# 1980 Boston Red Sox season

The 1980 Boston Red Sox season was the 80th season in the franchise's Major League Baseball history. The Red Sox finished fourth in the American League East with a record of 83 wins and 77 losses, 19 games behind the New York Yankees. Manager Don Zimmer was fired with five games left, and Johnny Pesky finished the season as manager.

## Offseason

* November 16, 1979: Tony Pérez was signed as a free agent by the Red Sox.
* March 30, 1980: The Red Sox traded a player to be named later and cash to the Philadelphia Phillies for Dave Rader. The Red Sox completed the deal by sending Stan Papi to the Phillies on May 12.

## Regular season

Record by month :
| Month | Record | Record | Cumulative | Cumulative | AL East | AL East | Ref. |
| Month | Won | Lost | Won | Lost | Position | GB | Ref. |
| April | 8 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 3rd | 1+1⁄2 | |
| May | 14 | 14 | 22 | 23 | 4th | 6+1⁄2 | |
| June | 16 | 10 | 38 | 33 | 5th | 8+1⁄2 | |
| July | 12 | 16 | 50 | 49 | 6th | 12+1⁄2 | |
| August | 20 | 7 | 70 | 56 | 3rd | 6+1⁄2 | |
| September | 12 | 17 | 82 | 73 | 3rd | 16 | |
| October | 1 | 4 | 83 | 77 | 4th | 19 | |
Fred Lynn had a .301 batting average, with 12 home runs and 61 RBIs. Jim Rice hit .294, with 24 homers and 86 RBIs. On the pitching staff, Mike Torrez was 9–16 and Dennis Eckersley was 12–14. Rick Burleson set an MLB single-season record for double plays turned as a shortstop, 147, which still stands.

### Season standings

vteAL East :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| New York Yankees | 103 | 59 | .636 | — | 53‍–‍28 | 50‍–‍31 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 100 | 62 | .617 | 3 | 50‍–‍31 | 50‍–‍31 |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 86 | 76 | .531 | 17 | 40‍–‍42 | 46‍–‍34 |
| Boston Red Sox | 83 | 77 | .519 | 19 | 36‍–‍45 | 47‍–‍32 |
| Detroit Tigers | 84 | 78 | .519 | 19 | 43‍–‍38 | 41‍–‍40 |
| Cleveland Indians | 79 | 81 | .494 | 23 | 44‍–‍35 | 35‍–‍46 |
| Toronto Blue Jays | 67 | 95 | .414 | 36 | 35‍–‍46 | 32‍–‍49 |
Boston's record of 83–77 has a fractionally better winning percentage than Detroit's record of 84–78; .51875 and .51851, respectively.

