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1990 Boston Red Sox

1990 ALCS: Oakland Sweeps Boston Again

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For the second time in three years, the Oakland A’s met the Boston Red Sox in the American League Championship Series. The result of 1990 was the same as 1988—not only did Oakland win, but they did it in four straight.

You can read more about the regular season paths of the A’s and Red Sox at the links below and about the key players who shaped their success. This article will focus on the events of the 1990 ALCS.

READ MORE ABOUT THE 1990 OAKLAND A’S
READ MORE ABOUT THE 1990 BOSTON RED SOX

Homefield advantage was done by rotation rather than merit, so in spite of Oakland’s dominant 99-win campaign, Fenway Park was the venue for Saturday night’s Game 1. And there was a marquee pitching matchup awaiting the prime-time audience. The A’s sent Dave Stewart to face the Red Sox’ Roger Clemens. Both were 20-game winners in 1990.

The game went according to script, as Stewart and Clemens were in control. Boston got on the board first when Wade Boggs hit a solo blast over the Green Monster in the fourth inning. Oakland threatened in the sixth when Clemens walked the first two batters, before a line drive double play off the bat of Harold Baines killed the threat. It was still a 1-0 game going into the seventh inning when Larry Andersen came on in relief of Clemens.

Andersen promptly walked Mark McGwire. A one-out single by Jamie Quirk put runners on the corners and a sac fly from AL MVP Rickey Henderson tied the game. Boston manager Joe Morgan tried another reliever, Tom Bolton in the eighth. He gave up a leadoff single to Jose Canseco, who was bunted to second, stole third and scored on Carney Lansford’s single to right. The A’s had manufactured a 2-1 lead. In the ninth, facing another reliever in Jeff Gray, Oakland unloaded for seven runs and the final score was a deceptive 9-1.

There was now a big dropoff in the Red Sox rotation. Dana Kiecker had a nice year in 1990 with a 3.97 ERA, but having him in a must-win spot wasn’t anything Boston fans would have wanted. Oakland just rolled out another ace. This time it was Bob Welch, who merely won 27 games in 1990 and captured the AL Cy Young Award.

The Red Sox threatened in the second before Tony Pena grounded into a double play. They threatened again in the third when Luis Rivera hit a leadoff double. This time productive outs brought the run around and Boston again had a 1-0 lead.

It only took until the fourth inning for the A’s to respond on Sunday night. Wille McGee ripped a leadoff double and scored on a Baines single. In the sixth, they peppered away at Kiecker for four straight singles, but another Baines double-play ball was mixed in there. Reliever Greg Harris was able to escape the inning with no damage. The Red Sox missed their own opportunity in the bottom of the frame when they loaded the bases with two outs, but Tom Brunansky grounded out.

The combination of the seventh inning and Larry Andersen did Boston in again. Although to be fair, the reliever did come on after Mike Gallego and Rickey Henderson had started the inning with singles. Oakland pushed across the lead run. The Red Sox looked ready to answer in the bottom of the eighth when Boggs and Ellis Burks singled with one out. Oakland manager Tony LaRussa played matchups—he used lefty reliever Rick Honeycutt to get Boston’s talented leftfielder Mike Greenwell. Then the manager went to closer Dennis Eckersley to strike out Dwight Evans and preserve the 2-1 lead.

The A’s again used the ninth to get some insurance. After McGee bunted his way on and Canseco walked, Baines doubled to right, McGwire singled to left and the score was 4-1. Eckersley made it stand up. Oakland was going home with 2-0 series lead.

On a Tuesday afternoon in Oakland, the A’s sent Mike Moore to the mound to face the Red Sox’ Mike Boddicker. In the top of the second, Greenwell worked a one-out walk, Evans singled and Brunansky drove in the run with a sac fly. Boston again led 1-0, but given the results thus far, Red Sox Nation could be forgiven if there was any lack of excitement over an early lead.

The pattern of Oakland comebacks continued. Canseco led off the fourth with a walk and Baines singled. McGwire struck out, but a successful double-steal on the third strike had the A’s in business. Dave Henderson tied the game with a sac fly and Willie Randolph delivered a two-out single to make it 2-1.

That was all Moore was going to need, although Boston generously gave up more in the sixth, with two errors and a hit batsman creating two runs and a 4-1 lead. Moore worked into the eighth until the Red Sox put two men aboard and brought Greenwell to the plate as the tying run. LaRussa again went to Honeycutt for the lefty-lefty matchup and again Honeycutt delivered. Eckersley again closed it out. And again, Oakland beat Boston in a postseason game.

Clemens and Stewart came back on short rest for Game 4 the following afternoon, but the Red Sox ace didn’t last long. In the bottom of the second, Lansford singled with one out. Terry Steinbach singled to left and a Greenwell throwing error put the runners on second and third. McGwire’s groundball out drove in the run. Clemens was in position to get out of it, but when he walked Willie Randolph, the pitcher lost his cool at home plate umpire Terry Cooney and got himself ejected.

With the Red Sox in the pen surprisingly early, light-hitting Mike Gallego ripped a two-out double that made it 3-0. The Boston relief corps did its job the rest of the way, and Oakland never scored again. But Stewart was simply unhittable. He carried the shutout into the ninth inning before a Burks double and Jody Reed single cut the lead to 3-1 and gave the Red Sox three shots with the tying run at the plate.

