70 Fun Facts About Boston Red Sox

Fenway Park has been the Red Sox's home since which year?

It is the oldest active ballpark in the majors, and its opening was overshadowed in the papers by the sinking of the Titanic five days earlier.

Before adopting the name Red Sox in 1908, what were the Boston American League club most commonly called?

For seven seasons they wore dark blue stockings and had no official nickname; owner John I. Taylor said 'Pilgrims' sounded like homeless wanderers.

How many World Series championships have the Red Sox won?

That ties them for third-most of any club; they have played in thirteen Series.

Boston won the very first World Series in 1903 against which team?

The best-of-nine series went five games to three, helped by the Royal Rooters chanting a modified 'Tessie'.

Which pitcher won the pitching Triple Crown for Boston in 1901 and holds the all-time record of 511 wins?

He threw a perfect game for Boston in 1904, and the annual pitching award was created in his name in 1956.

On 26 December 1919, the Red Sox sold which player to the New York Yankees?

He had just broken the single-season home run record with 29; Boston would not win another title for 86 years.

Legend says owner Harry Frazee sold his star slugger to the Yankees to finance which Broadway musical?

The musical did not open until 1925, though it grew out of a 1919 play, My Lady Friends, that the sale did help finance.

The 'Curse of the Bambino' only entered common use after which sportswriter's 1990 book of that name?

A 'Reverse Curve' road sign on Longfellow Bridge was graffitied to read 'Reverse The Curse' and left up until 2004.

Who bought the Red Sox in 1933 and owned them for over four decades?

The street outside Fenway was renamed for him in 1977 and changed back to Jersey Street in 2018 because of his record on race.

Ted Williams hit .406 in 1941; what is that figure's significance?

He also refused to sit out the last day to protect the mark, going 6-for-8 in a doubleheader.

Ted Williams missed most of the 1952 and 1953 seasons serving as what?

He had already lost three seasons to World War II service and still finished with 521 home runs.

What did Ted Williams do in his final major-league at-bat in 1960?

John Updike immortalised the moment in his essay 'Hub Fans Bid Kid Adieu'.

What does the lone red seat in the right-field bleachers at Section 42 mark?

Ted Williams hit it in 1946, and the ball went through the straw hat of a fan named Joseph Boucher.

The Red Sox were the last major-league team to field a Black player, promoting whom in 1959?

The club had worked out Jackie Robinson at Fenway in 1945 but the owner did not want to sign him.

Carl Yastrzemski's 1967 Triple Crown was the last in the majors until which player repeated the feat in 2012?

Yaz hit .326 with 44 homers and 121 RBI and won the MVP as the 'Impossible Dream' Red Sox took the pennant.

Yastrzemski was the first AL member of the 3,000-hit club to also reach how many home runs?

He spent all 23 seasons in Boston and was the first Little Leaguer ever inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Whose 12th-inning home run off the left-field foul pole won Game 6 of the 1975 World Series?

He was filmed waving his arms to keep the ball fair; the Reds still won Game 7 and Fisk later joked 'we won that thing 3 games to 4'.

Which Yankees shortstop's three-run homer over the Green Monster beat Boston in the 1978 tiebreaker?

Boston fans gave him a profane middle name; the Yankees later fired him as manager during a series at Fenway in 1990.

Roger Clemens first struck out 20 batters in a nine-inning game in 1986 against which team?

He did it again against Detroit in 1996, his last season in Boston, and went 24-4 in 1986 to win both the Cy Young and MVP.

Whose slow ground ball rolled through Bill Buckner's legs to end Game 6 of the 1986 World Series?

Many, including Wilson himself, thought he would have beaten the throw anyway; the Mets won Game 7 two days later.

Bill Buckner had earlier led the National League in hitting with which club in 1980?

His .324 season is often forgotten; Red Sox fans finally welcomed him back after the 2004 title.

Which general manager, hired in 2002 at age 28, became the youngest GM in MLB history?

He grew up in Brookline, went to Yale and had won two titles by the time he left for the Cubs.

Pedro Martínez arrived in Boston in a 1998 trade with which team?

Boston gave up Carl Pavano and Tony Armas Jr. and got three award-calibre seasons in return.

Which Pedro Martínez number did the Red Sox retire two days after his 2015 induction?

He was the second Dominican enshrined in Cooperstown, after Juan Marichal.

'Big Papi' came to Boston in 2003 after parts of six seasons with which team?

He retired with 541 home runs and eleven regular-season walk-off homers, and reached the Hall of Fame in 2022.

Whose ninth-inning stolen base in Game 4 of the 2004 ALCS sparked the Red Sox comeback?

Bill Mueller's single scored him, and Boston became the first MLB team ever to win a series after trailing 3-0.

Which pitcher won Game 6 of the 2004 ALCS with sutures in his ankle bleeding through his sock?

He did it again in Game 2 of the World Series; the 'bloody sock' became instant lore.

Which two players coined the nickname 'the Idiots' for the 2004 Red Sox?

It described the team's eclectic roster and devil-may-care attitude toward the supposed curse.

Whom did the Red Sox sweep in the 2004 World Series to end the 86-year drought?

Boston never trailed in the series, and Manny Ramírez was named MVP.

Whom did the Red Sox sweep in the 2007 World Series?

It remains that franchise's only World Series appearance; rookie Dustin Pedroia won Rookie of the Year that season.

Dustin Pedroia was hitting below .200 in April 2007; manager Terry Francona kept him in and he won what?

He finished at .317 with 165 hits and won the AL MVP the following year.

The 2013 champions wore a 'B Strong' patch in memory of the victims of what?

Neil Diamond himself led 'Sweet Caroline' at Fenway days after the April 15 attack.

Who was named MVP of the 2013 World Series against the Cardinals?

He hit .688 in the series; the clincher at Fenway was the first title won on home turf there since 1918.

How many regular-season games did the record-setting 2018 Red Sox win?

That broke the club record of 105 set by the 1912 team.

Who was the first Puerto Rican manager to win a World Series, with the 2018 champions?

His counterpart in the Dodgers dugout, Dave Roberts, had been his teammate in Los Angeles.

Game 3 of the 2018 World Series at Dodger Stadium set a record by lasting how many innings?

It was matched in 2025; Boston still won the series in five games.

In 2018 Mookie Betts was the first to win MVP, Silver Slugger, Gold Glove, World Series and what else in one season?

He was traded to the Dodgers in 2020, and once bowled a perfect game in the World Series of Bowling.

How many consecutive home games did the Red Sox sell out from 2003 to 2013, a pro sports record?

794 of them were regular-season games.

Which English football club shares an owner, Fenway Sports Group, with the Red Sox?

The group also owns the Pittsburgh Penguins and part of a NASCAR team.

Which Neil Diamond song has played mid-eighth inning at every Fenway game since 2002?

The Standells' 'Dirty Water' is the other Red Sox anthem, played after wins.

In what year was the Green Monster first painted green?

Before that the wall was covered in advertisements, and it was simply called 'the wall' for most of its life.

What happens if a batted ball goes through a hole in Fenway's manual scoreboard?

The inside of the Green Monster is covered in players' signatures.

Pesky's Pole, on Fenway's right-field line, is named after Johnny Pesky, who was what kind of hitter?

He hit just six homers at Fenway; teammate Mel Parnell named the pole after one that won him a game.

Fenway's right-field foul line, at roughly 302 feet, is what?

Pesky himself reckoned it was 'around 295 feet'.

From 1912 to 1933, the incline before the left-field wall was nicknamed after which Boston left fielder?

Tom Yawkey had the ground flattened in 1934, the same year the wall got its concrete and its scoreboard.

Terrace-style 'Monster Seats' were added on top of the Green Monster in which year?

For most of the wall's history it was simply called 'the wall'.

Wally the Green Monster, the Red Sox mascot, first appeared in which year?

His backstory is that he had been living inside the left-field wall for years and finally came out.

Fenway Park was added to the National Register of Historic Places in its centennial year; which year?

Renovations completed around then are expected to keep the park usable until at least 2062.

Who won the 1912 World Series with a 105-win Red Sox team anchored by pitcher Smoky Joe Wood?

Boston beat them 4-3-1 in a series remembered for the Giants' 'Snodgrass's Muff'.

Whose 'mad dash' from first base on a single won the 1946 World Series for the Cardinals over Boston?

Boston's manager had also used the 'Williams Shift', moving the shortstop to the right side against Ted Williams.

Which Red Sox slugger became the youngest player ever to hit his 100th home run?

'Tony C' had his career derailed by a 1967 beaning; his record still stands.

Ted Williams was nicknamed all of these EXCEPT which?

'The Rocket' was Roger Clemens; Williams was also 'Teddy Ballgame'.

Whom did the Red Sox trade at the 2004 deadline, sending the star shortstop to the Cubs?

Orlando Cabrera and Doug Mientkiewicz came back in the deal, and Boston won the title three months later.

Whom did Boston sign after the 2000 season to an eight-year, $160 million contract?

He was traded to the Dodgers in a 2008 three-way deal that brought Jason Bay to Boston.

The catcher who later waved his 1975 homer fair holds which distinction from his 1972 debut season?

He later set the record for most games caught, since passed by the other 'Pudge', Iván Rodríguez.

Ted Williams retired with how many career home runs?

His .344 career average and 1.116 OPS rank among the best ever, despite five seasons lost to war service.

What did Yankees fans begin chanting at the Red Sox in 1990 as a taunt?

The year of Boston's last title before the drought echoed at Yankee Stadium every time the Red Sox visited.

Besides Liverpool, which NHL franchise does the Red Sox's owner Fenway Sports Group also own?

The group also partially owns RFK Racing in the NASCAR Cup Series.

Where did Boston's American League club play its home games before moving to Fenway Park?

The franchise finished second in 1901 and third in 1902 there, led by manager Jimmy Collins and pitcher Cy Young.

The 'Impossible Dream' slogan for the 1967 season came from a hit song in which musical?

Four teams were in the AL pennant race until almost the final game of one of baseball's great seasons.

Which owner proposed in December 1907 that the Boston Americans be renamed the Red Sox?

He had bought the club in 1904; the name refers to the red hose worn from 1908 after the National League team dropped the colour.

Which defensive tactic was partly blamed for Boston losing the 1946 World Series in seven games?

The shortstop moved to the right side of the infield to frustrate the left-handed-hitting Ted Williams.

How did GM Dan Duquette describe Fenway Park in 1999 while pushing for a new stadium?

The push failed; new owners instead added Monster Seats in 2003 and the park made the National Register in 2012.

Whose challenge to his teammates gave the 2003 Red Sox the nickname the 'Cowboy Up' team?

That team rallied from 0–2 down to beat Oakland in the Division Series before the Aaron Boone heartbreak.

What did Bill Lee call the slow curve Tony Pérez hit out of Fenway in Game 7 of the 1975 Series?

Boston had led 3–0 before the Reds came back to win 4–3.

How many games did Boston lose in 1906 on the way to a last-place finish?

The name change to Red Sox came the following year, and Tris Speaker soon anchored a rebound.

How much did Boston bid in 2006 for the right to negotiate with Japanese pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka?

They then signed him to a six-year, $52 million contract for the 2007 title season.

For roughly how much did Harry Frazee buy the Red Sox from Joseph Lannin in 1916?

Ruth led the team to the 1918 title under Frazee, who sold him to New York a year later.

Which closer did Boston trade to Seattle in 1997 for Jason Varitek and Derek Lowe?

Months later the Sox sent Tony Armas Jr. and Carl Pavano to Montreal for Pedro Martínez.

Which club joined the Red Sox and Yankees in the 'Insurrectos' faction in the 1919 Carl Mays row?

League president Ban Johnson and the other five clubs, the 'Loyal Five', stood against them.