The 1979 Boston Red Sox season was the 79th season in the franchise's Major League Baseball history. The Red Sox finished third in the American League East with a record of 91 wins and 69 losses, 11 1/2 games behind the Baltimore Orioles, who went on to win the AL championship.

Offseason

On December 7, 1978, pitcher Bill Lee was traded to the Montreal Expos for infielder Stan Papi.

Regular season

The Red Sox only played 160 games, as a home game scheduled against the Milwaukee Brewers on August 12, and an away game scheduled against the Chicago White Sox on August 29, were rained out and not rescheduled.

Highlights

Fred Lynn had a league-leading .333 batting average and had 39 home runs and 122 RBIs, while Jim Rice batted .325 with 39 homers and 130 RBIs. On the pitching staff, Dennis Eckersley was 17–10, down from 20–8 the prior season, and Mike Torrez was 16–13, matching his record of the previous year. The season also featured Carl Yastrzemski's 3,000th hit and his 400th home run. His 400th home run came off of Mike Morgan of the Athletics on July 24. Yaz became the seventh AL player and 18th MLB player to collect 400 home runs. He joined the 3,000 hit club with a single off of Jim Beattie of the Yankees on September 12. Yaz was the 15th player to collect 3,000 major league hits, and the first AL player to have both 3,000 hits and 400 home runs.

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Notable transactions

Opening Day lineup

Source:

Roster

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

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

Other batters

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

Pitching

Starting pitchers

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

Other pitchers

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

Relief pitchers

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

Awards and honors

Farm system

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Winston-Salem, Winter Haven Source: