1993 BOSTON RED SOX ...
FROM LAST TO FIRST AND BACK ...

The decline of the Red Sox was more than a tale about baseball; it was a complex story of business maneuvers and personality clashes off the playing field. In the years since Buddy LeRoux was routed, Haywood Sullivan's title has been reduced to that of simply "general partner." Though Sullivan was consulted on most matters, John Harrington had the upper hand. The fate of the Red Sox was in his hands. Harrington, a longtime Red Sox executive and Yawkey confidant, was president of JRY Corp., the Yawkey firm that holds two of the general partner units. He coexisted, sometimes uneasily, with Sullivan, who owned the other general partner unit.

Associates of the two men characterized their relationship as strained but civil. Their difficulties were described as just another phase in a protracted battle that has consumed the Red Sox from the time Sullivan, LeRoux and Mrs. Yawkey took over the team after the 1977 season.

Harrington cut down payroll and shed players he thought were problems before the 1993 season. The Sox dropped nearly $10 million in salary. Ellis Burks, the one-time superstar in waiting, was not tendered a contract because Harrington determined he was an injury risk. The club washed its hands of Wade Boggs, who hit only .259 in 1992. No longer a fan favorite, when he signed with the Yankees, Red Sox fans thought Boggs and New York deserved each other.

Secondbaseman Scott Fletcher was brought in as a free agent on December 1st. Outfielder Ivan Calderon was traded to the Sox from Montreal for minor leaguer, Terry Powers and pitcher Mike Gardiner on December 8th. Reliever Scott Bankhead was also brought in on December 8th and catcher Bob Melvin was signed on December 14th.

On December 9th, the veteran Andre Dawson was signed as a free agent for $4.9M. It was also a move to the American League for the first time in his career, allowing the slugger to play the outfield and also give his knees a break by being the designated hitter from time to time.

Early in spring training, management ate the contracts of Jack Clark and Matt Young, which totaled $4.3 million. Roger Clemens, bothered with a heel injury, didn't pitch until March 10th.

Infielder Ernie Riles came to the Sox on April 3rd.

The season started brightly. The "LastSox" of 1992, the laughingstocks of the American League East, started the 1993 season on April 5th with a near-perfect 3-1 victory over the defensive-minded Kansas City Royals in Kansas City behind Roger Clemens. They got the seldom-seen timely hit, a bases-loaded triple by Mike Greenwell in the fifth inning that erased a 1-0 deficit; they got flawless defense, with the prime pickers being Greenwell, Luis Rivera and Mo Vaughn; and they got a four-pitch save from much-maligned closer Jeff Russell.

Clemens' eight-inning effort (6 hits, 3 walks, 5 strikeouts) wasn't without a scare. In the eighth, Felix Jose lined a ball off Clemens' right thigh. Butch Hobson and the medical staff quickly poured out, but Clemens was fine, finishing the eighth and then giving way to Russell, who was going to come in for the ninth anyway.

The Red Sox, took their first two games at Royals Stadium thanks to Frank Viola's 3-2 victory the next night, April 6th, over his former Mets teammate, David Cone. Viola, who allowed four hits and threw only 84 pitches in eight innings, proved he was no slouch.

FRANK VIOLA

After scoring eight runs in the first two innings, the Red Sox held on to defeat the Royals, 9-4, sweeping their first series at Kansas City in 25 years on April 8th. It also marked the first time the Sox had started a season 3-0 on the road since the 1946 American League champions left Washington having accomplished that feat.

Clemens shut down the potent Texas Rangers on April 10th. His teammates ripped 14 hits, 12 of them singles, to support Roger in a 10-2 win. The Worst-to-First Red Sox, 4-1 after five games, flourished on what was supposed to be a dreadful road trip to two ballparks where they have traditionally struggled.

On April 13th, after being rained out the day before, the Sox enjoyed a 6-2 victory over the Cleveland Indians before 29,606 assembled for Opening Day at Fenway Park. It wasn't raining, though the skies were ominous, and the Red Sox' outlook was sunny. Frank Viola's seven strong innings in which he allowed just one run on seven hits to improve his record to 2-0 and lower his ERA to 1.20. Viola, vowing to reduce his walks from the 89 he had last year, had issued one base on balls in 15 innings. He hit two batters while trying to come inside, but his control was pinpoint for the most part. The Red Sox offense continued to produce, banging out 10 hits, eight of them off lefty Jeff Mutis, who allowed five runs in six innings.

Andre Dawson had his right knee drained before the game. It was what he most wanted to avoid this season. Draining knees means they are hurting, there's fluid build-up. So Dawson's Fenway debut was as a designated hitter. He went 1 for 4 and for a heartbeat nearly allowed the fans to see history when he belted a foul ball that would have been the 400th home run of his career had it stayed fair.

It seems almost preposterous to think of a Red Sox team collecting 18 hits in a game without one home run. But that was the feat on April 14th as the Sox dismantled the Cleveland Indians, 12-7. Mo Vaughn appeared to have arrived. He had his first four-hit game and drove in four runs, collecting two of the club's nine doubles, including one off the Green Monster. Scott Cooper threw in a 4-for-4 effort and knocked in three runs. Billy Hatcher, Mike Greenwell and Carlos Quintana all contributed a pair of hits as the Sox chalked up their highest run and double totals. Meanwhile, the once-beleaguered Butch Hobson continued to push all the right buttons, and the result was the Sox best start (6-2) in 38 years. 

In the second inning of April 15th’s electric, 4-3, 13-inning Red Sox victory, Andre Dawson hit home run No. 400 while playing the new role of designated hitter. His 400th was his first as a DH, his first as an American Leaguer and his first in the direction of a Citgo sign.

Joe Hesketh shook off six walks in the first four innings and tossed eight three-hit innings of shutout ball before watching Tony Fossas and Jeff Russell finish the White Sox off, Hesketh improved to 2-0 on April 17th. Meanwhile, Sox bats banged out 11 hits and three more doubles. The Red Sox had 27 doubles to lead the AL.

Following a 4-0 win over the White Sox on April 18th, behind Frank Viola's nine-hitter that improved the Sox record to 9-3, the meter was teetering toward "believe," and the first signs of pennant-fever hysteria were showing.

John Dopson pitched his first major league shutout in six years and after 13 games, the Red Sox had the best record in baseball. That's exactly what came to pass on April 19th at Fenway Park. It was enough to see a 10-hit assault that chased one of Chicago's best pitchers, Alex Fernandez, and gave the surprising Red Sox a 6-1 homestand. In the ninth inning, the Fenway Faithful found themselves cheering wildly for Dopson, who completed a three-hitter, and his first complete-game victory. Dopson had completed only three games in 91 major league starts. It was the Sox’ best start since 1952. The victory was their first on Patriot's Day since 1989.

Next, in Seattle, on night when Roger Clemens was physically subpar, the Red Sox broke open a 1-1 game with homers by John Valentin and Mike Greenwell in the seventh and eighth innings for a 5-2 win over the Mariners on April 20th.

The Red Sox were no-hit by Mariners' righthander Chris Bosio, 7-0, on April 22nd. Bosio, pitching on three days' rest, recorded 27 straight outs after allowing two walks to start the game. Ground balls accounted for 17 of the outs. It was the first no-hitter against Boston in nearly a decade since Dave Righetti struck out Wade Boggs for the final out at Yankee Stadium on July 4, 1983.

By being three-hit the next night, on April 23rd, against Mark Langston in a 4-1 loss to the California Angels, the Red Sox had been shut out, no-hit and scored one run in their last 28 innings.

Mo Vaughn made a name for himself by frequently visiting the Children’s Hospital. He developed a particularly special bond with an 11-year-old cancer patient named Jason Leader. On April 24th, he promised to hit a home run for him and came through with a deep blast to center field in the top of the seventh inning. The Sox lost the game however, by an 8 to 5 score in Anaheim.

Roger Clemens hinted that he was more concerned about his right elbow than he let on when he indicated he could pitch in the game on April 25th, after falling to the Angels, 3-1. Also, after the game, Andre Dawson had his right knee drained for the second time this season.

On April 28th, the Red Sox snapped a losing streak with a 3-1 victory over the Athletics in Oakland. Bookend victories to start and end their West Coast trip, perhaps eased the sting of the unmitigated 0-6 disaster in between.

Back at Fenway, John Valentin had a two-homer outburst and five RBIs while John Dopson stifled the California Angels, 6-1, on April 20th. It was the first two-homer game by a Sox regular shortstop at Fenway since Rico Petrocelli did it against the Yankees on June 18, 1970. The Sox finished April with a 13-9 record, two games out of first.

A bionic effort by Roger Clemens and the clutch hitting of Scott Fletcher made the Sox appreciate each segment of the Sox's 3-1 victory over the Angels, which left remnants of their losing streak a distant memory. The game on May 1st, added to the legend of Clemens, diagnosed two days prior, with a pulled flexor muscle in his right elbow, Clemens, who had pitched with discomfort for three starts and had an extra day of rest before today's win, struck out 11. In his last three starts, he was 2-1 with a 1.61 ERA and had struck out 25 in 22 1/3 innings and walked only five.

Swept in a three-game series in Anaheim, the past weekend, the Sox gained a measure of revenge by scratching out a 4-3 victory on May 2nd, completing its first three-game sweep of the Angels at Fenway Park since 1978. In addition, the Red Sox ran their home record to 9-1, their best start since the park opened in 1912.

But the Sox lost two straight to Seattle and Ivan Calderon, banged out three hits and knocked in two runs, as the Red Sox edged the A's, 3-1, at Fenway on May 5th. Bob Melvin began the season with more plate appearances than any active major leaguer who had never been hit by a pitch. In this game, in his 1,765th career plate appearance, Melvin was plunked for the only time as a major leaguer.

Danny Darwin complicated the lives of the Brewers and pitched eight shutout innings on May 7th, and got a one-inning assist from Jeff Russell to blank Milwaukee, 1-0, in a splendid pitchers' duel with Bill Wegman.

After losing 2 of 3 in Milwaukee, the Red Sox got off to a respectable start this year, but slowly and surely the offense started to go, then the defense. If not for the reality of parity in the American League, the Red Sox, who were now 17-14, 7-10 on the road, might have been in deep trouble. But the Sox kept hanging around the top of the AL East with an offense that had scored 10 runs in the last five games (coinciding with the loss of Andre Dawson).

In Baltimore, the Red Sox stranded 12 runners. They had 16 in all and managed one run on May 10th.

On May 11th, Roger Clemen (5-2) with a 1.73 ERA, shut out the Orioles in Baltimore. Clemens struck out 13 and five-hit Baltimore, before 46,450 fans, the largest crowd in Camden Yards history. The standstill offense suddenly started moving  and the Sox batters were scoring more than three runs.

Danny Darwin turned in his second consecutive shutout outing (7 2/3 innings) on May 12th to improve his record to 3-4. Coupled with the relief work of Greg Harris and Jeff Russell, the Red Sox outdueled Fernando Valenzuela and the Orioles, 2-0, their second shutout of Baltimore in a row.

Andre Dawson was placed on the 15-day disabled list and would undergo his eighth knee operation, the fifth on his right knee.

Next, trailing, 4-0, after four innings, the team seemed to be the same old Red Sox, unaffected by Hobson's tongue-lashing. From the fifth inning on, the Sox no longer stunk. They went on to beat the Minnesota Twins, 11-5, on May 16th, unleashing a 17-hit attack that was highlighted by a six-run seventh inning. It was the Sox's first win (1-16) when trailing entering the seventh. The Red Sox (20-17) had gone 4-5 on their road trip, before returning home.

On May 19th, Dave Stewart took a pounding in a 10-5 Red Sox victory that wouldn't soon be forgotten. Stewart was tagged for 10 earned runs in 1 2/3 innings, during which he surrendered seven hits and five walks. It was a brutal beating for a man who had long dominated the Red Sox. Meanwhile, the Blue Jays could do little against righthander Danny Darwin (4-4), who left after seven innings with a 10-1 lead. 

In the first game of a Yankees-Red Sox revival, a 7-2 Sox win, with a standing-room-only crowd at Fenway Park on May 21st, rekindled feelings about the rivalry, that had become dormant because of a lack of competition. After Mo Vaughn's two-run homer in the seventh, followed by an Ivan Calderon triple, the fans had little to do while waiting for a pitching change. So they revived the old "Yankees suck!" chant that had been missing here for so long.

It featured the storybook return of Wade Boggs, who went 4 for 4 with a walk. Meanwhile, the Sox treated their fans to things they weren't accustomed to, the home run by Vaughn, ending an 87-inning Sox long-ball drought at Fenway; five stolen bases, including a theft of home by Calderon, who took off for the plate while Yankee lefthander Neal Heaton was throwing to first trying to keep Billy Hatcher close in the seventh; and a Tony Fossas pickoff of Mike Humphreys at second base.

The Red Sox and Roger Clemens were 7-3 losers to the New York Yankees on May 22nd. In his last nine starts at Fenway, Clemens was 1-7 with a 5.55 ERA. Mo Vaughn's two homers the next day inspired a 5-2 victory over the Yankees taking two of three games and ended their homestand at 3-3 against the Blue Jays and Yankees.

In Detroit on May 24th, the Sox took a 6-5 win over the Tigers in 10 innings. They squandered a 5-1 eighth-inning lead, but Bob Zupcic's double to left-center off Bob MacDonald scored Scott Cooper, who had tripled to center with two outs, with the winning run.

After losing two of three in Detroit, the Sox returned home and in a 4-1 victory over the Texas Rangers, with Roger Clemens on May 28th. He pitched hard and fast with a two-hit, 11-strikeout, eight-inning performance that ended his Fenway struggles dating back to August 1992. Most days, a 15-1 victory over the Texas Rangers would satisfy the appetites of the Fenway Faithful, but the next day on May 29th, Fenway Park offered a tasty dessert. Would you believe slugger Jose Canseco pitching against the Red Sox? It happened in the eighth inning, as Canseco allowed three runs on two hits and three walks.

On May 30th, thanks to a couple of guys deep in the batting order, catcher Bob Melvin and shortstop John Valentin and some ninth-inning wildness from Texas reliever Tom Henke, the Red Sox made it a three-game sweep of the Rangers, 6-5, on Valentin's 12th-inning double that scored Tony Pena.

The Sox were 14-14 for the month and were in fourth place, four games back.

The Sox then lost three straight to Kansas City, before Danny Darwin, with some bullpen help, shut out the White Sox in Chicago, 1-0, on June 4th. With the score tied in the ninth, Bob Melvin's single to center scored Ivan Calderon for the only Sox run.

The Sox lost the next two in Chicago and headed over to Cleveland. Untimely hitting, putrid defense and second-guessed managerial decisions were the bottom line in a 5-4 loss to the Indians on June 8th, who won on a walk-off single to right off Jeff Russell. The Red Sox had a 4-0 lead and Roger Clemens squandered it. They had a chance to win in the ninth but got a runner thrown out at the plate on a shallow fly to left. They had a chance to hold the Indians in the bottom of the ninth, but an error opened the floodgates and then a grounder on a slow, soaked infield got past a diving Mo Vaughn to set up the game-winning hit. The Sox, who had lost 6 of 7, were now .500 (28-28) for the first time in 1993.

After losing seven straight games, the Sox hammered out a 4-2 victory on June 13th at Fenway Park, as Clemens allowed six hits and struck out nine in eight innings. They salvaged the final game of a four-game series and stopped Baltimore's 10-game winning streak.

A 7-1 win over the Yankees on June 16th was only the third victory for the Red Sox in 15 games. In one of his worst days, Roger Clemens got knocked around on June 18th, losing 11-2 in Toronto. The next day he was put on the DL with a sore right elbow and a strained hip muscle.

By June 20th, the Sox ended a 1-6 road trip and were 13 games back (30-38). Ownership was on the phone with Whitey Herzog, asking if he'd like to manage the team. For the second time in less than a year, details could not be worked out and Hobson was kept on.

Billy Hatcher was the right person in the right place in the fourth inning of a rain-soaked game at Fenway on June 21st. His three-run homer gave the Sox the cushion they needed in an eventual 6-3 victory over the Minnesota Twins. It started a seven-game winning streak  and more importantly, gave life to an offense that lately hasn't been able to overpower anybody.

The next night on June 22nd, Mike Greenwell gave the Red Sox all the runs necessary in the first inning with a two-run homer, just his fifth of the season and first at Fenway Park since 1991. Greenwell also had a double in the eighth inning, as the Sox rolled to a 4-1 victory over the slumping Minnesota Twins.

AARON SELE

Rookie pitcher, Aaron Sele won his first game in the bigs without his best stuff on June 23rd. After the Red Sox' 3-1 victory over Minnesota was safely recorded in the books he admitted his curveball got him off the hook. He went seven full, and the only run the Twins got, came on a two-out error.

Just when fans thought it was safe to use their Red Sox season tickets to fire up the barbecue, the Sox were suddenly looking good. Five runs in the eighth inning led to an 8-2 win over Detroit on June 25th. Scott Fletcher and Billy Hatcher led the way with three hits apiece. Hatcher homered and had a double.

The 13-4 romp past the Tigers on June 26th was their fifth straight victory, the longest such streak in Hobson's short major league managerial career. Frank Viola didn't get the decision and normally, that wouldn't be a big deal. But Viola hadn't won a game since April 28th in Oakland, a span of 10 starts that had left him with a less-than-impressive 4-7 record.

Andre Dawson's home run, a 300-foot bloop to right field, might have been a harmless foul ball in many ballparks. Mike Greenwell's home run was quite the opposite, a 420-foot-plus drive into the centerfield bleachers. The Sox after sweeping the Detroit Tigers, following an 8-2 win on June 27th, now had a six-game winning streak, which made them the hottest team in baseball after the Baltimore Orioles, who had won six straight. They outscored the Tigers, 29-6, in the series, and moved out of last place in the American League in runs scored. They had 299 to Minnesota's 298.

The Sox became heart-stoppers, winning their seventh straight, when Scott Cooper hit a roller up the middle through a double-play-depth infield that scored two runs in the ninth to win the Red Sox's most dramatic game of the season, beating the Milwaukee Brewers on June 28th. It was only the second time this season the Sox had won while trailing in the ninth inning.

The Red Sox (38-39) shellacked the Brewers, 12-2, on June 30th, finishing up an 8-1 homestand on which they reduced the distance to first place in the American League East from thirteen games to nine.

Roger Clemens, who was on the 15-day disabled list, did not accompany the Red Sox on their charter flight to Seattle. Frank Viola was awful again in the first game at Seattle on July 2nd. But this time he got plenty of support in the five innings he worked but not much from the bullpen as the Red Sox barely held on for a 9-8 win at the Kingdome.

In a 6-5 victory over the Mariners on July 3rd, Andre Dawson ripped a solo home run in the ninth inning to assure the Red Sox of their 10th victory in 11 games. Scott Fletcher, Billy Hatcher and Mike Greenwell all came through in the clutch at various times. Fletcher scored twice and Hatcher once. Greenwell drove in a pair of runs with a double in the seventh inning. 

After being the victims of a Bosio no-hitter in April, the Sox got sweet revenge in a 6-0 rout of the Mariners on July 4th, which not only included the thrashing of Bosio but completed a Red Sox sweep in the Kingdome, last done in 1991.

Then in Anaheim, on the strength of four hits by Billy Hatcher, including a two-run homer in the ninth and a sacrifice fly scoring Bob Melvin with the winning run in the 11th, the Red Sox claimed their fifth straight victory and 12th in their last 13 games, 4-3, over the Angels on July 5th. The Sox had pulled within five games of American League East-leading Toronto, who lost their fifth straight. Boston had moved up eight games in the standings over the last two weeks.

Mo Vaughn went to work with a vengeance at the expense of another would-be phenom, rookie Todd Van Poppel. The first baseman's five-RBI performance propelled the Sox to an 11-9 victory over the Athletics in Oakland on July 8th. He drove in four runs in the first inning with one swing by smashing a shot over the fence in left-center for his team-high 13th homer of the season.

Aaron Sele pitched just five innings in Oakland on July 10th and needed relief help from veteran Greg Harris in a 5-0 victory over the A's. The Red Sox' 3-2 victory over the Oakland Athletics in the final game, which completed a 7-3 road trip left them in the thick of the American League East race. Scott Fletcher drove in the winning run in the seventh inning off loser Bobby Witt.

On July 10th, Aaron Sele shut out the A's, 5 to 0 on just four hits over fine innings. Greg Harris pitched four more scoreless innings to earn the save. Mike Greenwell (.306 BA) had three hits in the game.

In the finale on July 11th, the Sox scored a run in the seventh inning to break a 2-2 tie and won 3 to 2. Scott Fletcher's third hit of the game was the go-ahead single that scored Carlos Quintana.

The Sox had gone 7-3 on their second West Coast trip before the All-Star break and won 15 of 19, climbing to just three games back in the process. Once again, the Sox were the Kings of Boston.

At the All-Star Game in Baltimore, the American League Stars beat the National Leaguers, 9 to 3. The Sox's only representative, Scott Cooper, entered the game as a defensive replacement for Wade Boggs. He went 0 for 2, flying to left and striking out.

After the break on July 16th, Roger Clemens made his first start in 28 days and destroyed the Mariners, 5 to 3 at Fenway. He pitched six innings, allowed four hits and walked two batters. He threw 103 pitches, about 13 more than Butch Hobson and Rich Gale would have liked, but Clemens wanted to go at least six innings. His record improved to 97-33 after a Red Sox loss. It was the start of a ten-game winning streak against the visiting teams from the West Coast.

The Sox were in fifth place, but just two games behind Toronto when they beat the Mariners, 4 to 3 on July 17th. Mike Greenwell's baserunning, Bob Zupcic's two-run single in the seventh, and a dramatic save by Jeff Russell in the ninth won the game. Russell walked the bases loaded but got the final out on a grounder to Mo Vaughn, earning his 22nd save.

The next night on July 18th, they were down 6 to 5, but Billy Hatcher turned that deficit into a dramatic 7-6 victory with a two-out, two-run single to center that finished off a three-run eighth inning. Mike Greenwell was beaned by Randy Johnson in the first inning and it inspired the angry Sox to get vengeance.

The Angels were beaten, 8 to 6 on July 19th. Aaron Sele boosted his record to 3-0. The Sox squandered scoring opportunities for three innings and then unloaded. Carlos Quintana had three hits, as did Billy Hatcher (.322 BA). Since June 23rd, Hatcher was 36 for 84 in 20 games for a .429 BA.

It was the bottom of the ninth in a 1-1 game when Scott Cooper, who claims he has hit "maybe five or six" balls to the left-field corner in the last two years, slapped one there against Angels reliever Gene Nelson. Cooper had three hits and that last one triggered a rally that ended with a 2-1 walk-off win on July 20th.

Ernie Riles knocked in two runs with a long sacrifice fly and a home run the next night, July 21st, while Carlos Quintana took care of two more with a first-inning double as the Red Sox swept the series with the California Angels, 4-1, behind eight strong innings by Clemens (no walks, seven strikeouts) and Jeff Russell's 24th save.

The Red Sox continued with a 9-7 victory over the Oakland A's on July 22nd. Mo Vaughn was 4-for-4 and Scott Fletcher had three hits. The game featured six errors, four by the A's, who made just as many mental errors. The Sox took advantage of situations that they would have dropped the ball on three weeks ago.

On July 23rd, with one swing of the bat, Bob Zupcic converted Boston fans into "Zuppies" for the Sox' 8th straight win. And that same swing vaulted the Red Sox into first place for the first time since May 2nd, .0011 ahead of the Blue Jays (.5521 to .5510). Zupcic, who had come into the game to pinch-run for Andre Dawson in the eighth, belted a fastball from Goose Gossage off the left-center-field wall in the bottom of the 10th to give the Red Sox a 6-5 victory over the A's.

The Red Sox stayed in first place following a 5-3 win over the A's the next game on July 24th and had won their ninth straight. Luis Rivera hit a two-run homer in the fourth inning to give the Sox a 5-2 lead. Ernie Riles belted his fourth homer, the back end of consecutive blasts in the second inning with Scott Cooper, whose homer in the seventh was a two-run blast into the bleachers, 433 feet away.

The Sox completed their dismantling of their visitors for the West Coast when they beat them on July 25th. Mo Vaughn's grand slam propelled the Sox to an 8 -1 victory. Andre Dawson entered the game batting .400 with four runs scored and five runs batted in seven of his previous eight games. The Sox notched 25 wins in their last 30 games.

Hundreds stood outside Fenway Park when the team bus was about to carry the first-place Red Sox to the airport and on to Milwaukee. They cheered every player as he stepped onto the bus. It was a scene reserved for those pennant-winning years of 1967, 1975 and 1986, when fans waited at the airport and the ballpark for their beloved team to surface, just to get a glimpse and cheer.

When the Red Sox left for Milwaukee after taking an 8-1 win over the Oakland A's on July 25th, their 10th straight, it seemed the Green Monster was weeping. It had seen 30 Red Sox doubles smacked to various parts of the field during the homestand, many in its direction. It would miss the .316 average over the past 11 games and the eight homers. The whole town didn't want its team to leave.

After a 10-game winning streak at home, the Sox lost two straight in Milwaukee. They fell to third place, 1 1/2 games out of first. Faced with the dismal thought of a third straight loss to the last-place Brewers, the Red Sox rallied for four runs in the sixth inning and went on to an 8-4 victory on July 28th. Scott Cooper and John Flaherty each drove in a pair of runs to help them overcome a 3-2 deficit.

