1980 New York Yankees season

Updated on Jan 04, 2024

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Manager Dick Howser General manager Gene Michael		Start date 1980 Owner George Steinbrenner
Local radio WINS (AM) (Frank Messer, Phil Rizzuto, Bill White, Fran Healy) Local televisions WPIX, MSG Plus (Phil Rizzuto, Frank Messer, Bill White) Similar 1979 New York Yankees, 1922 New York Yankees, 1926 New York Yankees, 1982 New York Yankees, 1997 New York Yankees

The 1980 New York Yankees season was the 78th season for the franchise in New York, and its 80th season overall. The team finished with a record of 103-59, finishing in first place in the American League East, 3 games ahead of the Baltimore Orioles. The Kansas City Royals swept the Yanks in the ALCS. New York was managed by Dick Howser. The Yankees played at Yankee Stadium.

Offseason

November 1, 1979: Chris Chambliss, Dámaso García, and Paul Mirabella were traded by the Yankees to the Toronto Blue Jays for Rick Cerone, Tom Underwood and Ted Wilborn.

November 1, 1979: Jim Beattie, Rick Anderson (baseball, born 1953), Juan Beníquez, and Jerry Narron were traded by the Yankees to the Seattle Mariners for Ruppert Jones and Jim Lewis.

November 8, 1979: Bob Watson was signed as a free agent by the Yankees.

November 8, 1979: Rudy May was signed as a free agent by the Yankees.

November 14, 1979: The Yankees traded players to be named later and cash to the Texas Rangers for Eric Soderholm. The Yankees sent Amos Lewis (minors) and Ricky Burdette (minors) to the Rangers on December 13 to complete the trade.

December 10, 1979: Andre Robertson was purchased by the Yankees from the Toronto Blue Jays.

Spring training

The Yankees played two spring training exhibition games at the Louisiana Superdome over the weekend of March 15 and 16, 1980. 45,152 spectators watched the Yankees beat the Baltimore Orioles 9 to 3 on March 15, 1980. The following day, 43,339 fans saw Floyd Rayford lead the Orioles to a 7 to 1 win over the Yankees.

Notable transactions

April 1, 1980: Jim Kaat was signed as a free agent by the Yankees.

April 4, 1980: Johnny Oates was signed as a free agent by the Yankees.

April 30, 1980: Jim Kaat was purchased from the Yankees by the St. Louis Cardinals.

May 28, 1980: Paul Blair was signed as a free agent by the Yankees.

July 1, 1980: Paul Blair was released by the Yankees.

August 1, 1980: José Rijo was signed by the Yankees as an amateur free agent.

August 14, 1980: Ken Clay and a player to be named later were traded by the Yankees to the Texas Rangers for Gaylord Perry. The Yankees completed the deal by sending Marvin Thompson (minors) to the Rangers on October 1.

Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Bold indicates American League All-Star.

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Bold indicates American League All-Star.

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Game 1

October 8 Royals Stadium

Game 2

October 9 Royals Stadium

Game 3

October 10 Yankee Stadium

Awards and honors

Bucky Dent, Goose Gossage, Reggie Jackson, Tommy John, Graig Nettles and Willie Randolph represented the Yankees at the 1980 Major League Baseball All-Star Game.

Randolph earned the inaugural Silver Slugger Award at second base.