1976 New York Yankees season

1976 New York Yankees
1976 AL East Champions 1976 AL Champions
Major League affiliations
American League (since 1901)
Eastern Division (since 1969)
Location
Yankee Stadium (since 1976)
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 1976 New York Yankees season was the 74th season for the Yankees in New York, and the 76th season overall for the franchise. The team finished with a record of 97-62, finishing 10½ games ahead of the Baltimore Orioles to win their first American League East title.

In the ALCS, the Yankees defeated the Kansas City Royals in 5 games. Chris Chambliss's walk-off home run in Game 5 clinched the pennant for the Yankees.

In the World Series, they were defeated in a four-game sweep by the defending champion Cincinnati Reds, marking only the second time that the Yankees had ever been swept in a World Series in their history (following the 1963 Los Angeles Dodgers).

New York was managed by Billy Martin. The Yankees returned to the newly renovated Yankee Stadium.

Offseason

The Yankees returned to their home stadium in The Bronx after a two-year absence. The team had played home games at Shea Stadium in Queens, the home of the New York Mets, while renovations to Yankee Stadium were completed.

The 1975 club had finished in third place in the AL East with a record of 83-79, finishing 12 games behind the division winning Boston Red Sox. The club was beginning their first full season under manager Billy Martin, who had been hired following the mid-season firing of Bill Virdon.

Owner George Steinbrenner made three off-season moves to try to help the club. First, they brought in power-hitting outfielder/DH Oscar Gamble, who would find the 'short porch' in right field very inviting for his power swing. Then the club made two deals on the same day: they sent Doc Medich to Pittsburgh for three players, primarily seeking the services of pitcher Dock Ellis; and shipping outfielder Bobby Bonds to California for leadoff man Mickey Rivers and starter Ed Figueroa. The Pirates trade had the longest lasting impact, as then-unheralded minor leaguer Willie Randolph was included in the deal, and was a major catalyst on championship teams for years to come.

Notable transactions

• November 22, 1975: Pat Dobson was traded by the Yankees to the Cleveland Indians for Oscar Gamble.^[1]
• December 11, 1975: Doc Medich was traded by the Yankees to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Dock Ellis, Ken Brett and Willie Randolph.^[1]
• December 11, 1975: Bobby Bonds was traded by the Yankees to the California Angels for Mickey Rivers and Ed Figueroa.^[1]
• January 27, 1976: Walt Williams was released by the Yankees.^[2]
• March 29, 1976: Ed Brinkman was released by the Yankees.^[3]

Regular season

Season standings

AL East	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
New York Yankees	97	62	0.610	—	45–35	52–27
Baltimore Orioles	88	74	0.543	10½	42–39	46–35
Boston Red Sox	83	79	0.512	15½	46–35	37–44
Cleveland Indians	81	78	0.509	16	44–35	37–43
Detroit Tigers	74	87	0.460	24	36–44	38–43
Milwaukee Brewers	66	95	0.410	32	36–45	30–50

Record vs. opponents

1976 American League Records Sources:
Team	BAL	BOS	CAL	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	MIL	MIN	NYY	OAK	TEX
Baltimore	—	7–11	8–4	8–4	7–11	12–6	6–6	11–7	4–8	13–5	4–8	8–4
Boston	11–7	—	7–5	6–6	9–9	14–4	3–9	12–6	7–5	7–11	4–8	3–9
California	4–8	5–7	—	11–7	7–5	6–6	8–10	4–8	8–10	5–7	6–12	12–6
Chicago	4–8	6–6	7–11	—	3–9	6–6	8–10	7–5	7–11	1–11	8–9	7–11
Cleveland	11–7	9–9	5–7	9–3	—	6–12	6–6	11–6	9–3	4–12	4–8	7–5
Detroit	6–12	4–14	6–6	6–6	12–6	—	4–8	12–6	4–8	9–8	6–6	5–7
Kansas City	6–6	9–3	10–8	10–8	6–6	8–4	—	8–4	10–8	7–5	9–9	7–11
Milwaukee	7–11	6–12	8–4	5–7	6–11	6–12	4–8	—	4–8	5–13	5–7	10–2
Minnesota	8–4	5–7	10–8	11–7	3–9	8–4	8–10	8–4	—	2–10	11–7	11–7
New York	5–13	11–7	7–5	11–1	12–4	8–9	5–7	13–5	10–2	—	6–6	9–3
Oakland	8–4	8–4	12–6	9–8	8–4	6–6	9–9	7–5	7–11	6–6	—	7–11
Texas	4–8	9–3	6–12	11–7	5–7	7–5	11–7	2–10	7–11	3–9	11–7	—

