# 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.

## Offseason

* March 31, 1971: Pete Ward was released by the Yankees.

## Regular season
### Season standings

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

### Roster
## 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

## Farm system

| 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