# 1985 Boston Red Sox season

The 1985 Boston Red Sox season was the 85th season in the franchise's Major League Baseball history. The Red Sox finished fifth in the American League East with a record of 81 wins and 81 losses, 18+1⁄2 games behind the Toronto Blue Jays.

## Offseason

* January 14, 1985: Pitcher Bruce Kison was signed as a free agent 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 | 9 | 11 | 9 | 11 | 4th | 4 | |
| May | 12 | 14 | 21 | 25 | 6th | 9+1⁄2 | |
| June | 17 | 10 | 38 | 35 | 5th | 7+1⁄2 | |
| July | 14 | 12 | 52 | 47 | 4th | 10+1⁄2 | |
| August | 8 | 21 | 60 | 68 | 5th | 20+1⁄2 | |
| September | 19 | 9 | 79 | 77 | 5th | 19+1⁄2 | |
| October | 2 | 4 | 81 | 81 | 5th | 18+1⁄2 | |
The Red Sox also had one game end in a tie; on July 31, a home game against the Chicago White Sox was ended in the 7th inning due to rain, with the score tied, 1–1. It was the first tie game for the Red Sox since June 8, 1961. The game was replayed the following day as part of a doubleheader. MLB games that end in a tie are not included in league standings, although individual player statistics (e.g. hits, errors, innings pitched) are counted.

### Season standings

vteAL East :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Toronto Blue Jays | 99 | 62 | .615 | — | 54‍–‍26 | 45‍–‍36 |
| New York Yankees | 97 | 64 | .602 | 2 | 58‍–‍22 | 39‍–‍42 |
| Detroit Tigers | 84 | 77 | .522 | 15 | 44‍–‍37 | 40‍–‍40 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 83 | 78 | .516 | 16 | 45‍–‍36 | 38‍–‍42 |
| Boston Red Sox | 81 | 81 | .500 | 18½ | 43‍–‍37 | 38‍–‍44 |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 71 | 90 | .441 | 28 | 40‍–‍40 | 31‍–‍50 |
| Cleveland Indians | 60 | 102 | .370 | 39½ | 38‍–‍43 | 22‍–‍59 |

### Record vs. opponents

1985 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BAL | BOS | CAL | CWS | CLE | DET | KC | MIL | MIN | NYY | OAK | SEA | TEX | TOR |
| Baltimore | — | 5–8 | 7–5 | 8–4 | 8–5 | 6–7 | 6–6 | 9–4 | 6–6 | 1–12 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 10–2 | 4–8 |
| Boston | 8–5 | — | 5–7 | 4–8–1 | 8–5 | 6–7 | 5–7 | 5–8 | 7–5 | 5–8 | 8–4 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 9–4 |
| California | 5–7 | 7–5 | — | 8–5 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 4–9 | 9–3 | 9–4 | 3–9 | 6–7 | 9–4 | 9–4 | 5–7 |
| Chicago | 4–8 | 8–4–1 | 5–8 | — | 10–2 | 6–6 | 5–8 | 5–7 | 6–7 | 6–6 | 8–5 | 9–4 | 10–3 | 3–9 |
| Cleveland | 5–8 | 5–8 | 4–8 | 2–10 | — | 5–8 | 2–10 | 7–6 | 4–8 | 6–7 | 3–9 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 4–9 |
| Detroit | 7–6 | 7–6 | 4–8 | 6–6 | 8–5 | — | 5–7 | 9–4 | 3–9 | 9–3 | 8–4 | 5–7 | 7–5 | 6–7 |
| Kansas City | 6–6 | 7–5 | 9–4 | 8–5 | 10–2 | 7–5 | — | 8–4 | 7–6 | 5–7 | 8–5 | 3–10 | 6–7 | 7–5 |
| Milwaukee | 4–9 | 8–5 | 3–9 | 7–5 | 6–7 | 4–9 | 4–8 | — | 9–3 | 7–6 | 3–9 | 4–8 | 8–3 | 4–9 |
| Minnesota | 6–6 | 5–7 | 4–9 | 7–6 | 8–4 | 9–3 | 6–7 | 3–9 | — | 3–9 | 8–5 | 6–7 | 8–5 | 4–8 |
| New York | 12–1 | 8–5 | 9–3 | 6–6 | 7–6 | 3–9 | 7–5 | 6–7 | 9–3 | — | 7–5 | 9–3 | 8–4 | 6–7 |
| Oakland | 5–7 | 4–8 | 7–6 | 5–8 | 9–3 | 4–8 | 5–8 | 9–3 | 5–8 | 5–7 | — | 8–5 | 6–7 | 5–7 |
| Seattle | 6–6 | 6–6 | 4–9 | 4–9 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 10–3 | 8–4 | 7–6 | 3–9 | 5–8 | — | 6–7 | 2–10 |
| Texas | 2–10 | 7–5 | 4–9 | 3–10 | 5–7 | 5–7 | 7–6 | 3–8 | 5–8 | 4–8 | 7–6 | 7–6 | — | 3–9 |
| Toronto | 8–4 | 4–9 | 7–5 | 9–3 | 9–4 | 7–6 | 5–7 | 9–4 | 8–4 | 7–6 | 7–5 | 10–2 | 9–3 | — |

### Notable transactions

* The Red Sox drafted pitcher Dan Gabriele in the first round (21st overall) of the 1985 Major League Baseball draft. Gabriele went on to pitch in Boston's farm system through 1989, reaching the Double-A level.