With home runs from Mo Vaughn, Billy Hatcher and Ernie Riles, the Sox bats simply overpowered the pesky Brewers in a 7-3 victory at County Stadium on July 29th. The Sox split the four-game series to stay 1 1/2 games behind front-running Toronto in the AL East.

On July 30th, Andre Dawson, making his debut at Oriole Park, drove in five runs in the first two innings to send the Sox to an 8-7 victory. The Red Sox (58-45) moved back to within a half-game of first place with the win. The Sox were on a 28-7 run.

The Sox started August by beating the Orioles, 2 to 1. Andre Dawson homered and both Mike Greenwell and Bob Zupcic banged out two hits. Jeff Russell earned his 28th save by striking out two in the last of the ninth inning.

Meanwhile, Roger Clemens was bitten on the hand when he stopped to check on an injured dog he saw lying on the side of the road. Tests on him were negative for rabies.

Aaron Sele continued to display the savvy of a poised veteran in leading the Red Sox to a 5-4 win over the Minnesota Twins at the Metrodome on August 4th. He became the 20th pitcher in Red Sox history to start a season 6-0, going 6 2/3 innings and allowing three runs on nine hits.

The Sox next beat the Twins, 2 to 1 on August 5th. Frank Viola (7-8) gave up just four hits to his former team. The Sox scored two runs in the seventh inning which started with a Bob Zupcic homer that tied the game.

Roger Clemens dropped to 9-8, getting shelled for three homers in four innings as Detroit pounded the Red Sox, 5-1 at Tiger Stadium on August 6th. Clemens claimed his hand was fine after the dog bite, but the bite of the Tigers was worse.

The Sox moved within one game of American League East leader Toronto, beating the Tigers, 4-1 and improving their record on this trip to 7-5, behind the four-hit pitching of Danny Darwin, who improved to 11-8. But with only four hits in the game on August 7th, the Sox were only hitting .199 over the last 12 games.

Back at home, the Sox were 62-49 at the start of their homestand in August and 35-15 at Fenway.

The Red Sox-Yankee Revival '93 began making brand new memories on August 10th with a 5-0 romp over the Bronx Bombers, who were held in check by lefthanders Frank Viola and Joe Hesketh. Sixth-inning homers by Mo Vaughn and John Valentin headed the attack. Viola left the game after six innings with elbow stiffness, which he has experienced periodically in his last four starts. 

Sportswriters and fans wondered if Tim Naehring would ever be healthy for an entire season. In spring training, he was again missing games, this time due to a sore shoulder. It turned out to be a torn shoulder muscle, and after having surgery, he was out of the lineup. During an extended rehab stint in Pawtucket, he hit .307 in 55 games, and he was brought back to the Sox.

In an 8-3 Yankee win the next night on August 11th, New York  pounded Sox pitching for 11 hits on a night when Roger Clemens was subpar again. The Red Sox lost the rubber game of this three-game Fenway Park series, 4-1 on August 12th.

The Red Sox reshuffled their lineup to produce 10 timely hits on behalf of Danny Darwin in a 5-3 win over the Toronto Blue Jays on August 13th. That congested the American League East even more as Toronto dropped into a first-place tie with the Yankees and the Sox climbed to within a game.

After losing the next three games, the Sox found themselves 4 1/2 games out of first, in third place. In games with the Yankees and Jays, the Sox were hitting .236 (38 for 161) and had won only twice. Ivan Calderon (.221 BA), who came to camp out of shape and with constant shoulder problems, was eventually released on August 17th.

On August 18th against the White Sox at Fenway Park, Danny Darwin (13-8) took a no-hit bid into the eighth inning. “I tried to talk to guys, but they wouldn’t talk to me,” Darwin said. “I went in the clubhouse after every inning. I’d just sit down, kick back and watch TV.” Dan Pasqua hit a ball deep to center out of the reach of Billy Hatcher, off the wall for a triple. That was the only blemish on his pitching log for the evening, a 5-0 one-hitter of the White Sox.

Every day, the Sox lineup was grossly overmatched by the nine guys on the other side. Heroic Sox pitchers were asked to make up the difference. The Red Sox needed a hitter. The Red Sox ranked ninth in American League hitting and no AL team had fewer homers than the Red Sox. On August 21st, outfielder Rob Deer was sent to the Sox from the Tigers.

There weren't a lot of happy faces around Fenway Park after the Red Sox went down to a 3-2 four-game series sweep at the hands of the Indians on August 22nd. It wasn't just losing for the fourth straight time, the Sox were playing their worst baseball of the year, at a time when they needed every victory. The Red Sox were 3-9 on the homestand and seemed totally out of sync.

The stopper of the team, Danny Darwin, pitched a complete game on August 24th and lost, 4-3, to the Rangers in Texas. A revised Red Sox lineup slammed 12 hits, but left eight men on base, five in scoring position, as they succumbed for the fifth straight time and eighth time in nine games. The next night, August 25th, they lost again and fell to 7 1/2 games behind and in 5th place.

Frank Viola stopped the fall with a 3-1 gem on August 26th in Texas. He gave up four hits in 7 1/3 innings while earning his ninth win.

On August 27th, Roger Clemens had finally risen to the occasion by beating the Royals, 5-0. It was a combined shutout by Roger, Greg Harris and Scott Bankhead. The Sox collected 11 hits and put the game away with four runs in the eighth, their most productive inning since July 30th against Baltimore. Clemens had held the opposition scoreless for the first time since May 11th vs. Baltimore.

The Red Sox won this series against the Kansas City Royals the next day on August 28th with one of their best pitching performances of the season. Five pitchers, foremost among them starter Aaron Sele, who struck out 10 in seven-plus innings, combined to propel the Red Sox to a 2-1 win in 11 innings at Kauffman Stadium.

August ended with an alarming trend as Clemens lost, 8-1, to the Texas Rangers at Fenway. His record fell below .500 to 10-11 and his ERA soared to 4.06. September started the same way, as the Sox fell to the Rangers, 9-7, in 12 innings on Sept 1st and plunged to 7 1/2 games behind first-place Toronto.

Their "September Song" had become a series of sour notes for Roger Clemens and the Red Sox, who left town losers of five straight games at Fenway Park after September 5th’s sobering 5-2 defeat by Kansas City. It was a sweep by the Royals and 6 of 7 games lost by the Sox. The Sox took their disappearing act on the road, with their ace struggling for consistency and victories, and their offense stuck in neutral with their recent home record abysmal.

On September 6th while pitching against the White Sox in Chicago, Aaron Sele was involved in one of baseball's more memorable fights. After two consecutive inside pitches, George Bell charged the mound. Sele, seeming to have a plan, did not move until Bell was feet from him, about to throw a punch. At the last second, he ducked to his left as Bell threw the punch, and Mo Vaughn, having rushed to the mound from first base, ran into Bell. Bell flipped backward, crashing to the ground as both of the benches emptied. When playing resumed, newcomer Rob Deer belted two home runs to give the Sox a 3 to 1 win.

The Red Sox beat Chicago again the next night on September 7th, 4 to 3. Ken Ryan came on in the ninth inning to save Danny Darwin who had given up two runs.

In Cleveland, Mike Greenwell pounced on the first pitch and singled to left, driving in Billy Hatcher for a 5-4 nightcap win and a doubleheader split on September 10th. The hit temporarily saved the Sox season. They were nearly dead after losing the mistake-filled opener, 7-4 when Roger Clemens was victimized by a thorough lack of support.

From September 7th thru September 19th, Tim Naehring put together a 13-game hitting streak where he batted .471 (24-for-51). Naehring's two-run single in the sixth inning erased a 4-3 deficit and sparked the Sox to a 6-4 victory over the Baltimore Orioles back at Fenway on September 13th. He began the weekend with a .174 average and was then at .309, and with three hits in four at-bats (including a double).

The confidence that was once Roger Clemens turned into rookie nervousness. He was pitching now like he did as a rookie, throwing 93-95 m.p.h., but with no idea where the ball is going. In his 300th major league start on September 15th, he won his first game in which he had not pitched six innings, earning a 6-5 decision over the Baltimore Orioles at Fenway. Clemens, 11-13 with a 4.46 ERA, lasted five innings, allowed six hits, five runs and three walks, hit a batter and committed a balk. After 95 pitches, he left because of elbow stiffness. Though speculation was that his slump was caused by elbow problems. In his last 11 starts, he was 2-7 with a 6.38 ERA.

There was the "Fan Stole the Game" incident on September 18th at Yankee Stadium. Sox rookie, Nate Minchey was making his second start. He allowed just one run in six innings, The story had a bizarre twist because Minchey could well have had a win. The Sox led, 3-1, with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Greg Harris having induced routine grounders to short from the first two batters. As he was throwing what could have been the final pitch, to Mike Stanley, a fan ran on the field. Stanley flied out to left field. Three outs and a win for Minchey? No, third-base umpire Tim Welke said he had called time when he’d seen the fan. The call was visible on video, but Harris hadn’t heard it. Given fresh life, Stanley singled, followed by another single, and walk, and a two-run single. The Yankees scored three runs in the bottom of the ninth and won the game, 4-3.

One problem the Sox were having was a sudden inability to score at Fenway Park, where they had lost five in a row. After being one of baseball's best home teams through July, the Sox had dropped to 39-29 at Fenway. They went 20-7 at home in July but only 11-16 in August and began September 4-7.

The Red Sox chase for the 1993 American League East title, which after a big surge hardly seemed like a chase at all, ended on September 24th. Mike Greenwell delivered the decisive hit in the Sox' 7-4 victory over the Minnesota Twins at Fenway Park. But the Toronto Blue Jays ended the Sox's chances, defeating the Yankees to mathematically eliminate the Sox.

The Sox never rebounded from an offseason in which they built character but fell short on talent. The Sox were just 6 1/2 games back entering September, and even though the bullpen disintegrated, their biggest mistake might have been standing pat at the trading deadline. They finished in fourth place with an 80-82 record.

Roger Clemens' season was hindered by elbow and groin problems and ended after in late September when he complained of a sore elbow. Clemens was under the microscope all season, as the media daily pondered the question, "What's Wrong with Roger?" He started 3-0 and was 7-5 when he threw 140 pitches to shut out Baltimore in early May. He then went on the disabled list with a groin problem and returned after the All-Star break to go 4-8 with a 5.44 ERA. He had only 160 strikeouts, for the first time under 200 Ks. He finished with an 11-14 record and a 4.46 ERA, the highest in his career. Nobody could explain how a three-time "Cy Young" Award winner, the most consistent pitcher in baseball, was suddenly unable to win.

Frank Viola won 11 games and lost 8. He started 4-0 but suffered ankle and elbow injuries. After a truncated mid-September start, Viola said his elbow was the worst it’s been this season. The Red Sox decided to shut him down. Shortly thereafter, he underwent surgery on his elbow, a procedure that was more complicated than surgeons expected. A phenomenal streak of durability ended when he injured his ankle in early May and had to miss a start for the first time in 11 years.  Despite it all, he finished with a decent 3.14 ERA.

Danny Darwin had arguably his best statistical season. He led the Sox staff with a 15-11 record. In a career-high 229.1 innings, he had a 3.26 ERA, an American League-leading 1.068 WHIP, and a career-high 5.7 WAR in 34 games, all starts.

Rookie Aaron Sele was 6–0 with a 2.72 ERA in his first eight starts. He was the third Red Sox rookie to ever win as many as his first six decisions. He had seven consecutive no-decisions in August and September, despite a 2.38 ERA in that span. He allowed three or fewer earned runs in all 18 starts and held opponents to a .237 BA. Despite making only 18 starts, he was selected as the American League Rookie Pitcher of the Year by The Sporting News and the Red Sox "Rookie of the Year". He finished 3rd in BBWAA AL Rookie of the Year voting and was named to the Major League Rookie All-Star team by Baseball Digest.

Jeff Russell worked out well, earning 33 saves before suffering an ankle injury at the end of August. His value was soon realized. With Russell gone, the bullpen amassed a 5.49 ERA with only five saves and eight blown opportunities.

Greg Harris' 80 appearances led the league. Not until his 23rd appearance of the season did he allow an inherited runner to score. He was an excellent middle reliever, but not a good closer. He blew four saves and had a 7.77 ERA in September/October. His record was 6-7 with a 3.77 ERA.

Rookie Ken Ryan pitched well in the early season, posting a 3.80 ERA, mostly as a setup man. He was sent to Pawtucket at the end of May, but it proved to be a short stay because he was recalled in late June. Upon his return, he retired 22 of the first 23 batters he faced. He earned three more wins before being sent down to Pawtucket again. After his recall by the Red Sox in August, he was able to post a 3-2 record with one save for the remainder of the season. He was 7-2, but the season ended with a stiff elbow and shoulder as a result of an almost continuous year of pitching.

Second baseman Scott Fletcher both overachieved, but during the early tailspin, when the Sox lost 16 of 19 games, Fletcher was on the disabled list.

The team benefited from an All-Star season by Mo Vaughn, who established himself as a force in the middle of the lineup. He raised his average to .297 with 29 home runs and 101 RBIs, finishing 18th in MVP voting.

After a long year of rehabilitation, Carlos Quintana returned to the diamond in 1993, but it was Fenway’s legendary right field that he called home after Vaughn became a fixture at first base. The combined effects of the injury and a year away yielded Quintana’s least successful season as a regular player. He batted .244 and knocked out only 74 hits in 101 games. He was haunted by a lack of power (six extra-base hits), a death knell for a right-handed hitter who cannot take advantage of the Green Monster to generate doubles.

Although the season was an underwhelming one for the Red Sox, it was Billy Hatcher’s second-best statistically, finishing with a .287 batting average.

Mike Greenwell had surgery on his right elbow to repair ligament damage and also had arthroscopic surgery on his right knee. He bounced back to have another outstanding offensive year, batting .315, smacking 13 home runs and 38 doubles, and he drove in 72 runs.

Bob Zupcic basically served as a backup, with Greenwell playing more in left, Hatcher more in center, and Quintana more in right. Even so, he got into 141 games and had 286 at-bats (a shade over two a game). He hit .241 (.308 OBP), with two homers and 26 RBIs.

With Wade Boggs gone, Scott Cooper became the Sox thirdbaseman. He started nicely, with five RBIs in his first three games, including a stretch of four consecutive RBI base hits. He made the most of the opportunity and, despite getting beaned and then hit on the right wrist, he kept on playing. He was named the lone Red Sox representative to the 1993 All-Star Game. By the end of the season, Cooper had a .279 batting average and had driven in 63 runs, both statistics placing him in the middle of the pack on that year’s team.

Andre Dawson brought class and character to the team, but his knees betrayed him. He had surgery in early May and missed 21 days. He was hitting .208 in mid-June, but then began a steady rise that resulted in a .306 average after the All-Star break.

Bob Melvin batted .222 in 77 games while backing up veteran Tony Pena who only had a .181 batting average in 126 games. Infielder Ernie Riles ended his major league career batting .189 in 94 games, and Rob Deer hit .196 in 38 games.

Outfielder Jeff McNeely played in 21 games, the only ones he played in the majors. He batted .297 in 37 plate appearances.