1977 New York Yankees season

1977 New York Yankees
1977 AL East Champions
1977 AL Champions
1977 World Series Champions
Major League affiliations
Location
  • New York City (since 1903)
Other information
Owner(s) George Steinbrenner
General manager(s) Gabe Paul
Manager(s) Billy Martin
Local television

WPIX

(Phil Rizzuto, Frank Messer, Bill White)
Local radio WMCA
(Frank Messer, Phil Rizzuto, Bill White)
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The 1977 New York Yankees season was the 75th season for the Yankees in New York and the 77th season overall for the franchise. It culminated in the 21st World Series championship in franchise history, and its first under the ownership of George Steinbrenner. The season was brought to life years later in the book, turned drama-documentary, The Bronx is Burning.

Offseason

The Yankees signed Reggie Jackson to a five-year contract, totaling US$2.96 million, on November 29, 1976. Upon arriving in New York, Jackson asked for uniform number 9, which he had worn in Oakland and Baltimore. However, that number was being worn by third baseman Graig Nettles. So, noting that then-all-time home run leader Hank Aaron had just retired, Jackson asked for and received number 44, Aaron's number.

Notable transactions

Regular season

The team finished in first place in the American League East with a record of 100-62, finishing 2½ games ahead of the Baltimore Orioles to win their second AL East title. In the ALCS, they beat the Kansas City Royals in 5 games. In the World Series, they defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers in 6 games. New York was managed by Billy Martin. The Yankees played at Yankee Stadium.

Season standings

AL East W L Pct. GB Home Road
New York Yankees 100 62 0.617 55–26 45–36
Baltimore Orioles 97 64 0.602 54–27 43–37
Boston Red Sox 97 64 0.602 51–29 46–35
Detroit Tigers 74 88 0.457 26 39–42 35–46
Cleveland Indians 71 90 0.441 28½ 37–44 34–46
Milwaukee Brewers 67 95 0.414 33 37–44 30–51
Toronto Blue Jays 54 107 0.335 45½ 25–55 29–52

Record vs. opponents

1977 American League Records

Sources:

Team BAL BOS CAL CWS CLE DET KC MIL MIN NYY OAK SEA TEX TOR
Baltimore 6–8 5–6 5–5 11–4 12–3 4–7 11–4 6–4 8–7 8–2 7–3 4–6 10–5
Boston 8–6 7–3 3–7 8–7 9–6 5–5 9–6 4–6 8–7 8–3 10–1 6–4 12–3
California 6–5 3–7 8–7 6–4 4–6 6–9 5–5 7–8 4–7 5–10 9–6 5–10 6–4
Chicago 5–5 7–3 7–8 6–4 4–6 8–7 6–5 10–5 3–7 10–5 10–5 6–9 8–3
Cleveland 4–11 7–8 4–6 4–6 8–7 3–7 11–4 2–9 3–12 7–3 7–3 2–9 9–5
Detroit 3–12 6–9 6–4 6–4 7–8 3–8 10–5 5–5 6–9 5–5 5–6 2–8 10–5
Kansas City 7–4 5–5 9–6 7–8 7–3 8–3 8–2 10–5 5–5 9–6 11–4 8–7 8–2
Milwaukee 4–11 6–9 5–5 5–6 4–11 5–10 2–8 3–8 8–7 5–5 7–3 5–5 8–7
Minnesota 4–6 6–4 8–7 5–10 9–2 5–5 5–10 8–3 2–8 8–6 7–8 8–7 9–1
New York 7–8 7–8 7–4 7–3 12–3 9–6 5–5 7–8 8–2 9–2 6–4 7–3 9–6
Oakland 2–8 3–8 10–5 5–10 3–7 5–5 6–9 5–5 6–8 2–9 7–8 2–13 7–3
Seattle 3–7 1–10 6–9 5–10 3–7 6–5 4–11 3–7 8–7 4–6 8–7 9–6 4–6
Texas 6–4 4–6 10–5 9–6 9–2 8–2 7–8 5–5 7–8 3–7 13–2 6–9 7–4
Toronto 5–10 3–12 4–6 3–8 5–9 5–10 2–8 7–8 1–9 6–9 3–7 6–4 4–7

Notable transactions

Draft picks

All-Star game

In 1977, the New York Yankees also hosted the All-Star Game, held on July 19. Four Yankees were in the game: Willie Randolph and Reggie Jackson were in the starting lineup at second base and outfield, while pitcher Sparky Lyle and third baseman Graig Nettles were part of the roster as reserves. The National League defeated the American League 7-5.

