | 132 |
| TB | Total bases | Jim Rice | 280 |
| GIDP | Grounded into double play | Jim Rice | 18 |
| HBP | Hit by pitch | Dwight Evans | 6 |
| HBP | Hit by pitch | Carlton Fisk | 6 |
| SH | Sacrifice hits | Cecil Cooper | 9 |
| SF | Sacrifice flies | Fred Lynn | 10 |
| IBB | Intentional base on balls | Cecil Cooper | 6 |
| IBB | Intentional base on balls | Carl Yastrzemski | 6 |
Source:

### Pitching

| Abbr. | Category | Player | Statistic |
| W | Wins | Luis Tiant | 21 |
| L | Losses | Luis Tiant | 12 |
| L | Losses | Jim Willoughby | 12 |
| W-L % | Winning percentage | Luis Tiant | .636 (21–12) |
| ERA | Earned run average | Luis Tiant | 3.06 |
| G | Games pitched | Jim Willoughby | 54 |
| GS | Games started | Luis Tiant | 38 |
| GF | Games finished | Jim Willoughby | 40 |
| CG | Complete games | Luis Tiant | 19 |
| SHO | Shutouts | Rick Wise | 4 |
| SV | Saves | Jim Willoughby | 10 |
| IP | Innings pitched | Luis Tiant | 279 |
| SO | Strikeouts | Ferguson Jenkins | 142 |
| WHIP | Walks plus hits per inning pitched | Ferguson Jenkins | 1.167 |
Source:

## Awards and honors

* Dwight Evans – Gold Glove Award (OF)
* Luis Tiant – AL Player of the Month (August)

### All-Star Game

* Carlton Fisk, reserve C
* Fred Lynn, starting CF
* Luis Tiant, reserve P
* Carl Yastrzemski, reserve OF

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Pawtucket Red Sox† | International League | Joe Morgan |
| AA | Bristol Red Sox | Eastern League | John Kennedy |
| A | Winston-Salem Red Sox | Carolina League | Tony Torchia |
| A | Winter Haven Red Sox | Florida State League | Rac Slider |
| A-Short Season | Elmira Red Sox | New York–Penn League | Dick Berardino |
† The Pawtucket Red Sox were known as the Rhode Island Red Sox during the 1976 season.
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Winston-Salem, Elmira
Source: