Adrian Gonzalez and the 40 Top Red Sox Offensive Seasons Since 1970

As the 2011 season enters the final stretch, most Red Sox fans now feel confident declaring that A-Gone is exactly the hitter we hoped he would be. Sure, he's not on pace to record the 50 homers some of the more breathless members of the Nation were guaranteeing for him last winter (including more than a few Bleacher Report writers), but barring a season ending injury or unlikely prolonged slump, Gonzalez seems pretty much certain to end the season with numbers that will rank him high up on the list of greatest single season performances by a Red Sox batter.

And as proud Red Sox fans, we know very well what an elite list that is. Playing in a cozy, hitter friendly stadium, the Red Sox have long posted lineups stacked with talent. It was in order to celebrate this grand tradition of explosive Red Sox offenses that I decided to put together this list.

The reason I selected the year 1970 as my cut off point and 40 as the length of my list is simple: I was born in 1970 (though after the season ended) and am currently 40 years old. With only a couple of exceptions, these are all seasons I remember, though I have of course needed to make liberal use of the available Internet research tools to compile my list.

In ranking individual seasons against each other, I gave a lot of weight to OPS as a representation of a player's total offensive value. At the same time, I still treated such context influenced stats as RBI's or runs scored as very important. After all, my purpose isn't to make fantasy projections; it is to celebrate outstanding accomplishments that are already in the book. 

As noted above, this list will obviously need revision on the day this season ends. In addition to Gonzalez, Jacoby Ellsbury and Dustin Pedroia both also look likely to finish with the kind of stats that would justify inclusion. Big Papi could even end up with another season good enough for this list, especially if he breaks out with one of his old fashioned stretch run tears.

40: Dwight Evans, 1981

Dwight Evans became the Boston Red Sox starting right fielder in the mid 1970's, and by the decade's end, he was the defensive anchor alongside future Hall-of-Famer Jim Rice in left field and perennial all-star Fred Lynn in center in what must be regarded as one of the greatest outfields ever assembled. 

Evans' throwing arm is rated among the best of all time, and while he was a decent offensive contributor to some absolutely dominant Red Sox line ups, he was hailed primarily for his glove. However, in the 1980's, he developed into an offensive star in his own right.

1981 was his coming out party. In the strike shortened year, he tied for the American League lead with 22 home runs. He also led the league in OPS at .937, and in walks and total bases as well.

He batted .296, but with an outstanding on base percentage of .415.

39: Nomar Garciaparra, 2003

2003 was the year that the Nation officially began to fall out of love with Nomar. There was something surreal about it, because he had been the ultimate Red Sox golden boy. No one had been embraced like him in my lifetime since Carl Yazstremski during the last five or six seasons of his career.

Ted Williams had dubbed him the best player to ever put on the Red Sox uniform. During the historic pregame celebration at the 1999 All-Star Game in Fenway, the Splendid Splinter had greeted Nomar as if he were a favorite grandson. A joint study conducted by MIT and Harvard had determined that a full 47 percent of teenage girls in New England had crushes on Nomar.

The last stat is one I made up. But if you are a Red Sox fan who still remembers those seasons from around the turn of the century, you probably believed it. Nomar was part Ted Williams, part Justin Timberlake in those days.

But in 2003, Nomar's legendary slide from sure bet Hall-of-Famer to just another guy with a really nice career began. The over all numbers look good: He batted .301 with a .524 slugging percentage, 28 home runs and105 RBIs. He hit 37 doubles, 13 triples and even swiped 19 bags.

But he struggled in the second half, and for the first time in his career, he performed poorly in clutch situations. It was very disconcerting to those of us who had grown used to seeing him carry the team on his shoulders offensively, especially during the seasons after that moron Dan Duquette let Mo Vaughn walk.

This was the year Nomar married the soccer star Mia Hamm. During the extremely frustrating and emotional 2003 season, some embittered Sox fans actually took to referring to poor Ms. Hamm as "the Yoko Ono of Red Sox Nation." Well, I did, anyway.

38: Mike Greenwell, 1988

After performing well down the stretch (and terribly as a pinch hitter in the World Series) as a late season call up in 1986, Greenwell took over the starting left fielder spot when Jim Rice's offensive production dropped suddenly off a cliff in 1987. Although he is most notable in hindsight as the first Red Sox starting left fielder in 50 years to fail to make the Hall-of-Fame, he had a couple of pretty good years and 1988 was his best.

Finishing second to Jose Canseco in the MVP voting, Greenwell posted a .325 batting average, with on base and slugging percentages of .416 and .531 respectively. He drove in 119 runs for the "Morgan Magic" team that came back from a huge first half deficit to win the American League East crown, only to be swept in four straight by the juggernaut Oakland A's.

37: Adrian Beltre, 2010

I have not heard or read a single Red Sox fan this season lamenting the absence of Adrian Beltre from this year's line up. Just the same, he put up some great numbers last year and was the clear cut MVP on a team that miraculously managed to stay alive for a playoff spot until nearly the end of the season, despite being riddled by injuries.

For the season, Beltre batted .321 with 28 home runs and 102 batted in. He led the league with 49 doubles and posted an OPS of .918.

36: Wade Boggs, 1986

The 1986 season is a great one for examining the way Sabermetrics have altered the way we might evaluate a player's offensive value. In 1986, Jim Rice had his last great season, posting a stat line of a .324 batting average, 20 home runs and 110 RBIs. He finished third in the MVP voting, behind the winner Roger Clemens and Don Mattingly, indicating that the baseball writers viewed him as the clear most valuable offensive player in the Boston line up.

But that season didn't quite make this list. I had anticipated including it and felt badly leaving it off. But Rice's OPS for the season was only .874, somewhat anemic by power hitting standard.

Boggs' 1986 season, on the other hand, makes the cut. He won his third batting title at .357 and topped .9 in OPS (.939) without even reaching double digits in home runs. He led the league in on base percentage at .453 and walks with 105. 

The MVP voters of 1986, most of whom had likely not yet even heard of Bill James, looked at the guy who batted in 100 runs from the clean up slot and concluded that was the team's offensive MVP. And Rice did have a great year in 1986. He recorded his fourth season with 200 hits.

But runs are much easier to drive in when you have a leader off hitter who is on base 45 percent of the time. Taking a full view of the statistics, it seems clear to me that Boggs was the one who really made that pennant winning offense run.

35: Wade Boggs, 1983

1983 marked the first of five batting titles for Wade Boggs. After hitting .349 as a rookie and missing his first batting title due only to an insufficient number of at bats, Boggs exploded into the league in 1983, posting an eye-popping .361 average, with an on base percentage of .444 and an OPS of .930.

34: Kevin Youkilis, 2008

In another few years, Kevin Youkilis will likely have a few more seasons included onto a list like this. His 2009 numbers almost made this list.

In 2008, Youkilis came into his own offensively, and along with MVP Dustin Pedroia, he carried the team to the play offs offensively. For the season, he recorded a .312 batting average with 29 home runs, 115 RBI's, 43 doubles and an OPS of .915.

33: Dustin Pedroia, 2008

While Pedroia's numbers are slightly weak by MVP standards, nobody who watched the team that season can doubt that he deserved the award. On offense, the second baseman defined the term "spark plug" doing a little bit of everything to help the team win.

He batted .326 and led the league with 54 doubles. The diminutive Pedey showed true pop with his bat, connecting for 17 home runs to go along with 83 RBIs. Hitting primarily in the number two slot, he also stole 20 bases.

32: Dwight Evans, 1984

During an era of frustrating mediocrity for the Red Sox, Dewey maintained his own standard of excellence. In 1984, he batted .295 with 32 home runs and a league leading 104 RBI's. His OPS for the year was a very solid .940.

31: Carlton Fisk, 1977

The Red Sox line ups of the late 1970's was the stuff that gave American League pitchers ulcers, and Carlton Fisk was a regular contributor to the offensive mayhem let loose by the Boston Nine. Pudge always held a special place in the hearts of Red Sox fans. Raised on a dairy farm in tiny Charlestown, New Hampshire, he was one of our own, a New England boy who understood the glory of the Red Sox tradition.

In 1977, he had the best offensive season of his career. He batted .315 with a sparkling on base percentage of .422. He hit 26 home runs, drove in 102 runs and posted an OPS of .943.

In what seems to have been an act of deliberate malice, Haywood Sullivan neglected to mail Fisk's contract to him in time to re-sign him for the 1981 season. As a consequence, he joined the Chicago White Sox as a free agent.

To this day, the only time in my life I have ever cheered against the Boston Red Sox was opening day of 1981, when Fisk's blast over the Green Monster led the Chicago White Sox to victory. 

30: Dwight Evans, 1987

Following the heartbreaking 1986 World Series, the 1987 season was an all-around disappointment for Sox fans.

