2003 Boston Red Sox season
The 2003 Boston Red Sox season was the 103rd season in the franchise's Major League Baseball history. The Red Sox finished second in the American League East with a record of 95 wins and 67 losses, six games behind the New York Yankees, who went on to win the AL championship. The Red Sox qualified for the postseason as the AL wild card, and defeated the American League West champion Oakland Athletics in the ALDS. The Red Sox then lost to the Yankees in the ALCS.
The Red Sox led the major leagues in nearly all offensive categories, including runs scored (961), batting average (.289), on-base percentage (.360), and perhaps most impressively, a .491 team slugging percentage, which set a new record previously held by the 1927 Yankees. It would stand until the 2019 season when the Astros (.495) and Twins (.494) both surpassed them.[1] They also had 649 extra-base hits, the most ever by one team in a single season.[2][3]
In May 2003, the Red Sox settled a lawsuit in federal court filed by seven men who claimed to have been sexually abused as boys by Red Sox clubhouse attendant Donald James Fitzpatrick at the team's spring training site in Winter Haven, Florida between 1971 and 1991. The lawsuit requested $3.15 million in damages but the terms of the settlement were not disclosed.[4]
This was the first season with designated hitter David Ortiz, as he signed a contract for the Red Sox during the offseason. He would stay with the Red Sox until his retirement in 2016.
The Search for a new General Manager[edit]
Lucchino initially attempted to hire J. P. Ricciardi, the general manager of the Blue Jays, but Ricciardi rejected the offer and instead signed a long-term contract with the Blue Jays.[5]
On November 10, 2002, Oakland Athletics General Manager, Billy Beane, accepted an offer to become the new general manager of the Red Sox.[6] Beane had for several years publicly expressed his interest in joining the Red Sox, and his contract with Oakland included a stipulation that would allow Beane to consider an offer from the Red Sox.[6] Beane had yet to sign the contract with the Red Sox, a contract in which he would be guaranteed $12.5 million over five years, the most anyone had been given to run a baseball team.[7] The following day, however, Beane shocked the Red Sox when he declared that he would not accept their offer; the move to Boston would limit the amount of time that Beane would have to spend with his daughter.[6]
On November 25, 2002, Theo Epstein, 28, was hired as general manager of the Boston Red Sox.[8] Epstein's hiring made him the youngest general manager in major league history.[8]