1981 New York Yankees season
1981 New York Yankees | ||
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American League Champions American League East Champions | ||
League | American League | |
Division | East | |
Ballpark | Yankee Stadium | |
City | New York City | |
Record |
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Divisional place |
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Owners | George Steinbrenner | |
General managers | Gene Michael | |
Managers | Gene Michael, Bob Lemon | |
Television | WPIX SportsChannel NY (Phil Rizzuto, Frank Messer, Bill White) | |
Radio | WABC (AM) (Frank Messer, Phil Rizzuto, Bill White, Fran Healy) | |
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The 1981 New York Yankees season was the franchise's 79th season. Games were suspended for 50 days due to the 1981 Major League Baseball strike, causing a split season. The Yankees competed as members of the American League East, finishing first in the first half of the season, and tying for fifth in the second half of the season; overall, they won 59 games while losing 48. The team advanced to the postseason due to their first-half first-place finish, where they defeated the Milwaukee Brewers in the American League Division Series and the Oakland Athletics in the American League Championship Series, capturing the Yankees' only pennant of the 1980s. The Yankees then lost the World Series in six games to the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Yankees played their home games at Yankee Stadium and were managed by Gene Michael until September 5, and by Bob Lemon thereafter.
Offseason
[edit]- November 18, 1980: Brad Gulden was traded by the New York Yankees with $150,000 to the Seattle Mariners for a player to be named later and Larry Milbourne. The Seattle Mariners sent back Brad Gulden (May 18, 1981) to the New York Yankees to complete the trade.[1] In effect, Brad Gulden was traded for himself.
- December 8, 1980: Brian Doyle was drafted from the Yankees by the Oakland Athletics in the 1980 rule 5 draft.[2]
- December 15, 1980: Dave Winfield was signed as a free agent with the New York Yankees.[3]
- February 16, 1981: Rafael Santana was traded by the Yankees to the St. Louis Cardinals for a player to be named later. The Cardinals completed the deal by sending George Frazier to the Yankees on June 7.[4]
- March 31, 1981: Chris Welsh, Ruppert Jones, Joe Lefebvre, and Tim Lollar were traded by the Yankees to the San Diego Padres for Jerry Mumphrey and John Pacella.[5]
Regular season
[edit]The team finished in first place in the American League East for the first half of the season with a 34–22 record but finished fifth in the second half with a 25–26 record, for an overall record of 59–48. The season was suspended for 50 days due to the infamous 1981 players strike and the league chose as its playoff teams, the division winners from the first and second halves of the season, respectively.
Notable transactions
[edit]- April 6, 1981: Johnny Oates was signed as a free agent by the Yankees.[6]
- May 20, 1981: Jim Spencer and Tom Underwood were traded by the Yankees to the Oakland Athletics for Dave Revering, Mike Patterson, and Chuck Dougherty (minors).[7]
- June 12, 1981: Doug Bird, a player to be named later, and $400,000 were traded by the Yankees to the Chicago Cubs for Rick Reuschel. The Yankees completed the deal by sending Mike Griffin to the Cubs on August 5.[8]