But Dwight Evans put up some of the best numbers of his career, batting .305 with 34 home runs and 123 RBI's. Evans led the league in walks and posted an impressive .417 on base percentage.

29: Nomar Garciaparra, 2002

After missing all but 21 games due to injury in 2001, Nomar came back strong in 2002, though when looked at in terms of his career trajectory, we do see the beginning of his decline.

Playing his first full season in the same line up as Manny Ramirez, Nomar came in at a .310 average, with 24 home runs and 120 RBI's. He led the league with a eye-popping 56 doubles.

28: Mo Vaughn, 1997

Mo Vaughn was a sort of 1990's prototype of David Ortiz, a big, gregarious, larger-than-life left-handed power hitter, capable of putting up big numbers and carrying the team on his wide shoulders for months at a time. Dan Duquette forever lost the good will of the Red Sox Nation when he let big Mo walk after the 1998 season and expected us to accept Jose Offerman as a replacement.

1997 was vintage Mo Vaughn, as he batted an impressive .315 to go with a glittering .420 on base percentage. His OPS was a formidable .980 as he clubbed 35 home runs and plated 96 runners.

27: Wade Boggs, 1985

After winning his first batting title in 1983, Boggs had dropped to .324 in 1984. In 1985, he returned strong, winning batting title number two with a .368 clip. He also led the league in base hits, with a staggering 240 and in on base percentage at .455.

Once again, Boggs managed to post a OPS of over .9 (.928), despite hitting less than 10 home runs (eight). He knocked in 78 runs and scored 107.

26: Wade Boggs, 1988

Wade Boggs is never mentioned in the discussions of the all time great lead off hitters. But when you consider that the primary responsibility of a lead off hitter is to work counts and get on base, it's hard to see how Boggs doesn't deserve consideration as among the best lead off men of all time. 

In 1988, he recorded 214 hits and 125 walks, reaching base at an astonishing .476 clip. He had a power hitter's OPS of .966 despite hitting less than 10 home runs.

During the 1980's, Boggs recorded four straight seasons with at least 200 hits and 100 walks, a rare feat of offensive prowess that had not been accomplished since Stan Musial did it in 1950. Only Lou Gehrig had more seasons than Boggs with 200 hits/100 walks.

25: David Ortiz, 2003

2003 marked the emergence of David Ortiz as an everyday player and a potential star in the making. Brought in from Minnesota as a possible platoon player, Ortiz found his feet in Boston, and the rest has been history. Glorious, two World Series victories history.

As Big Papi continues to put up big numbers this year, it's nice to think back to that season eight years ago, when it all began. After securing an ever day spot, Ortiz batted .282, with 31 dingers and 101 RBIs. His .961 OPS and penchant for late inning heroics hinted at the truly great things to come.

24: Jim Rice, 1983

1983 ended up being Rice's last season as the American League's dominant offensive player. He posted a .305 average and led the league one last time each in home runs (39), RBI's (126) and total bases (344).

After 1983, Rice continued to be among the league's most productive hitters for a few more seasons, and put up extremely good numbers during the pennant winning campaign of 1986. However, in the last half of the 1980's, his production dropped off remarkably, and the player who seemed like a shoo-in for the Hall-of-Fame in 1983 ended up having to wait until his last year of eligibility to finally get the call.

23: Fred Lynn, 1975

This is one of the truly mystic seasons in Red Sox history, up there with Yaz's 1967 campaign and Williams' run for .400 in 1941. Along with Jim Rice, Fred Lynn emerged that summer as the dynamic duo, two out-of-sight rookies, blazing the way to a title for the suddenly powerful Boston Red Sox.

Rice was very good that year, but Lynn was truly great. He hit .331 and led the league in RBI's with 105, slugging at .566 and OPS at .967. He became the first player in baseball history to win the Rookie of the Year and the Most Valuable Player awards in the same season.

22: Nomar Garciaparra, 1998

Well, Derek Jeter just got hit No. 3,000 this season, and as a baseball fan, all I can say is "Good for him. It's well deserved." (As a Red Sox fan, I'll add: "Yankees Suck!")

But it's bitter sweet to think back to those golden years in the late 90's when we could honestly look a Yankee fan in the eyes and say "Our shortstop is better than yours."

In his second full season as a Major Leaguer, Nomar batted .323 with 35 home runs and 122 RBIs. His OPS was a robust .946.