### Record vs. opponents

1980 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BAL | BOS | CAL | CWS | CLE | DET | KC | MIL | MIN | NYY | OAK | SEA | TEX | TOR |
| Baltimore | — | 8–5 | 10–2 | 6–6 | 6–7 | 10–3 | 6–6 | 7–6 | 10–2 | 7–6 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 11–2 |
| Boston | 5–8 | — | 9–3 | 6–4 | 7–6 | 8–5 | 5–7 | 6–7 | 6–6 | 3–10 | 9–3 | 7–5 | 5–7 | 7–6 |
| California | 2–10 | 3–9 | — | 3–10 | 4–6 | 5–7 | 5–8 | 6–6 | 7–6 | 2–10 | 3–10 | 11–2 | 11–2 | 3–9 |
| Chicago | 6–6 | 4–6 | 10–3 | — | 5–7 | 2–10 | 5–8 | 5–7 | 5–8 | 5–7 | 6–7 | 6–7 | 6–7–2 | 5–7 |
| Cleveland | 7–6 | 6–7 | 6–4 | 7–5 | — | 3–10 | 5–7 | 3–10 | 9–3 | 5–8 | 6–6 | 8–4 | 6–6 | 8–5 |
| Detroit | 3–10 | 5–8 | 7–5 | 10–2 | 10–3 | — | 2–10 | 7–6 | 6–6 | 5–8 | 6–6 | 10–2–1 | 4–8 | 9–4 |
| Kansas City | 6–6 | 7–5 | 8–5 | 8–5 | 7–5 | 10–2 | — | 6–6 | 5–8 | 8–4 | 6–7 | 7–6 | 10–3 | 9–3 |
| Milwaukee | 6–7 | 7–6 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 10–3 | 6–7 | 6–6 | — | 7–5 | 5–8 | 7–5 | 9–3 | 5–7 | 5–8 |
| Minnesota | 2–10 | 6–6 | 6–7 | 8–5 | 3–9 | 6–6 | 8–5 | 5–7 | — | 4–8 | 6–7 | 7–6 | 9–3 | 7–5 |
| New York | 6–7 | 10–3 | 10–2 | 7–5 | 8–5 | 8–5 | 4–8 | 8–5 | 8–4 | — | 8–4 | 9–3 | 7–5 | 10–3 |
| Oakland | 5–7 | 3–9 | 10–3 | 7–6 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 7–6 | 5–7 | 7–6 | 4–8 | — | 8–5 | 7–6 | 8–4 |
| Seattle | 6–6 | 5–7 | 2–11 | 7–6 | 4–8 | 2–10–1 | 6–7 | 3–9 | 6–7 | 3–9 | 5–8 | — | 4–9 | 6–6 |
| Texas | 6–6 | 7–5 | 2–11 | 7–6–2 | 6–6 | 8–4 | 3–10 | 7–5 | 3–9 | 5–7 | 6–7 | 9–4 | — | 7–5 |
| Toronto | 2–11 | 6–7 | 9–3 | 7–5 | 5–8 | 4–9 | 3–9 | 8–5 | 5–7 | 3–10 | 4–8 | 6–6 | 5–7 | — |

### Notable transactions

* May 30, 1980: Ted Sizemore was released by the Red Sox.
* June 3, 1980: Oil Can Boyd was drafted by the Red Sox in the 16th round of the 1980 Major League Baseball draft.

### Opening Day lineup

| 2 | Jerry Remy | 2B |
| 7 | Rick Burleson | SS |
| 19 | Fred Lynn | CF |
| 14 | Jim Rice | LF |
| 8 | Carl Yastrzemski | DH |
| 5 | Tony Pérez | 1B |
| 4 | Butch Hobson | 3B |
| 24 | Dwight Evans | RF |
| 15 | Dave Rader | C |
| 43 | Dennis Eckersley | P |
Source:
The Milwaukee Brewers defeated the Red Sox on Opening Day, 9–5, via a walk-off grand slam by Sixto Lezcano.

