2003 Boston Red Sox Season Summary

Record: 95-67, 2nd in American League East (5 teams)
Runs Scored: 961
Runs Allowed: 809
Pythagorean W-L: 94-68

Manager(s): Grady Little (95-67)
Ball Park: Fenway Park

Post-Season Results

Won AL Division Series over Oakland Athletics (3-2)
Lost AL Championship Series to New York Yankees (4-3)

Notable Moments from 2003

22 January 2003 - Released by the Minnesota Twins, David Ortiz finds a new home as he signs with the Red Sox.

28 January 2003 - The Red Sox announce that seats will be added to the top of the Green Monster in left field in time for the start of the season.

15 February 2003 - Boston acquires first baseman and outfielder Kevin Millar from Florida after the 31-year-old player is returned to the Marlins from the Chunichi Dragons of the Japanese Central League one day earlier. Millar had signed a two-year deal with the Japanese club, only to have a change of heart after rejecting Boston's waiver claim for him in January.

30 April 2003 - Boston rallies from a three-run deficit in the ninth against Kansas City thanks in part to three hit batsmen, two errors, and a wild pitch as the Red Sox win, 5-4.

27 June 2003 - Before the first out is recorded by the Marlins, the Boston scores ten runs en route to a 25-8 win over Florida. Johnny Damon collects three hits in the first inning to tie a major league record set by Gene Stephens of the Red Sox just over fifty years earlier.

29 July 2003 - Switch-hitter Bill Mueller becomes the first player in history to hit grand slams from both sides of the plate in one game as the Red Sox third baseman hits three home runs and drives home nine in a 14-7 win over the Rangers in Texas.

28 September 2003 - Bill Mueller wins the American League batting title over teammate Manny Ramirez with a .326 average, going 0-for-1 in a pinch-hitting appearance in a 3-1 Red Sox loss to the Devil Rays.

4 October 2003 - Trot Nixon hits a pinch-hit, two-run home run in the 11th inning as Boston wins 3-1 over Oakland in Game Three of the division series at Fenway Park, averting a sweep by the Athletics.

6 October 2003 - Boston completes the comeback from an 0-2 series deficit with a 4-3 win over Oakland in Game Five of the division series. Jason Varitek and Manny Ramirez both homer to score all four Boston runs and Derek Lowe comes from the bullpen to record the final three outs.

11 October 2003 - The Yankees take Game Three of the 2003 American League Championship Series with a 4-3 win over the Red Sox at Fenway Park. The game is marked by a altercation between Pedro Martinez and former Sox skipper Don Zimmer as well as a fight in the bullpen between a groundskeeper and two Yankees players, Karim Garcia and Jeff Nelson.

16 October 2003 - New York takes Game Seven and the American League pennant with a 6-5, 11-inning win over Boston at Yankee Stadium. Up 5-2 with one out in the eighth, manager Grady Little leaves what appears to be an exhausted Pedro Martinez on the mound despite the bullpen having given up just two runs in the series. The Yankees score three runs on four straight hits to tie the score and win in the bottom of the 11th when Aaron Boone hits the first pitch he sees from Tim Wakefield into the left field bleachers to send New York to the World Series.

27 October 2003 - The Red Sox fire manager Grady Little despite having gone 188-136 in two years with Boston, winning 93 games or more in both seasons.

28 November 2003 - Boston trades four players, including pitcher Casey Fossum, to Arizona for former Red Sox pitching prospect Curt Schilling.

4 December 2003 - Boston hires Terry Francona, owner of a .440 winning percentage as a major league baseball manager, to become the new skipper for the Red Sox.