Boston Red Sox Team History

In 1901, the only baseball organization that had sustained success in the United States was the National League. Founded in 1876, one of its charter franchises was the Boston Red Stockings from the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players, or simply the National Association, which had won four of the league's five championships. Other leagues, including the American Association and the Player's League, had attempted to mirror the success but failed to break the monopoly held by the NL. Then Ban Johnson, the owner of a small but successful minor league system from the Midwest, decided to directly compete with the National League and turned his circuit into a major league unit. Originally, one of the eight charter franchises was supposed to be in Buffalo, where the minor league Bisons were already established, but league ownership at the last minute voted in favor of Boston over Buffalo in part to directly compete with its NL counterparts. The rest... is history.

Red Sox Legend - Fred Lynn

Years with Boston: 1974-1980
Position: Right Field
Elected to Red Sox Hall of Fame: 2002

Fun Fact: By far, his best season offensively with Boston was not his rookie campaign of 1975, when he won league MVP and Rookie of the Year honors, but 1979, when he batted .333 with 39 home runs and 122 RBI; however, he finished a distant fourth in the MVP vote. ...more on Fred Lynn.

Other Red Sox legends: Manny Ramirez, Wade Boggs, Bill Carrigan

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This Week in Red Sox History

30 August 1916 - Dutch Leonard throws a no-hitter against St. Louis in a 4-0 win for Boston. The previous day, Leonard was unable to get out of the first inning in the first half of a doubleheader.

30 August 1918 - Future Red Sox Hall of Fame player Ted Williams is born in San Diego, CA, as Carl Mays pitches two complete-game victories for Boston at Fenway Park.

30 August 1960 - Infielder Pete Runnels collects nine hits during a doubleheader at Fenway Park, tying a major league record, as the Red Sox sweep the Tigers with a 5-4, extra inning win in the opener and a 3-2 victory in the second game.

31 August 1918 - Boston clinches the American League pennant as Babe Ruth leads the Red Sox to a 6-1 victory in the first game of a doubleheader against the Philadelphia Athletics at Fenway Park.

31 August 1990 - Boston trades future All-Star Jeff Bagwell to Houston for reliever Larry Anderson as the Red Sox enter the stretch run for the playoffs.

31 August 1996 - Nomar Garciaparra makes his debut for Boston, appearing as a late-inning replacement at second base for Jeff Frye, and goes hitless in a single at-bat while the Red Sox lose 8-0 to the Athletics in Oakland.

1 September 1906 - In the longest game in franchise history, Boston loses 4-1 in 24 innings to Philadelphia; the game takes four hours and 47 minutes to complete and both starting pitchers, Jack Coombs of Philadelphia and Joe Harris of the Red Sox go the distance.

1 September 1990 - Thanks in part to Mike Greenwell's inside-the-park grand slam, Boston posts a 15-1 win over New York at Fenway Park, their ninth win in a row.

1 September 1996 - Making his first major-league start, Nomar Garciaparra hits a home run off future Red Sox reliever John Wasdin in an 8-3 win for Boston over Oakland.

1 September 2007 - Rookie Clay Buchholz, in just his second major league start, throws a no-hitter at Fenway Park against the Baltimore Orioles as the Red Sox win 10-0. He becomes the third pitcher in MLB history to throw a no-no in either his first or second career start.

2 September 1935 - In a slugfest with the Senators, Red Sox pitcher Jack Wilson's game-winning home run in the 11th inning gives Boston a 9-8 win over Washington at Fenway Park in the opening game of a doubleheader. Joe Cronin helps the home team's cause with a grand slam.

2 September 1946 - Red Sox pitcher Boo Ferriss wins his 12th straight and 24th start of the season in the opener of a twin-bill sweep of the Yankees, 5-2 and 3-1. Ferriss had also won 10 straight earlier that season to join Walter "Big Train" Johnson as the only big-league pitchers to accomplish the feat.

2 September 1971 - Sonny Siebert pitches a complete game shutout and hits two home runs, the last American League pitcher to hit two home runs in a single game, as Boston defeats Baltimore 3-0 at Fenway Park.

2 September 1974 - The Orioles sweep the Red Sox in a doubleheader in Baltimore by identical 1-0 scores, becoming the only American League team ever to lose to 1-0 games in a same day.

2 September 1996 - Outfielder Mike Greenwell sets a major league record by driving home all nine Red Sox runs in a 9-8, 10-inning win over the Mariners in Seattle. Greenwell hits an RBI single, a two-run double, a two-run home run, and a grand slam for the record.

3 September 1913 - For the second time this season, Boston is forced to use the opposition's road uniforms to play when their baggage fails to make it in time for the game. On 09 July, Boston defeated St. Louis in the Brown's road unis; on this day, they sweep a doubleheader against the Athletics in Philadelphia.

4 September 1981 - After the game is suspended the night before due to a 1:00 AM curfew, Seattle beats Boston 8-7 thanks to a run in the 20th inning scored off Bob Stanley. Jerry Remy ties a Red Sox record with six hits in 10 at-bats during the marathon affair, the longest in Fenway Park history.

4 September 2000 - Number 27 is officially retired by the Red Sox in honor of catcher Carlton "Pudge" Fisk prior to a 5-1 win over Seattle at Fenway Park.

4 September 2006 - Haverhill, MA native and Northeastern University graduate Carlos Pena hits a walk-off home run for the Red Sox in a 3-2 win over the White Sox in ten innings, less than a week after being picked off waivers by Boston.

5 September 1903 - Patsy Dougherty goes 5-for-5 with three triples, the only player in franchise history to accomplish the feat, as Boston wins 12-1 over Philadelphia.