### 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 |
| Rick Burleson | 155 | 644 | 89 | 179 | 29 | 2 | 8 | 51 | 12 | 62 | .278 | .366 |
| Tony Pérez | 151 | 585 | 73 | 161 | 31 | 3 | 25 | 105 | 1 | 41 | .275 | .467 |
| Jim Rice | 124 | 504 | 81 | 148 | 22 | 6 | 24 | 86 | 8 | 30 | .294 | .504 |
| Carlton Fisk | 131 | 478 | 73 | 138 | 25 | 3 | 18 | 62 | 11 | 36 | .289 | .467 |
| Dwight Evans | 148 | 463 | 72 | 123 | 37 | 5 | 18 | 60 | 3 | 64 | .266 | .484 |
| Dave Stapleton | 106 | 449 | 61 | 144 | 33 | 5 | 7 | 45 | 3 | 13 | .321 | .463 |
| Fred Lynn | 110 | 415 | 67 | 125 | 32 | 3 | 12 | 61 | 12 | 58 | .301 | .480 |
| Carl Yastrzemski | 105 | 364 | 49 | 100 | 21 | 1 | 15 | 50 | 0 | 44 | .275 | .462 |
| Butch Hobson | 93 | 324 | 35 | 74 | 6 | 0 | 11 | 39 | 1 | 25 | .228 | .349 |
| Glenn Hoffman | 114 | 312 | 37 | 89 | 15 | 4 | 4 | 42 | 2 | 19 | .285 | .397 |
| Jim Dwyer | 93 | 260 | 41 | 74 | 11 | 1 | 9 | 38 | 3 | 28 | .285 | .438 |
| Jerry Remy | 63 | 230 | 24 | 72 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 14 | 10 | .313 | .361 |
| Dave Rader | 50 | 137 | 14 | 45 | 11 | 0 | 3 | 17 | 1 | 14 | .328 | .474 |
| Garry Hancock | 46 | 115 | 9 | 33 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 19 | 0 | 3 | .287 | .443 |
| Gary Allenson | 36 | 70 | 9 | 25 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 13 | .357 | .443 |
| Chico Walker | 19 | 57 | 3 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 6 | .211 | .263 |
| Jack Brohamer | 21 | 57 | 5 | 18 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 4 | .316 | .404 |
| Reid Nichols | 12 | 36 | 5 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | .222 | .278 |
| Rich Gedman | 9 | 24 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .208 | .208 |
| Larry Wolfe | 18 | 23 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | .130 | .304 |
| Ted Sizemore | 9 | 23 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .217 | .261 |
| Julio Valdez | 8 | 19 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 0 | .263 | .474 |
| Sam Bowen | 7 | 13 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | .154 | .154 |
| Dick Drago | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 |
| Stan Papi | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .--- | .--- |
| Team Totals | 160 | 5603 | 757 | 1588 | 297 | 36 | 162 | 717 | 79 | 475 | .283 | .436 |
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 |
| Mike Torrez | 9 | 16 | 5.08 | 36 | 32 | 0 | 207.1 | 256 | 124 | 117 | 75 | 97 |
| Dennis Eckersley | 12 | 14 | 4.28 | 30 | 30 | 0 | 197.2 | 188 | 101 | 94 | 44 | 121 |
| Bob Stanley | 10 | 8 | 3.39 | 52 | 17 | 14 | 175.0 | 186 | 75 | 66 | 52 | 71 |
| Steve Renko | 9 | 9 | 4.19 | 32 | 23 | 0 | 165.1 | 180 | 86 | 77 | 56 | 90 |
| Dick Drago | 7 | 7 | 4.14 | 43 | 7 | 3 | 132.2 | 127 | 67 | 61 | 44 | 63 |
| Tom Burgmeier | 5 | 4 | 2.00 | 62 | 0 | 24 | 99.0 | 87 | 30 | 22 | 20 | 54 |
| John Tudor | 8 | 5 | 3.02 | 16 | 13 | 0 | 92.1 | 81 | 35 | 31 | 31 | 45 |
| Chuck Rainey | 8 | 3 | 4.86 | 16 | 13 | 0 | 87.0 | 92 | 49 | 47 | 41 | 43 |
| Skip Lockwood | 3 | 1 | 5.32 | 24 | 1 | 2 | 45.2 | 61 | 31 | 27 | 17 | 11 |
| Keith MacWhorter | 0 | 3 | 5.53 | 14 | 2 | 0 | 42.1 | 46 | 27 | 26 | 18 | 21 |
| Bill Campbell | 4 | 0 | 4.79 | 23 | 0 | 0 | 41.1 | 44 | 26 | 22 | 22 | 17 |
| Win Remmerswaal | 2 | 1 | 4.58 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 35.1 | 39 | 18 | 18 | 9 | 20 |
| Steve Crawford | 2 | 0 | 3.62 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 32.1 | 41 | 14 | 13 | 8 | 10 |
| Bruce Hurst | 2 | 2 | 9.10 | 12 | 7 | 0 | 30.2 | 39 | 33 | 31 | 16 | 16 |
| Bob Ojeda | 1 | 1 | 6.92 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 26.0 | 39 | 20 | 20 | 14 | 12 |
| Jack Billingham | 1 | 3 | 11.10 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 24.1 | 45 | 30 | 30 | 12 | 4 |
| Luis Aponte | 0 | 0 | 1.29 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 7.0 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| Team Totals | 83 | 77 | 4.38 | 160 | 160 | 43 | 1441.1 | 1557 | 767 | 701 | 481 | 696 |
Source:

