Games of Note: It's September 21, 1975, and the Red Sox are facing the Detroit Tigers. Rookie Jim Rice, who is hitting .309/.350/.491 with 22 homers, breaks his arm, ending his season, and eventually causing him to miss both the playoffs and the World Series. As you know, given there aren't 86 years in between 2004 and 1975, Boston ended up losing that particular World Series. Rice will end up finishing second in the Rookie of the Year vote, and third for the Most Valuable Player award.
Fast-forwarding to 1999, and we get Pedro Martinez against the Blue Jays. Pedro and the Red Sox defeat Toronto 3-0, with Martinez whiffing 12, and earning win 22 of the season. Those 12 strikeouts give Martinez 300 even on the year, making him the second pitcher ever with a 300-strikeout season in each league -- the other being Randy Johnson, who struck out 308 with the Mariners in 1993, and then 364 with the Diamondbacks in 1999 -- as well as giving him the all-time, single-season record for the Red Sox. Roger Clemens previously had owned that, with 291 punch outs in his 1988 season. Pedro would finish the year with 313 strikeouts, 23 wins, and his first of two Cy Young awards with the Red Sox. He also would be hosed in the MVP race, finishing second.
Transactions: The Red Sox trade with the White Sox and acquire Deron Johnson on this day in 1975, in exchange for a player to be named later and cash. Johnson plays in just three games for the rest of the year, but hits .600/.667/.900 with a two-run homer in the limited time given to him.
Birthdays: PawSox outfielder Che-Hsuan Lin turns 24 years old today. Billy Muffett, who played for the Red Sox from 1960 through 1962, would have been 82 on this day. Muffett passed away at the age of 77 in 2008. He pitched in the majors for six years, throwing 241 innings with a 92 ERA+ for the Red Sox. He left Boston and spent the last few years of his professional career in the minor-league systems of New York and St. Louis, before calling it a career after 1965.