Season summary

The Yankees won 97 games in 1976 and captured the eastern division title of the American League, marking their first postseason appearance since 1964. Two monumental things happened as the season opened. First, the club returned to Yankee Stadium to play home games, with a special pre-game ceremony for the April 15 home opener that included Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, Whitey Ford, Don Larsen, and the widows of Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. Eighty-five-year-old Bob Shawkey, who had pitched in the stadium in its opening season of 1923, threw out the first pitch, and the Bronx Bombers defeated Minnesota 11-4. Second, the team announced that Thurman Munson would serve in the role of team captain. This was significant because no Yankee player had been captain since the death of Gehrig in 1941.

The team started fast with a 10-3 record in April, including a 5-1 West Coast swing through California and Oakland. On May 20, they authored another memorable chapter in their on-going rivalry with the Boston Red Sox. Lou Piniella collided with Carlton Fisk at home plate, igniting a huge bench-clearing brawl during which Graig Nettles injured Bill Lee's pitching arm.

By mid-June, the club had built a 7-game lead. On the June 15 trading deadline, they made two significant moves to secure post-season success. First, they completed a 10-player deal with Baltimore, upgrading the pitching staff by acquiring starters Ken Holtzman and Doyle Alexander. Second, they were sold the rights to all-star pitcher Vida Blue from Oakland for $1.5 million. However, Commissioner Bowie Kuhn, invoking the "best interests in baseball clause", invalidated the sale of Blue, returning him to Oakland.

In July, six players represented the team in the All-Star Game in Philadelphia: Thurman Munson, who was elected to start by the fans; Chris Chambliss; Catfish Hunter; Willie Randolph; Mickey Rivers; and Sparky Lyle. By the end of the month, their lead in the division ballooned to 14½ games. In August, they continued to cruise towards the division title, and took part in a marathon 19-inning affair with Minnesota. By September, the club was poised to secure the spot in the American League Championship Series, and did so on September 25 by defeating the Detroit Tigers 10-6 to clinch the division title.

Monument Park

The entrance to the monuments and plaques, at the end of the retired numbers display.

The Yankees opened "Monument Park" at the stadium in 1976. The origin of Monument Park is dated back to May 30, 1932, when the Yankees dedicated a monument to former manager Miller Huggins. The monument was placed it in front of the flagpole in center field at Yankee Stadium. Huggins was the first of many Yankees players granted this honor.

Aftermath

The 1976 Yankees saw the team restore the franchise to glory following the mismanaged years when CBS owned the club and failed to finish in the top half of the league or division from 1965 through 1972. Owner George Steinbrenner delivered on his promise to return the Yankees to greatness, and the fans responded as attendance reached over 2 million for the first time since 1950. Munson won the American League MVP, hitting .302 with 105 RBI. Munson became the first, and to date the only, Yankee player ever to win the MVP and the Rookie of the Year award while wearing the Yankees uniform.

However, the loss to Cincinnati in the World Series only consumed Steinbrenner to try to further improve the ball club. Thanks to the Seitz decision which made the reserve clause obsolete, Steinbrenner took advantage of the new era of free agency. In an era where other owners such as Charlie Finley were unwilling to spend money to keep players, and other clubs were still run by families not ready for the 'balance sheet' era of sports ownership, Steinbrenner ushered in the big salary era of sports by signing Reggie Jackson to a five-year contract worth just under $3 million. The idea of bringing in Jackson for 1977 would be to try to put the Yankees over the top.

Still, the 1976 version of the Yankees marked a return of prominence to the organization. It marked the first of three consecutive American League titles, and a stretch of six seasons where the club won five division titles, four league championships, and two World Series titles.

Notable transactions

• May 16, 1976: Larry Gura was traded by the Yankees to the Kansas City Royals for Fran Healy.^[1]
• June 8, 1976: Pat Tabler was drafted by the New York Yankees in the 1st round (16th pick) of the 1976 Major League Baseball Draft.^[4]
• June 15, 1976: Rudy May, Tippy Martinez, Dave Pagan, Scott McGregor, and Rick Dempsey were traded by the Yankees to the Baltimore Orioles for Ken Holtzman, Doyle Alexander, Grant Jackson, Ellie Hendricks, and Jimmy Freeman.^[1]
• July 10, 1976: The Yankees obtained Gene Locklear from the San Diego Padres for a player to be named later. The Yankees completed the deal by sending Rick Sawyer to the Padres on July 31.^[1]
• August 1, 1976: Jim York was released by the Yankees.^[1]
• August 31, 1976: Rafael Santana was signed as an amateur free agent by the Yankees.^[5]
• September 1, 1976: César Tovar was signed as a free agent by the Yankees.^[1]

Roster

1976 New York Yankees
Roster
Pitchers 52 Doyle Alexander 38 Ken Brett 36 Dock Ellis 31 Ed Figueroa 49 Ron Guidry 53 Ken Holtzman 29 Catfish Hunter 25 Grant Jackson 28 Sparky Lyle 18,40 Tippy Martinez 43 Rudy May 53 Dave Pagan 19 Dick Tidrow 43 Jim York		Catchers 46 Rick Dempsey 40 Fran Healy 18 Elrod Hendricks 15 Thurman Munson Infielders  2 Sandy Alomar 10 Chris Chambliss 20 Mickey Klutts 22 Jim Mason  9 Graig Nettles 30 Willie Randolph 11 Fred Stanley 26 César Tovar		Outfielders 26 Juan Bernhardt 26 Rich Coggins 47 Kerry Dineen 23 Oscar Gamble 46 Gene Locklear 27 Elliott Maddox 38 Carlos May 47 Larry Murray 14 Lou Piniella 17 Mickey Rivers 24 Otto Vélez  6 Roy White 44 Terry Whitfield Other batters 12 Ron Blomberg		Manager  1 Billy Martin Coaches  8 Yogi Berra 32 Elston Howard 34 Dick Howser 21 Bob Lemon 39 Gene Michael

Player stats

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	152	616	186	.302	17	105
1B	Chambliss, ChrisChris Chambliss	156	641	188	.293	17	96
2B	Randolph, WillieWillie Randolph	125	430	115	.267	1	40
3B	Nettles, GraigGraig Nettles	158	583	148	.254	32	93
SS	Stanley, FredFred Stanley	110	260	62	.238	1	20
LF	White, RoyRoy White	156	626	179	.286	14	65
CF	Rivers, MickeyMickey Rivers	137	590	184	.312	8	67
RF	Gamble, OscarOscar Gamble	110	340	79	.232	17	57
DH	May, CarlosCarlos May	87	288	80	.278	3	40

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	100	327	92	.281	3	38
Mason, JimJim Mason	93	217	39	.180	1	14
Alomar, SandySandy Alomar	67	163	39	.239	1	10
Healy, FranFran Healy	46	120	32	.267	0	9
Vélez, OttoOtto Vélez	49	94	25	.266	2	10
Hendricks, ElrodElrod Hendricks	26	53	12	.226	3	5
Maddox, ElliottElliott Maddox	18	46	10	.217	0	3
Dempsey, RickRick Dempsey	21	42	5	.119	0	2
Tovar, CésarCésar Tovar	13	39	6	.154	0	2
Locklear, GeneGene Locklear	13	32	7	.219	0	1
Bernhardt, JuanJuan Bernhardt	10	21	4	.190	0	1
Murray, LarryLarry Murray	8	10	1	.100	0	2
Dineen, KerryKerry Dineen	4	7	2	.286	0	1
Coggins, RichRich Coggins	7	4	1	.250	0	1
Klutts, MickeyMickey Klutts	2	3	0	.000	0	0
Blomberg, RonRon Blomberg	1	2	0	.000	0	0
Whitfield, TerryTerry Whitfield	1	0	0	----	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	36	298.2	17	15	3.53	173
Figueroa, EdEd Figueroa	34	256.2	19	10	3.02	119
Ellis, DockDock Ellis	32	211.2	17	8	3.19	65
Holtzman, KenKen Holtzman	21	149	9	7	4.17	41
Alexander, DoyleDoyle Alexander	19	136.2	10	5	3.29	41
May, RudyRudy May	11	68	4	3	3.57	38

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
Pagan, DaveDave Pagan	7	23.2	1	1	2.28	13

