1968 Boston Red Sox season

1968 Boston Red Sox
Major League affiliations
	American League (since 1901);
Location
	Fenway Park (since 1912); Boston, Massachusetts (since 1901);
Results
Record	86–76 (.531)
League place	4th (17 GB)
Other information
Owner(s)	Tom Yawkey
General manager(s)	Dick O'Connell
Manager(s)	Dick Williams
Local television	WHDH-TV, Ch, 5
Local radio	WHDH-AM 850; (Ken Coleman, Ned Martin, Mel Parnell)
Stats	ESPN.com; BB-reference
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The 1968 Boston Red Sox season was the 68th season in the franchise's Major League Baseball history. The Red Sox finished fourth in the American League (AL) with a record of 86 wins and 76 losses, 17 games behind the AL and World Series champion Detroit Tigers.

Offseason

October 29, 1968: Elston Howard was released by the Red Sox.[1]

Regular season

Carl Yastrzemski set an American League record by having the lowest batting average to win a batting title. Yaz hit .301 to claim the batting title.[2]

Season standings

American League	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Detroit Tigers	103	59	0.636	—	56–25	47–34
Baltimore Orioles	91	71	0.562	12	47–33	44–38
Cleveland Indians	86	75	0.534	16½	43–37	43–38
Boston Red Sox	86	76	0.531	17	46–35	40–41
New York Yankees	83	79	0.512	20	39–42	44–37
Oakland Athletics	82	80	0.506	21	44–38	38–42
Minnesota Twins	79	83	0.488	24	41–40	38–43
California Angels	67	95	0.414	36	32–49	35–46
Chicago White Sox	67	95	0.414	36	36–45	31–50
Washington Senators	65	96	0.404	37½	34–47	31–49

Record vs. opponents

1968 American League Records Sources:
Team	BAL	BOS	CAL	CWS	CLE	DET	MIN	NYY	OAK	WSH
Baltimore	—	9–9	10–8	11–7	7–11	8–10	10–8	13–5	9–9	14–4
Boston	9–9	—	9–9	14–4	10–8	6–12	9–9	10–8	8–10	11–7
California	8–10	9–9	—	8–10	7–11	5–13	7–11	6–12	5–13	12–6
Chicago	7–11	4–14	10–8	—	5–13	5–13	10–8	6–12	10–8	10–8
Cleveland	11–7	8–10	11–7	13–5	—	6–12	14–4	10–8–1	6–12	7–10
Detroit	10–8	12–6	13–5	13–5	12–6	—	10–8	10–8–1	13–5–1	10–8
Minnesota	8–10	9–9	11–7	8–10	4–14	8–10	—	12–6	8–10	11–7
New York	5–13	8–10	12–6	12–6	8–10–1	8–10–1	6–12	—	10–8	14–4
Oakland	9–9	10–8	13–5	8–10	12–6	5–13–1	10–8	8–10	—	7–11
Washington	4–14	7–11	6–12	8–10	10–7	8–10	7–11	4–14	11–7	—

Opening Day lineup

2	Mike Andrews	2B
3	Dalton Jones	3B
8	Carl Yastrzemski	LF
7	Reggie Smith	CF
5	George Scott	1B
15	Joe Lahoud	RF
6	Rico Petrocelli	SS
18	Elston Howard	C
36	Dick Ellsworth	P

Notable transactions

August 7, 1968: Norm Siebern was released by the Red Sox.[3]
August 14, 1968: Galen Cisco was purchased from the Red Sox by the Kansas City Royals.[4]

