In this series, I will look at each player who played in 1981, the year I was born. Because, why not?
When Bob Stanley retired, he had pitched in more games than any other Red Sox pitcher in history and also recorded more saves than anyone (132). He still holds the games record with 637 games pitched, 47 more than the second-place Tim Wakefield, but he has been passed on the saves list by Jonathan Papelbon. Stanley spent his entire 13-year career with the Red Sox and pitched in a number of roles, though most often as a reliever. I have covered Stanley before, looking at his entire career, so this post will be mostly looking at his 1981 season.
Stanley was in his fifth season with the Red Sox in 1981. He had already contributed in a number of ways by this time. When he started out, he was more of a swingman, starting occasionally but also appearing in relief. In 1978, he spent most of the season in the bullpen and had a terrific season, finishing with a record of 15-2, 10 saves and a 2.60 ERA. He made his first All Star game in 1979 when he was more of a starter. He did a little of both in 1980.
1981 saw Stanley in primarily a relief role. In the strike-shortened season, he appeared in 35 games, pitching 98.1 innings, finishing out 14 of them and only starting one. It was not one of Stanley's better seasons as his 3.83 ERA resulted in an ERA+ of just 102. A WHIP of 1.500 and 3.5 BB/9 were his worst marks of his season to that point. He also walked more batters (38) than he struck out (28) for the first time in his career. Nevertheless, his numbers were not all bad. He did finish with a record of 10-8.
Stanley would improve significantly over the next couple of seasons and have his career-best season in 1983. He would stick around in Boston through the 1989 season and finish with a career record of 115-97 and a 3.64 ERA. It is unfortunate that one of the things he is most remembered for is being unable to close out Game 6 of the 1986 World Series because Stanley did a lot for the Red Sox.
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