1981 New York Yankees season

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.

1981 New York Yankees
American League champions American League East champions
League	American League
Division	East
Ballpark	Yankee Stadium
City	New York City
Record	1st half: 34–22 (.607) 2nd half: 25–26 (.490) Overall: 59–48 (.551)
Divisional place	1st half: 1st 2nd half: 5th (tied; 5 GB)
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)
← 1980 Seasons 1982 →

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

• v
• t
• e

AL East

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Milwaukee Brewers	62	47	.569	—	28‍–‍21	34‍–‍26
Baltimore Orioles	59	46	.562	1	33‍–‍22	26‍–‍24
New York Yankees	59	48	.551	2	32‍–‍19	27‍–‍29
Detroit Tigers	60	49	.550	2	32‍–‍23	28‍–‍26
Boston Red Sox	59	49	.546	2½	30‍–‍23	29‍–‍26
Cleveland Indians	52	51	.505	7	25‍–‍29	27‍–‍22
Toronto Blue Jays	37	69	.349	23½	17‍–‍36	20‍–‍33

AL East First Half Standings	W	L	Pct.	GB
New York Yankees	34	22	.607	—
Baltimore Orioles	31	23	.574	2
Milwaukee Brewers	31	25	.554	3
Detroit Tigers	31	26	.544	3+1⁄2
Boston Red Sox	30	26	.536	4
Cleveland Indians	26	24	.520	5
Toronto Blue Jays	16	42	.276	19

AL East Second Half Standings	W	L	Pct.	GB
Milwaukee Brewers	31	22	.585	—
Boston Red Sox	29	23	.558	1+1⁄2
Detroit Tigers	29	23	.558	1+1⁄2
Baltimore Orioles	28	23	.549	2
Cleveland Indians	26	27	.491	5
New York Yankees	25	26	.490	5
Toronto Blue Jays	21	27	.438	7+1⁄2

Record vs. opponents

1981 American League record v t e 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

Game log

Regular season

First half

1981 regular season game log: 34–22 (Home: 19–7; Away: 15–15)
April: 11–6 (Home: 6–3; Away: 5–3) # Date Time (ET) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/ Streak GB
May: 14–14 (Home: 7–4; Away: 7–10) # Date Time (ET) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/ Streak GB
June: 9–2 (Home: 6–0; Away: 3–2) # Date Time (ET) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/ Streak GB
Legend:        = Win        = Loss        = Postponement Bold = Yankees team member

Second half

1981 regular season game log: 25–26 (Home: 13–12; Away: 12–14)
August: 11–10 (Home: 6–6; Away: 5–4) # Date Time (ET) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/ Streak GB – August 9 1981 Major League Baseball All-Star Game at Cleveland Stadium in Cleveland
September: 13–14 (Home: 7–6; Away: 6–8) # Date Time (ET) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/ Streak GB
October: 1–2 (Home: 0–0; Away: 1–2) # Date Time (ET) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/ Streak GB
Legend:        = Win        = Loss        = Postponement Bold = Yankees team member

Postseason Game log

1981 Postseason game log: 8–6 (Home: 5–3; Away: 3–3)
AL Division Series: vs. Milwaukee Brewers 3–2 (Home: 1–2; Away: 2–0) # Date Time (ET) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/ Streak
AL Championship Series: vs. Oakland Athletics 3–0 (Home: 2–0; Away: 1–0) # Date Time (ET) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/ Streak
World Series: vs. Los Angeles Dodgers 2–4 (Home: 2–1; Away: 1–3) # Date Time (ET) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/ Streak
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	Player	G	AB	R	H	Avg.	HR	RBI	SB
C	Rick Cerone	71	234	23	57	.244	2	21	0
1B	Bob Watson	59	156	15	33	.212	6	12	0
2B	Willie Randolph	93	357	59	83	.232	2	24	14
SS	Bucky Dent	73	227	20	54	.238	7	27	0
3B	Graig Nettles	103	349	46	85	.244	15	46	0
LF	Dave Winfield	105	388	52	114	.294	13	68	11
CF	Jerry Mumphrey	80	319	44	98	.307	6	32	14
RF	Reggie Jackson	94	334	33	79	.237	15	54	0
DH	Bobby 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
Oscar Gamble	80	189	45	.238	10	27
Larry Milbourne	61	163	51	.313	1	12
Lou Piniella	60	159	44	.277	5	18
Barry Foote	40	125	26	.208	6	10
Dave Revering	45	119	28	.235	2	7
Jim Spencer	25	63	9	.143	2	4
Bobby Brown	31	62	14	.226	0	6
Dennis Werth	34	55	6	.109	0	1
Aurelio Rodriguez	27	52	18	.346	2	8
Johnny Oates	10	26	5	.192	0	0
Andre Robertson	10	19	5	.263	0	0
Mike Patterson	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
Dave Righetti	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
Doug Bird	17	53.1	5	1	2.70	28
Tom 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
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
George Frazier	16	0	1	3	1.63	17
Bill Castro	11	1	1	0	3.79	4
Dave Wehrmeister	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	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

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	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

Main article: 1981 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

See also: Minor League Baseball

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]