Honeycutt came on and promptly got Wade Boggs to ground into a double play. Another groundball out from Greenwell ended the series. Oakland had its third consecutive American League pennant.

Stewart’s two dominant starts made him an easy choice for 1990 ALCS MVP. Oakland also showcased the versatility in its lineup—even though McGwire and Canseco only combined for four hits, they also combined for eight walks. And other bats could do the damage, notably Lansford, who went 7-for-16, along with Baines and Steinbach who had five hits apiece in the four games.

For both teams, this series marked the ending of an era. Boston had won the AL East three times over the previous five years, but this core group of players would not return to October. It wasn’t until 1995, after some roster makeover and a realignment that created three divisions per league, that the Red Sox again won their division.

Oakland’s era ending was much more surprising. The A’s were the toast of baseball and the odds-on favorite to win a second straight World Series title. No one could have guessed that they had won for the last time in 1990—the Cincinnati Reds delivered a stunning sweep in the Fall Classic. Oakland lost their hold on the AL West in 1991, and while they returned to postseason play in ‘92, the franchise has not been back to the World Series since 1990.

How The 1990 Boston Red Sox Won The AL East

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The five years from 1986-90 were good for baseball fans in New England, at least by pre-2004 standards. The 1990 Boston Red Sox continued a pattern of even-year magic—the franchise won the AL pennant in 1986, took another AL East title in 1988 and grabbed another division crown in 1990.

Late 1980s Boston Red Sox

Roger Clemens was the biggest reason why. The Rocket’s 1.93 ERA was easily the American League’s best. He won 21 games and finished second in the Cy Young voting. Clemens might have won the award and arguably should have, given his ERA. But the 27-win season posted by Bob Welch in Oakland was too much to ignore.

The rest of the team was well-balanced. There were no obvious stars—Wade Boggs was still a solid player and finished with a .386 on-base percentage, although for this season, centerfielder Ellis Burks was the better all-around player–.349 OBP, .486 slugging percentage, 21 home runs and a Gold Glove. Jody Reed finished with a .371 OBP at second base.

Mike Greenwell wasn’t at his 1988 runner-up MVP level anymore, but the leftfielder was a still a productive offensive threat. Dwight Evans was 38-years-old, had lost his power and relegated to the DH role, but could still get on base. On the other end of the age spectrum, Carlos Quintana finished with a .354 OBP at the age of 24.

The big free-agent acquisition was closer Jeff Reardon away from Minnesota. Reardon was good, but of perhaps more significance is that he made Lee Smith expendable. The Red Sox traded their incumbent closer to St. Louis in exchange for rightfielder Tom Brunansky. The move strengthened the outfield and Brunansky would play his best baseball at this season’s biggest moments.

Boston muddled along to start the season, with a .500 record on Memorial Day. Fortunately, so did the rest of the AL East and the entire division was within five games. The Red Sox picked up the pace in June, sweeping the Blue Jays four straight in Fenway and leading the race by as many as 4 ½ games. Boston slumped going into the All-Star break, but they were still a half-game up on Toronto and those two teams had separated themselves from the field.

Starting on July 30, the Red Sox swept a good Chicago White Sox team in Fenway. Later in August, Boston ripped off a 12-2 stretch against divisional rivals including taking three of four in Toronto. By Labor Day, Boston had a 6 ½ game lead and the race looked close to over. But in pre-2004 New England, no one could ever breathe easy. This year was no exception.

1970s Red Sox

The Red Sox lost three straight to the powerful Oakland A’s and four straight in Chicago. The Blue Jays surged, on the strength of three straight walkoff wins. By mid-September, the race was a dead heat. Boston and Toronto were tied for first with six games to play when they met for a weekend set at Fenway.

Boston took a dramatic opener—the bullpen in front of Reardon was the team’s biggest weakness and reliever Jeff Gray gave up a two-run homer in the eighth to put the Sox in a 6-5 hole. They answered in the ninth, with little-used bench player Jeff Stone lining a base hit into the gap in right center to win it.

Brunansky and Clemens took over on Saturday. The former hit three home runs. The latter threw six shutout innings. The bullpen let it get interesting, but the Red Sox won 7-5. They dropped the finale, but had control with three games left.

The margin was still one game when Boston hosted Chicago in the Wednesday night finale. Brunansky ripped an RBI triple to key a three-run second inning. Mike Boddicker pitched well and handed a 3-1 lead to the bullpen. Reardon came on to try and clinch, but runners reached first and second with two outs.

Ozzie Guillen was the batter for Chicago and hit a line drive headed toward the rightfield corner that looked destined to score both runs. Instead, Brunansky made one of the great defensive plays in the long history of Fenway, a sliding catch that saved the game and clinched the AL East.

That was the last win of the year. Boston was no match for Oakland and got swept out of the ALCS for the second time in three years, scoring just one run in each of the four games. The Red Sox contended again in 1991, this time coming up short to Toronto. Morgan was fired, a decision as unpopular as it was stupid. Boston collapsed in 1992 and finished last. A brief era had ended. But Tom Brunansky and the 1990 Boston Red Sox had carved out a small little place in franchise history.