1980 New York Yankees season

1980 New York Yankees
1980 AL East 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)	Gene Michael
Manager(s)	Dick Howser
Local television	WPIX SportsChannel NY (Phil Rizzuto, Frank Messer, Bill White)
Local radio	WINS (AM) (Frank Messer, Phil Rizzuto, Bill White, Fran Healy)
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The 1980 New York Yankees season was the 78th season for the franchise in New York, and its 80th season overall. The team finished with a record of 103-59, finishing in first place in the American League East, 3 games ahead of the Baltimore Orioles. The Kansas City Royals swept the Yanks in the ALCS. New York was managed by Dick Howser. The Yankees played at Yankee Stadium.

Offseason

• November 1, 1979: Chris Chambliss, Dámaso García, and Paul Mirabella were traded by the Yankees to the Toronto Blue Jays for Rick Cerone, Tom Underwood and Ted Wilborn.^[1]
• November 1, 1979: Jim Beattie, Rick Anderson (baseball, born 1953), Juan Beníquez, and Jerry Narron were traded by the Yankees to the Seattle Mariners for Ruppert Jones and Jim Lewis.^[2]
• November 8, 1979: Bob Watson was signed as a free agent by the Yankees.^[3]
• November 8, 1979: Rudy May was signed as a free agent by the Yankees.^[4]
• November 14, 1979: The Yankees traded players to be named later and cash to the Texas Rangers for Eric Soderholm. The Yankees sent Amos Lewis (minors) and Ricky Burdette (minors) to the Rangers on December 13 to complete the trade.^[5]
• December 10, 1979: Andre Robertson was purchased by the Yankees from the Toronto Blue Jays.^[6]

Spring training

The Yankees played two spring training exhibition games at the Louisiana Superdome over the weekend of March 15 and 16, 1980. 45,152 spectators watched the Yankees beat the Baltimore Orioles 9 to 3 on March 15, 1980. The following day, 43,339 fans saw Floyd Rayford lead the Orioles to a 7 to 1 win over the Yankees.^[7]

Regular season

Season standings

AL East	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
New York Yankees	103	59	0.636	—	53–28	50–31
Baltimore Orioles	100	62	0.617	3	50–31	50–31
Milwaukee Brewers	86	76	0.531	17	40–42	46–34
Detroit Tigers	84	78	0.519	19	43–38	41–40
Boston Red Sox	70	90	0.438	32	37–42	33–48
Cleveland Indians	79	81	0.494	23	44–35	35–46
Toronto Blue Jays	67	95	0.414	36	35–46	32–49

Record vs. opponents

1980 American League Records Sources:
Team	BAL	BOS	CAL	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	MIL	MIN	NYY	OAK	SEA	TEX	TOR
Baltimore	—	8–5	10–2	6–6	6–7	10–3	6–6	7–6	10–2	7–6	7–5	6–6	6–6	11–2
Boston	5–8	—	9–3	6–4	7–6	8–5	5–7	6–7	6–6	3–10	9–3	7–5	5–7	7–6
California	2–10	3–9	—	3–10	4–6	5–7	5–8	6–6	7–6	2–10	3–10	11–2	11–2	3–9
Chicago	6–6	4–6	10–3	—	5–7	2–10	5–8	5–7	5–8	5–7	6–7	6–7	6–7–2	5–7
Cleveland	7–6	6–7	6–4	7–5	—	3–10	5–7	3–10	9–3	5–8	6–6	8–4	6–6	8–5
Detroit	3–10	5–8	7–5	10–2	10–3	—	2–10	7–6	6–6	5–8	6–6	10–2–1	4–8	9–4
Kansas City	6–6	7–5	8–5	8–5	7–5	10–2	—	6–6	5–8	8–4	6–7	7–6	10–3	9–3
Milwaukee	6–7	7–6	6–6	7–5	10–3	6–7	6–6	—	7–5	5–8	7–5	9–3	5–7	5–8
Minnesota	2–10	6–6	6–7	8–5	3–9	6–6	8–5	5–7	—	4–8	6–7	7–6	9–3	7–5
New York	6–7	10–3	10–2	7–5	8–5	8–5	4–8	8–5	8–4	—	8–4	9–3	7–5	10–3
Oakland	5–7	3–9	10–3	7–6	6–6	6–6	7–6	5–7	7–6	4–8	—	8–5	7–6	8–4
Seattle	6–6	5–7	2–11	7–6	4–8	2–10–1	6–7	3–9	6–7	3–9	5–8	—	4–9	6–6
Texas	6–6	7–5	2–11	7–6–2	6–6	8–4	3–10	7–5	3–9	5–7	6–7	9–4	—	7–5
Toronto	2–11	6–7	9–3	7–5	5–8	4–9	3–9	8–5	5–7	3–10	4–8	6–6	5–7	—

Notable transactions

• April 1, 1980: Jim Kaat was signed as a free agent by the Yankees.^[8]
• April 4, 1980: Johnny Oates was signed as a free agent by the Yankees.^[9]
• April 30, 1980: Jim Kaat was purchased from the Yankees by the St. Louis Cardinals.^[8]
• May 28, 1980: Paul Blair was signed as a free agent by the Yankees.^[10]
• July 1, 1980: Paul Blair was released by the Yankees.^[10]
• August 1, 1980: José Rijo was signed by the Yankees as an amateur free agent.^[11]
• August 14, 1980: Ken Clay and a player to be named later were traded by the Yankees to the Texas Rangers for Gaylord Perry. The Yankees completed the deal by sending Marvin Thompson (minors) to the Rangers on October 1.^[12]

Roster

1980 New York Yankees
Roster
Pitchers 43 Doug Bird 39 Ron Davis 31 Ed Figueroa 54 Goose Gossage 52 Mike Griffin 49 Ron Guidry 25 Tommy John 36 Jim Kaat 53 Tim Lollar 45 Rudy May 36 Gaylord Perry 23 Luis Tiant 38 Tom Underwood		Catchers 10 Rick Cerone 19 Brad Gulden 26 Johnny Oates 47 Bruce Robinson Infielders 61 Marshall Brant 20 Bucky Dent 18 Brian Doyle 55 Roger Holt  9 Graig Nettles 30 Willie Randolph 27 Aurelio Rodríguez 57 Dennis Sherrill 21 Eric Soderholm 12 Jim Spencer 11 Fred Stanley 28 Bob Watson 24 Dennis Werth		Outfielders 27 Paul Blair 13 Bobby Brown 17 Oscar Gamble 44 Reggie Jackson 22 Ruppert Jones 46 Joe Lefebvre  2 Bobby Murcer 14 Lou Piniella 56,59 Ted Wilborn		Manager 34 Dick Howser Coaches  8 Yogi Berra 33 Mike Ferraro 48 Jim Hegan 40 Charley Lau 41 Jeff Torborg 42 Stan Williams

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

Bold indicates American League All-Star.

Pos	Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
C	Cerone, RickRick Cerone	147	519	144	.277	14	85
1B	Watson, BobBob Watson	130	469	144	.307	13	68
2B	Randolph, WillieWillie Randolph	138	513	151	.294	7	46
3B	Nettles, GraigGraig Nettles	89	324	79	.244	16	45
SS	Dent, BuckyBucky Dent	141	489	128	.262	5	52
LF	Piniella, LouLou Piniella	116	321	92	.287	2	27
CF	Brown, BobbyBobby Brown	137	412	107	.260	14	47
RF	Jackson, ReggieReggie Jackson	143	514	154	.300	41	111
DH	Soderholm, EricEric Soderholm	95	275	79	.287	11	35

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
Wilborn, TedTed Wilborn	8	8	2	.250	0	1
Sherrill, DennisDennis Sherrill	3	4	1	.250	0	0

Pitching

Starting pitchers

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

Bold indicates American League All-Star.

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
John, TommyTommy John	36	265⅓	22	9	3.43	78
Guidry, RonRon Guidry	37	219 ⅔	17	10	3.56	166
Underwood, TomTom Underwood	38	187	13	9	3.66	116
May, RudyRudy May	41	175⅓	15	5	2.46	133
Tiant, LuisLuis Tiant	25	136⅓	8	9	4.89	84

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
Figueroa, EdEd Figueroa	15	58	3	3	6.98	16

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
Davis, RonRon Davis	53	9	3	7	2.95	65
Bird, DougDoug Bird	22	3	0	1	2.66	17

ALCS

Game 1

October 8 Royals Stadium

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
New York	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	10	1
Kansas City	0	2	2	0	0	0	1	2	X	7	10	0
W: Larry Gura (1-0)  L: Ron Guidry (0-1)
HRs: NYY – Rick Cerone (1) Lou Piniella (1)   KCR – George Brett (1)

Game 2

October 9 Royals Stadium

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
New York	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	2	8	0
Kansas City	0	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	X	3	6	0
W: Dennis Leonard (1-0)  L: Rudy May (0-1)  S: Dan Quisenberry (1)
HRs: NYY – Graig Nettles

Game 3

October 10 Yankee Stadium

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Kansas City	0	0	0	0	1	0	3	0	0	4	12	1
New York	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	2	8	0
W: Dan Quisenberry (1-0)  L: Rich Gossage (0-1)
HRs: KCR – George Brett (2) Frank White (1)

Awards and honors

Bucky Dent, Goose Gossage, Reggie Jackson, Tommy John, Graig Nettles and Willie Randolph represented the Yankees at the 1980 Major League Baseball All-Star Game.

Randolph earned the inaugural Silver Slugger Award at second base.

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Columbus Clippers	International League	Joe Altobelli
AA	Nashville Sounds	Southern League	Stump Merrill
A	Fort Lauderdale Yankees	Florida State League	Doug Holmquist
A	Greensboro Hornets	South Atlantic League	Bob Schaefer
A-Short Season	Oneonta Yankees	New York–Penn League	Art Mazmanian
Rookie	Paintsville Yankees	Appalachian League	Mike Easom
Rookie	GCL Yankees	Gulf Coast League	Carlos Tosca

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Columbus, Fort Lauderdale, Greensboro, Oneonta, Paintsville

Notes

1. Rick Cerone at Baseball Reference
2. Jim Beattie at Baseball Reference
3. Bob Watson at Baseball Reference
4. Rudy May at Baseball Reference
5. Eric Soderholm at Baseball-Reference
6. Andre Robertson at Baseball Reference
7. Associated Press (March 17, 1980). "Big Crowds see Baseball at Superdome". Toledo Blade. Retrieved June 19, 2009.
8. Jim Kaat at Baseball Reference
9. Johnny Oates at Baseball Reference
10. Paul Blair at Baseball Reference
11. José Rijo at Baseball Reference
12. Gaylord Perry at Baseball Reference

References

• 1980 New York Yankees
• 1980 New York Yankees at Baseball Almanac