21: Mo Vaughn, 1995

In 1995, Mo Vaughn powered the Red Sox to an American League East championship and earned league Most Valuable Player honors. Though his numbers merited the award, his case was likely helped out by the fact that Cleveland's leading candidate, Albert Belle, was among the most disliked players in the history of the game.

For the season, Mo posted a .300 average to go with 39 home runs and league leading 126 RBIs. His OPS was .963.

20: Jim Rice, 1979

Following his MVP winning campaign in 1978, Rice once again put up big numbers in 1979. He batted .325, with 39 home runs and 130 runs batted in. He also whacked 39 doubles and put up an OPS of .977.

19: Jim Rice, 1977

After a strong rookie campaign in 1975 and a decent follow up season in 1976, Jim Rice fully burst onto the scene as a dominant power hitter in 1977. He recorded the first of three straight 200 hit seasons and led the league in home runs, with 39. He also led the league in slugging, at .593 and total bases with 382.

He batted .320 and drove in 114 runners. He also recorded the first of two straight seasons with 15 triples.

18: Wade Boggs, 1987

1987 was Boggs' only season with a significant home run total-24. He won his fourth of five batting titles, hitting .363 for the year, and he led the league in on base percentage at .461 and OPS at 1.049. He drove in 89 runs and scored 108.

1987 was a big home run year across the league, the first season I remember hearing a lot of talk about "juiced balls." But this one outlier season for Boggs' home run totals begs the question of whether or not he might have been capable of hitting with that kind of power more regularly. 

It was certainly a criticism of him even at the time: that he pursued his batting average to the detriment of everything else, including taking the kind of "big hit" swings that might drop his average slightly, but also help the team by creating more runs.

Still, it's hard to argue with Boggs' results. The seasons he had in a Red Sox uniform from 1982-1990 comprised the meat of his Hall-of-Fame resume. Can you really say a guy isn't doing enough to help his team win when he is getting on base nearly half the time he goes to the plate?

17: Manny Ramirez, 2003

After everything that happened between Manny Ramirez and the Red Sox Nation, it can be hard to remember how it was in the early days, when Manny was simply Manny, a character to be sure, but mostly just the most dominant right-handed hitter in the American League. It's hard to remember how glad we were to have him, back in the early years of the new century.

During the ultimately frustrating 2003 season, Manny was the big bat that made the line up go. He hit .325 and led the league with an on base percentage of .429. He drove in 104 runners and hit 37 home runs to go along with a .587 slugging percentage.

16: Manny Ramirez, 2001

Manny Ramirez joined the Red Sox before the 2001 season as the most highly anticipated offensive free agent signing in franchise history. This really needs to be seen as the start of the new era in Red Sox history, as the Old Town team displayed a sudden willingness to spend the money necessary to compete with the cursed Yankees.

Ramirez was no disappointment in '01, quickly establishing himself as the "straw that stirs the drink" and taking up the slack for an injured Nomar Garciaparra. He batted .306 with 41 home runs and 125 RBIs. His on base percentage was over .400 (.405) and his slugging over .600 (.609).

15: David Ortiz, 2004

It is somehow fitting that the year the Red Sox reversed the curse is the year that David Ortiz stepped forward as an unquestionable superstar. In the middle years of the last decade, Big Papi and Manny Ramirez combined to make up one of the most potent 3-4 tandems in the game's history. The World Series winning 2004 season might have been their best combined effort.

For Ortiz's part, he batted .301 on the year with 41 home runs and 139 RBI's. He had on base and slugging percentages of .397 and .613, giving him an OPS of over 1.

14: Manny Ramirez, 2006

In 2006, Manny Ramirez was once again an offensive machine, leading the league with a .439 on base percentage and slugging .619, to give him an OPS of 1.058.

Manny's stat line for the season was .321 batting average, 35 home runs and 102 RBIs.

13: Manny Ramirez, 2005

Manny in his prime was pretty much a complete offensive player, that ultra prized combination of high on base percentage and powerful slugging that adds up to season after season of big time production numbers. 2005 featured Manny once more being routinely great. 

Manny posted a .292 batting average and smashed 45 home runs. He drove in 144 runs and scored 112.

12: Mo Vaughn, 1998

In the last half of the 1990's, Mo Vaughn put up monster numbers on a routine basis. 1998 was a typical year: a .337 batting average to go with 40 home runs and 115 RBI's. Vaughn's on base percentage was a very solid .402, and his OPS came in at .993.

