milestones Archives

Milestones for 2017 Red Sox

January 17, 2017 Leave a Comment

Here are some upcoming career milestones Red Sox players will cross and close in on in the 2017 season:

1 double to Xander Bogaerts‘ 100th.
1 game for Dustin Pedroia to tie Dom DiMaggio for 11th most in club history (1,399).
1 home run for Hanley Ramirez‘ 50th as a Red Sox.
2 games to Pablo Sandoval‘s 1,000th.
4 doubles to Mookie Betts‘ 100th.
4 errors to Sandoval’s 100th.
5 times grounding into a double play for Pedroia to tie Jackie Jensen for 10th most in club history (146).
6 doubles for Pedroia to tie Bobby Doerr for 6th most in club history (381).
7 batters struck out to Rick Porcello‘s 1,000th.
9 walks for Pedroia to tie Johnny Pesky for 16th most in club history (581).
10 home runs to Ramírez’ 250th.
14 extra-base hits for Pedroia to tie Manny Ramirez for 8th most in club history (537).
16 home runs ties Pedroia with Reggie Smith at No. 17 on club’s all-time list (149).
21 walks to Chris Young‘s 500th.
24 stolen bases to Ramírez’ 300th.
25 RBI for Pedroia to tie Wade Boggs for 17th most in club history (687).
25 games to Ramírez’ 1,500th.
26 doubles to Young’s 300th.
29 doubles to Jackie Bradley‘s 100th.
30 doubles for Pedroia to tie Boggs for 2nd most such seasons as a Red Sox (9).
38 runs scored to Ramírez’ 1,000th.
42 games to Robbie Ross‘ 300th.
59 runs scored to Sandoval’s 500th.
102 games to Pedroia’s 1,500th.
117 total bases to Young’s 2,000th.
125 strikeouts to Bogaerts’ 500th.
126 runs scored to Pedroia’s 1,000th.
131 times on base to Mitch Moreland‘s 1,000th.
131 assists to Ramírez’ 3,000th.
136 strikeouts to Bradley’s 500th.
205 assists to Pedroia’s 4,000th.
213 total bases to Ramírez’ 3,000th.
240 total bases to Bogaerts’ 1,000th.
271 total bases to Betts’ 1,000th.
536 batters faced to Chris Sale‘s 5,000th.

Weekend Odds ‘n Ends

July 3, 2016 Leave a Comment

After a week off for some live baseball at Fenway, it’s time to get back to business with another edition of baseball news and notes, especially for Red Sox fans.

A solid April and May felt good, but the Red Sox stumbled through June at 10-16, dropping games they really, truly should have won. Meanwhile, the Orioles kept the pressure on, going 19-9 for the fourth best monthly mark in baseball. Now the calendar turns to July. Since 2000, the Sox have batted .272 as a team in July, scoring 2,141 runs with a .343 on-base percentage, a .445 slugging percentage and a .789 OPS (all the second best marks of any team in the majors in that time). Boston’s 1,513 July walks since 2000 are the most of any major league club.
Saturday’s embarrassing Red Sox loss to the Angels set all kinds of historic records, none of them very pleasant to recount. The 2-21 loss marked just the 14th time Boston has allowed more than 20 opponent runs in franchise history. The Angels’ C.J. Cron became the first player in Fenway Park history to go 6-for-6 with two home runs. Catcher Carlos Perez also collected five hits Saturday making him and Cron the first Angels teammates with 5+ hits in a game since Randy Velarde and Mo Vaughn in 1999. Los Angeles had not scored that many runs since putting up 21 against the Royals back on August 25, 2004.
Saturday’s thumping tied with a 1969 loss to the Athletics for the 5th most runs allowed by the Red Sox at Fenway (21) since 1913. The only other times the Sox have allowed more opponent runs in a home loss were:
- May 1, 1929 (6-24 loss to the Philadelphia Athletics)
- September 28, 1923 (4-24 loss to the Yankees)
- June 19, 2000 (1-22 loss to the Yankees), and
- May 31, 1970 (13-22 loss to the White Sox).
The end of play on Sunday was Boston’s 81st game of the 2016 campaign, marking the official end of the first half. Through those first 81, Boston is 44-37 for a .543 win percentage, their best since a .593 win percentage in 2013. The Sox were 37-44 after 81 games in both 2014 and 2015. In 104 seasons of franchise history since 1913, the 2016 crew has 197 doubles. Only the 2003 Red Sox had more (223). This year’s Red Sox have 834 total hits through 81 games, good for 6th most over that same time, which is also their most since the 2003 team (879).
This year’s Red Sox could become the 25th team ever, and the first since the 2003 Braves, to have four players drive in 100 or more runs in the season. David Ortiz (66 RBIs), Mookie Betts (55), Xander Bogaerts (51), and Jackie Bradley (51) could each drive in 100 or more if they continue at their current pace. Boston has twice before made this exclusive list in 1940 and again in 1977. For Atlanta in 2003 the feat was achieved by Andruw Jones (116 RBIs), Chipper Jones (106), Javy Lopez (109) and Gary Sheffield (132). Only one major league team in history, the 1936 Yankees, ever had five players drive in 100+ RBIs in a season: Bill Dickey (107), Joe DiMaggio (125), Lou Gehrig (152), Tony Lazzeri (109) and George Selkirk (107).
20 home runs, 20 doubles, and 6 triples, all before the All-Star Break. In baseball history, only 10 players have managed that combination (and eight of them are in the Baseball Hall of Fame). The most recent was the Rockies Carlos Gonzalez in 2013 (25 HR, 22 doubles, 6 triples). Before Gonzalez you have to go all the way back to Duke Snider of the 1954 Brooklyn Dodgers. Mookie Betts (17 HR, 21 doubles, 4 triples) is close to the mark this season, as are the Reds Jay Bruce (17 HR, 19 doubles, 6 triples) and Josh Donaldson of the Blue Jays (20 HR, 18 doubles, 5 triples).
Pirates skipper Clint Hurdle achieved his 1,000 managerial win recently. He’s now one of six active managers with at least 1,000 wins including one-time Sox manager Terry Francona (1,336), Bruce Bochy (1,753), Dusty Baker (1,720), Mike Scioscia (1,449), and Buck Showalter (1,387).
What a run by Diamondbacks pitcher Brad Zeigler, who collected 43 straight saves from May 29, 2015 to June 20, 2016. The streak ended last Thursday but goes in the books as the longest in franchise history and 8th longest in baseball history. Eric Gagne, pitching for the Dodgers in 2002-04 holds baseball’s record for consecutive saves, a remarkable 84 games. The second longest save streak was 54 games by Tom Gordon, pitching for the Red Sox from 1998-99. The next longest Boston save streak is Koji Uehara‘s31 games in 2013-14.
There’s nothing like being at the ballpark. RSNStats was live and on location at Fenway last week for a couple games and managed to capture a few good shots. You can see them on the RSNStats Instagram page.

It’s finally here!

April 4, 2015 Leave a Comment

A MLB Opening Day fter a long, hard winter—harder for some than for others—the day we’ve longed for is just about upon us.

Monday’s Opening Day kicks off the Red Sox 2015 campaign with a bunch of new faces in a revamped lineup that’s sure to provide plenty of offense and plenty to talk about on the mound.

April 6th is the latest Red Sox Opening Day since the April 7th start in 2009, a 5-3 win over the Rays. It’s just the 3rd time that the Red Sox have started a season on or after April 6 since the strike shortened season of 1995, which opened on April 26.

The Red Sox are 55-58-1 in Opening Day games for all-time, going 5-5 in their last 10, and 2-3 for their last five starting sets.

The Red Sox face the Phillies Monday, Wednesday and Thursday before heading to New York for a weekend series of 3 games against the Yankees Friday to Sunday. Sunday’s game will be broadcast on ESPN Sunday Night Baseball. The Phillies will face Boston again this season September 4-6 at Fenway.

It’s the fifth straight Opening Day on the road for Boston, the 75th time overall. The last time the Red Sox opened the season at Fenway was on an unseasonably warm April 4, 2010 vs the Yankees, when game time temperature was 67º F. Since 2000 the Red Sox have opened the season at home just three times: 2002, 2009, and 2010. Boston is 32-41-1 in road openers for all time.

A little history

1915 World Series program Monday’s game marks the first time the Red Sox have opened a season against a National League team, but not the first time they’ve opened the season in Philly. The last time came in 1954, a 6-4 loss to the Philadelphia Athletics. That was the last year the City of Brotherly Love had an American League team, which switched to become the Kansas City Athletics the following season.

In a sense, it’s particularly fitting for the Red Sox to open the season in Philadelphia this year. 2015 marks the 100th anniversary of Boston’s World Championship over the 1915 Phillies. In that year the Red Sox Opening Day game was a 2-0 loss to the Philadelphia Athletics and their last game of the season was the World Series clincher on October 13, 1915 vs the Phillies at Philadelphia’s Baker Bowl. This Thursday, in the last game of this opening series, the two clubs will wear throwback caps similar to their 1915 designs.

Player milestones

Clay Buchholz, last year’s No. 5 starter, will be the Opening Day starter for the first time in his career. The last time that happened for the Red Sox was with Roger Clemens, who started Game 5 of the 1987 season just before opening the next 7 straight seasons. In all, Clemens holds the club record for the most Opening Day starts by a Red Sox pitcher (8).

David Ortiz will be making his 11th Opening Day start with the Red Sox, tying him with Harry Hooper 7th-most in club history. Carl Yastrzemski holds the club record with 22 such starts followed by Dwight Evans (17), Jim Rice (14), Bobby Doerr and Ted Williams (13 each), and Rico Petrocelli (12).

Red Sox with the most Opening Day starts by position are Jason Varitek at catcher (10), George Scott and Mo Vaughn at first (7 each), Doerr at second (13), Wade Boggs at third (10), Everett Scott at shortstop (8), Yastrzemski in left (15), Dom DiMaggio in center (9), and Evans in right (14). Ortiz has the most Opening Day starts as Red Sox DH (10).

Opening Day records

Yastrzemski hit a club-best 6 home runs on Opening Days of his career. Dwight Evans had 5, Jim Rice and Ted Williams each have hit 3. David Ortiz, Dustin Pedroia and nine other Red Sox batters have hit 2. In all, Big Papi has 4 Opening Day home runs in his career, the most among active players.

The most Red Sox team home runs in an Opening Day game is 4. It happened three times: April 12, 1965 against the Senators, April 7, 1986 against the Tigers, and April 1, 2002 against the Blue Jays.

Four Red Sox batters have hit a club-best 2 home runs in an Opening Day game: Carlton Fisk (1973), Carl Yastrzemski (1968), Lenny Green (1965), and Ted Lepcio (1955).

Remarkably consistent, Pedroia has hit safely in all 8 career openers, going 13-for-33 (.394) in such games. His 1-for-3 record in each of his 8 opening games is the longest Opening Day hitting streak by a Red Sox player since Yastrzemski had 13 such hits from 1968-1980.

Eleven Red Sox players have a club-best 4 hits in an Opening Day game, most recently Jose Offerman in a 5-3 win over the Royals on April 5, 1999.

The Red Sox hold the record, since at least 1914, for the most walks drawn in an Opening Day game. It came on April 1, 2002 against the Blue Jays. Despite drawing an MLB-record 13 free passes, Boston lost that game 11-12. The Sox also hold baseball’s 3rd-best mark for most hits in an Opening Day game during that same span, amassing 20 in a 15-5 win over the Yankees on April 6, 1973. Since 1914 the most hits in an opener was 23 by the Cubs over the Diamondbacks in 2005.

The road ahead

The Red Sox will come home for the Fenway opener versus Nationals on Monday, April 13—15. The home opener will mark just the 10th time these two club have played each other and the 1st time since June 10, 2012.

Boston will complete their first homestand with 4 games against the Orioles April 17—20.