2008 Boston Red Sox season

The 2008 Boston Red Sox season was the 108th season in the franchise's Major League Baseball history. The Red Sox, as the defending World Series champions, finished in second place in the American League East with a record of 95 wins and 67 losses, two games behind the Tampa Bay Rays. The Red Sox qualified for the postseason as the AL wild card, and defeated the American League West champion Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in the ALDS. The Red Sox then lost to the Rays in the ALCS in seven games. This was the franchise's fourth appearance in the ALCS in six seasons.

2008 Boston Red Sox
American League Wild Card
Major League affiliations
Location
Results
Record95–67 (.586)
Divisional place2nd (2 GB)
Other information
OwnersJohn W. Henry (New England Sports Ventures)
PresidentLarry Lucchino
General managersTheo Epstein
ManagersTerry Francona
Local televisionNESN
Local radioWRKO
WEEI
WROL (Spanish)
StatsESPN.com
BB-reference
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In late March, the team started the regular season playing in Tokyo against the Oakland Athletics for MLB Japan Opening Day 2008. In July, seven Red Sox players were selected for the AL All-Star team, with outfielder J. D. Drew being named the game's MVP. On July 31, the Red Sox traded long-time star player Manny Ramirez to the Dodgers in a three-way blockbuster (which also included the Pirates) for Jason Bay and minor leaguer Josh Wilson. In September, the team officially retired uniform number 6 in honor of Johnny Pesky.[1]

Regular season

Johnny Pesky's number 6 was retired by the Boston Red Sox in 2008.

Opening Day lineup

15Dustin Pedroia2B
20Kevin Youkilis1B
34David OrtizDH
24Manny RamírezLF
25Mike Lowell3B
44Brandon MossRF
33Jason VaritekC
46Jacoby EllsburyCF
23Julio LugoSS
18Daisuke MatsuzakaP

Season standings

AL East W L Pct. GB Home Road
Tampa Bay Rays 9765 0.599 57–24 40–41
Boston Red Sox 9567 0.586 2 56–25 39–42
New York Yankees 8973 0.549 8 48–33 41–40
Toronto Blue Jays 8676 0.531 11 47–34 39–42
Baltimore Orioles 6893 0.422 28½ 37–43 31–50

Notable transactions

Roster

2008 Boston Red Sox
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Other batters

Manager

Coaches

Record vs. opponents

Team BAL BOS CWS CLE DET KC LAA MIN NYY OAK SEA TB TEX TOR NL
Baltimore6–124–54–44–35–33–63–37–110–58–23–154–56–1211–7
Boston12–64–35–15–26–11–84–39–96–46–38–109–19–911–7
Chicago5–43–411–712–612–65–59–102–55–45–14–63–31–712–6
Cleveland4–41–57–1111–710–84–58–104–35–44–55–26–46–16–12
Detroit3–42–56–127–117–113–67–114–23–67–33–46–33–513–5
Kansas City3–51–66–128–1011–72–36–125–56–37–23–52–72–513–5
Los Angeles6–38–15–55–46–33–25–37–310–914–53–612–76–310–8
Minnesota3–33–410–910–811–712–63–54–65–55–43–35–50–614–4
New York11–79–95–23–42–45–53–76–45–17–211–73–49–910–8
Oakland5–04–64–54–56–33–69–105–51–5-10–93–67–124–610–8
Seattle2–83–61–55–43–72–75–144–52–79–103–48–115–49–9
Tampa Bay15–310–86–42–54–35–36–33–37–116–34–36–311–712–6
Texas5–41–93–34–63–67–27–125–54–312–711–83–64–410–8
Toronto12–69–97–11–65–35–23–66–09–96–44–57–114–48–10
Red Sox vs. National League
Team NL Central 
CHC CIN HOU MIL PIT STL ARI PHI
Boston 2–1 1–2 3–0 1–2 2–1 2–1

Game log

2008 Regular Season Game Log
2008 Postseason Game Log

Player stats

Batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs scored; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; AVG = Batting average; SB = Stolen bases; Bold Indicates team leader in category.

Player G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI AVG SB
David Aardsma51000000.0000
Jeff Bailey275010141126.2800
Jason Bay491843954122937.2933
Josh Beckett26000000.0000
Chris Carter918560003.3330
Sean Casey691991464140017.3221
Kevin Cash61142113270315.2250
Bartolo Colón12000000.0000
Alex Cora7515214418209.2701
Coco Crisp11836155102183741.28320
Manny Delcarmen40000000.0000
J. D. Drew109368791032341964.2804
Jacoby Ellsbury14555498155227947.28050*
Craig Hansen40000000.0000
Mark Kotsay228461981012.2260
George Kottaras35111000.2000
Jon Lester25000000.0000
Javier Lopez31000000.0000
Mike Lowell113419581152701773.2742
Jed Lowrie812603467253246.2581
Julio Lugo822612770130122.2681
Justin Masterson25000000.0000
Daisuke Matsuzaka12000000.0000
Brandon Moss347872351211.2951
Hideki Okajima50000000.0000
David Ortiz109416741103012389.2641
Jonathan Papelbon40000000.0000
Dustin Pedroia157653118*213**54**21783.32620
Manny Ramirez100365661092212068.2991
David Ross88110000.1250
Joe Thurston48000000.0000
Mike Timlin20000000.0000
Jonathan Van Every1117040105.2350
Jason Varitek13142337932001343.2200
Gil Velazquez38010001.1250
Tim Wakefield13000000.0000
Kevin Youkilis1455389116843429115.3123
Team Totals1625596845156535333173807.280120

Pitchers

Note: W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; SV = Saves; IP = Innings pitched; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; K = Strikeouts

Player W L ERA G GS SV IP R ER BB K
David Aardsma425.55470048.232303549
Josh Beckett12104.0327270174.1807834f172
Michael Bowden103.601105.02213
Clay Buchholz296.751615076.063574172
Paul Byrd424.7888049.026261026
Bartolo Colón423.9277039.023171027
Bryan Corey0010.507006.07734
Manny Delcarmen123.27730274.128272872
Devern Hansack104.054006.25315
Craig Hansen135.58320230.223192325
Jon Lester1663.2133330210.1787566152
Javier López202.43700059.118162738
Justin Masterson653.16369088.131314068
Daisuke Matsuzaka1832.90a29290167.258c5494154
Hideki Okajima322.61640162.018d182360
Jonathan Papelbon542.346704169.124188e77
David Pauley0111.6862012.11716511
Chris Smith107.85120018.11616713
Kyle Snyder0021.602001.24421
Julián Tavárez016.3990012.212996
Mike Timlin445.66470149.132312032
Tim Wakefield10114.1330300181.0898360117
Charlie Zink0016.621104.18811
Team Totals95674.01162162471446.16946455481185

* indicates player led their respectable league in that certain category ** indicates player led all of baseball in that certain category

^a Led team in starters ERA ^b Led in team ERA ^c Allowed fewest runs as a starter for the Red Sox ^d Led team in runs allowed. ^e Led team in walks allowed. ^f Led starters in walks allowed.

Awards and honors

All-Star Game[11]
Starters
Reserves

Farm system

Level Team League Manager
AAA Pawtucket Red Sox International League Ron Johnson
AA Portland Sea Dogs Eastern League Arnie Beyeler
A-Advanced Lancaster JetHawks California League Chad Epperson
A Greenville Drive South Atlantic League Kevin Boles
A-Short Season Lowell Spinners New York–Penn League Gary DiSarcina
Rookie GCL Red Sox Gulf Coast League Dave Tomlin
Rookie DSL Red Sox Dominican Summer League José Zapata

Source:[12][13]

References

  1. Kilgore, Adam (September 29, 2008). "Red Sox retire Johnny Pesky's No. 6". The Boston Globe.
  2. https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/t/tavarju01.shtml Julián Tavárez Statistics - Baseball Reference.com
  3. https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/k/kieltbo01.shtml Bobby Kielty Statistics - Baseball Reference.com
  4. https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/bayja.shtml Jason Bay Statistics - Baseball Reference.com
  5. https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/ramirma01.shtml Manny Ramirez Statistics - Baseball Reference.com
  6. https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/byrdpa01.shtml Paul Byrd Statistics - Baseball Reference.com
  7. https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/rossda01.shtml David Ross Statistics - Baseball Reference.com
  8. https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/k/kotsama01.shtml Mark Kotsay Statistics - Baseball Reference.com
  9. "Hutch Award". Baseball-almanac.com. Retrieved September 5, 2010.
  10. "2008 MLB Awards". MLB.com. Retrieved September 5, 2010.
  11. "2008 All-Star Game". MLB.com. Archived from the original on August 15, 2010. Retrieved September 5, 2010.
  12. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007
  13. Boston Red Sox Media Guide. 2008. pp. 508–529. Retrieved March 14, 2021 via Wayback Machine.
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