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	64	103.2	7	8	23	2.26	61
Tidrow, DickDick Tidrow	47	92.1	4	5	10	2.63	65
Jackson, GrantGrant Jackson	21	58.2	6	0	1	1.69	25
Martinez, TippyTippy Martinez	11	28	2	0	2	1.93	14
Guidry, RonRon Guidry	7	16	0	0	0	5.63	12
York, JimJim York	3	9.2	1	0	1	5.59	6
Brett, KenKen Brett	2	2.1	0	0	1	0.00	1

Postseason

ALCS

After splitting the first two games with the Western Division champion Royals in Kansas City, the Yankees returned home to try to capture the pennant. The two clubs split the next two games as well, setting up a deciding Game Five showdown. The Yankees had a 6-3 lead after seven innings, but the Royals rallied for 3 runs in the top of the 8th to tie the game at 6-6. Then in the bottom of the ninth, Chris Chambliss hit the first pitch thrown by Mark Littell over the right field wall for the game-winning walk-off home run. Of course, it was anything but a walk-off, as fans stormed the field with delight, making it nearly impossible for Chambliss to round the bases. The win put the Bombers into the World Series for the first time since 1964.

Game 1

October 9, 1976 at Royals Stadium

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
New York	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	4	12	0
Kansas City	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	5	2
W: Catfish Hunter (1-0)   L: Larry Gura (0-1)
HR: None

Game 2

October 10, 1976 at Royals Stadium

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
New York	0	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	12	5
Kansas City	2	0	0	0	0	2	0	3	0	7	9	0
W: Paul Splittorff (1-0)   L: Ed Figueroa (0-1)
HR: None

Game 3

October 12, 1976 at Yankee Stadium

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Kansas City	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	6	0
New York	0	0	0	2	0	3	0	0	X	5	9	0
W: Dock Ellis (1-0)   L: Andy Hassler (0-1)   S: Sparky Lyle (1)
HR: NYY: – Chris Chambliss (1)

Game 4

October 13, 1976 at Yankee Stadium

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Kansas City	0	3	0	2	0	1	0	1	0	7	9	1
New York	0	2	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	4	11	0
W: Doug Bird (1-0)   L: Catfish Hunter (1-1)   S: Steve Mingori (1)
HR: NYY: – Graig Nettles 2 (2)

Game 5

October 14, 1976 at Yankee Stadium

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Kansas City	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	6	11	1
New York	2	0	2	0	0	2	0	0	1	7	11	1
W: Dick Tidrow (1-0)   L: Mark Littell (0-1)
HR: KCR: – John Mayberry (1), George Brett (1)   NYY: – Chris Chambliss (2)

World Series

The Yankees were confident heading into the Fall Classic, but proved to be little match for their opponents. The Cincinnati Reds were the defending world champions, and were making their fourth World Series appearance over a seven-year span. The Big Red Machine dominated the series, sweeping the Yankees in four straight games.

NL Cincinnati Reds (4) vs. AL New York Yankees (0)

Game	Road	Home	Score	Date	Location	Attendance	Time of Game
1	Yankees	Reds	5 – 1	October 16	Riverfront Stadium	54,826	2:10
2	Yankees	Reds	4 – 3	October 17	Riverfront Stadium	54,816	2:33
3	Reds	Yankees	6 – 2	October 19	Yankee Stadium	56,667	2:40
4	Reds	Yankees	7 – 2	October 21	Yankee Stadium	56,700	2:36

Awards and honors

Team captain Thurman Munson won the AL MVP.

Graig Nettles was the AL home run champion with 32 home runs in the season.

Munson, Chris Chambliss, Catfish Hunter, Sparky Lyle, Willie Randolph and Mickey Rivers all represented the Yankees at the 1976 Major League Baseball All-Star Game.^[6]

• Billy Martin, Associated Press AL Manager of the Year

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	Mike Ferraro
A-Short Season	Oneonta Yankees	New York–Penn League	Ed Napoleon

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Syracuse, West Haven^[7]

Notes

1. Baseball-Reference.com 1976 New York Yankees transactions from Baseball Reference
2. Walt Williams page at Baseball Reference
3. Ed Brinkman page at Baseball Reference
4. Pat Tabler page at Baseball Reference
5. Rafael Santana page at Baseball reference
6. http://www.baseball-almanac.com/asgbox/yr1976as.shtml
7. 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

• 1976 New York Yankees
• 1976 World Series
• 1976 New York Yankees team page at www.baseball-almanac.com