1977 New York Yankees season

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 (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)
< Previous season     Next season  >

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

• November 5, 1976: Jim Mason was drafted from the Yankees by the Toronto Blue Jays as the 30th pick in the 1976 MLB expansion draft.^[1]
• January 11, 1977: Willie McGee was drafted by the Yankees in the 1st round (15th pick) of the 1977 Major League Baseball Draft (Secondary Phase). Player signed June 6, 1977.^[2]
• January 20, 1977: Elliott Maddox and Rick Bladt were traded by the Yankees to the Baltimore Orioles for Paul Blair.^[3]
• February 17, 1977: Sandy Alomar was traded by the Yankees to the Texas Rangers for Brian Doyle, Greg Pryor and cash.^[4]
• March 26, 1977: Kerry Dineen was traded by the Yankees to the Philadelphia Phillies for Sergio Ferrer.^[5]

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	2½	54–27	43–37
Boston Red Sox	97	64	0.602	2½	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

• April 5, 1977: Oscar Gamble, LaMarr Hoyt, Bob Polinsky (minors) and $200,000 were traded by the Yankees to the Chicago White Sox for Bucky Dent.^[6]
• April 27, 1977: Dock Ellis, Larry Murray and Marty Perez were traded by the Yankees to the Oakland Athletics for Mike Torrez.^[7]
• August 2, 1977: The Yankees acquired Stan Thomas from the Seattle Mariners for future considerations.^[8]

Draft picks

• June 7, 1977: 1977 Major League Baseball Draft
  • Joe Lefebvre was drafted by the Yankees in the 3rd round. Player signed July 6, 1977.^[9]
  • Chuck Hensley was drafted by the Yankees in the 10th round.^[10]
  • Chris Welsh was drafted by the Yankees in the 21st round.^[11]

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 50 Ken Clay 36 Dock Ellis 31 Ed Figueroa 35 Don Gullett 49 Ron Guidry 53 Ken Holtzman 29 Catfish Hunter 28 Sparky Lyle 51 Larry McCall 22 Gil Patterson 36 Stan Thomas 19 Dick Tidrow 48,24 Mike Torrez		Catchers 40 Fran Healy 18 Elrod Hendricks 41 Cliff Johnson 15 Thurman Munson Infielders 10 Chris Chambliss 20 Bucky Dent 20 Mickey Klutts  9 Graig Nettles 27 Marty Perez 30 Willie Randolph 11 Fred Stanley 25 George Zeber		Outfielders 27,59 Dell Alston 54 Dave Bergman  2 Paul Blair 44 Reggie Jackson 46 Gene Locklear 38 Carlos May 14 Lou Piniella 17 Mickey Rivers  6 Roy White 24 Jimmy Wynn Other batters 48 Dave Kingman		Manager  1 Billy Martin Coaches  8 Yogi Berra 21 Cloyd Boyer 33 Bobby Cox 42 Art Fowler 32 Elston Howard 34 Dick Howser

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	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)

Game 2

October 6: Yankee Stadium, New York City

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)

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

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

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

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

Awards and honors

• Reggie Jackson, Babe Ruth Award
• Reggie Jackson, World Series MVP
• Sparky Lyle, Cy Young Award
• Graig Nettles, Gold Glove, third base

All-Stars

All-Star Game

• Jackson, Lyle, Thurman Munson, Graig Nettles and Willie Randolph represented the Yankees at the 1977 Major League Baseball 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 page at Baseball Reference
2. Willie McGee page at Baseball Reference
3. Paul Blair page at Baseball Reference
4. Brian Doyle page at Baseball Reference
5. Kerry Dineen page at Baseball Reference
6. Oscar Gamble page at Baseball Reference
7. Dock Ellis page at Baseball Reference
8. Stan Thomas page at Baseball Reference
9. Joe Lefebvre page at Baseball Reference
10. Chuck Hensley page at Baseball Reference
11. Chris Welsh page 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

• 1977 New York Yankees
• 1977 World Series
• 1977 New York Yankees team page at www.baseball-almanac.com