### Opening Day lineup

| 26 | Wade Boggs | 3B |
| 24 | Dwight Evans | RF |
| 14 | Jim Rice | LF |
| 7 | Mike Easler | DH |
| 20 | Tony Armas | CF |
| 6 | Bill Buckner | 1B |
| 10 | Rich Gedman | C |
| 17 | Marty Barrett | 2B |
| 41 | Jackie Gutiérrez | SS |
| 23 | Oil Can Boyd | 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 |
| Bill Buckner | 162 | 673 | 89 | 201 | 46 | 3 | 16 | 110 | 18 | 30 | .299 | .447 |
| Wade Boggs | 161 | 653 | 107 | 240 | 42 | 3 | 8 | 78 | 2 | 96 | .368 | .478 |
| Dwight Evans | 159 | 617 | 110 | 162 | 29 | 1 | 29 | 78 | 7 | 114 | .263 | .454 |
| Mike Easler | 155 | 568 | 71 | 149 | 29 | 4 | 16 | 74 | 0 | 53 | .262 | .412 |
| Jim Rice | 140 | 546 | 85 | 159 | 20 | 3 | 27 | 103 | 2 | 51 | .291 | .487 |
| Marty Barrett | 156 | 534 | 59 | 142 | 26 | 0 | 5 | 56 | 7 | 56 | .266 | .343 |
| Rich Gedman | 144 | 498 | 66 | 147 | 30 | 5 | 18 | 80 | 2 | 50 | .295 | .484 |
| Tony Armas | 103 | 385 | 50 | 102 | 17 | 5 | 23 | 64 | 0 | 18 | .265 | .514 |
| Steve Lyons | 133 | 371 | 52 | 98 | 14 | 3 | 5 | 30 | 12 | 32 | .264 | .358 |
| Glenn Hoffman | 96 | 279 | 40 | 77 | 17 | 2 | 6 | 34 | 2 | 25 | .276 | .416 |
| Jackie Gutiérrez | 103 | 275 | 33 | 60 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 21 | 10 | 12 | .218 | .273 |
| Marc Sullivan | 32 | 69 | 10 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 6 | .174 | .290 |
| Dave Stapleton | 30 | 66 | 4 | 15 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | .227 | .318 |
| Rick Miller | 41 | 45 | 5 | 15 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 5 | .333 | .378 |
| Dave Sax | 22 | 36 | 2 | 11 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 3 | .306 | .389 |
| Reid Nichols | 21 | 32 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | .188 | .313 |
| Mike Greenwell | 17 | 31 | 7 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 1 | 3 | .323 | .742 |
| Kevin Romine | 24 | 28 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | .214 | .286 |
| Ed Jurak | 26 | 13 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .231 | .231 |
| Tim Lollar | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 |
| Team Totals | 163 | 5720 | 800 | 1615 | 292 | 31 | 162 | 760 | 66 | 562 | .282 | .429 |
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 |
| Oil Can Boyd | 15 | 13 | 3.70 | 35 | 35 | 0 | 272.1 | 273 | 117 | 112 | 67 | 154 |
| Bruce Hurst | 11 | 13 | 4.51 | 35 | 31 | 0 | 229.1 | 243 | 123 | 115 | 70 | 189 |
| Al Nipper | 9 | 12 | 4.06 | 25 | 25 | 0 | 162.0 | 157 | 83 | 73 | 82 | 85 |
| Bob Ojeda | 9 | 11 | 4.00 | 39 | 22 | 1 | 157.2 | 166 | 74 | 70 | 48 | 102 |
| Roger Clemens | 7 | 5 | 3.29 | 15 | 15 | 0 | 98.1 | 83 | 38 | 36 | 37 | 74 |
| Bruce Kison | 5 | 3 | 4.11 | 22 | 9 | 1 | 92.0 | 98 | 43 | 42 | 32 | 56 |
| Steve Crawford | 6 | 5 | 3.76 | 44 | 1 | 12 | 91.0 | 103 | 47 | 38 | 28 | 58 |
| Bob Stanley | 6 | 6 | 2.87 | 48 | 0 | 10 | 87.2 | 76 | 30 | 28 | 30 | 46 |
| Mike Trujillo | 4 | 4 | 4.82 | 27 | 7 | 1 | 84.0 | 112 | 55 | 45 | 23 | 19 |
| Tim Lollar | 5 | 5 | 4.57 | 16 | 10 | 1 | 67.0 | 57 | 37 | 34 | 40 | 44 |
| Mark Clear | 1 | 3 | 3.72 | 41 | 0 | 3 | 55.2 | 45 | 26 | 23 | 50 | 55 |
| Rob Woodward | 1 | 0 | 1.69 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 26.2 | 17 | 8 | 5 | 9 | 16 |
| Jeff Sellers | 2 | 0 | 3.63 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 22.1 | 24 | 10 | 9 | 7 | 6 |
| Jim Dorsey | 0 | 1 | 20.25 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5.1 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 10 | 2 |
| Tom McCarthy | 0 | 0 | 10.80 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5.0 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 2 |
| Mike Brown | 0 | 0 | 21.60 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3.1 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 3 | 3 |
| Charlie Mitchell | 0 | 0 | 16.20 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1.2 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 2 |
| Team Totals | 81 | 81 | 4.06 | 163 | 163 | 29 | 1461.1 | 1487 | 720 | 659 | 540 | 913 |
Source:

