The 1990 Boston Red Sox
Strong Starting Pitching carried the Sox to 1990 AL East Crown under Manager Joe Morgan
Boston was indeed swept in the ALCS by the mighty Oakland Athletics (who were in turn swept by the mightier Cincinnati Reds in the World Series), but the story of the 1990 Red Sox is not those 4 rather forgettable losses; it is the phenomenal 162-game season that got them there.
Boston wilted in the heat of July. The bats were quiet, as the team struggled to reach 100 home runs on the season. Nonetheless, the Sox were playing excellent defense while receiving surprisingly strong starting pitching. Led by Roger Clemens, the rotation of Mike Boddicker, former reliever Greg Harris, and rookies Dana Kiecker and Tom Bolton kept Boston in almost every game. They even managed a victory over Minnesota in a game in which they hit into a record 2 triple plays.
Tied for first going into August, Boston faced the double-whammy of a tough schedule, and the loss of Jeff Reardon because of a ruptured disc. Setbacks, yes, but also opportunities for the Sox to show their character. "This team is not going to die," articulated diminutive secondbaseman Jody Reed. "We might not win it, but this team will fight all the way to the end." Manager Joe Morgan, the Walpole native whose unorthodox style had held the team together, could rely on his ace, Roger Clemens, to lead the charge.
In what was arguably his greatest season, Clemens would compile a 1.93 ERA and finish with a 21-6 record. The classically mediocre Bob Welch of Oakland stole the Cy Young with his inflated total of 27 wins, but while Welch was the no. 3 starter on his team, Clemens was the anchor of the Red Sox. Entering August, he was already 14-5. Then he won four more in a row and helped the Sox to a 2-game division lead as they flew into Toronto for 4 games.
It would be another hard-fought series. Boston trailed 3-1 in the first game until Mike Greenwell hit a game-tying home run off Tom Henke. Sox fans were elated, but Mookie Wilson (also known for a fateful postseason ground ball four years earlier) manufactured the winning run and Toronto prevailed.
Such a loss might have crushed lesser teams, but Boston came back with stunning intensity. Facing a powerful team in its home park, Sox pitching put together three straight shutouts, the second of which was one for the ages: Both Clemens and David Wells were masterful, and the game was scoreless until Dwight Evans belted a solo homer in the seventh. Toronto mounted a nail-biting threat in the ninth, but Clemens blew away Manny Lee with the bases loaded to close it out.
Boston now had a firm hold of the AL East. By September 2, they led by 6½ games, and even the most pessimistic Red Sox fans were budgeting for playoff tickets. But in an ominous turn of events, Roger Clemens injured his shoulder against Oakland, and, like Reardon, was presumed to be out for the season. Without their ace, Boston fell into a 6-12 skid, and the Blue Jays regrouped to move back into first place. Red Sox fans were now being reminded that the only other team to have blown as large of a September margin was the 1978 Boston Red Sox.
There was, however, some good news. Jeff Reardon made a miraculous comeback in time for the final two weeks of the season, and Clemens' shoulder injury did not appear as critical as originally thought. Boston managed to pull back into a tie just in time to meet the Blue Jays again at Fenway Park with only six games left in the season.
The first game was in a class by itself. Boston took an early lead, then blew it, then took a 5-4 lead when Jays thirdbaseman Kelly Gruber made throwing errors on consecutive ground balls. Wanting to rest Reardon, Joe Morgan allowed young Jeff Gray to pitch the ninth. Gray promptly gave up a single and a home run, and Toronto led 6-5, turning again to Tom Henke for the last 3 outs
But it wasn't over, as Boston mounted a thrilling rally in the bottom of the ninth. Jody Reed worked a wily walk to lead off. Carlos Quintana's textbook bunt put Reed on second, and Henke pitched around Wade Boggs to bring Ellis Burks to the plate.
Burks had been Boston's most consistent offensive player, with 21 home runs and 89 RBI's. He had remained injury-free in 1990 and was about to win his first gold glove. Burks came through again, lining a hard single to left to load the bases with one out.
Mike Greenwell's single tied the game, and Jeff Stone, the perennial minor leaguer who had pinch-run for Evans earlier in the game, became the unlikeliest of heroes with his base hit to drive in Boggs. Boston had won 7-6 in a true team effort.
Though not yet fully recovered, Roger Clemens defeated Toronto the next day, helped by three Tom Brunansky home runs. Toronto salvaged the third game, however, and trailed Boston by 1 with 3 left. The Blue Jays would finish the season in Baltimore, while Boston stayed home to host Carlton Fisk and the White Sox.
A Sox win and Jays loss gave Boston a 2-game lead with 2 to play, but Toronto won the next night while the Red Sox lost a heartbreaker in extra innings. After 161 games, Boston needed one more.
Mike Boddicker, undefeated in September, would pitch the final game. Clemens was sent to Toronto in case there was a playoff. Boston scored 3 runs in the second inning, and Boddicker, though exhausted, persevered and left with a 3-1 lead.
Jeff Reardon took over and smoked rookie Frank Thomas to end an eighth-inning threat. In the ninth, Reardon easily retired the first 2 men, and quickly put young Sammy Sosa in an 0-2 hole. The fans were on their feet screaming, and, in a touching moment, Boston owner Jean Yawkey opened the window of her private box so she could better hear the crowd. One strike away.
Instead, Sosa chopped a clean single and Reardon plunked Scott Fletcher with his very next pitch. The go-ahead run came to the plate in the person of Ozzie Guillen. Again, Reardon got ahead 0-2. 33,637 maniacs were cheering madly, yet not prepared to celebrate until the final out.
Reardon delivered. Guillen connected solidly, smashing the ball high in the air down the right field line, towards the corner where many balls had been misplayed in the history of Fenway Park. Tom Brunansky had been positioned well off the line and now was sprinting across the field in a desperate attempt to catch the ball. He fell to his knees and began to slide, yet kept his gloved hand awkwardly upright as the ball headed for the soft grass of fair territory.
In a moment that was invisible to the television audience and many of the Fenway faithful, Brunansky, fully outstretched, caught the ball in the webbing of his glove, ending the game, the race and the season of miracles on a catch for the ages. Down and out, the Red Sox had never quit. "We've got a lot of guys here that have hearts bigger than the Prudential building," said Wade Boggs. "Heart and determination brought us through this season."
Even with this momentum, the Red Sox fell apart in the playoffs, an embarrassing 4-game sweep at the hands of the A's. However, it is those 4 games that should be the footnote. Many stories can be told about 1990, from Bill Buckner's inside-the-park home run, to rookie Tim Naehring's stellar play during a brief call-up, to Dwight Evans providing consistent clutch hitting during his final season in Boston, to Tony Pena's unceasing energy behind the plate. It was a remarkable season, and those of us who lived every moment will never forget the 1990 Boston Red Sox.
