The results of the American League Championship Series were predictable—an Oakland sweep—but the Red Sox made each game competitive and the ALCS was filled with could’ve, should’ve moments that might have altered its course.
The 1993 Boston Red Sox were a team coming off a last-place finish with a second-year manager in Butch Hobson that needed to prove himself. The ’93 Red Sox looked like they make a run at it and hung in the race longer than expected, but an August and September fade did them in.
That Joe Morgan took over in 1988, led the memorable “Morgan’s Magic” summer and won a pair of AL East titles. His tenure was short, and ended after 3 ½ seasons. The 1991 Boston Red Sox looked like they might cook up some more magic, before fading at the end.
The Boston Red Sox spent six years on pendulum of good seasons in even-numbered years—a pennant in 1986, and AL East titles in 1988 & 1990—and disappointing seasons the following year. The 1989 Boston Red Sox did their part to keep that pattern in place, as they struggled to an 83-79 record, with only a weak division keeping them in contention much of the year
The 1985 Boston Red Sox showed the flashes of hope that would ultimately manifest themselves into a pennant a year later, but the ’85 team was done in by an August collapse
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The first half of the 1980s are generally not seen as a high point in the history of the Boston Red Sox, and that characterization is, for the most part, fair. There were no division titles, nor even a noteworthy near-miss. But there were examples of some overachievement and teams that deserve to be remembered well. The 1984 Boston Red Sox were just such a team.
It was 1961 that a kid from Long Island who played basketball at Notre Dame made his major league debut with the Boston Red Sox. That kid was Carl Yastrzemski and the next 22 years saw become a hero across New England. “Yaz” led the Red Sox to the Impossible Dream pennant of 1967, to another pennant in 1975, won the Triple Crown in 1967 and stayed a productive player into his 40s. Finally, at age 43, he called it quits on what would be a first-ballot Hall of Fame career. The 1983 Boston Red Sox season was Yaz’s last
The late 1970s had been a time of unfulfilled hope for the Boston Red Sox. After reaching Game 7 of the 1975 World Series, the Red Sox seemed to be a rising dynasty in the making. But that was followed with underachievement in 1976, a close pennant race loss in 1977, a devastating loss in 1978, and modest slipback in 1979. The 1980 Boston Red Sox completed the decline, falling to mediocrity and ending a short era in franchise history.
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When the Boston Red Sox reached Game 7 of the 1975 World Series with a core of young players, there was the expectation that great things were underway. Those expectations took a big step back in a disappointment-filled 1976 season. The 1977 Boston Red Sox were able to rekindle the hope, with a strong run at the AL East title, but like so many pre-2004 Red Sox teams, managed to come up just a little bit short.
The 1982 Boston Red Sox represented not only an overachieving high point in the first half of the decade, but laid the groundwork for the success that would come in the 1980s latter half.