Bristol Red Sox

The Bristol Red Sox was an American minor league baseball franchise. Based in Bristol, Connecticut, it was the Double-A Eastern League farm system affiliate of the Boston Red Sox for ten seasons, 1973 through 1982, and played at Muzzy Field.

The team was created during the 1972–1973 offseason, when the parent Red Sox decided to move their Triple-A franchise, the Louisville Colonels, to Pawtucket, Rhode Island, home of the Sox' Eastern League farm team, the Pawtucket Red Sox, since 1970.

The Double-A PawSox' owner, Joe Buzas, selected Bristol as the site for his relocated EL franchise. The city had previously hosted the Bristol Owls of the Class B Colonial League in 1949–1950 (the league disbanded on July 14, 1950) and the Tramps, Bellmakers and Woodchoppers of the Connecticut State League at the turn of the 20th century (1897; 1899–1901).

Despite the presence of future Boston stars Jim Rice and Fred Lynn on the 1973 squad, the maiden season of the Bristol Red Sox was a losing one — but the next nine editions of the club sported over .500 records and won Eastern League titles in 1975, 1978 and 1981. Other future MLB or Red Sox stars who played for Bristol included Marty Barrett, Wade Boggs, Oil Can Boyd, Bo Díaz, Rich Gedman, Butch Hobson, Bruce Hurst, Steve Lyons, Al Nipper, Bob Stanley, Dave Stapleton, John Tudor and Ernie Whitt.

Managers included former Major League players Stan Williams, Dick McAuliffe and John Kennedy, but the most successful Bristol skipper was Tony Torchia, who piloted the club for its final five seasons, winning two championships.

The franchise shifted to New Britain, Connecticut, in 1983, where it still plays as the New Britain Rock Cats, a Minnesota Twins affiliate since the 1995 season. Boston's current Eastern League affiliate is the Portland Sea Dogs.

Year Record Finish
Attendance Manager Postseason
1973 62-77 Third
47,288 Rac Slider DNQ
1974 74-61 First
47,989 Stan Williams Lost in first round
1975 81-57 Second 42,238 Dick McAuliffe
Bill Slack
League champions
1976 74-60 Second
38,637 John Kennedy DNQ
1977 72-67 Fourth
57,563 John Kennedy DNQ
1978 72-66 Third 64,921 Tony Torchia League champions
1979 73-66 Third 66,844 Tony Torchia DNQ
1980 79-60 First
65,991 Tony Torchia DNQ
1981 72-66 Second
77,066 Tony Torchia League champions
1982 75-65 Second
67,564 Tony Torchia DNQ

Famous quotes containing the words bristol and/or red:

    Through the port comes the moon-shine astray!
    It tips the guard’s cutlass and silvers this nook;
    But ‘twill die in the dawning of Billy’s last day.
    A jewel-block they’ll make of me to-morrow,
    Pendant pearl from the yard-arm-end
    Like the ear-drop I gave to Bristol Molly—
    O, ‘tis me, not the sentence they’ll suspend.
    Herman Melville (1819–1891)

    He gets red roses in different places,
    the head, that time he was as sleepy as a river,
    the back, that time he was a broken scarecrow,
    the arm like a diamond had bitten it,
    the leg, twisted like a licorice stick....
    Anne Sexton (1928–1974)