1977 New York Yankees season

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1977 New York Yankees 1977 AL East Champions 1977 AL Champions 1977 World Series Champions
Major league affiliations
American League (Since 1901) Eastern Division (Since 1969)
Location
Yankee Stadium (Since 1976) New York City, New York (Since 1903)
1977 Information
Owner(s)	George Steinbrenner
Manager(s)	Billy Martin
Local television	WPIX
Local radio	WMCA (Frank Messer, Phil Rizzuto, Bill White)

The New York Yankees' 1977 season was the 75th season for the Yankees.

[edit] Offseason

The Yankees signed Reggie Jackson to a five-year contract, totaling $2.96 million, on November 29, 1976. Upon arriving in New York, the number 9 that he had worn in Oakland and Baltimore was worn by third baseman Graig Nettles. Jackson asked for number 42, in memory of Jackie Robinson. But manager Billy Martin brought his friend Art Fowler in as pitching coach, and gave him number 42. So, noting that then-all-time home run leader Hank Aaron had just retired, Jackson asked for and received number 44, Aaron's number.

January 11, 1977: Willie McGee was drafted by the New York Yankees in the 1st round (15th pick) of the 1977 amateur draft (Secondary Phase). Player signed June 6, 1977. ^[1]

[edit] Regular Season

The team finished in first place in the American League Eastern Division with a record of 100-62, finishing 2.5 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.

[edit] Notable Transactions

April 27, 1977: Dock Ellis was traded by the New York Yankees with Larry Murray and Marty Perez to the Oakland Athletics for Mike Torrez. ^[2]

[edit] All-Star Game

In 1977, the New York Yankees also hosted the All-Star Game. The game was held on July 19, 1977, at Yankee Stadium in The Bronx, New York, New York. Four Yankees were in the game. Willie Randolph and Reggie Jackson were in the starting lineup at second base and outfield. Pitcher Sparky Lyle and Third Baseman Graig Nettles were part of the roster as reserves. The game resulted in the National League defeating the American League 7-5.

[edit] Season standings

East Division	W	L	GB	Pct.
New York Yankees	100	62	--	.617
Baltimore Orioles	97	64	2.5	.602
Boston Red Sox	97	64	2.5	.602
Detroit Tigers	74	88	26	.457
Cleveland Indians	71	90	28.5	.441
Milwaukee Brewers	67	95	33	.414
Toronto Blue Jays	54	107	45.5	.327

[edit] Roster

1977 New York Yankees roster

v • d • e

Roster

Pitchers

54 Rich Gossage
49 Ron Guidry

Catchers

15 Thurman Munson

Infielders

Outfielders

Manager

1 Billy Martin

[edit] Characters

[edit] 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."

[edit] 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 the nationally-televised Saturday afternoon game.

[edit] 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, in 2007, celebrating the 30th anniversary of the 1977 Yankees team.

[edit] Player stats

[edit] Batting

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
Thurman Munson	149	595	183	.308	18	100
Chris Chambliss	157	600	172	.287	17	90
Willie Randolph	147	551	151	.274	4	40
Graig Nettles	158	589	150	.255	37	107
Bucky Dent	158	477	118	.247	8	49
Mickey Rivers	138	565	184	.326	12	69
Roy White	143	519	139	.268	14	52
Reggie Jackson	146	525	150	.286	32	110
Carlos May	65	181	41	.227	2	16

[edit] Other batters

Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
Lou Piniella	103	339	112	.330	12	45
Paul Blair	83	164	43	.262	4	25
Cliff Johnson	56	142	42	.296	12	31
Jimmy Wynn	30	77	11	.143	1	3
Fran Healy	27	67	15	.224	0	7
George Zeber	25	65	21	.323	3	10
Fred Stanley	48	46	12	.261	1	7
Dell Alston	22	40	13	.325	1	4
Dave Kingman	8	24	6	.250	4	7
Mickey Klutts	5	15	4	.267	1	4
Elrod Hendricks	10	11	3	.273	1	5
Gene Locklear	1	5	3	.600	0	2
Dave Bergman	5	4	1	.250	0	1
Marty Perez	1	4	2	.500	0	0

[edit] Starting pitchers

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Ed Figueroa	32	239.1	16	11	3.57	104
Mike Torrez	31	217	14	12	3.82	90
Ron Guidry	31	210.2	16	7	2.82	176
Don Gullett	22	158.1	14	4	3.58	116
Catfish Hunter	22	143.1	9	9	4.71	52
Ken Holtzman	18	71.2	2	3	5.78	14
Gil Patterson	10	33.1	1	2	5.40	29

[edit] Other pitchers

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA

[edit] Relief pitchers

Player	G	W	L	SV	ERA	SO

[edit] ALCS

Main article: 1977 American League Championship Series

[edit] Game 1

October 5: Yankee Stadium, New York City, New York

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Kansas City	2	2	2	0	0	0	0	1	0	7	9	0
New York	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	9	0
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)

[edit] Game 2

October 6: Yankee Stadium, New York City, New York

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Kansas City	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	2	3	1
New York	0	0	0	0	2	3	0	1	-	6	10	0
W: Ron Guidry (1-0) L: Andy Hassler (0-1)
HRs: KC – none; NYY – Cliff Johnson (1)

[edit] Game 3

October 7: Royals Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
New York	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	2	4	1
Kansas City	0	1	1	0	1	2	0	1	-	6	12	1
W: Dennis Leonard (1-0) L: Mike Torrez (0-1)
HRs: NYY – none; KC – none

[edit] Game 4

October 8: Royals Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
New York	1	2	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	6	13	0
Kansas City	0	0	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	4	8	2
W: Sparky Lyle (1-0) L: Larry Gura (0-1)
HRs: Yanks – none; KC – none

[edit] Game 5

October 9: Royals Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
New York	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	3	5	10	0
Kansas City	2	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	10	1
W: Sparky Lyle (2-0) L: Dennis Leonard (1-1)
HRs: NYY – none; KC – none

[edit] 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 11	Yankee Stadium	56,668	3:24
2	Dodgers – 6, Yankees – 1	October 12	Yankee Stadium	56,691	2:27
3	Yankees – 5, Dodgers – 3	October 14	Dodger Stadium	55,992	2:31
4	Yankees – 4, Dodgers – 2	October 15	Dodger Stadium	55,995	2:07
5	Yankees – 4, Dodgers – 10	October 16	Dodger Stadium	55,995	2:29
6	Dodgers – 4, Yankees – 8	October 18	Yankee Stadium	56,407	2:18

[edit] Awards and Honors

Reggie Jackson, Babe Ruth Award
Reggie Jackson, World Series MVP
Sparky Lyle, Cy Young Award
- In 137 innings of relief, he compiled a record of 13-5, 26 saves, 68 strikeouts and a 2.17 Earned Run Average.
Graig Nettles, Third Baseman, Gold Glove

All-Star Game

Jackson, Lyle, Thurman Munson, Graig Nettles and Willie Randolph represented the Yankees at the 1977 Major League Baseball All-Star Game.

[edit] Team Leaders

Home Runs - Graig Nettles (37)
RBI - Reggie Jackson (110)
Hits - Mickey Rivers (184)
Batting Average - Lou Piniella (.330)
Stolen Bases - Mickey Rivers (22)
Walks - Roy White (75)
Wins - Ed Figueroa, Ron Guidry (16)
ERA - Sparky Lyle (2.17)
Strikeouts - Ron Guidry (176)

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Preceded by New York Yankees 1976	AL East Championship Season 1977	Succeeded by New York Yankees 1978
Preceded by New York Yankees 1976	American League Championship 1977	Succeeded by New York Yankees 1978
Preceded by Cincinnati Reds 1976	World Series champion 1977	Succeeded by New York Yankees 1978

v • d • e New York Yankees 1977 World Series roster

2 Paul Blair \| 6 Roy White \| 9 Graig Nettles \| 10 Chris Chambliss \| 11 Fred Stanley \| 14 Lou Piniella \| 15 Thurman Munson \| 17 Mickey Rivers \| 19 Dick Tidrow \| 20 Bucky Dent \| 24 Mike Torrez \| 25 George Zeber \| 28 Sparky Lyle \| 29 Catfish Hunter \| 30 Willie Randolph \| 35 Don Gullett \| 41 Cliff Johnson \| 44 Reggie Jackson \| 49 Ron Guidry \| 50 Ken Clay Manager 1 Billy Martin

v • d • e 1977 MLB season by team

AL East	Baltimore • Boston • Cleveland • Detroit • Milwaukee • New York • Toronto

AL West	California • Chicago • Kansas City • Minnesota • Oakland • Seattle • Texas

NL East	Chicago • Montréal • New York • Philadelphia • Pittsburgh • St. Louis

NL West	Atlanta • Cincinnati • Houston • Los Angeles • San Diego • San Francisco

1977 All-Star Game • 1977 World Series

v • d • e New York Yankees

Formerly the Baltimore Orioles and the New York Highlanders • Based in the Bronx, New York City, New York

The Franchise	History • Seasons • Records • Players • Managers and Owners • Broadcasters

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