Total bases (TB) refers to the number of bases a player has gained with hits and is a very easy statistic to calculate; it follows a simple formula: 1B + 2*2B + 3*3B + 4*HR.
Following Will Middlebrooks‘ offensive barrage in today’s 13-0 win over the Blue Jays, in which the young Red Sox third baseman hit three home runs and a double, there are now six players in Boston team history since 1916 with at least 14 TB in one game.
The 2012 Boston Red Sox season is likely one that the organization and fans alike will want to soon forget. In celebrating the 100th anniversary of Fenway Park, the team finished 69-93, which broke a stretch of 14 straight winning seasons. Before that, the last Red Sox team to suffer through a losing season was in 1997, when first-year manager Jimy Williams and rookie Nomar Garciaparra ended the season with a disappointing 78-84 record. The team also finished in last place for the first time since 1992, when another first-year manager, Butch Hobson, and pitcher Roger Clemens finished in seventh place in the American League East.
On Wednesday afternoon in Oakland, Red Sox designated hitter David Ortiz hit career home run number 400, making him the 49th player in MLB history to reach this milestone. It was also his 342nd home run in a Boston uniform, which ranks him fifth all-time in team history behind Ted Williams (521), Carl Yastrzemski (452), Jim Rice (382), and Dwight Evans (379). “Big Papi” also ranks second behind Manny Ramirez in number of at-bats per home run at 14.7, just ahead of Jimmie Foxx and Williams.
On 01 September 2011, Boston was 83-52, 1-1/2 games ahead of New York in the American League East Division and nine games ahead of Tampa Bay for the wild card; the results are well-documented since then.
Tonight marks Game No. 100 on the season for Terry Francona and the Red Sox, who will go for win number 63; that’s even more impressive when you consider that Boston started 0-6 and 2-10. Would that win total mark the most ever for the franchise over the first 100 games of a season? Believe it or not, no. According to Baseball-Reference.com, the 1946 team, led by Joe Cronin, won an astonishing 70 games in that same span on their way to 104 wins and the American League pennant. The 1912 team, which won a team record 105 games against 47 losses, won 68 games in its first 100 games and eventually the second World Series title as a franchise.
Not including this season, the following is a list of all Boston teams that have won at least 62 games in the team’s first 100 games:
Year Wins Final Record ---- ---- ------------ 1946 70 104-50 1912 68 105-47 1915 65 101-50 1903 64 91-47 1939 63 89-62 1978 63 99-64 1979 62 91-69
Three of the four teams – 1903, 1912, and 1915 – went on to win the World Series that fall. Three other teams – 1939, 1978, and 1979 – finished out of the playoffs, though the 1978 team did appear in a one-game playoff.