Roster

1968 Boston Red Sox

Roster

Pitchers

39 Gary Bell

27 Bucky Brandon

21 Ray Culp

36 Dick Ellsworth

29 Bill Landis

16 Jim Lonborg

28 Sparky Lyle

37 Dave Morehead

24 Juan Pizarro

17 Garry Roggenburk

30 José Santiago

20 Lee Stange

38 Jerry Stephenson

19 Gary Waslewski

24 Fred Wenz

26 John Wyatt

Catchers

35 Russ Gibson

18 Elston Howard

10 Jerry Moses

15 Russ Nixon

22 Gene Oliver

Infielders

14 Jerry Adair

41 Luis Alvarado

2 Mike Andrews

1 Joe Foy

3 Dalton Jones

6 Rico Petrocelli

5 George Scott

4 Norm Siebern

Outfielders

40 Ken Harrelson

15 Joe Lahoud

11 Floyd Robinson

7 Reggie Smith

12 José Tartabull

17 George Thomas

8 Carl Yastrzemski

Manager

23 Dick Williams

Coaches

31 Bobby Doerr (First base & Hitting)

33 Darrell Johnson (Pitching)

34 Al Lakeman (Bullpen)

32 Eddie Popowski (Third base)

Player stats

Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Pos	Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
C	Russ Gibson	76	231	52	.225	3	20
1B	George Scott	124	350	60	.171	3	25
2B	Mike Andrews	147	536	145	.271	7	45
SS	Rico Petrocelli	123	406	95	.234	12	46
3B	Joe Foy	150	515	116	.225	10	60
LF	Carl Yastrzemski	157	539	162	.301	23	74
CF	Reggie Smith	155	558	148	.265	15	69
RF	Ken Harrelson	150	535	147	.275	35	109

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
Dalton Jones	111	354	83	.234	5	29
Jerry Adair	74	208	45	.216	2	12
Elston Howard	71	203	49	.241	5	18
José Tartabull	72	139	39	.281	0	6
Russ Nixon	29	85	13	.153	0	6
Joe Lahoud	29	78	15	.192	1	6
Luis Alvarado	11	46	6	.130	0	1
Gene Oliver	16	35	5	.143	0	1
Norm Siebern	27	30	2	.067	0	0
Floyd Robinson	23	24	3	.125	0	2
Jerry Moses	6	18	6	.333	2	4
George Thomas	12	10	2	.200	1	1

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Ray Culp	35	216.1	16	6	2.91	190
Gary Bell	35	199.1	11	11	3.12	102
Dick Ellsworth	31	196	16	7	3.03	106
José Santiago	18	124	9	4	2.25	86
Jim Lonborg	23	113.1	6	10	4.29	73
Juan Pizarro	19	107.2	6	8	3.59	84
Dave Morehead	11	55	1	4	2.45	78

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Gary Waslewski	34	105.1	4	7	3.67	59
Jerry Stephenson	23	68.2	2	8	5.64	51

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	W	L	SV	ERA	SO
Lee Stange	50	5	5	12	3.93	53
Sparky Lyle	49	6	1	11	2.74	52
Bill Landis	38	3	3	3	3.15	59
Bucky Brandon	8	0	0	0	6.39	10
John Wyatt	8	1	2	0	4.22	11
Garry Roggenburk	4	0	0	0	2.16	4
Fred Wenz	1	0	0	0	0.00	3

Awards and honors

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Louisville Colonels	International League	Eddie Kasko
AA	Pittsfield Red Sox	Eastern League	Billy Gardner
A	Winston-Salem Red Sox	Carolina League	Bill Slack
A	Waterloo Hawks	Midwest League	Rac Slider
A	Greenville Red Sox	Western Carolinas League	Matt Sczesny
A-Short Season	Jamestown Falcons	New York–Penn League	Jackie Moore

Notes

Elston Howard page at Baseball Reference
Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p. 191, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, ISBN 978-0-451-22363-0
Norm Siebern page at Baseball Reference
Galen Cisco page at Baseball Reference

References

Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (1997). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (2nd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America. ISBN 978-0-9637189-8-3.
1968 Boston Red Sox team page at Baseball Reference
1968 Boston Red Sox season at baseball-almanac.com

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[1] Elston Howard page at Baseball Reference

[2] Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p. 191, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, ISBN 978-0-451-22363-0

[3] Norm Siebern page at Baseball Reference

[4] Galen Cisco page at Baseball Reference

1968 MLB season by team
American League	Baltimore Boston California Chicago Cleveland Detroit Minnesota New York Oakland Washington
National League	Atlanta Chicago Cincinnati Houston Los Angeles New York Philadelphia Pittsburgh St. Louis San Francisco
1968 MLB draft 1968 All-Star Game 1968 World Series 1968 MLB expansion draft