11: Nomar Garciaparra, 2000

The youngest of Red Sox fans don't even remember what it was like back before the Beantown team started winning championships. In those days, we had to lick our wounds and console ourselves by taking some pleasure in the great individual stats put up by our biggest stars.

Few Sox stars have turned in more eye-popping numbers than Nomar did in 2000. He won his second straight batting title with a gaudy .372 clip, to go with 21 home runs and 99 RBIs. His on base percentage was .434 and his OPS 1.033.

10: Manny Ramirez, 2002

During Manny Ramirez's second season in Boston he won the batting title, finishing the year at a .349 clip. He led in on base percentage, as well, at .450. He added 33 home runs, 107 RBI's and a slugging percentage of .647.

9: Mo Vaughn, 1996

Although 1995 was his MVP year, 1996 has got to be viewed as Mo Vaughn's best season with the Red Sox. He combined a .420 on base percentage with a .583 slugging average to record the only 1+ OPS of his career.

His traditional line was eye popping as well: He batted .326 with 44 home runs and a whopping 143 runs batted in.

8: Carl Yazstremski, 1970

Although he would continue to be a very productive offensive player for another decade and some change, 1970 marked Carl Yazstremski's last season as the kind of dominant hitter who can carry a team on his back.

Coming in with a .329 average, he just missed a fourth batting crown. He led the league in on base percentage (.452) and slugging (.592), and of course OPS. He cracked 40 home runs to go with a league leading 102 runs batted in and a 125 runs scored. 

Yaz even set his career season best in steals in 1970, finishing with 23.

7: Nomar Garciaparra, 1999

In 1999, the Red Sox made it to the American League Championship series behind the dominating pitching of Pedro Martinez. On the offensive side of things, with Mo Vaughn departed, the Sox relied on Nomar and little else.

He was up to the job, winning the first of his two batting titles with a .357 average to go along with 27 home runs and 104 RBIs. His OPS was 1.021.

This was the season most New Englanders took to adding the words "best right handed hitter since Joe Dimaggio" to the end of Nomar's name.

6: Jim Rice, 1978

In 1978, Jim Rice won the American League MVP award and dominated the offensive league leader boards.

While batting .315, he led the league in triples with 15, home runs with 46 and RBIs with 139. He also led the league with 213 hits, a .600 slugging average and an OPS of .970.

Rice also led the league with 406 total bases in 1978. He remains the only American League player since Joe Dimaggio in 1938 to collect 400 total bases in a season.

5: Fred Lynn, 1979

Fred Lynn, who originally attended UCLA on a football scholarship, was one of the best pure athletes to ever put on a Red Sox uniform. After his fabulous rookie year in 1975, 1979 was the one season he reached his true superstar potential.

Lynn led the league in hitting with a .333 mark. He tied with teammate Rice for second with 39 home runs and drove in 122 runs.

He led the league in on base percentage at .423 and slugging at .637 to combine for an eye popping OPS of 1.060.

4: David Ortiz, 2007

Just when long suffering Red Sox fans had finally gotten the chance to die happy following the World Series championship in 2004, along came 2007 and another ring. This was he year Manny began to be Manny in earnest, and so it fell to Big Papi to shoulder the majority of the offensive production.

For the year, Ortiz batted .332 with 35 home runs and 117 RBIs. He drew 111 walks and recorded an on base percentage of .445, along with a slugging average of .621.

3: Manny Ramirez, 2004

I know things got bad at the end with Manny, but it's still hard for me to hate on the guy. He was the main ingredient in bringing about a situation I honestly expected to go to my grave without ever witnessing: a World Series championship for the Red Sox. 

In 2004, he was his typical brilliant self, batting .308 with 43 home runs and 130 RBIs. He scored 108 runs and hit 44 doubles. His slugging percentage was .613 and his OPS 1.010.

2: David Ortiz, 2005

After playing a major role on the 2004 championship team, Big Papi took his game to a whole other level in 2005. The Red Sox DH batted an even .300 with 47 dingers and 148 runs driven in. He walked 102 times and hit 40 doubles. His slugging percentage was .604 and his OPS 1.001.

1: David Ortiz, 2006

You would have to go back in time to Ted Williams and Jimmy Fox to find Red Sox batters who put up numbers comparable to the ones David Ortiz posted in 2006. While batting .287, Big Papi set the club record for home runs with 54. He plated 137 runners.He led the league in both homers and RBIs.

Ortiz collected a league leading 119 walks and put up an on base percentage of .413 to go with a slugging average of .636, giving him an OPS of 1.049.