1981 New York Yankees
American League Champions
American League East Champions
LeagueAmerican League
DivisionEast
BallparkYankee Stadium
CityNew 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)
OwnersGeorge Steinbrenner
General managersGene Michael
ManagersGene Michael, Bob Lemon
TelevisionWPIX
SportsChannel NY
(Phil Rizzuto, Frank Messer, Bill White)
RadioWABC (AM)
(Frank Messer, Phil Rizzuto, Bill White, Fran Healy)
← 1980 Seasons 1982 →

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

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Regular season

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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

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Draft picks

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Season standings

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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

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1981 American League record

Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14]
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

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1981 New York Yankees
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Other batters

Manager

Coaches

Game log

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Regular season

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First half

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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

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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

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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

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Batting

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Starters by position

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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

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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

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Starting pitchers

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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

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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

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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

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ALDS

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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

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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

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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

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All-Star Game

Farm system

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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

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  1. ^ "Brad Gulden Stats".
  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. ^ "1981 New York Yankees Statistics".
  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

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