1975 New York Yankees season

1975 New York Yankees
Major League affiliations
American League (since 1901)
Eastern Division (since 1969)
Location
Shea Stadium (since 1974)
New York City (since 1903)
Other information
Owner(s)	George Steinbrenner
General manager(s)	Gabe Paul
Manager(s)	Bill Virdon, Billy Martin
Local television	WPIX (Phil Rizzuto, Frank Messer, Bill White)
Local radio	WMCA (Frank Messer, Phil Rizzuto, Bill White, Dom Valentino)
< Previous season     Next season  >

The 1975 New York Yankees season was the 73rd season for the Yankees in New York, and the franchise's 75th season overall. The team finished with a record of 83-77, finishing 12 games behind the Boston Red Sox. The Yankees played at Shea Stadium due to the ongoing renovation of Yankee Stadium, which would re-open in 1976.

Bill Virdon opened the season as Yankees manager, but he was replaced on August 1 by Billy Martin. This would be the first of five stints as Yankees manager for Martin.

Offseason

• October 22, 1974: Bobby Murcer was traded by the Yankees to the San Francisco Giants for Bobby Bonds.^[1]
• December 3, 1974: Joe Pactwa was purchased from the Yankees by the Alijadores de Tampico.^[2]
• December 20, 1974: Sam McDowell was released by the Yankees.^[3]
• December 31, 1974: Catfish Hunter was signed as a free agent by the Yankees.^[4]
• January 21, 1975: Gene Michael was released by the Yankees.^[5]

Regular season

Season standings

AL East	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Boston Red Sox	95	65	0.594	—	47–34	48–31
Baltimore Orioles	90	69	0.566	4½	44–33	46–36
New York Yankees	83	77	0.519	12	43–35	40–42
Cleveland Indians	79	80	0.497	15½	41–39	38–41
Milwaukee Brewers	68	94	0.420	28	36–45	32–49
Detroit Tigers	57	102	0.358	37½	31–49	26–53

Record vs. opponents

1975 American League Records Sources:
Team	BAL	BOS	CAL	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	MIL	MIN	NYY	OAK	TEX
Baltimore	—	9–9	6–6	7–4	10–8	12–4	7–5	14–4	6–6	8–10	4–8	7–5
Boston	9–9	—	6–6	8–4	7–11	13–5	7–5	10–8	10–2	11–5	6–6	8–4
California	6–6	6–6	—	9–9	3–9	6–5	4–14	7–5	8–10	7–5	7–11	9–9
Chicago	4–7	4–8	9–9	—	7–5	5–7	9–9	8–4	9–9	6–6	9–9	5–13
Cleveland	8–10	11–7	9–3	5–7	—	12–6	6–6	9–9	3–6	9–9	2–10	5–7
Detroit	4–12	5–13	5–6	7–5	6–12	—	6–6	7–11	4–8	6–12	6–6	1–11
Kansas City	5–7	5–7	14–4	9–9	6–6	6–6	—	7–5	11–7	7–5	11–7	14–4
Milwaukee	4–14	8–10	5–7	4–8	9–9	11–7	5–7	—	2–10	9–9	5–7	6–6
Minnesota	6–6	2–10	10–8	9–9	6–3	8–4	7–11	10–2	—	4–8	6–12	8–10
New York	10–8	5–11	5–7	6–6	9–9	12–6	5–7	9–9	8–4	—	6–6	8–4
Oakland	8–4	6–6	11–7	9–9	10–2	6–6	11–7	7–5	12–6	6–6	—	12–6
Texas	5–7	4–8	9–9	13–5	7–5	11–1	4–14	6–6	10–8	4–8	6–12	—

Notable transactions

• June 3, 1975: 1975 Major League Baseball Draft
  • Jim Beattie was drafted by the New York Yankees in the 4th round.^[6]
  • Willie Upshaw was drafted by the Yankees in the 5th round.^[7]
• June 13, 1975: Ed Brinkman was purchased by the Yankees from the Texas Rangers.^[8]

Roster

1975 New York Yankees
Roster
Pitchers 36 Pat Dobson 49 Ron Guidry 39 Larry Gura 29 Catfish Hunter 28 Sparky Lyle 40 Tippy Martinez 43 Rudy May 33 Doc Medich 53 Dave Pagan 41 Rick Sawyer 19 Dick Tidrow 41 Mike Wallace		Catchers 46 Rick Dempsey 45 Ed Herrmann 15 Thurman Munson Infielders  2 Sandy Alomar 20 Ed Brinkman 10 Chris Chambliss 20 Eddie Leon 22 Jim Mason  9 Graig Nettles 42 Bob Oliver 11 Fred Stanley 52 Otto Vélez		Outfielders 18 Dave Bergman 24 Rick Bladt 12 Ron Blomberg 25 Bobby Bonds 26 Rich Coggins 49 Kerry Dineen 23 Alex Johnson 27 Elliott Maddox 18 Larry Murray 14 Lou Piniella  6 Roy White 44 Terry Whitfield 13 Walt Williams		Manager  1 Billy Martin 21 Bill Virdon Coaches 62 Cloyd Boyer 16 Whitey Ford 32 Elston Howard 34 Dick Howser 31 Mel Wright

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	R	H	Avg.	HR	RBI	SB
C	Munson, ThurmanThurman Munson	157	597	83	190	.318	12	102	3
1B	Chambliss, ChrisChris Chambliss	150	562	66	171	.304	9	72	0
2B	Alomar, SandySandy Alomar	151	489	61	117	.239	2	39	28
3B	Nettles, GraigGraig Nettles	157	581	71	155	.267	21	91	1
SS	Mason, JimJim Mason	94	223	17	34	.152	2	16	0
LF	White, RoyRoy White	148	566	81	161	.290	12	59	16
CF	Maddox, ElliottElliott Maddox	55	218	36	67	.307	1	23	9
RF	Bonds, BobbyBobby Bonds	145	529	93	143	.270	32	85	30
DH	Herrmann, EdEd Herrmann	80	200	16	51	.255	6	30	0

^[9]

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
Stanley, FredFred Stanley	117	252	56	.222	0	15
Dempsey, RickRick Dempsey	71	145	38	.262	1	11
Brinkman, EdEd Brinkman	44	63	11	.175	0	2
Dineen, KerryKerry Dineen	7	22	8	.364	0	1
Vélez, OttoOtto Vélez	6	8	2	.250	0	1
Murray, LarryLarry Murray	6	1	0	.000	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
Hunter, CatfishCatfish Hunter	39	328	23	14	2.58	177
Medich, DocDoc Medich	38	272.1	16	16	3.50	132
May, RudyRudy May	32	212	14	12	3.06	145
Dobson, PatPat Dobson	33	207.2	11	14	4.07	129
Gura, LarryLarry Gura	26	151.1	7	8	3.51	65

Relief pitchers

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

Player	G	W	L	SV	ERA	SO
Lyle, SparkySparky Lyle	49	5	7	6	3.12	65
Martinez, TippyTippy Martinez	23	1	2	8	2.68	20
Pagan, DaveDave Pagan	13	0	0	1	4.06	18
Guidry, RonRon Guidry	10	0	1	0	3.45	15
Sawyer, RickRick Sawyer	4	0	0	0	3.00	3
Wallace, MikeMike Wallace	3	0	0	0	14.54	2

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Syracuse Chiefs	International League	Bobby Cox
AA	West Haven Yankees	Eastern League	Pete Ward
A	Fort Lauderdale Yankees	Florida State League	Leo Posada
A-Short Season	Oneonta Yankees	New York–Penn League	Mike Ferraro

^[10]

Notes

1. Bobby Murcer page at Baseball Reference
2. Joe Pactwa page at Baseball Reference
3. Sam McDowell page at Baseball Reference
4. Catfish Hunter page at Baseball Reference
5. Gene Michael page at Baseball Reference
6. Jim Beattie page at Baseball Reference
7. Willie Upshaw page at Baseball Reference
8. Ed Brinkman page at Baseball Reference
9. http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/NYY/1975.shtml
10. 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

• 1975 New York Yankees
• 1975 New York Yankees team page at www.baseball-almanac.com