1981 New York Yankees season

1981 New York Yankees
AL East Champions American League 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)	Gene Michael, Bob Lemon
Local television	WPIX SportsChannel NY (Phil Rizzuto, Frank Messer, Bill White)
Local radio	WABC (AM) (Frank Messer, Phil Rizzuto, Bill White, Fran Healy)
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The New York Yankees' 1981 season was the 79th season for the Yankees. In the ALCS, the Yankees swept the Oakland Athletics for their only pennant of the 1980s. However, they lost in the World Series in 6 games to the Los Angeles Dodgers. New York was managed by Gene Michael and Bob Lemon. The Yankees played at Yankee Stadium.

Offseason

• November 18, 1980: Brad Gulden was traded by the New York Yankees with $150,000 to the Seattle Mariners for a player to be named later and Larry Milbourne. The Seattle Mariners sent back Brad Gulden (May 18, 1981) to the New York Yankees to complete the trade.^[1] In effect, Brad Gulden was traded for himself.
• December 8, 1980: Brian Doyle was drafted from the Yankees by the Oakland Athletics in the 1980 rule 5 draft.^[2]
• December 15, 1980: Dave Winfield was signed as a Free Agent with the New York Yankees.^[3]
• February 16, 1981: Rafael Santana was traded by the Yankees to the St. Louis Cardinals for a player to be named later. The Cardinals completed the deal by sending George Frazier to the Yankees on June 7.^[4]
• March 31, 1981: Chris Welsh, Ruppert Jones, Joe Lefebvre, and Tim Lollar were traded by the Yankees to the San Diego Padres for Jerry Mumphrey and John Pacella.^[5]

Regular season

The team finished in first place in the American League East for the first half of the season with a 34-22 record, but finished fifth in the second half with a 25-26 record, for an overall record of 59-48. The season was suspended for 50 days due to the infamous 1981 players strike and the league chose as its playoff teams, the division winners from the first and second halves of the season, respectively.

Notable transactions

• April 6, 1981: Johnny Oates was signed as a free agent by the Yankees.^[6]
• May 20, 1981: Jim Spencer and Tom Underwood were traded by the Yankees to the Oakland Athletics for Dave Revering, Mike Patterson, and Chuck Dougherty (minors).^[7]
• June 12, 1981: Doug Bird, a player to be named later, and $400,000 were traded by the Yankees to the Chicago Cubs for Rick Reuschel. The Yankees completed the deal by sending Mike Griffin to the Cubs on August 5.^[8]
• August 19, 1981: Pat Tabler was traded by the Yankees to the Chicago Cubs for players to be named later. The Cubs completed the deal by sending Bill Caudill to the Yankees on April 1, 1982 and Jay Howell to the Yankees on August 2.^[9]

Draft picks

• June 8, 1981: 1981 Major League Baseball Draft
  • John Elway was drafted by the Yankees in the 2nd round.^[10]
  • Phil Lombardi was drafted by the Yankees in the 3rd round.^[11]
  • Eric Plunk was drafted by the Yankees in the 4th round. Player signed June 15, 1981.^[12]
  • Fred McGriff was drafted by the Yankees in the 9th round. McGriff signed on June 11, 1981.^[13]

Season standings

AL East	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Milwaukee Brewers	62	47	0.569	—	28–21	34–26
Baltimore Orioles	59	46	0.562	1	33–22	26–24
New York Yankees	59	48	0.551	2	32–19	27–29
Detroit Tigers	60	49	0.550	2	32–23	28–26
Boston Red Sox	59	49	0.546	2½	30–23	29–26
Cleveland Indians	52	51	0.505	7	25–29	27–22
Toronto Blue Jays	37	69	0.349	23½	17–36	20–33

AL East First Half Standings	W	L	Pct.
New York Yankees	34	22	.607
Baltimore Orioles	31	23	.574
Milwaukee Brewers	31	25	.554
Detroit Tigers	31	26	.544
Boston Red Sox	30	26	.536
Cleveland Indians	26	24	.520
Toronto Blue Jays	16	42	.276

AL East Second Half Standings	W	L	Pct.
Milwaukee Brewers	31	22	.585
Boston Red Sox	29	23	.558
Detroit Tigers	29	23	.558
Baltimore Orioles	28	23	.549
Cleveland Indians	26	27	.491
New York Yankees	25	26	.490
Toronto Blue Jays	21	27	.438

