Highlights The Red Sox set a major league record, which still stands, for the most times grounding into a
double play during a season, 174. On June 6, the Red Sox got a measure of retribution for
Bucky Dent's home run in the
1978 American League East tie-breaker game. While in Boston for a four-game series, the
New York Yankees fired Dent as their manager. The Red Sox had just defeated the Yankees in the first two games of the series, giving the Yankees an 18–31 record,
games behind the first-place Red Sox. The firing made
Fenway Park arguably the scene of Dent's best moment as a player and worst moment as manager. Although the Red Sox got retribution for Dent's home run, they, along with the Yankees, were shaken to the core by the firing and called it an outrage and blasted Yankees owner
George Steinbrenner for firing Dent—his 18th managerial change in as many years—in Boston. Shaughnessy noted, "if Dent had been fired in Seattle or Milwaukee, this would have been just another event in an endless line of George's jettisons. But it happened in Boston and the nightly news had its hook." However, Yankees television analyst
Tony Kubek blasted at Steinbrenner for the firing in a harsh, angry way. At the beginning of the broadcast of the game on
MSG Network, he said to Yankees television play-by-play announcer
Dewayne Staats, "George Steinbrenner...mishandled this. You don't take a Bucky Dent (at) the site of one of the greatest home runs in Yankee history and fire him and make it a media circus for the Boston Red Sox." He then stared defiantly on camera and said to Steinbrenner, "You don't do it by telephone, either, George. You do it face to face, eyeball to eyeball...If you really are a winner, you should not have handled this like a loser." He then said that "What all this does, it just wrecks George Steinbrenner's credibility with his players, with the front office and in baseball more than it already is–if that's possible. It was just mishandled." • June 4, 1990:
Les Norman was selected by the Red Sox in the 26th round of the
1990 MLB draft, but did not sign. • June 5, 1990:
Bill Buckner was released by the Red Sox. • June 8, 1990:
Rich Gedman was sent to the
Houston Astros as part of a conditional deal. • August 23, 1990:
Cecilio Guante signed as a free agent with the Red Sox. • August 30, 1990: The Red Sox traded
Jeff Bagwell to the Houston Astros for
Larry Andersen.
Opening Day lineup Source:
Red Sox debuts Alumni game The team held an
old-timers game on May 19, before a scheduled home game against the
Minnesota Twins. Red Sox alumni pitchers
Bill Lee,
Bill Monbouquette, and
Dick Radatz allowed just one hit (to former
Detroit Tiger Willie Horton) in the four-inning game, as Boston won by a 2–0 score over a team of MLB alumni from other clubs.
Roster Game log ==Player stats==