## Statistical leaders

| Category | Player | Statistic |
| Youngest player | Rich Gedman | 20 |
| Oldest player | Carl Yastrzemski | 40 |
| Wins Above Replacement | Fred Lynn | 4.7 |
Source:

### Batting

| Abbr. | Category | Player | Statistic |
| G | Games played | Rick Burleson | 155 |
| PA | Plate appearances | Rick Burleson | 718 |
| AB | At bats | Rick Burleson | 644 |
| R | Runs scored | Rick Burleson | 89 |
| H | Hits | Rick Burleson | 179 |
| 2B | Doubles | Dwight Evans | 37 |
| 3B | Triples | Jim Rice | 6 |
| HR | Home runs | Tony Pérez | 25 |
| RBI | Runs batted in | Tony Pérez | 105 |
| SB | Stolen bases | Jerry Remy | 14 |
| CS | Caught stealing | Rick Burleson | 13 |
| BB | Base on balls | Dwight Evans | 64 |
| SO | Strikeouts | Dwight Evans | 98 |
| BA | Batting average | Jim Rice | .294 |
| OBP | On-base percentage | Fred Lynn | .383 |
| SLG | Slugging percentage | Jim Rice | .504 |
| OPS | On-base plus slugging | Fred Lynn | .862 |
| OPS+ | Adjusted OPS | Fred Lynn | 130 |
| TB | Total bases | Tony Pérez | 273 |
| GIDP | Grounded into double play | Tony Pérez | 25 |
| HBP | Hit by pitch | Carlton Fisk | 13 |
| SH | Sacrifice hits | Glenn Hoffman | 9 |
| SF | Sacrifice flies | Tony Pérez | 8 |
| IBB | Intentional base on balls | Tony Pérez | 11 |
Source:

### Pitching

| Abbr. | Category | Player | Statistic |
| W | Wins | Dennis Eckersley | 12 |
| L | Losses | Mike Torrez | 16 |
| W-L % | Winning percentage | Chuck Rainey | .727 (8–3) |
| ERA | Earned run average | Bob Stanley | 3.39 |
| G | Games pitched | Tom Burgmeier | 62 |
| GS | Games started | Mike Torrez | 32 |
| GF | Games finished | Tom Burgmeier | 38 |
| CG | Complete games | Dennis Eckersley | 8 |
| SHO | Shutouts | 3 tied | 1 |
| SV | Saves | Tom Burgmeier | 24 |
| IP | Innings pitched | Mike Torrez | 207+1⁄3 |
| SO | Strikeouts | Dennis Eckersley | 121 |
| WHIP | Walks plus hits per inning pitched | Dennis Eckersley | 1.174 |
Source:

## Awards and honors

* Fred Lynn – Gold Glove Award (OF)
* Chuck Rainey – AL Pitcher of the Month (May)
* Jim Rice – AL Player of the Month (September)
* Bob Stanley – AL Pitcher of the Month (August)

### All-Star Game

* Tom Burgmeier, reserve P
* Carlton Fisk, starting C
* Fred Lynn, starting CF
* Jim Rice, reserve OF

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Pawtucket Red Sox | International League | Joe Morgan |
| AA | Bristol Red Sox | Eastern League | Tony Torchia |
| A | Winston-Salem Red Sox | Carolina League | Buddy Hunter |
| A | Winter Haven Red Sox | Florida State League | Rac Slider |
| A-Short Season | Elmira Pioneers | New York–Penn League | Dick Berardino |
Source: