Tonight marks Game No. 100 on the season for Terry Francona and the Red Sox, who will go for win number 63; that’s even more impressive when you consider that Boston started 0-6 and 2-10. Would that win total mark the most ever for the franchise over the first 100 games of a season? Believe it or not, no. According to Baseball-Reference.com, the 1946 team, led by Joe Cronin, won an astonishing 70 games in that same span on their way to 104 wins and the American League pennant. The 1912 team, which won a team record 105 games against 47 losses, won 68 games in its first 100 games and eventually the second World Series title as a franchise.
Not including this season, the following is a list of all Boston teams that have won at least 62 games in the team’s first 100 games:
Year Wins Final Record ---- ---- ------------ 1946 70 104-50 1912 68 105-47 1915 65 101-50 1903 64 91-47 1939 63 89-62 1978 63 99-64 1979 62 91-69
Three of the four teams – 1903, 1912, and 1915 – went on to win the World Series that fall. Three other teams – 1939, 1978, and 1979 – finished out of the playoffs, though the 1978 team did appear in a one-game playoff.