- August 19, 1981: Pat Tabler was traded by the Yankees to the Chicago Cubs for players to be named later. The Cubs completed the deal by sending Bill Caudill to the Yankees on April 1, 1982, and Jay Howell to the Yankees on August 2.[9]
Draft picks
[edit]- June 8, 1981: 1981 Major League Baseball Draft
- John Elway was drafted by the Yankees in the 2nd round.[10]
- Phil Lombardi was drafted by the Yankees in the 3rd round.[11]
- Eric Plunk was drafted by the Yankees in the 4th round. Player signed June 15, 1981.[12]
- Fred McGriff was drafted by the Yankees in the 9th round. McGriff signed on June 11, 1981.[13]
Season standings
[edit]Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
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Milwaukee Brewers | 62 | 47 | .569 | — | 28–21 | 34–26 |
Baltimore Orioles | 59 | 46 | .562 | 1 | 33–22 | 26–24 |
New York Yankees | 59 | 48 | .551 | 2 | 32–19 | 27–29 |
Detroit Tigers | 60 | 49 | .550 | 2 | 32–23 | 28–26 |
Boston Red Sox | 59 | 49 | .546 | 2½ | 30–23 | 29–26 |
Cleveland Indians | 52 | 51 | .505 | 7 | 25–29 | 27–22 |
Toronto Blue Jays | 37 | 69 | .349 | 23½ | 17–36 | 20–33 |
AL East First Half Standings | W | L | Pct. | GB |
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New York Yankees | 34 | 22 | .607 | — |
Baltimore Orioles | 31 | 23 | .574 | 2 |
Milwaukee Brewers | 31 | 25 | .554 | 3 |
Detroit Tigers | 31 | 26 | .544 | 3+1⁄2 |
Boston Red Sox | 30 | 26 | .536 | 4 |
Cleveland Indians | 26 | 24 | .520 | 5 |
Toronto Blue Jays | 16 | 42 | .276 | 19 |
AL East Second Half Standings | W | L | Pct. | GB |
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Milwaukee Brewers | 31 | 22 | .585 | — |
Boston Red Sox | 29 | 23 | .558 | 1+1⁄2 |
Detroit Tigers | 29 | 23 | .558 | 1+1⁄2 |
Baltimore Orioles | 28 | 23 | .549 | 2 |
Cleveland Indians | 26 | 27 | .491 | 5 |
New York Yankees | 25 | 26 | .490 | 5 |
Toronto Blue Jays | 21 | 27 | .438 | 7+1⁄2 |
Record vs. opponents
[edit]Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] | ||||||||||||||
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Team | BAL | BOS | CAL | CWS | CLE | DET | KC | MIL | MIN | NYY | OAK | SEA | TEX | TOR |
Baltimore | — | 2–2 | 6–6 | 3–6 | 4–2 | 6–7 | 5–3 | 2–4 | 6–0 | 7–6 | 7–5 | 4–2 | 2–1 | 5–2 |
Boston | 2–2 | — | 2–4 | 5–4 | 7–6 | 6–1 | 3–3 | 6–7 | 2–5 | 3–3 | 7–5 | 9–3 | 3–6 | 4–0 |
California | 6–6 | 4–2 | — | 6–7 | 7–5 | 3–3 | 0–6 | 4–3 | 3–3 | 2–2 | 2–8 | 6–4 | 2–4 | 6–6 |
Chicago | 6–3 | 4–5 | 7–6 | — | 2–5 | 3–3 | 2–0 | 4–1 | 2–4 | 5–7 | 7–6 | 3–3 | 2–4 | 7–5 |
Cleveland | 2–4 | 6–7 | 5–7 | 5–2 | — | 1–5 | 4–4 | 3–6 | 2–1 | 7–5 | 3–2 | 8–4 | 2–2 | 4–2 |
Detroit | 7–6 | 1–6 | 3–3 | 3–3 | 5–1 | — | 3–2 | 5–8 | 9–3 | 3–7 | 1–2 | 5–1 | 9–3 | 6–4 |
Kansas City | 3–5 | 3–3 | 6–0 | 0–2 | 4–4 | 2–3 | — | 4–5 | 9–4 | 2–10 | 3–3 | 6–7 | 3–4 | 5–3 |
Milwaukee | 4–2 | 7–6 | 3–4 | 1–4 | 6–3 | 8–5 | 5–4 | — | 9–3 | 3–3 | 4–2 | 2–2 | 4–5 | 6–4 |
Minnesota | 0–6 | 5–2 | 3–3 | 4–2 | 1–2 | 3–9 | 4–9 | 3–9 | — | 3–3 | 2–8 | 3–6–1 | 5–8 | 5–1 |
New York | 6–7 | 3–3 | 2–2 | 7–5 | 5–7 | 7–3 | 10–2 | 3–3 | 3–3 | — | 4–3 | 2–3 | 5–4 | 2–3 |
Oakland | 5–7 | 5–7 | 8–2 | 6–7 | 2–3 | 2–1 | 3–3 | 2–4 | 8–2 | 3–4 | — | 6–1 | 4–2 | 10–2 |
Seattle | 2–4 | 3–9 | 4–6 | 3–3 | 4–8 | 1–5 | 7–6 | 2–2 | 6–3–1 | 3–2 | 1–6 | — | 5–8 | 3–3 |
Texas | 1–2 | 6–3 | 4–2 | 4–2 | 2–2 | 3–9 | 4–3 | 5–4 | 8–5 | 4–5 | 2–4 | 8–5 | — | 6–2 |
Toronto | 2–5 | 0–4 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 2–4 | 4–6 | 3–5 | 4–6 | 1–5 | 3–2 | 2–10 | 3–3 | 2–6 | — |
Roster
[edit]1981 New York Yankees | |||||||||
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Roster | |||||||||
Pitchers
| Catchers
