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1981 New York Yankees season

Season for the Major League Baseball team the New York Yankees

Field	Value
name	New York Yankees
season	1981
misc	American League champions
American League East champions
league	American League
division	East
ballpark	Yankee Stadium
city	New York City
record	{{ubl
divisional_place	{{ubl
owners	George Steinbrenner
general_managers	Gene Michael
managers	Gene Michael, Bob Lemon
television	WPIX
SportsChannel NY
(Phil Rizzuto, Frank Messer, Bill White)
radio	WABC (AM)
(Frank Messer, Phil Rizzuto, Bill White, Fran Healy)

American League East champions |1st half: 34–22 (.607) |2nd half: 25–26 (.490) |Overall: 59–48 (.551) |1st half: 1st |2nd half: 5th (tied; 5 GB) SportsChannel NY (Phil Rizzuto, Frank Messer, Bill White) (Frank Messer, Phil Rizzuto, Bill White, Fran Healy) The 1981 New York Yankees season was the franchise's 79th season. Games were suspended for 50 days due to the 1981 Major League Baseball strike, causing a split season. The Yankees competed as members of the American League East, finishing first in the first half of the season, and tying for fifth in the second half of the season; overall, they won 59 games while losing 48. The team advanced to the postseason due to their first-half first-place finish, where they defeated the Milwaukee Brewers in the American League Division Series and the Oakland Athletics in the American League Championship Series, capturing the Yankees' only pennant of the 1980s. The Yankees then lost the World Series in six games to the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Yankees played their home games at Yankee Stadium and were managed by Gene Michael until September 5, and by Bob Lemon thereafter.

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. 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.
December 15, 1980: Dave Winfield was signed as a free agent with the New York Yankees.
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.
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.

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.
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).
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.
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.

Draft picks

June 8, 1981: 1981 Major League Baseball draft
- John Elway was drafted by the Yankees in the 2nd round.
- Phil Lombardi was drafted by the Yankees in the 3rd round.
- Eric Plunk was drafted by the Yankees in the 4th round. Player signed June 15, 1981.
- Fred McGriff was drafted by the Yankees in the 9th round. McGriff signed on June 11, 1981.

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Roster

1981 New York Yankees
Roster
Pitchers

Game log

Regular season

First half

-
-
- style="text-align:center;"
Legend: = Win = Loss = Postponement
Bold = Yankees team member

Second half

|- style="background:#bbcaff;" | – || August 9 || ||colspan=10 |1981 Major League Baseball All-Star Game at Cleveland Stadium in Cleveland

-
-
- style="text-align:center;"
Legend: = Win = Loss = Postponement
Bold = Yankees team member

Postseason Game log

-
-
- style="text-align:center;"
Legend: = Win = Loss = Postponement
Bold = Yankees team member

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	G	AB	R	H	Avg.	HR	RBI	SB
C	71	234	23	57	.244	2	21	0
1B	59	156	15	33	.212	6	12	0
2B	93	357	59	83	.232	2	24	14
SS	73	227	20	54	.238	7	27	0
3B	103	349	46	85	.244	15	46	0
LF	105	388	52	114	.294	13	68	11
CF	80	319	44	98	.307	6	32	14
RF	94	334	33	79	.237	15	54	0
DH	50	117	14	31	.265	6	24	0

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
	80	189	45	.238	10	27
	61	163	51	.313	1	12
	60	159	44	.277	5	18
	40	125	26	.208	6	10
	45	119	28	.235	2	7
	25	63	9	.143	2	4
	31	62	14	.226	0	6
	34	55	6	.109	0	1
Aurelio Rodriguez	27	52	18	.346	2	8
	10	26	5	.192	0	0
Andre Robertson	10	19	5	.263	0	0
	4	9	2	.222	0	0
Steve Balboni	4	7	2	.286	0	2
Tucker Ashford	3	0	0	----	0	0

Pitching

	= Indicates league leader

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
Rudy May	27	147.2	6	11	4.14	79
Tommy John	20	140.1	9	8	2.63	50
Ron Guidry	23	127.0	11	5	2.76	104
	15	105.1	8	4	2.05	89
Rick Reuschel	12	70.2	4	4	2.67	22
Gene Nelson	8	39.1	3	1	4.81	16

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
	17	53.1	5	1	2.70	28
	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
Rich Gossage	32	3	2	20	0.77	48
Ron Davis	43	4	5	6	2.71	83
Dave LaRoche	26	4	1	0	2.49	24
	16	0	1	3	1.63	17
Bill Castro	11	1	1	0	3.79	4
	5	0	0	0	5.14	7
Andy McGaffigan	2	0	0	0	2.57	2
Mike Griffin	2	0	0	0	2.08	4

Postseason

ALDS

Main article: 1981 American League Division Series

New York wins series, 3–2.

	Game		Score		Date
1
2
3
4
5

ALCS

Main article: 1981 American League Championship Series

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

	Game		Score		Date		Location		Attendance
1
2
3

World Series

Main article: 1981 World Series

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

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Columbus, Greensboro, Oneonta, Paintsville

Notes

References

"Brad Gulden Stats".
[https://www.baseball-reference.com/d/doylebr01.shtml Brian Doyle page at Baseball Reference]
[https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/w/winfida01.shtml Dave Winfield page at Baseball Reference]
[https://www.baseball-reference.com/s/santara01.shtml Rafael Santana page at Baseball Reference]
[https://www.baseball-reference.com/w/welshch01.shtml Chris Welsh page at Baseball Reference]
[https://www.baseball-reference.com/o/oatesjo01.shtml Johnny Oates page at Baseball Reference]
[https://www.baseball-reference.com/r/reverda01.shtml Dave Revering page at Baseball Reference]
[https://www.baseball-reference.com/r/reuscri01.shtml Rick Reuschel page at Baseball Reference]
[https://www.baseball-reference.com/t/tablepa01.shtml Pat Tabler page at Baseball Reference]
[https://www.baseball-reference.com/draft/index.cgi?year_ID=1981&round=2&draft_type=junreg 1981 MLB June Draft Second Round Picks]
[https://www.baseball-reference.com/l/lombaph01.shtml Phil Lombardi page at Baseball Reference]
[https://www.baseball-reference.com/p/plunker01.shtml Eric Plunk page at Baseball Reference]
[https://www.baseball-reference.com/m/mcgrifr01.shtml Fred McGriff page at Baseball Reference]
"1981 New York Yankees Statistics".
Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., ''The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball'', 2nd and 3rd editions. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997 and 2007

Info: Wikipedia Source

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