1971 Boston Red Sox season

MLB yearly infobox alt
name = Boston Red Sox
season = 1971
misc =

current league = American League
y1 = 1901
division = Eastern Division
y2 = 1969
Uniform
ballpark = Fenway Park
y4 = 1912
city = Boston, Massachusetts
y5 = 1901
owners = Tom Yawkey
general managers = Dick O'Connell
managers = Eddie Kasko
television = WHDH-TV, Ch. 5
radio = WHDH-AM 850
(Ken Coleman, Ned Martin, Johnny Pesky)|

The 1971 Boston Red Sox season was a season in American baseball. It involved the Red Sox finishing 3rd in the American League East with a record of 85 wins and 77 losses.

Offseason

Regular Season

Opening Day Starters

eason standings

Transactions

May 17 1971: Luis Tiant was signed as a Free Agent with the Boston Red Sox. [ [http://www.baseball-reference.com/t/tiantlu01.shtml Luis Tiant Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com ] ]

Regular season highlights

The second year of Eddie Kasko's management, the Red Sox finished 16 games behind the evenetual American League champions Baltimore Orioles. The Sox did not have a .300 hitter in 1971. Reggie Smith's .283 being their best. Tony Conigliaro, his health still a question, had been traded the previous October to the California Angels for reliever Ken Tatum and rookie infielder Doug Griffin. Conigliaro played in 74 games for the Angels in 1971 but then had to give up baseball, his sight having deteriorated greatly. Tatum was 2-4 with the Red Sox, and Griffin batted a season .244, while becoming the regular second baseman.

Here Comes Carlton Fisk

Highlights of an otherwise forgettable season included the late arrival of a big catcher from Bellows Falls, Vermont, Carlton Fisk, who got into 14 games for the 1971 Sox and hit two home runs. Making a bigger splash was a utility fielder who had been acquired in 1970 from the New York Yankees but came into his own in 1971. John Kennedy hit .272, with five homers and 22 RBIs, and was nicknamed "Super Sub" because it seemed that every time he was called on in a clutch situation he came through with flying colors.

Sonny Siebert shined for the Red Sox

Another bright spot for the Sox in '71 was Jim Lonborg's winning 10 games (and losing 7). But Sonny Siebert, a pitcher acquired ina deal with the Cleveland Indians in 1969, was the top hurler for Boston, winning 16 games. A fiesty left-hander, Sparkly Lyle was 6-4, with 16 saves and a 2.77 ERA.

A Bad Trade

After the 1971 season, the Red Sox management decided on drastic changes. First there was a huge deal with the Milwaukee Brewers. George Scott, now out of favor with the red Sox management, was packaged with Billy Conigliaro (Tony's younger brother), outfielders Joe Lahoud and Don Pavletich, pitchers Ken Brett (George Brett's older brother) and Jim Lonborg and exchanged for pitchers Marty Pattin and Lew Krausse and outfielders Tommy Harper and Pat Skrable. It was a stuniing big deal and, as it turned out a bad one for Boston. Lonborg won 14 games for Milwaukee in 1972, with a 2.83 ERA, and later was trraded to the Philadelphia Phillies, where he won 13, 17, 18, 8 and 11 games during five seasons. Scott batted .263, .266, .306, .281 and .285 in his five seasons with the Brewers, driving in 88, 107, 82, 109, and 77 runs during those same years and clouting an average of 23 homers a season, with 36 in 1975 alone. Meanwhile, although Pattin was 17-13 for Boston in 1972 an 15-15 in 1973, he was then traded away. Harper batted .254 and .281 in his two years with the Sox before being traded. it was a case of the Red Sox deciding to clean house too thoroughly by half.

Opening Day Line Up

Other batters

Relief pitchers

Farm system [Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., "The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball," 2nd edition. Durham, N.C.: Baseball America, 2007]

* Class AAA: Louisville Colonels (International League; Darrell Johnson, manager)
* Class AA: Pawtucket Red Sox (Eastern League; Billy Gardner, manager)
* Class A: Winston-Salem Red Sox (Carolina League; Don Lock, manager)
* Class A: Winter Haven Red Sox (Florida State League; John Butler, manager)
* Class A: Greenville Red Sox (Western Carolinas League; Rac Slider, manager)
* Class SS-A: Williamsport Red Sox (New York-Penn League; Dick Berardino, manager)

References

* [http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/BOS/1971.shtml 1971 Boston Red Sox team page at Baseball Reference]
* [http://www.baseball-almanac.com/teamstats/roster.php?y=1971&t=BOS 1971 Boston Red Sox season at baseball-almanac.com]