# 1991 Boston Red Sox season

The 1991 Boston Red Sox season was the 91st season in the franchise's Major League Baseball history. The Red Sox finished tied for second in the American League East with a record of 84 wins and 78 losses, seven games behind the Toronto Blue Jays.

## Offseason

* December 19, 1990: Danny Darwin signed as a free agent with the Red Sox.
* February 1, 1991: John Moses was signed as a free agent by the Red Sox.
* April 1, 1991: John Moses 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 | 11 | 7 | 11 | 7 | 1st | +1⁄2 | |
| May | 15 | 13 | 26 | 20 | 1st | — | |
| June | 11 | 16 | 37 | 36 | 2nd | 4+1⁄2 | |
| July | 11 | 16 | 48 | 52 | 3rd | 9 | |
| August | 18 | 11 | 66 | 63 | 3rd | 6 | |
| September | 17 | 10 | 83 | 73 | 2nd | 3+1⁄2 | |
| October | 1 | 5 | 84 | 78 | 2nd (tie) | 7 | |

### Season standings

vteAL East :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Toronto Blue Jays | 91 | 71 | .562 | — | 46‍–‍35 | 45‍–‍36 |
| Boston Red Sox | 84 | 78 | .519 | 7 | 43‍–‍38 | 41‍–‍40 |
| Detroit Tigers | 84 | 78 | .519 | 7 | 49‍–‍32 | 35‍–‍46 |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 83 | 79 | .512 | 8 | 43‍–‍37 | 40‍–‍42 |
| New York Yankees | 71 | 91 | .438 | 20 | 39‍–‍42 | 32‍–‍49 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 67 | 95 | .414 | 24 | 33‍–‍48 | 34‍–‍47 |
| Cleveland Indians | 57 | 105 | .352 | 34 | 30‍–‍52 | 27‍–‍53 |

### Record vs. opponents

1991 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BAL | BOS | CAL | CWS | CLE | DET | KC | MIL | MIN | NYY | OAK | SEA | TEX | TOR |
| Baltimore | — | 8–5 | 6–6 | 4–8 | 7–6 | 5–8 | 4–8 | 3–10 | 4–8 | 5–8 | 3–9 | 4–8 | 9–3 | 5–8 |
| Boston | 5–8 | — | 4–8 | 7–5 | 9–4 | 5–8 | 7–5 | 7–6 | 3–9 | 6–7 | 8–4 | 9–3 | 5–7 | 9–4 |
| California | 6–6 | 8–4 | — | 8–5 | 7–5 | 5–7 | 9–4 | 6–6 | 8–5 | 6–6 | 1–12 | 6–7 | 5–8 | 6–6 |
| Chicago | 8–4 | 5–7 | 5–8 | — | 6–6 | 4–8 | 7–6 | 7–5 | 8–5 | 8–4 | 7–6 | 7–6 | 8–5 | 7–5 |
| Cleveland | 6–7 | 4–9 | 5–7 | 6–6 | — | 7–6 | 4–8 | 5–8 | 2–10 | 6–7 | 5–7 | 2–10 | 4–8 | 1–12 |
| Detroit | 8–5 | 8–5 | 7–5 | 8–4 | 6–7 | — | 8–4 | 4–9 | 4–8 | 8–5 | 4–8 | 8–4 | 6–6 | 5–8 |
| Kansas City | 8–4 | 5–7 | 4–9 | 6–7 | 8–4 | 4–8 | — | 9–3 | 6–7 | 7–5 | 6–7 | 7–6 | 7–6 | 5–7 |
| Milwaukee | 10–3 | 6–7 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 8–5 | 9–4 | 3–9 | — | 6–6 | 6–7 | 8–4 | 3–9 | 7–5 | 6–7 |
| Minnesota | 8–4 | 9–3 | 5–8 | 5–8 | 10–2 | 8–4 | 7–6 | 6–6 | — | 10–2 | 8–5 | 9–4 | 6–7 | 4–8 |
| New York | 8–5 | 7–6 | 6–6 | 4–8 | 7–6 | 5–8 | 5–7 | 7–6 | 2–10 | — | 6–6 | 3–9 | 5–7 | 6–7 |
| Oakland | 9–3 | 4–8 | 12–1 | 6–7 | 7–5 | 8–4 | 7–6 | 4–8 | 5–8 | 6–6 | — | 6–7 | 4–9 | 6–6 |
| Seattle | 8–4 | 3–9 | 7–6 | 6–7 | 10–2 | 4–8 | 6–7 | 9–3 | 4–9 | 9–3 | 7–6 | — | 5–8 | 5–7 |
| Texas | 3–9 | 7–5 | 8–5 | 5–8 | 8–4 | 6–6 | 6–7 | 5–7 | 7–6 | 7–5 | 9–4 | 8–5 | — | 6–6 |
| Toronto | 8–5 | 4–9 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 12–1 | 8–5 | 7–5 | 7–6 | 8–4 | 7–6 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 6–6 | — |

### Notable transactions

* April 18, 1991: Steve Lyons was signed as a free agent by the Red Sox.
* August 9, 1991: Kevin Romine was released by the Red Sox.

