2003 Boston Red Sox season


The 2003 Boston Red Sox season was the 103rd season in the franchise's Major League Baseball history. The Red Sox finished second in the American League East with a record of 95 wins and 67 losses, six games behind the New York Yankees. The Red Sox qualified for the postseason as the AL wild card, and defeated the American League West champion Oakland Athletics in the ALDS. The Red Sox then lost to the Yankees in the ALCS.
The Red Sox led the major leagues in nearly all offensive categories, including runs scored, batting average, on-base percentage, and perhaps most impressively, a.491 team slugging percentage, which set a new record previously held by the 1927 Yankees. They also had 649 extra-base hits, the most ever by one team in a single season.

Offseason

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Notable transactions

Roster

Game log

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At Bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting Average; HR = Home Runs; RBI = Runs Batted In
PosPlayerGABHAvg.HRRBI
CJason Varitek142451123.2732585
1BKevin Millar148544150.2762596
2BTodd Walker144587166.2831385
SSNomar Garciaparra156658198.30128105
3BBill Mueller146524171.3261985
LFManny Ramirez154569185.32537104
CFJohnny Damon145608166.2731267
RFTrot Nixon134441135.3062887
DHDavid Ortiz128448129.28831101

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At Bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting Average; HR = Home Runs; RBI = Runs Batted In
PlayerGABHAvg.HRRBI
Shea Hillenbrand4918556.303338
Doug Mirabelli6216342.258618
Gabe Kapler6815846.291423
Damian Jackson10916142.261113
Jeremy Giambi5012725.197515
Freddy Sanchez20348.23502
Lou Merloni15307.23301
Dave McCarty162711.40716
Andy Abad9172.11800
Adrian Brown9153.20001
Bill Haselman430.00000
Lou Collier410.00000

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Other pitchers

Relief pitchers

Postseason

ALDS vs. Oakland Athletics

As the AL wild card, the Red Sox entered the first round of the playoffs against the Oakland Athletics. Despite losing the first two games in Oakland, Boston rebounded with two dramatic wins in the late innings at Fenway Park to even the series. When the series returned to Oakland, the Red Sox held off a late Oakland charge to win the series in five games. In doing so, they joined the 1995 Mariners and 1999 Red Sox in coming back from a two-game deficit to win a best-of-five ALDS.
Boston wins the series, 3–2

ALCS vs. New York Yankees

The stage was set for a classic showdown with longtime division rival, the New York Yankees. The teams split the first two games in the Bronx before the real drama unfolded in Game 3 at Fenway Park. A highly anticipated matchup between Sox ace Pedro Martínez and former Sox' pitcher Roger Clemens turned ugly early on. Karim García was hit in the back by a Martínez fastball. Words were exchanged and Martínez threateningly gestured towards Yankee catcher Jorge Posada. When Garcia was forced out at second, he slid hard into Todd Walker. The following inning, Manny Ramírez took exception to a high Clemens pitch and charged the mound. Both benches cleared, but the resulting brawl turned surreal when 72-year-old Yankee bench coach Don Zimmer charged Martínez. Martínez sidestepped and threw Zimmer to the ground. After a thirteen-minute delay, Clemens struck out Ramírez and proceeded to pitch effectively as the Yankees took a 2–1 series lead. The Red Sox won Game 4, but the Yankees won Game 5 to take the series' lead back to New York. But Boston proved resilient, and their offense came alive for the first time in the series to the tune of nine runs on sixteen hits to force a seventh game. With a 4–0 lead early on and Martínez pitching, Boston appeared to be on the brink of winning the pennant. But more late-inning drama unfolded when the Yankees tied the game 5–5 with three eighth-inning runs off Martínez, sending the game on into the October night. Yankee closer Mariano Rivera pitched three scoreless innings, and in the bottom of the eleventh, Aaron Boone turned on the first offering from Tim Wakefield and sent it into the frenzied bleachers of Yankee Stadium, sending the Yankees on to the World Series for the fifth time in six years. This game further cemented the legend many believed was The Curse of the Bambino.
New York wins the series, 4–3

Awards and honors

;All-Star Game
The Portland Sea Dogs replaced the Trenton Thunder as the Red Sox' Double-A affiliate. The Red Sox fielded two teams in the Dominican Summer League, while not participating in the Venezuelan Summer League, following the Venezuelan general strike of 2002–03.