# 1983 Boston Red Sox season

The 1983 Boston Red Sox season was the 83rd season in the franchise's Major League Baseball history. The Red Sox finished sixth in the American League East with a record of 78 wins and 84 losses, 20 games behind the Baltimore Orioles, who went on to win the 1983 World Series. It was the Red Sox' first losing season since 1966.
On June 6, general partner Buddy LeRoux attempted to replace general manager Haywood Sullivan with former general manager Dick O'Connell, leading to protracted legal proceedings between LeRoux and the team's other two general partners, Sullivan and Jean Yawkey. LeRoux ultimately lost in court the following June.

## Offseason

* November 1, 1982: Tony Pérez was released by the Red Sox.
* December 6, 1982: Carney Lansford‚ Garry Hancock‚ and a minor leaguer (Jerry King) were traded by the Red Sox to the Oakland Athletics for Tony Armas and Jeff Newman.
* January 10, 1983: Josías Manzanillo was signed as an amateur free agent by the Red Sox.
* January 11, 1983: Ellis Burks was drafted by the Red Sox in the 1st round of the January portion of the 1983 Major League Baseball draft. Burks signed on May 17.
* January 13, 1983: Mike Torrez was traded by the Red Sox to the New York Mets for a player to be named later. The Mets completed the deal by sending Mike Davis (minors) to the Red Sox on February 15.
* March 25, 1983: Brian Kingman was released by the Red Sox.

## Regular season

Record by month :
| Month | Record | Record | Cumulative | Cumulative | AL East | AL East | Ref. |
| Month | Won | Lost | Won | Lost | Position | GB | Ref. |
| April | 10 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 2nd (tie) | 1⁄2 | |
| May | 16 | 11 | 26 | 20 | 2nd | 1⁄2 | |
| June | 11 | 16 | 37 | 36 | 5th | 5 | |
| July | 14 | 14 | 51 | 50 | 6th | 9 | |
| August | 12 | 19 | 63 | 69 | 6th | 15+1⁄2 | |
| September | 14 | 14 | 77 | 83 | 6th | 20 | |
| October | 1 | 1 | 78 | 84 | 6th | 20 | |

### Highlights

* Jim Rice led the American League in home runs (39) and total bases (344), and tied for the lead in RBIs (126) while hitting for a .305 batting average.
* Wade Boggs led American League hitters with a .361 average and a .444 on-base percentage, finishing second in hits (210) and doubles (44).
* Tony Armas may not have had enough hits to keep his average up (.218), but finished second in the league with 36 home runs and seventh with 107 RBI.
* Carl Yastrzemski retired after 23 seasons, all with the Red Sox, one of the longest careers with one franchise in MLB history.

### Season standings

vteAL East :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Baltimore Orioles | 98 | 64 | .605 | — | 50‍–‍31 | 48‍–‍33 |
| Detroit Tigers | 92 | 70 | .568 | 6 | 48‍–‍33 | 44‍–‍37 |
| New York Yankees | 91 | 71 | .562 | 7 | 51‍–‍30 | 40‍–‍41 |
| Toronto Blue Jays | 89 | 73 | .549 | 9 | 48‍–‍33 | 41‍–‍40 |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 87 | 75 | .537 | 11 | 52‍–‍29 | 35‍–‍46 |
| Boston Red Sox | 78 | 84 | .481 | 20 | 38‍–‍43 | 40‍–‍41 |
| Cleveland Indians | 70 | 92 | .432 | 28 | 36‍–‍45 | 34‍–‍47 |

### Record vs. opponents

1983 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BAL | BOS | CAL | CWS | CLE | DET | KC | MIL | MIN | NYY | OAK | SEA | TEX | TOR |
| Baltimore | — | 8–5 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 6–7 | 5–8 | 8–4 | 11–2 | 8–4 | 6–7 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 9–3 | 7–6 |
| Boston | 5–8 | — | 6–6 | 6–6 | 7–6 | 4–9 | 5–7 | 4–9 | 5–7 | 7–6 | 8–4 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 7–6 |
| California | 5–7 | 6–6 | — | 3–10 | 8–4 | 4–8 | 6–7 | 6–6 | 6–7 | 5–7 | 5–8 | 6–7 | 6–7 | 4–8 |
| Chicago | 5–7 | 6–6 | 10–3 | — | 8–4 | 8–4 | 9–4 | 4–8 | 8–5 | 8–4 | 8–5 | 12–1 | 8–5 | 5–7 |
| Cleveland | 7–6 | 6–7 | 4–8 | 4–8 | — | 5–8 | 7–5 | 3–10 | 6–6 | 6–7 | 7–5 | 8–4 | 3–9 | 4–9 |
| Detroit | 8–5 | 9–4 | 8–4 | 4–8 | 8–5 | — | 7–5 | 6–7 | 9–3 | 5–8 | 6–6 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 6–7 |
| Kansas City | 4–8 | 7–5 | 7–6 | 4–9 | 5–7 | 5–7 | — | 6–6 | 6–7 | 6–6 | 7–6 | 8–5 | 8–5–1 | 6–6 |
| Milwaukee | 2–11 | 9–4 | 6–6 | 8–4 | 10–3 | 7–6 | 6–6 | — | 8–4 | 4–9 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 8–4 | 8–5 |
| Minnesota | 4–8 | 7–5 | 7–6 | 5–8 | 6–6 | 3–9 | 7–6 | 4–8 | — | 4–8 | 4–9 | 9–4 | 5–8 | 5–7 |
| New York | 7–6 | 6–7 | 7–5 | 4–8 | 7–6 | 8–5 | 6–6 | 9–4 | 8–4 | — | 8–4 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 7–6 |
| Oakland | 4–8 | 4–8 | 8–5 | 5–8 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 6–7 | 6–6 | 9–4 | 4–8 | — | 9–4 | 2–11 | 6–6 |
| Seattle | 4–8 | 5–7 | 7–6 | 1–12 | 4–8 | 4–8 | 5–8 | 7–5 | 4–9 | 5–7 | 4–9 | — | 6–7 | 4–8 |
| Texas | 3–9 | 5–7 | 7–6 | 5–8 | 9–3 | 4–8 | 5–8–1 | 4–8 | 8–5 | 5–7 | 11–2 | 7–6 | — | 4–8 |
| Toronto | 6–7 | 6–7 | 8–4 | 7–5 | 9–4 | 7–6 | 6–6 | 5–8 | 7–5 | 6–7 | 6–6 | 8–4 | 8–4 | — |

