# 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.

## 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.

### Season standings

vteAL 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 recordvte 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
## 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)
#DateTime (ET)OpponentScoreWinLossSaveTime of GameAttendanceRecordBox/ StreakGB :
May: 14–14 (Home: 7–4; Away: 7–10)
#DateTime (ET)OpponentScoreWinLossSaveTime of GameAttendanceRecordBox/ StreakGB :
June: 9–2 (Home: 6–0; Away: 3–2)
#DateTime (ET)OpponentScoreWinLossSaveTime of GameAttendanceRecordBox/ StreakGB :
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)
#DateTime (ET)OpponentScoreWinLossSaveTime of GameAttendanceRecordBox/ StreakGB
–August 91981 Major League Baseball All-Star Game at Cleveland Stadium in Cleveland :
September: 13–14 (Home: 7–6; Away: 6–8)
#DateTime (ET)OpponentScoreWinLossSaveTime of GameAttendanceRecordBox/ StreakGB :
October: 1–2 (Home: 0–0; Away: 1–2)
#DateTime (ET)OpponentScoreWinLossSaveTime of GameAttendanceRecordBox/ StreakGB :
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)
#DateTime (ET)OpponentScoreWinLossSaveTime of GameAttendanceRecordBox/ Streak :
AL Championship Series: vs. Oakland Athletics 3–0 (Home: 2–0; Away: 1–0)
#DateTime (ET)OpponentScoreWinLossSaveTime of GameAttendanceRecordBox/ Streak :
World Series: vs. Los Angeles Dodgers 2–4 (Home: 2–1; Away: 1–3)
#DateTime (ET)OpponentScoreWinLossSaveTime of GameAttendanceRecordBox/ Streak :
Legend:        = Win        = Loss        = Postponement Bold = Yankees team member :

## 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 | 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 |

#### 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
#### 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

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

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

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

| 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