The 1908 Boston Red Sox season was the eighth season for the

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

franchise previously known as the Boston Americans. The

Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

finished fifth in the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

(AL) with a record of 75 wins and 79 losses,

games behind In most North American sports, the phrase games behind or games back (often abbreviated GB) is a common way to reflect the gap between a leading team and another team in a sports league, conference, or division. Example In the below standings fr ...

the Detroit Tigers. The team played its home games at Huntington Avenue Grounds.

Regular season

Prior to the regular season, the team held spring training in

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. * April 14: The regular season opens with a 3–1 home win over the Washington Senators. * May 18: The team's longest losing streak of the season, seven games, ends with a home win over the

Cleveland Naps The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive ...

. * May 28: The team's longest winning streak of the season, five games, ends with a home loss to the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...

. * May 31:

Jesse Tannehill Jesse Niles Tannehill (July 14, 1874 – September 22, 1956) was a dead-ball era left-handed pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds, Pittsburgh Pirates, New York Highlanders, Boston Red Sox, and the Washington Senators. Tannehill was among the best pit ...

was traded by the Red Sox to the Washington Senators for Casey Patten. * June 30:

Cy Young Denton True "Cy" Young (March 29, 1867 – November 4, 1955) was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher. Born in Gilmore, Ohio, he worked on his family's farm as a youth before starting his professional baseball career. Young entered th ...

throws a no-hitter against the

New York Highlanders The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one o ...

Hilltop Park Hilltop Park was the nickname of a baseball park that stood in the Washington Heights neighborhood of New York City. It was the home of the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball from 1903 to 1912, when they were known as the "Highlanders". I ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

; at the plate, Young has three hits and four RBIs. * August 6: In their longest game of the season, the Americans lose to the White Sox, 2–1 in 13 innings at

South Side Park South Side Park was the name used for three different baseball parks that formerly stood in Chicago, Illinois, at different times, and whose sites were all just a few blocks away from each other. South Side Park I (1884) The first South Side ...

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. * August 27:

Deacon McGuire James Thomas "Deacon" McGuire (November 18, 1863 – October 31, 1936) was an American professional baseball player, manager and coach whose career spanned the years 1883 to 1915. He played 26 seasons in Major League Baseball, principally as a ca ...

manages his final games for the team, losing both ends of a doubleheader to the

St. Louis Browns The St. Louis Browns were a Major League Baseball team that originated in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as the Milwaukee Brewers. A charter member of the American League (AL), the Brewers moved to St. Louis, Missouri, after the 1901 season, where they p ...

, dropping the team's record to 53–62. * August 28:

Fred Lake Frederick Lovett Lake (October 16, 1866 – November 24, 1931) was a Canadian professional baseball catcher and Major League manager for Boston American and National leagues teams in the early 20th century. Lake hailed from Cornwallis Township, ...

manages his first game, a 3–1 win over St. Louis. Under Lake, the team goes 22–17 through the end of the season. * September 18: The franchise is no-hit for the first time in its history, by

Bob Rhoads Barton Emory (Bob) Rhoads (October 4, 1879 – February 12, 1967), nicknamed "Dusty", was a major league pitcher for the Chicago Orphans, Cleveland Naps, and St. Louis Cardinals in the early 20th century. His best year was in 1906, when he ...

of Cleveland in a road game played at League Park. * October 5: The regular season ends with home doubleheader against the Philadelphia Athletics; Boston wins the first game, 10–1, then loses the second game, 5–3 in eight innings.

Statistical leaders

The offense was led by

Doc Gessler Henry Homer "Doc" Gessler (December 23, 1880 – December 27, 1924) was a Major League Baseball player born in Indiana, Pennsylvania, who began his eight-season career, at the age of 22, with the Detroit Tigers in . He played mainly as a right fie ...

who had 63 RBIs, three

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

s, and a .308

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

. The pitching staff was led by

, who made 36 appearances (33 starts) and pitched 30 complete games with a 21–11 record and 1.26 earned run average, ERA, while striking out 150 in 299 innings. Cy Morgan had a 14–13 record with 2.46 ERA in 30 games (26 starts). Smoky Joe Wood, who would go on to win 34 games in 1912 Boston Red Sox season, 1912, made his major league debut on August 24.

Season standings

The team had one game end in a tie; September 28 at

. Tie games are not counted in league standings, but player statistics during tie games are counted.

Record vs. opponents

Opening Day lineup

Source:

Roster

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''

Other batters

''Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in''

Pitching

Starting pitchers

''Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts''

Other pitchers