## Statistical leaders

| Category | Player | Statistic |
| Youngest player | Mike Greenwell | 21 |
| Youngest player | Jeff Sellers | 21 |
| Oldest player | Rick Miller | 37 |
| Wins Above Replacement | Wade Boggs | 9.1 |
Source:

### Batting

| Abbr. | Category | Player | Statistic |
| G | Games played | Bill Buckner | 162 |
| PA | Plate appearances | Wade Boggs | 758 |
| AB | At bats | Bill Buckner | 673 |
| R | Runs scored | Dwight Evans | 110 |
| H | Hits | Wade Boggs | 240 |
| 2B | Doubles | Bill Buckner | 46 |
| 3B | Triples | Tony Armas | 5 |
| 3B | Triples | Rich Gedman | 5 |
| HR | Home runs | Dwight Evans | 29 |
| RBI | Runs batted in | Bill Buckner | 110 |
| SB | Stolen bases | Bill Buckner | 18 |
| CS | Caught stealing | Steve Lyons | 9 |
| BB | Base on balls | Dwight Evans | 114 |
| SO | Strikeouts | Mike Easler | 129 |
| BA | Batting average | Wade Boggs | .368 |
| OBP | On-base percentage | Wade Boggs | .450 |
| SLG | Slugging percentage | Tony Armas | .514 |
| OPS | On-base plus slugging | Wade Boggs | .928 |
| OPS+ | Adjusted OPS | Wade Boggs | 151 |
| TB | Total bases | Wade Boggs | 312 |
| GIDP | Grounded into double play | Jim Rice | 35 |
| HBP | Hit by pitch | Dwight Evans | 5 |
| HBP | Hit by pitch | Glenn Hoffman | 5 |
| SH | Sacrifice hits | Marty Barrett | 12 |
| SF | Sacrifice flies | Bill Buckner | 11 |
| IBB | Intentional base on balls | Rich Gedman | 11 |
Source:

### Pitching

| Abbr. | Category | Player | Statistic |
| W | Wins | Oil Can Boyd | 15 |
| L | Losses | Oil Can Boyd | 13 |
| L | Losses | Bruce Hurst | 13 |
| W-L % | Winning percentage | Roger Clemens | .583 (7–5) |
| ERA | Earned run average | Oil Can Boyd | 3.70 |
| G | Games pitched | Bob Stanley | 48 |
| GS | Games started | Oil Can Boyd | 35 |
| GF | Games finished | Bob Stanley | 41 |
| CG | Complete games | Oil Can Boyd | 13 |
| SHO | Shutouts | Oil Can Boyd | 3 |
| SV | Saves | Steve Crawford | 12 |
| IP | Innings pitched | Oil Can Boyd | 272+1⁄3 |
| SO | Strikeouts | Bruce Hurst | 189 |
| WHIP | Walks plus hits per inning pitched | Oil Can Boyd | 1.248 |
Source:

## Awards and honors
### Awards

* Dwight Evans – Gold Glove Award (OF)

### Accomplishments

* Wade Boggs, American League Batting Champion, .368
* Wade Boggs, American League Leader, Hits (240)
* Bill Buckner, MLB record, Most Assists in a Season by a First Baseman (184)
       Surpassed by Albert Pujols in 2009

### All-Star Game

* Wade Boggs, reserve 3B
* Rich Gedman, reserve C
* Jim Rice, starting LF

## Farm system

The Greensboro Hornets replaced the Winston-Salem Spirits as a Class A affiliate.
| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Pawtucket Red Sox | International League | Rac Slider |
| AA | New Britain Red Sox | Eastern League | Ed Nottle |
| A | Winter Haven Red Sox | Florida State League | Dave Holt |
| A | Greensboro Hornets | South Atlantic League | Doug Camilli |
| A-Short Season | Elmira Pioneers | New York–Penn League | Dick Berardino |
Source: