2021 Boston Red Sox season
Professional sports season in Major League Baseball / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The 2021 Boston Red Sox season was the 121st season in the team's history, and their 110th season at Fenway Park. The team entered the offseason conducting a managerial search, after declining to bring back Ron Roenicke from the shortened 2020 season.[2] On November 6, 2020, the team re-hired Alex Cora as manager; Cora had skippered the Red Sox in 2018 and 2019, then sat out 2020 serving a one-year suspension for his role in the Houston Astros sign stealing scandal in 2017.[3]
2021 Boston Red Sox | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
American League Wild Card Winners | ||||
League | American League | |||
Division | East | |||
Ballpark | Fenway Park | |||
City | Boston | |||
Record | 92–70 (.568) | |||
Divisional place | 2nd (8 GB) | |||
Owners | John W. Henry (Fenway Sports Group) | |||
President | Sam Kennedy | |||
Chief baseball officer | Chaim Bloom | |||
General manager | Brian O'Halloran | |||
Manager | Alex Cora | |||
Television | NESN: Dave O'Brien (play-by-play) with Jerry Remy, Dennis Eckersley, and Ellis Burks (color)[lower-alpha 1] | |||
Radio | WEEI-FM / Boston Red Sox Radio Network: Joe Castiglione with Will Flemming, Sean McDonough and Lou Merloni | |||
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This was the Red Sox' first season since 2019 with fans at Fenway Park, with a limited capacity of approximately 4,500 to start the season due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.[4] The capacity was increased to approximately 9,400 for games after May 10.[5] Fenway returned to full capacity starting May 29,[6] with an announced attendance of 25,089 at that day's game.[7] The first home sellout of the season was the June 25 game against the New York Yankees, with an announced attendance of 36,869.[8]
On June 4–6, the Red Sox swept a three-game series against the rival Yankees at Yankee Stadium for the first time since June 2011.[9] On June 13, the Toronto Blue Jays set a single-game record for home runs by a visiting team at Fenway Park, with eight.[10] In early July, the Red Sox led MLB with five players selected to the All-Star Game.[11] Beginning in late August, the team had a spate of positive COVID-19 testing, resulting in more than 10 players being placed on the COVID-related injured list.[12][13]
The Red Sox finished the regular season with a 92–70 record and qualified for the postseason as the fourth seed in the American League (AL),[14] defeating the fifth-seed Yankees in the AL Wild Card Game at Fenway Park on October 5.[15] They then defeated the Tampa Bay Rays in the AL Division Series, 3–1 games.[16] The Red Sox lost to the Houston Astros in the best-of-seven AL Championship Series in six games.[17]