Infielders
| Outfielders
Other batters | Manager
Coaches
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Game log
[edit]Regular season
[edit]First half
[edit]1981 regular season game log: 34–22 (Home: 19–7; Away: 15–15) | |||||||||||||
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April: 11–6 (Home: 6–3; Away: 5–3)
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May: 14–14 (Home: 7–4; Away: 7–10)
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June: 9–2 (Home: 6–0; Away: 3–2)
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Legend: = Win = Loss = Postponement Bold = Yankees team member |
Second half
[edit]1981 regular season game log: 25–26 (Home: 13–12; Away: 12–14) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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August: 11–10 (Home: 6–6; Away: 5–4)
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September: 13–14 (Home: 7–6; Away: 6–8)
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October: 1–2 (Home: 0–0; Away: 1–2)
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Legend: = Win = Loss = Postponement Bold = Yankees team member |
Postseason Game log
[edit]1981 Postseason game log: 8–6 (Home: 5–3; Away: 3–3) | ||||||||||||
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AL Division Series: vs. Milwaukee Brewers 3–2 (Home: 1–2; Away: 2–0)
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AL Championship Series: vs. Oakland Athletics 3–0 (Home: 2–0; Away: 1–0)
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World Series: vs. Los Angeles Dodgers 2–4 (Home: 2–1; Away: 1–3)
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Legend: = Win = Loss = Postponement Bold = Yankees team member |
Player stats
[edit]Batting
[edit]Starters by position
[edit]Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
Pos | Player | G | AB | R | H | Avg. | HR | RBI | SB |
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C | Rick Cerone | 71 | 234 | 23 | 57 | .244 | 2 | 21 | 0 |
1B | Bob Watson | 59 | 156 | 15 | 33 | .212 | 6 | 12 | 0 |
2B | Willie Randolph | 93 | 357 | 59 | 83 | .232 | 2 | 24 | 14 |
SS | Bucky Dent | 73 | 227 | 20 | 54 | .238 | 7 | 27 | 0 |
3B | Graig Nettles | 103 | 349 | 46 | 85 | .244 | 15 | 46 | 0 |
LF | Dave Winfield | 105 | 388 | 52 | 114 | .294 | 13 | 68 | 11 |
CF | Jerry Mumphrey | 80 | 319 | 44 | 98 | .307 | 6 | 32 | 14 |
RF | Reggie Jackson | 94 | 334 | 33 | 79 | .237 | 15 | 54 | 0 |
DH | Bobby Murcer | 50 | 117 | 14 | 31 | .265 | 6 | 24 | 0 |
Other batters
[edit]Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
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Oscar Gamble | 80 | 189 | 45 | .238 | 10 | 27 |
Larry Milbourne | 61 | 163 | 51 | .313 | 1 | 12 |
Lou Piniella | 60 | 159 | 44 | .277 | 5 | 18 |
Barry Foote | 40 | 125 | 26 | .208 | 6 | 10 |
Dave Revering | 45 | 119 | 28 | .235 | 2 | 7 |
Jim Spencer | 25 | 63 | 9 | .143 | 2 | 4 |
Bobby Brown | 31 | 62 | 14 | .226 | 0 | 6 |
Dennis Werth | 34 | 55 | 6 | .109 | 0 | 1 |
Aurelio Rodriguez | 27 | 52 | 18 | .346 | 2 | 8 |
Johnny Oates | 10 | 26 | 5 | .192 | 0 | 0 |
Andre Robertson | 10 | 19 | 5 | .263 | 0 | 0 |
Mike Patterson | 4 | 9 | 2 | .222 | 0 | 0 |
Steve Balboni | 4 | 7 | 2 | .286 | 0 | 2 |
Tucker Ashford | 3 | 0 | 0 | ---- | 0 | 0 |
Pitching
[edit]Starting pitchers
[edit]Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
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Rudy May | 27 | 147.2 | 6 | 11 | 4.14 | 79 |
Tommy John | 20 | 140.1 | 9 | 8 | 2.63 | 50 |
Ron Guidry | 23 | 127.0 | 11 | 5 | 2.76 | 104 |
Dave Righetti | 15 | 105.1 | 8 | 4 | 2.05 | 89 |
Rick Reuschel | 12 | 70.2 | 4 | 4 | 2.67 | 22 |
Gene Nelson | 8 | 39.1 | 3 | 1 | 4.81 | 16 |
Other pitchers
[edit]Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
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Doug Bird | 17 | 53.1 | 5 | 1 | 2.70 | 28 |
Tom Underwood | 9 | 32.2 | 1 | 4 | 4.41 | 29 |
Relief pitchers
[edit]Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
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Rich Gossage | 32 | 3 | 2 | 20 | 0.77 | 48 |
Ron Davis | 43 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 2.71 | 83 |
Dave LaRoche | 26 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 2.49 | 24 |
George Frazier | 16 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1.63 | 17 |
Bill Castro | 11 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3.79 | 4 |
Dave Wehrmeister | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.14 | 7 |
Andy McGaffigan | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.57 | 2 |
Mike Griffin | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.08 | 4 |
Postseason
[edit]ALDS
[edit]New York wins series, 3-2.
Game | Score | Date |
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1 | New York 5, Milwaukee 3 | October 7 |
2 | New York 3, Milwaukee 0 | October 8 |
3 | Milwaukee 5, New York 3 | October 9 |
4 | Milwaukee 2, New York 1 | October 10 |
5 | New York 7, Milwaukee 3 | October 11 |
ALCS
[edit]New York Yankees win the Series over the Oakland Athletics, 3-0
Game | Score | Date | Location | Attendance |
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1 | Oakland – 1, New York – 3 | October 13 | Yankee Stadium | 55,740 |
2 | Oakland – 3, New York – 13 | October 14 | Yankee Stadium | 48,497 |
3 | New York – 4, Oakland – 0 | October 15 | Oakland Coliseum | 47,302 |
World Series
[edit]Game | Score | Date | Location | Attendance | Time of Game |
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1 | Dodgers – 3, Yankees – 5 | October 20 | Yankee Stadium (New York) | 56,470 | 2:32 |
2 | Dodgers – 0, Yankees – 3 | October 21 | Yankee Stadium (New York) | 56,505 | 2:29 |
3 | Yankees – 4, Dodgers – 5 | October 23 | Dodger Stadium (Los Angeles) | 56,236 | 3:04 |
4 | Yankees – 7, Dodgers – 8 | October 24 | Dodger Stadium (Los Angeles) | 56,242 | 3:32 |
5 | Yankees – 1, Dodgers – 2 | October 25 | Dodger Stadium (Los Angeles) | 56,115 | 2:19 |
6 | Dodgers – 9, Yankees – 2 | October 28 | Yankee Stadium (New York) | 56,513 | 3:09 |
Awards and honors
[edit]- Tommy John, Lou Gehrig Memorial Award
- Dave Righetti was honored as the AL Rookie of the Year.
- Graig Nettles, Most Valuable Player in the AL Championship Series.
Farm system
[edit]LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Columbus, Greensboro, Oneonta, Paintsville[15]
Notes
[edit]- ^ "Brad Gulden Stats".
- ^ Brian Doyle page at Baseball Reference
- ^ Dave Winfield page at Baseball Reference
- ^ Rafael Santana page at Baseball Reference
- ^ Chris Welsh page at Baseball Reference
- ^ Johnny Oates page at Baseball Reference
- ^ Dave Revering page at Baseball Reference
- ^ Rick Reuschel page at Baseball Reference
- ^ Pat Tabler page at Baseball Reference
- ^ 1981 MLB June Draft Second Round Picks
- ^ Phil Lombardi page at Baseball Reference
- ^ Eric Plunk page at Baseball Reference
- ^ Fred McGriff page at Baseball Reference
- ^ "1981 New York Yankees Statistics".
- ^ Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd and 3rd editions. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997 and 2007