Roster

1977 New York Yankees
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Other batters

Manager

Coaches

Characters

Reggie Jackson

Jackson's first season with the Yankees, 1977, was a difficult one. Although team owner George Steinbrenner and several players, most notably catcher and team captain Thurman Munson and outfielder Lou Piniella, were excited about his arrival, Martin was not. Martin had managed the Tigers in 1972 when Jackson's A's beat them in the playoffs. Jackson was once quoted as saying of Martin, "I hate him, but if I played for him, I'd probably love him."

The relationship between Jackson and his new teammates was strained due to an interview with SPORT magazine writer Robert Ward. During spring training at the Yankees' camp in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Jackson and Ward were having drinks at a nearby bar. Jackson's version of the story is that he noted that the Yankees had won the pennant the year before, but lost the World Series to the Reds, and suggested that they needed one thing more to win it all, and pointed out the various ingredients in his drink. Ward suggested that Jackson might be "the straw that stirs the drink." But when the story appeared in the May 1977 issue of SPORT, Ward quoted Jackson as saying, "This team, it all flows from me. I'm the straw that stirs the drink. Maybe I should say me and Munson, but he can only stir it bad."

Billy Martin

Billy Martin feuded publicly with both Yankee owner George Steinbrenner and star outfielder Reggie Jackson. In one especially infamous incident, on June 18, 1977, in the middle game of what would prove to be a three-game series sweep by the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park, Martin pulled Jackson off the field in mid-inning for failing to hustle on a ball hit to the outfield. The extremely angry and highly animated Martin had to be restrained by his coaches from getting into a fight with Jackson in the dugout during the nationally-televised Saturday afternoon game.

In popular culture

Jonathan Mahler wrote a bestselling book entitled Ladies and Gentlemen, The Bronx Is Burning about the turmoil in New York City in 1977, including the Son of Sam, the blackout, and how Yankees season rallied the people of New York. The book was adapted for an ESPN miniseries, The Bronx Is Burning

Player stats

= Indicates team leader

Batting

Starters by position

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 H Avg. HR RBI
C Munson, ThurmanThurman Munson 149 595 183 .308 18 100
1B Chambliss, ChrisChris Chambliss 157 600 172 .287 17 90
2B Randolph, WillieWillie Randolph 147 551 151 .274 4 40
3B Nettles, GraigGraig Nettles 158 589 150 .255 37 107
SS Dent, BuckyBucky Dent 158 477 118 .247 8 49
LF White, RoyRoy White 143 519 139 .268 14 52
CF Rivers, MickeyMickey Rivers 138 565 184 .326 12 69
RF Jackson, ReggieReggie Jackson 146 525 150 .286 32 110
DH May, CarlosCarlos May 65 181 41 .227 2 16

Other batters

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
Piniella, LouLou Piniella 103 339 112 .330 12 45
Blair, PaulPaul Blair 83 164 43 .262 4 25
Johnson, CliffCliff Johnson 56 142 42 .296 12 31
Wynn, JimmyJimmy Wynn 30 77 11 .143 1 3
Healy, FranFran Healy 27 67 15 .224 0 7
Zeber, GeorgeGeorge Zeber 25 65 21 .323 3 10
Stanley, FredFred Stanley 48 46 12 .261 1 7
Alston, DellDell Alston 22 40 13 .325 1 4
Kingman, DaveDave Kingman 8 24 6 .250 4 7
Klutts, MickeyMickey Klutts 5 15 4 .267 1 4
Hendricks, ElrodElrod Hendricks 10 11 3 .273 1 5
Locklear, GeneGene Locklear 1 5 3 .600 0 2
Bergman, DaveDave Bergman 5 4 1 .250 0 1
Perez, MartyMarty Perez 1 4 2 .500 0 0