### Opening Day Line Up

| 26 | Wade Boggs | 3B |
| 3 | Jody Reed | 2B |
| 39 | Mike Greenwell | LF |
| 25 | Jack Clark | DH |
| 12 | Ellis Burks | CF |
| 23 | Tom Brunansky | RF |
| 18 | Carlos Quintana | 1B |
| 6 | Tony Peña | C |
| 11 | Tim Naehring | SS |
| 21 | Roger Clemens | P |

### Alumni game

The team held an old-timers game on May 11, before a scheduled home game against the Texas Rangers. Festivities included non-playing appearances by Ted Williams (then 72) and Joe DiMaggio (then 76), in recognition of the 50th anniversary of the 1941 MLB season, when Williams batted .406 and DiMaggio had a 56-game hitting streak.
Red Sox alumni lost, 9–5, to a team of MLB alumni from other clubs, led by José Cardenal who had three hits (including two doubles) in the three-inning game.

### 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 |
| Jody Reed | 153 | 618 | 87 | 175 | 42 | 2 | 5 | 60 | 6 | 60 | .283 | .382 |
| Wade Boggs | 144 | 546 | 93 | 181 | 42 | 2 | 8 | 51 | 1 | 89 | .332 | .460 |
| Mike Greenwell | 147 | 541 | 76 | 163 | 26 | 6 | 9 | 83 | 15 | 43 | .300 | .419 |
| Jack Clark | 140 | 481 | 75 | 120 | 18 | 1 | 28 | 87 | 0 | 96 | .249 | .466 |
| Carlos Quintana | 149 | 478 | 69 | 141 | 21 | 1 | 11 | 71 | 1 | 61 | .295 | .412 |
| Ellis Burks | 130 | 474 | 56 | 119 | 33 | 3 | 14 | 56 | 6 | 39 | .251 | .422 |
| Tony Peña | 141 | 464 | 45 | 107 | 23 | 2 | 5 | 48 | 8 | 37 | .231 | .321 |
| Tom Brunansky | 142 | 459 | 54 | 105 | 24 | 1 | 16 | 70 | 1 | 49 | .229 | .390 |
| Luis Rivera | 129 | 414 | 64 | 107 | 22 | 3 | 8 | 40 | 4 | 35 | .258 | .384 |
| Mo Vaughn | 74 | 219 | 21 | 57 | 12 | 0 | 4 | 32 | 2 | 26 | .260 | .370 |
| Steve Lyons | 87 | 212 | 15 | 51 | 10 | 1 | 4 | 17 | 10 | 11 | .241 | .354 |
| Phil Plantier | 53 | 148 | 27 | 49 | 7 | 1 | 11 | 35 | 1 | 23 | .331 | .615 |
| Mike Brumley | 63 | 118 | 16 | 25 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 10 | .212 | .254 |
| John Marzano | 49 | 114 | 10 | 30 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 1 | .263 | .333 |
| Mike Marshall | 22 | 62 | 4 | 18 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 0 | .290 | .403 |
| Tim Naehring | 20 | 55 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 6 | .109 | .127 |
| Kevin Romine | 44 | 55 | 7 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 3 | .164 | .255 |
| Scott Cooper | 14 | 35 | 6 | 16 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 2 | .457 | .686 |
| Bob Zupcic | 18 | 25 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | .160 | .280 |
| Wayne Housie | 11 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .250 | .375 |
| Eric Wedge | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 1.000 |
| Team Totals | 162 | 5530 | 731 | 1486 | 305 | 25 | 126 | 691 | 59 | 593 | .269 | .401 |
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 |
| Roger Clemens | 18 | 10 | 2.62 | 35 | 35 | 0 | 271.1 | 219 | 93 | 79 | 65 | 241 |
| Greg A. Harris | 11 | 12 | 3.85 | 53 | 21 | 2 | 173.0 | 157 | 79 | 74 | 69 | 127 |
| Joe Hesketh | 12 | 4 | 3.29 | 39 | 17 | 0 | 153.1 | 142 | 59 | 56 | 53 | 104 |
| Mike Gardiner | 9 | 10 | 4.85 | 22 | 22 | 0 | 130.0 | 140 | 79 | 70 | 47 | 91 |
| Tom Bolton | 8 | 9 | 5.24 | 25 | 19 | 0 | 110.0 | 136 | 72 | 64 | 51 | 64 |
| Dennis Lamp | 6 | 3 | 4.70 | 51 | 0 | 0 | 92.0 | 100 | 54 | 48 | 31 | 57 |
| Matt Young | 3 | 7 | 5.18 | 19 | 16 | 0 | 88.2 | 92 | 55 | 51 | 53 | 69 |
| Kevin Morton | 6 | 5 | 4.59 | 16 | 15 | 0 | 86.1 | 93 | 49 | 44 | 40 | 45 |
| Danny Darwin | 3 | 6 | 5.16 | 12 | 12 | 0 | 68.0 | 71 | 39 | 39 | 15 | 42 |
| Jeff Gray | 2 | 3 | 2.34 | 50 | 0 | 1 | 61.2 | 39 | 17 | 16 | 10 | 41 |
| Jeff Reardon | 1 | 4 | 3.03 | 57 | 0 | 40 | 59.1 | 54 | 21 | 20 | 16 | 44 |
| Tony Fossas | 3 | 2 | 3.47 | 64 | 0 | 1 | 57.0 | 49 | 27 | 22 | 28 | 29 |
| Dana Kiecker | 2 | 3 | 7.36 | 18 | 5 | 0 | 40.1 | 56 | 34 | 33 | 23 | 21 |
| Dan Petry | 0 | 0 | 4.43 | 13 | 0 | 1 | 22.1 | 21 | 17 | 11 | 12 | 12 |
| Daryl Irvine | 0 | 0 | 6.00 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 18.0 | 25 | 13 | 12 | 9 | 8 |
| Jeff Plympton | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 5.1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 |
| Steve Lyons | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| John Dopson | 0 | 0 | 18.00 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Josías Manzanillo | 0 | 0 | 18.00 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
| Team Totals | 84 | 78 | 4.01 | 162 | 162 | 45 | 1439.2 | 1405 | 712 | 642 | 530 | 999 |
Source:

## Statistical leaders

| Category | Player | Statistic |
| Youngest player | Kevin Morton | 22 |
| Youngest player | Phil Plantier | 22 |
| Oldest player | Dennis Lamp | 38 |
| Wins Above Replacement | Roger Clemens | 7.9 |
Source:

### Batting

| Abbr. | Category | Player | Statistic |
| G | Games played | Jody Reed | 153 |
| PA | Plate appearances | Jody Reed | 696 |
| AB | At bats | Jody Reed | 618 |
| R | Runs scored | Wade Boggs | 93 |
| H | Hits | Wade Boggs | 181 |
| 2B | Doubles | Wade Boggs | 42 |
| 2B | Doubles | Jody Reed | 42 |
| 3B | Triples | Mike Greenwell | 6 |
| HR | Home runs | Jack Clark | 28 |
| RBI | Runs batted in | Jack Clark | 87 |
| SB | Stolen bases | Mike Greenwell | 15 |
| CS | Caught stealing | Ellis Burks | 11 |
| BB | Base on balls | Jack Clark | 96 |
| SO | Strikeouts | Jack Clark | 133 |
| BA | Batting average | Wade Boggs | .332 |
| OBP | On-base percentage | Wade Boggs | .421 |
| SLG | Slugging percentage | Jack Clark | .466 |
| OPS | On-base plus slugging | Wade Boggs | .881 |
| OPS+ | Adjusted OPS | Wade Boggs | 140 |
| TB | Total bases | Wade Boggs | 251 |
| GIDP | Grounded into double play | Tony Peña | 23 |
| HBP | Hit by pitch | Ellis Burks | 6 |
| SH | Sacrifice hits | Luis Rivera | 12 |
| SF | Sacrifice flies | Tom Brunansky | 8 |
| IBB | Intentional base on balls | Wade Boggs | 25 |
Source:

### Pitching

| Abbr. | Category | Player | Statistic |
| W | Wins | Roger Clemens | 18 |
| L | Losses | Greg A. Harris | 12 |
| W-L % | Winning percentage | Joe Hesketh | .750 (12–4) |
| ERA | Earned run average | Roger Clemens | 2.62 |
| G | Games pitched | Tony Fossas | 64 |
| GS | Games started | Roger Clemens | 35 |
| GF | Games finished | Jeff Reardon | 51 |
| CG | Complete games | Roger Clemens | 13 |
| SHO | Shutouts | Roger Clemens | 4 |
| SV | Saves | Jeff Reardon | 40 |
| IP | Innings pitched | Roger Clemens | 271+1⁄3 |
| SO | Strikeouts | Roger Clemens | 241 |
| WHIP | Walks plus hits per inning pitched | Roger Clemens | 1.047 |
Source:

## Awards and honors
### Awards

* Wade Boggs – Silver Slugger Award (3B)
* Roger Clemens – American League Cy Young Award, AL Pitcher of the Month (April, September)
* Tony Peña – Gold Glove Award (C)

### Accomplishments

* Roger Clemens, American League Leader, Games Started (35)
* Roger Clemens, American League Leader, Innings Pitched (271+1⁄3)
* Roger Clemens, American League Leader, Shutouts (4)

### All-Star Game

* Wade Boggs, third base, starter
* Roger Clemens, pitcher, reserve
* Jeff Reardon, relief pitcher, reserve

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Pawtucket Red Sox | International League | Butch Hobson |
| AA | New Britain Red Sox | Eastern League | Gary Allenson |
| A-Advanced | Lynchburg Red Sox | Carolina League | Buddy Bailey |
| A-Advanced | Winter Haven Red Sox | Florida State League | Mike Verdi |
| A-Short Season | Elmira Pioneers | New York–Penn League | Dave Holt |
| Rookie | GCL Red Sox | Gulf Coast League | Felix Maldonado |
Source: