Girish Mahajan (Editor)

1981 New York Yankees season

Updated on
Edit
Like
Comment
Share on FacebookTweet on TwitterShare on LinkedInShare on Reddit
Start date
  
1981

Owner
  
George Steinbrenner

General manager
  
Gene Michael

Managers
  
Gene Michael, Bob Lemon

Local radio
  
WABC (AM) (Frank Messer, Phil Rizzuto, Bill White, Fran Healy)

Local televisions
  
WPIX, MSG Plus (Phil Rizzuto, Frank Messer, Bill White)

Similar
  
1982 New York Yankees, 1983 New York Yankees, 1979 New York Yankees, 1984 New York Yankees, 1975 New York Yankees

The New York Yankees' 1981 season was the 79th season for the Yankees. In the ALCS, the Yankees swept the Oakland Athletics for their only pennant of the 1980s. However, they lost in the World Series in 6 games to the Los Angeles Dodgers. New York was managed by Gene Michael and Bob Lemon. The Yankees played at Yankee Stadium.

Contents

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.

    • Starters by position

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

    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

    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

    ALDS

    New York wins series, 3-2.

    ALCS

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

    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

    References

    1981 New York Yankees season Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA


    Similar Topics