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Figueroa, EdEd Figueroa 32 239.1 16 11 3.57 104
Torrez, MikeMike Torrez 31 217 14 12 3.82 90
Guidry, RonRon Guidry 31 210.2 16 7 2.82 176
Gullett, DonDon Gullett 22 158.1 14 4 3.58 116
Hunter, CatfishCatfish Hunter 22 143.1 9 9 4.71 52
Ellis, DockDock Ellis 3 19.2 1 1 1.83 5

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Holtzman, KenKen Holtzman 18 71.2 2 3 5.78 14
Patterson, GilGil Patterson 10 33.1 1 2 5.40 29

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G IP W L SV ERA SO
Lyle, SparkySparky Lyle 72 137 13 5 26 2.17 68
Tidrow, DickDick Tidrow 49 151 11 4 5 3.16 83
Clay, KenKen Clay 21 55.2 2 3 1 4.37 20
Thomas, StanStan Thomas 3 6.1 1 0 0 7.11 1
McCall, LarryLarry McCall 2 6 0 1 0 7.50 0

ALCS

Game 1

October 5: Yankee Stadium, New York City

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Kansas City 222 000 010 790
New York 002 000 000 290
W: Paul Splittorff (1-0)  L: Don Gullett (0-1)  
HRs: KC Hal McRae (1), John Mayberry (1), Al Cowens (1) NYY Thurman Munson (1)

Game 2

October 6: Yankee Stadium, New York City

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Kansas City 001 001 000 231
New York 000 023 01- 6100
W: Ron Guidry (1-0)  L: Andy Hassler (0-1)  
HRs: KC none; NYY Cliff Johnson (1)

Game 3

October 7: Royals Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
New York 000 010 001 241
Kansas City 011 012 01- 6121
W: Dennis Leonard (1-0)  L: Mike Torrez (0-1)  
HRs: NYY none; KC none

Game 4

October 8: Royals Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
New York 121 100 001 6130
Kansas City 002 200 000 482
W: Sparky Lyle (1-0)  L: Larry Gura (0-1)  
HRs: Yanks none; KC none

Game 5

October 9: Royals Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
New York 001 000 013 5100
Kansas City 201 000 000 3101
W: Sparky Lyle (2-0)  L: Dennis Leonard (1-1)  
HRs: NYY none; KC none

World Series

Main article: 1977 World Series

AL New York Yankees (4) vs. NL Los Angeles Dodgers (2)

Game Score Date Location Attendance Time of Game
1 Dodgers – 3, Yankees – 4 (12 inns) October 11Yankee Stadium 56,668 3:24
2 Dodgers – 6, Yankees – 1 October 12Yankee Stadium 56,691 2:27
3 Yankees – 5, Dodgers – 3 October 14Dodger Stadium 55,992 2:31
4 Yankees – 4, Dodgers – 2 October 15Dodger Stadium 55,995 2:07
5 Yankees – 4, Dodgers – 10 October 16Dodger Stadium 55,995 2:29
6 Dodgers – 4, Yankees – 8 October 18Yankee Stadium 56,407 2:18

Awards and honors

All-Stars

All-Star Game

Farm system

Level Team League Manager
AAA Syracuse Chiefs International League Pete Ward
AA West Haven Yankees Eastern League Mike Ferraro
A Fort Lauderdale Yankees Florida State League Ed Napoleon
A-Short Season Oneonta Yankees New York–Penn League Art Mazmanian

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: West Haven, Oneonta[12]

Notes

  1. Jim Mason at Baseball Reference
  2. Willie McGee at Baseball Reference
  3. Paul Blair at Baseball Reference
  4. Brian Doyle at Baseball Reference
  5. Kerry Dineen at Baseball Reference
  6. Oscar Gamble at Baseball Reference
  7. Dock Ellis at Baseball Reference
  8. Stan Thomas at Baseball Reference
  9. Joe Lefebvre at Baseball Reference
  10. Chuck Hensley at Baseball Reference
  11. Chris Welsh at Baseball Reference
  12. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd and 3rd editions. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997 and 2007

References

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