Record vs. opponents

1981 American League Records Sources:
Team	BAL	BOS	CAL	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	MIL	MIN	NYY	OAK	SEA	TEX	TOR
Baltimore	—	2–2	6–6	3–6	4–2	6–7	5–3	2–4	6–0	7–6	7–5	4–2	2–1	5–2
Boston	2–2	—	2–4	5–4	7–6	6–1	3–3	6–7	2–5	3–3	7–5	9–3	3–6	4–0
California	6–6	4–2	—	6–7	7–5	3–3	0–6	4–3	3–3	2–2	2–8	6–4	2–4	6–6
Chicago	6–3	4–5	7–6	—	2–5	3–3	2–0	4–1	2–4	5–7	7–6	3–3	2–4	7–5
Cleveland	2–4	6–7	5–7	5–2	—	1–5	4–4	3–6	2–1	7–5	3–2	8–4	2–2	4–2
Detroit	7–6	1–6	3–3	3–3	5–1	—	3–2	5–8	9–3	3–7	1–2	5–1	9–3	6–4
Kansas City	3–5	3–3	6–0	0–2	4–4	2–3	—	4–5	9–4	2–10	3–3	6–7	3–4	5–3
Milwaukee	4–2	7–6	3–4	1–4	6–3	8–5	5–4	—	9–3	3–3	4–2	2–2	4–5	6–4
Minnesota	0–6	5–2	3–3	4–2	1–2	3–9	4–9	3–9	—	3–3	2–8	3–6–1	5–8	5–1
New York	6–7	3–3	2–2	7–5	5–7	7–3	10–2	3–3	3–3	—	4–3	2–3	5–4	2–3
Oakland	5–7	5–7	8–2	6–7	2–3	2–1	3–3	2–4	8–2	3–4	—	6–1	4–2	10–2
Seattle	2–4	3–9	4–6	3–3	4–8	1–5	7–6	2–2	6–3–1	3–2	1–6	—	5–8	3–3
Texas	1–2	6–3	4–2	4–2	2–2	3–9	4–3	5–4	8–5	4–5	2–4	8–5	—	6–2
Toronto	2–5	0–4	6–6	5–7	2–4	4–6	3–5	4–6	1–5	3–2	2–10	3–3	2–6	—

Roster

1981 New York Yankees
Roster
Pitchers 43 Doug Bird 35,56 Bill Castro 39 Ron Davis 43 George Frazier 54 Goose Gossage 52 Mike Griffin 49 Ron Guidry 25 Tommy John 34 Dave LaRoche 45 Rudy May 58 Andy McGaffigan 46,55 Gene Nelson 36 Rick Reuschel 19 Dave Righetti 38 Tom Underwood 58 Dave Wehrmeister		Catchers 10 Rick Cerone 23 Barry Foote 26 Johnny Oates Infielders 57 Tucker Ashford 66 Steve Balboni 20 Bucky Dent 18 Larry Milbourne  9 Graig Nettles 30 Willie Randolph 12 Dave Revering 55 Andre Robertson 27 Aurelio Rodríguez 12 Jim Spencer 28 Bob Watson 24 Dennis Werth		Outfielders 13 Bobby Brown 17 Oscar Gamble 44 Reggie Jackson 22 Jerry Mumphrey 56 Mike Patterson 14 Lou Piniella 31 Dave Winfield Other batters  2 Bobby Murcer		Manager 21 Bob Lemon 11 Gene Michael Coaches 48 Joe Altobelli  8 Yogi Berra 33 Mike Ferraro    Clyde King 40 Charley Lau 41 Jeff Torborg    Jerry Walker 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

Pos	Player	G	AB	R	H	Avg.	HR	RBI	SB
C	Cerone, RickRick Cerone	71	234	23	57	.244	2	21	0
1B	Watson, BobBob Watson	59	156	15	33	.212	6	12	0
2B	Randolph, WillieWillie Randolph	93	357	59	83	.232	2	24	14
SS	Dent, BuckyBucky Dent	73	227	20	54	.238	7	27	0
3B	Nettles, GraigGraig Nettles	103	349	46	85	.244	15	46	0
LF	Winfield, DaveDave Winfield	105	388	52	114	.294	13	68	11
CF	Mumphrey, JerryJerry Mumphrey	80	319	44	98	.307	6	32	14
RF	Jackson, ReggieReggie Jackson	94	334	33	79	.237	15	54	0
DH	Murcer, BobbyBobby Murcer	50	117	14	31	.265	6	24	0