### Notable transactions

* June 6, 1983: In the 1983 Major League Baseball draft, the Red Sox drafted Roger Clemens in the 1st round (19th pick) and John Mitchell in the 7th round.

### Opening Day lineup

| 26 | Wade Boggs | 3B |
| 24 | Dwight Evans | RF |
| 14 | Jim Rice | LF |
| 20 | Tony Armas | CF |
| 8 | Carl Yastrzemski | DH |
| 11 | Dave Stapleton | 1B |
| 10 | Rich Gedman | C |
| 18 | Glenn Hoffman | SS |
| 12 | Julio Valdez | 2B |
| 43 | Dennis Eckersley | 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 | 155 | 626 | 90 | 191 | 34 | 1 | 39 | 126 | 0 | 52 | .305 | .550 |
| Jerry Remy | 146 | 592 | 73 | 163 | 16 | 5 | 0 | 43 | 11 | 40 | .275 | .319 |
| Wade Boggs | 153 | 582 | 100 | 210 | 44 | 7 | 5 | 74 | 3 | 92 | .361 | .486 |
| Tony Armas | 145 | 574 | 77 | 125 | 23 | 2 | 36 | 107 | 0 | 29 | .218 | .453 |
| Dave Stapleton | 151 | 542 | 54 | 134 | 31 | 1 | 10 | 66 | 1 | 40 | .247 | .363 |
| Glenn Hoffman | 143 | 473 | 56 | 123 | 24 | 1 | 4 | 41 | 1 | 30 | .260 | .340 |
| Dwight Evans | 126 | 470 | 74 | 112 | 19 | 4 | 22 | 58 | 3 | 70 | .238 | .436 |
| Carl Yastrzemski | 119 | 380 | 38 | 101 | 24 | 0 | 10 | 56 | 0 | 54 | .266 | .408 |
| Reid Nichols | 100 | 274 | 35 | 78 | 22 | 1 | 6 | 22 | 7 | 26 | .285 | .438 |
| Rick Miller | 104 | 262 | 41 | 75 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 21 | 3 | 28 | .286 | .363 |
| Gary Allenson | 84 | 230 | 19 | 53 | 11 | 0 | 3 | 30 | 0 | 27 | .230 | .317 |
| Rich Gedman | 81 | 204 | 21 | 60 | 16 | 1 | 2 | 18 | 0 | 15 | .294 | .412 |
| Ed Jurak | 75 | 159 | 19 | 44 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 18 | 1 | 18 | .277 | .377 |
| Jeff Newman | 59 | 132 | 11 | 25 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 10 | .189 | .288 |
| Marty Barrett | 33 | 44 | 7 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | .227 | .295 |
| Julio Valdez | 12 | 25 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .120 | .120 |
| Jackie Gutiérrez | 5 | 10 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .300 | .300 |
| Lee Graham | 5 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 |
| Chico Walker | 4 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .400 | 1.200 |
| Team Totals | 162 | 5590 | 724 | 1512 | 287 | 32 | 142 | 691 | 30 | 536 | .270 | .409 |
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 |
| John Tudor | 13 | 12 | 4.09 | 34 | 34 | 0 | 242.0 | 236 | 122 | 110 | 81 | 136 |
| Bruce Hurst | 12 | 12 | 4.09 | 33 | 32 | 0 | 211.1 | 241 | 102 | 96 | 62 | 115 |
| Dennis Eckersley | 9 | 13 | 5.61 | 28 | 28 | 0 | 176.1 | 223 | 119 | 110 | 39 | 77 |
| Bob Ojeda | 12 | 7 | 4.04 | 29 | 28 | 0 | 173.2 | 173 | 85 | 78 | 73 | 94 |
| Bob Stanley | 8 | 10 | 2.85 | 64 | 0 | 33 | 145.1 | 145 | 56 | 46 | 38 | 65 |
| Mike Brown | 6 | 6 | 4.67 | 19 | 18 | 0 | 104.0 | 110 | 62 | 54 | 43 | 35 |
| Oil Can Boyd | 4 | 8 | 3.28 | 15 | 13 | 0 | 98.2 | 103 | 46 | 36 | 23 | 43 |
| Mark Clear | 4 | 5 | 6.28 | 48 | 0 | 4 | 96.0 | 101 | 71 | 67 | 68 | 81 |
| Doug Bird | 1 | 4 | 6.65 | 22 | 6 | 1 | 67.2 | 91 | 52 | 50 | 16 | 33 |
| Luis Aponte | 5 | 4 | 3.63 | 34 | 0 | 3 | 62.0 | 74 | 28 | 25 | 23 | 32 |
| John Henry Johnson | 3 | 2 | 3.71 | 34 | 1 | 1 | 53.1 | 58 | 28 | 22 | 20 | 51 |
| Al Nipper | 1 | 1 | 2.25 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 16.0 | 17 | 4 | 4 | 7 | 5 |
| Team Totals | 78 | 84 | 4.34 | 162 | 162 | 42 | 1446.1 | 1572 | 775 | 697 | 493 | 767 |
Source:

