1998 Red Sox
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Season
The Red Sox bounced back from a 78-84 finish in 1997 to finish 92-70 in 1998, good enough to win the franchise's first 'Wild Card' berth.
The key offseason acquisition was Pedro Martinez. The Red Sox had been working without an ace in 1997, so General Manager Dan Duquette landed the former Montreal Expos Cy Young Award winner in exchange for Carl Pavano and Tony Armas, Jr on November 18, 1997. It was an acquisition that would forever alter the franchise as Pedro Martinez would build upon his already impressive resume and go 19-7 in his first year with the Red Sox, good enough for 2nd in the AL Cy Young Award balloting. Rookie phenom Nomar Garciaparra would take his talent to a new level, finishing 2nd in the Al MVP voting batting .323 with 35 HR and 122 RBI. Although the team would finish 22 games out of first place, they qualified for the postseason and snapped a 13 game playoff losing streak in the 1998 ALDS vs. the Cleveland Indians. It would be fan favorite Mo Vaughn's final year in Boston, and his very public contract negotiations followed the team throughout the season.
ROSTER
| REGULARS | BA | HR | RBI | Salary | |
| 1B | Mo Vaughn | 0.337 | 40 | 115 | $6,650,000) |
| 2B | Mike Benjamin | 0.272 | 4 | 39 | $242,500) |
| SS | Nomar Garciaparra | 0.323 | 35 | 122 | $1,075,000) |
| 3B | John Valentin | 0.247 | 23 | 73 | $5,350,000) |
| OF | Troy O'Leary | 0.27 | 23 | 83 | $2,400,000) |
| OF | Darren Lewis | 0.268 | 8 | 63 | $500,000) |
| OF | Darren Bragg | 0.279 | 8 | 57 | $367,500) |
| C | Scott Hatteberg | 0.276 | 12 | 43 | $240,000) |
| DH | Reggie Jefferson | 0.306 | 8 | 31 | $3,200,000) |
| STARTERS | W-L | ERA | SV | ||
| R | Pedro Martinez | 19-7 | 2.89 | 0 | n/a |
| R | Tim Wakefield | 17-8 | 4.58 | 0 | $3,500,000) |
| R | Bret Saberhagen | 15-8 | 3.96 | 0 | $3,800,000) |
| L | Steve Avery | 10-7 | 5.02 | 0 | $3,900,000) |
| BULLPEN | |||||
| R | Tom Gordon | 7-4 | 2.72 | 46 | $3,300,000) |
| R | Jim Corsi | 3-2 | 2.59 | 0 | $600,000) |
| R | Derek Lowe | 3-9 | 4.02 | 4 | $172,000) |
| R | Dennis Eckersley | 4-1 | 4.76 | 1 | $1,500,000) |
| R | John Wasdin | 6-4 | 5.25 | 0 | $227,500) |
RESERVES:"""
Hitters:
Jason Varitek (.253, 7, 33), Damon Buford (.282, 10, 42), Mike Stanley (.288, 7, 32), Jim Leyritz (.287, 8, 24), Donnie Sadler (.226, 3, 15), Midre Cummings (.283, 5, 15), Lou Merloni (.281, 1, 15), Mark Lemke (.187, 0, 7), Keith Mitchell (.273, 0, 6), Trot Nixon (.259, 0, 0), Billy Ashley (.292, 3, 7), Mandy Romero (.231, 0, 1), Chris Snopek(.167, 0, 2), Orlando Merced (.000, 0, 2), Keith Johns (.000, 0, 0)
Pitchers:
Rich Garces (1-1, 3.33), Pete Schourek (1-3, 4.30), Carlos Reyes (1-1, 3.52), Brian Rose (1-4, 6.93), Ron Mahay (1-1, 3.46), Greg Swindell (2-3, 3.38), Jin Ho Cho (0-3, 8.20), Brian Barkley (0-0, 9.82), Butch Henry (0-0, 4.00), Brian Shouse (0-1, 5.63), Dario Veras (0-1, 10.13), Robinson Checo (0-2, 9.39), Carlos Valdez (1-0, 0.00), David West (0-0, 27.00)
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