^[14]

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
Gamble, OscarOscar Gamble	80	189	45	.238	10	27
Milbourne, LarryLarry Milbourne	61	163	51	.313	1	12
Piniella, LouLou Piniella	60	159	44	.277	5	18
Foote, BarryBarry Foote	40	125	26	.208	6	10
Revering, DaveDave Revering	45	119	28	.235	2	7
Spencer, JimJim Spencer	25	63	9	.143	2	4
Brown, BobbyBobby Brown	31	62	14	.226	0	6
Werth, DennisDennis Werth	34	55	6	.109	0	1
Oates, JohnnyJohnny Oates	10	26	5	.192	0	0
Patterson, MikeMike Patterson	4	9	2	.222	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
Righetti, DaveDave Righetti	15	105.1	8	4	2.05	89

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
Bird, DougDoug Bird	17	53.1	5	1	2.70	28
Underwood, TomTom Underwood	9	32.2	1	4	4.41	29

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
Frazier, GeorgeGeorge Frazier	16	0	1	3	1.63	17
Wehrmeister, DaveDave Wehrmeister	5	0	0	0	5.14	7

Postseason

ALDS

New York wins series, 3-2.

Game	Score	Date
1	New York 5, Milwaukee 3	October 7
2	New York 3, Milwaukee 0	October 8
3	Milwaukee 5, New York 3	October 9
4	Milwaukee 2, New York 1	October 10
5	New York 7, Milwaukee 3	October 11

ALCS

New York Yankees win the Series over the Oakland Athletics, 3-0

Game	Score	Date	Location	Attendance
1	Oakland – 1, New York – 3	October 13	Yankee Stadium	55,740
2	Oakland – 3, New York – 13	October 14	Yankee Stadium	48,497
3	New York – 4, Oakland – 0	October 15	Oakland Coliseum	47,302

World Series

NL Los Angeles Dodgers (4) vs. AL New York Yankees (2)

Game	Score	Date	Location	Attendance	Time of Game
1	Dodgers – 3, Yankees – 5	October 20	Yankee Stadium (New York)	56,470	2:32
2	Dodgers – 0, Yankees – 3	October 21	Yankee Stadium (New York)	56,505	2:29
3	Yankees – 4, Dodgers – 5	October 23	Dodger Stadium (Los Angeles)	56,236	3:04
4	Yankees – 7, Dodgers – 8	October 24	Dodger Stadium (Los Angeles)	56,242	3:32
5	Yankees – 1, Dodgers – 2	October 25	Dodger Stadium (Los Angeles)	56,115	2:19
6	Dodgers – 9, Yankees – 2	October 28	Yankee Stadium (New York)	56,513	3:09

Awards and honors

• Tommy John, Lou Gehrig Memorial Award
• Dave Righetti was honored as the AL Rookie of the Year.
• Graig Nettles, Most Valuable Player in the AL Championship Series.

All-Star Game

• Willie Randolph
• Bucky Dent
• Reggie Jackson
• Dave Winfield
• Ron Davis
• Rich Gossage

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Columbus Clippers	International League	Frank Verdi
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, Greensboro, Oneonta, Paintsville^[15]

Notes

1. http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/g/guldebr01.shtml
2. Brian Doyle page at Baseball Reference
3. Dave Winfield page at Baseball Reference
4. Rafael Santana page at Baseball Reference
5. Chris Welsh page at Baseball Reference
6. Johnny Oates page at Baseball Reference
7. Dave Revering page at Baseball Reference
8. Rick Reuschel page at Baseball Reference
9. Pat Tabler page at Baseball Reference
10. 1981 MLB June Draft Second Round Picks
11. Phil Lombardi page at Baseball Reference
12. Eric Plunk page at Baseball Reference
13. Fred McGriff page at Baseball Reference
14. http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/NYY/1981.shtml
15. 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

• 1981 New York Yankees
• 1981 World Series
• 1981 New York Yankees team page at www.baseball-almanac.com