## Statistical leaders

| Category | Player | Statistic |
| Youngest player | Oil Can Boyd Rich Gedman Lee Graham Jackie Gutiérrez | 23 |
| Oldest player | Carl Yastrzemski | 43 |
| Wins Above Replacement | Wade Boggs | 7.8 |
Source:

### Batting

| Abbr. | Category | Player | Statistic |
| G | Games played | Jim Rice | 155 |
| PA | Plate appearances | Jim Rice | 689 |
| AB | At bats | Jim Rice | 626 |
| R | Runs scored | Wade Boggs | 100 |
| H | Hits | Wade Boggs | 210 |
| 2B | Doubles | Wade Boggs | 44 |
| 3B | Triples | Wade Boggs | 7 |
| HR | Home runs | Jim Rice | 39 |
| RBI | Runs batted in | Jim Rice | 126 |
| SB | Stolen bases | Jerry Remy | 11 |
| CS | Caught stealing | Reid Nichols | 5 |
| BB | Base on balls | Wade Boggs | 92 |
| SO | Strikeouts | Tony Armas | 131 |
| BA | Batting average | Wade Boggs | .361 |
| OBP | On-base percentage | Wade Boggs | .444 |
| SLG | Slugging percentage | Jim Rice | .550 |
| OPS | On-base plus slugging | Wade Boggs | .931 |
| OPS+ | Adjusted OPS | Wade Boggs | 150 |
| TB | Total bases | Jim Rice | 344 |
| GIDP | Grounded into double play | Jim Rice | 31 |
| HBP | Hit by pitch | Jim Rice | 6 |
| SH | Sacrifice hits | Jerry Remy | 12 |
| SF | Sacrifice flies | Dave Stapleton | 8 |
| IBB | Intentional base on balls | Carl Yastrzemski | 11 |
Source:

### Pitching

| Abbr. | Category | Player | Statistic |
| W | Wins | John Tudor | 13 |
| L | Losses | Dennis Eckersley | 13 |
| W-L % | Winning percentage | Bob Ojeda | .632 (12–7) |
| ERA | Earned run average | Bob Ojeda | 4.04 |
| G | Games pitched | Bob Stanley | 64 |
| GS | Games started | John Tudor | 34 |
| GF | Games finished | Bob Stanley | 53 |
| CG | Complete games | John Tudor | 7 |
| SHO | Shutouts | Bruce Hurst | 2 |
| SHO | Shutouts | John Tudor | 2 |
| SV | Saves | Bob Stanley | 33 |
| IP | Innings pitched | John Tudor | 242 |
| SO | Strikeouts | John Tudor | 136 |
| WHIP | Walks plus hits per inning pitched | John Tudor | 1.310 |
Source:

## Awards and honors
### Awards

* Wade Boggs – Silver Slugger Award (3B)
* Dwight Evans – Gold Glove Award (OF)
* Jim Rice – Silver Slugger Award (OF)

### Accomplishments

* Jim Rice, American League Leader Home Runs (39)
* Jim Rice, American League Leader RBIs (126)
All-Star Game
* Jim Rice, starting LF
* Bob Stanley, reserve P
* Carl Yastrzemski, reserve DH

## Farm system

The New Britain Red Sox replaced the Bristol Red Sox as a Double-A affiliate.
| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Pawtucket Red Sox | International League | Tony Torchia |
| AA | New Britain Red Sox | Eastern League | Rac Slider |
| A | Winston-Salem Red Sox | Carolina League | Bill Slack |
| A | Winter Haven Red Sox | Florida State League | Tom Kotchman |
| A-Short Season | Elmira Suns | New York–Penn League | Dick Berardino |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: New Britain
Source: