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Boston Red Sox Best Single Seasons

This is a list of the Boston Red Sox best single seasons. I decided to select two players for each infield position, six outfielders (regardless of specific position), and one designated hitter for each AL team. Hitters had to play at least 51% of games at their position. For pitching, we selected seven starting pitchers, three non-closers, and two closers. Starting pitchers had to start at least 20 games during the selected season. Relief pitchers were deemed non-closers if they saved less than 10 games. Closers are pitchers that save more than 10 games.


  • Catcher – Carlton Fisk, 1972

  • Carlton Fisk
    wRC+ wOBA WAR G PA R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS
    165 .407 7.3 131 514 74 134 28 9 22 61 5 52 83 .293 .370 .538 .909

  • First Base – Jimmie Foxx, 1938

  • Jimmie Foxx
    wRC+ wOBA WAR G PA R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS
    173 .508 7.6 149 685 139 197 33 9 50 175 5 119 76 .349 .462 .704 1.166

  • Second Base – Bobby Doerr, 1944

  • Bobby Doerr
    wRC+ wOBA WAR G PA R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS
    159 .429 5.9 125 536 95 152 30 10 15 81 5 58 31 .325 .399 .528 .927

  • Third Base – Wade Boggs, 1987

  • Wade Boggs
    wRC+ wOBA WAR G PA R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS
    171 .443 8.3 147 667 108 200 40 6 24 89 1 105 48 .363 .461 .588 .1.049

  • Shortstop – Rico Petrocelli, 1969

  • Rico Petrocelli
    wRC+ wOBA WAR G PA R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS
    163 .433 10.0 154 643 92 159 32 2 40 97 3 98 68 .297 .403 .589 .992

  • Outfield – Ted Williams, 1941

  • Ted Williams
    wRC+ wOBA WAR G PA R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS
    221 .568 10.6 143 606 135 185 33 3 37 120 2 147 27 .406 .553 .735 1.287

  • Outfield – Babe Ruth, 1919

  • Babe Ruth
    wRC+ wOBA WAR G PA R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS
    203 .509 9.4 130 543 103 139 34 12 29 113 7 101 58 .322 .456 .657 1.114

  • Outfield – Tris Speaker, 1912

  • Tris Speaker
    wRC+ wOBA WAR G PA R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS
    190 .483 10.1 153 675 136 222 53 12 10 90 52 82 36 .383 .464 .567 1.031

  • Designated Hitter – David Ortiz, 2007

  • David Ortiz
    wRC+ wOBA WAR G PA R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS
    175 .449 6.4 149 667 116 182 52 1 35 117 3 111 103 .332 .445 .621 1.066

  • Starting Pitcher – Pedro Martinez, 2000

  • Pedro Martinez
    ERA- WAR G GS W L ERA IP CG SHO SV R ER BB SO SO/9 WHIP
    35 9.7 29 29 18 6 1.74 217 7 4 0 44 42 32 284 11.8 0.737

  • Starting Pitcher – Cy Young, 1901

  • Cy Young
    ERA- WAR G GS W L ERA IP CG SHO SV R ER BB SO SO/9 WHIP
    44 12.6 43 41 33 10 1.62 371.1 38 5 0 112 67 37 158 3.8 0.972

  • Starting Pitcher – Dutch Leonard, 1914

  • Dutch Leonard
    ERA- WAR G GS W L ERA IP CG SHO SV R ER BB SO SO/9 WHIP
    36 9.3 36 25 19 5 0.96 224.2 17 7 3 34 24 60 176 7.1 0.886

  • Starting Pitcher – Roger Clemens, 1986

  • Roger Clemens
    ERA- WAR G GS W L ERA IP CG SHO SV R ER BB SO SO/9 WHIP
    57 8.9 33 33 24 4 2.48 254 10 1 0 77 70 67 238 8.4 0.969

  • Starting Pitcher – Derek Lowe, 2002

  • Derek Lowe
    ERA- WAR G GS W L ERA IP CG SHO SV R ER BB SO SO/9 WHIP
    57 7.3 32 32 21 8 2.58 219.2 1 1 0 65 63 48 127 5.2 0.974

  • Relief Pitcher – Calvin Schiraldi, 1986

  • Calvin Schiraldi
    ERA- WAR G GS W L ERA IP CG SHO SV R ER BB SO SO/9 WHIP
    33 2.9 25 0 4 2 1.41 51 0 0 9 8 8 15 55 9.7 1.000

  • Relief Pitcher – Daniel Bard, 2010

  • Daniel Bard
    ERA- WAR G GS W L ERA IP CG SHO SV R ER BB SO SO/9 WHIP
    44 3.1 73 0 1 2 1.93 74.2 0 0 3 18 16 30 76 9.2 1.004

  • Closer – Jonathan Papelbon, 2006

  • Jonathan Papelbon
    ERA- WAR G GS W L ERA IP CG SHO SV R ER BB SO SO/9 WHIP
    20 5.0 59 0 4 2 0.92 68.1 0 0 35 8 7 13 75 9.9 0.776

Bench

3 Comments »

  1. Ortiz’s best season has to be 2006. 54 HR’s 137 RBI’s 1049 OPS. Just because his WAR was higher in 2007 doesnt mean it was his best year.

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    • WAR was one of several metrics I used to compile these. wRC+ and wOBA were two other highly weighted metrics. None of those three metrics factors in RBI. I also didn’t use OPS because it uses SLG which incorrectly weighs hits.

      Having said all that, I wouldn’t argue for one of those two over the other.

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  2. How do you leave Yaz’s 1967 off? Not even on the bench? His 12.5 WAR was the second highest single season in history.

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