1971 New York Yankees season

The 1971 New York Yankees season was the 69th season for the franchise. The team finished fourth in the American League East with a record of 82–80, 21 games behind the Baltimore Orioles. New York was managed by Ralph Houk. The Yankees played their home games at Yankee Stadium.

1971 New York Yankees
League	American League
Division	East
Ballpark	Yankee Stadium
City	New York City
Owners	CBS
General managers	Lee MacPhail
Managers	Ralph Houk
Television	WPIX (Phil Rizzuto, Frank Messer, Bill White, Whitey Ford)
Radio	WMCA (Frank Messer, Phil Rizzuto, Bill White)
← 1970 Seasons 1972 →

Offseason

• March 31, 1971: Pete Ward was released by the Yankees.^[1]

Regular season

Season standings

• v
• t
• e

AL East

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Baltimore Orioles	101	57	.639	—	53‍–‍24	48‍–‍33
Detroit Tigers	91	71	.562	12	54‍–‍27	37‍–‍44
Boston Red Sox	85	77	.525	18	47‍–‍33	38‍–‍44
New York Yankees	82	80	.506	21	44‍–‍37	38‍–‍43
Washington Senators	63	96	.396	38½	35‍–‍46	28‍–‍50
Cleveland Indians	60	102	.370	43	29‍–‍52	31‍–‍50

Record vs. opponents

1971 American League record v t e Sources:
Team	BAL	BOS	CAL	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	MIL	MIN	NYY	OAK	WSH
Baltimore	—	9–9	7–5	8–4	13–5	8–10	6–5	9–3	10–2	11–7	7–4	13–3
Boston	9–9	—	6–6	10–2	11–7	12–6	1–11	6–6	8–4	7–11	3–9	12–6
California	5–7	6–6	—	8–10	8–4	6–6	8–10	6–12	12–6	6–6	7–11	4–8
Chicago	4–8	2–10	10–8	—	3–9	7–5	9–9	11–7	7–11	5–7	11–7	10–2
Cleveland	5–13	7–11	4–8	9–3	—	6–12	2–10	4–8	4–8	8–10	4–8	7–11
Detroit	10–8	6–12	6–6	5–7	12–6	—	8–4	10–2	6–6	10–8	4–8	14–4
Kansas City	5–6	11–1	10–8	9–9	10–2	4–8	—	8–10	9–9	5–7	5–13	9–3
Milwaukee	3–9	6–6	12–6	7–11	8–4	2–10	10–8	—	10–7	2–10	3–15	6–6
Minnesota	2–10	4–8	6–12	11–7	8–4	6–6	9–9	7–10	—	8–4	8–10	5–6
New York	7–11	11–7	6–6	7–5	10–8	8–10	7–5	10–2	4–8	—	5–7	7–11
Oakland	4–7	9–3	11–7	7–11	8–4	8–4	13–5	15–3	10–8	7–5	—	9–3
Washington	3–13	6–12	8–4	2–10	11–7	4–14	3–9	6–6	6–5	11–7	3–9	—

Notable transactions

• April 9, 1971: Ron Klimkowski and Rob Gardner was traded by the Yankees to the Oakland Athletics for Felipe Alou.^[2]
• May 26, 1971: Curt Blefary was traded by the Yankees to the Oakland Athletics for Rob Gardner.^[3]
• May 28, 1971: Bill Burbach was traded by the Yankees to the Baltimore Orioles for Jim Hardin.^[4]
• June 7, 1971: Frank Tepedino and Bobby Mitchell were traded by the Yankees to the Milwaukee Brewers for Danny Walton.^[5]
• June 8, 1971: 1971 Major League Baseball draft
  • Larry Murray was drafted by the Yankees in the 5th round.^[6]
  • Mike Pazik was drafted by the Yankees in the 1st round (13th pick) of the Secondary Phase.^[7]
• June 25, 1971: Ron Woods was traded by the Yankees to the Montreal Expos for Ron Swoboda.^[8]
• July 17, 1971: Bobby Cox was signed as a free agent by the Yankees.^[9]
• August 28, 1971: Bobby Cox was released by the Yankees.^[9]

Roster

1971 New York Yankees
Roster
Pitchers 22 Jack Aker 45 Stan Bahnsen 50 Bill Burbach 50 Al Closter 39,43 Rob Gardner 46 Roger Hambright 29 Jim Hardin 39 Gary Jones 18 Mike Kekich 38 Steve Kline 43 Terry Ley 40 Lindy McDaniel 19 Fritz Peterson 30 Mel Stottlemyre 54 Gary Waslewski		Catchers 41 Jake Gibbs 15 Thurman Munson Infielders 26 Frank Baker 25 Len Boehmer 10 Danny Cater 20 Horace Clarke 23 John Ellis 28 Ron Hansen  2 Jerry Kenney 17 Gene Michael		Outfielders 24 Felipe Alou 13 Curt Blefary 12 Ron Blomberg 27 Jim Lyttle  1 Bobby Murcer 14 Ron Swoboda 21 Frank Tepedino 21 Rusty Torres 21 Danny Walton  6 Roy White  9 Ron Woods		Manager 35 Ralph Houk Coaches 44 Jim Hegan 32 Elston Howard 34 Dick Howser 31 Jim Turner

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	Thurman Munson	125	451	113	.251	10	42
1B	Danny Cater	121	428	118	.276	4	50
2B	Horace Clarke	159	625	156	.250	2	41
3B	Jerry Kenney	120	325	85	.262	0	20
SS	Gene Michael	139	456	102	.224	3	35
LF	Roy White	147	524	153	.292	19	84
CF	Bobby Murcer	146	529	175	.331	25	94
RF	Felipe Alou	131	461	133	.289	8	69

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
John Ellis	83	238	58	.244	3	34
Jake Gibbs	70	206	45	.218	5	21
Ron Blomberg	64	199	64	.322	7	31
Ron Hansen	61	145	30	.207	2	20
Ron Swoboda	54	138	36	.261	2	20
Jim Lyttle	49	86	17	.198	1	7
Frank Baker	43	79	11	.139	0	2
Curt Blefary	21	36	7	.194	1	2
Ron Woods	25	32	8	.250	1	2
Rusty Torres	9	26	10	.385	2	3
Danny Walton	5	14	2	.143	1	2
Frank Tepedino	6	6	0	.000	0	0
Len Boehmer	3	5	0	.000	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
Fritz Peterson	37	274.0	15	13	3.05	139
Mel Stottlemyre	35	269.2	16	12	2.87	132
Stan Bahnsen	36	242.0	14	12	3.35	110
Steve Kline	31	222.1	12	13	2.96	81

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
Mike Kekich	37	170.1	10	9	4.07	93
Jim Hardin	12	28.1	0	2	5.08	14

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
Lindy McDaniel	44	5	10	4	5.04	39
Jack Aker	41	4	4	4	2.59	24
Gary Waslewski	24	0	1	1	3.28	17
Roger Hambright	18	3	1	2	4.39	14
Al Closter	14	2	2	0	5.08	22
Gary Jones	12	0	0	0	9.00	10
Terry Ley	6	0	0	0	10.80	3
Bill Burbach	2	0	1	0	10.80	3
Rob Gardner	2	0	0	0	3.00	2

Awards and honors

• Outfielder Bobby Murcer competed in his first All-Star Game^[10]

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Syracuse Chiefs	International League	Loren Babe
AA	Manchester Yankees	Eastern League	Mickey Vernon
A	Kinston Eagles	Carolina League	Gene Hassell
A	Fort Lauderdale Yankees	Florida State League	Bobby Cox
A-Short Season	Oneonta Yankees	New York–Penn League	George Case
Rookie	Johnson City Yankees	Appalachian League	Jerry Walker

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Oneonta^[11]