# 1975 New York Yankees season

The 1975 New York Yankees season was the 73rd season for the Yankees. The team finished with a record of 83–77, finishing 12 games behind the Boston Red Sox. The Yankees played at Shea Stadium due to the ongoing renovation of Yankee Stadium, which re-opened in 1976.
Bill Virdon opened the season as Yankees manager, but he was replaced on August 1 by Billy Martin. This would be the first of five stints as Yankees manager for Martin.

## Offseason

* October 22, 1974: Bobby Murcer was traded by the Yankees to the San Francisco Giants for Bobby Bonds.
* December 3, 1974: Joe Pactwa was purchased from the Yankees by the Alijadores de Tampico.
* December 20, 1974: Sam McDowell was released by the Yankees.
* December 31, 1974: Catfish Hunter was signed as a free agent by the Yankees.
* January 21, 1975: Gene Michael was released by the Yankees.

## Regular season
### Season standings

vteAL East :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Boston Red Sox | 95 | 65 | .594 | — | 47‍–‍34 | 48‍–‍31 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 90 | 69 | .566 | 4½ | 44‍–‍33 | 46‍–‍36 |
| New York Yankees | 83 | 77 | .519 | 12 | 43‍–‍35 | 40‍–‍42 |
| Cleveland Indians | 79 | 80 | .497 | 15½ | 41‍–‍39 | 38‍–‍41 |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 68 | 94 | .420 | 28 | 36‍–‍45 | 32‍–‍49 |
| Detroit Tigers | 57 | 102 | .358 | 37½ | 31‍–‍49 | 26‍–‍53 |

### Record vs. opponents

1975 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BAL | BOS | CAL | CWS | CLE | DET | KC | MIL | MIN | NYY | OAK | TEX |
| Baltimore | — | 9–9 | 6–6 | 7–4 | 10–8 | 12–4 | 7–5 | 14–4 | 6–6 | 8–10 | 4–8 | 7–5 |
| Boston | 9–9 | — | 6–6 | 8–4 | 7–11 | 13–5 | 7–5 | 10–8 | 10–2 | 11–5 | 6–6 | 8–4 |
| California | 6–6 | 6–6 | — | 9–9 | 3–9 | 6–5 | 4–14 | 7–5 | 8–10 | 7–5 | 7–11 | 9–9 |
| Chicago | 4–7 | 4–8 | 9–9 | — | 7–5 | 5–7 | 9–9 | 8–4 | 9–9 | 6–6 | 9–9 | 5–13 |
| Cleveland | 8–10 | 11–7 | 9–3 | 5–7 | — | 12–6 | 6–6 | 9–9 | 3–6 | 9–9 | 2–10 | 5–7 |
| Detroit | 4–12 | 5–13 | 5–6 | 7–5 | 6–12 | — | 6–6 | 7–11 | 4–8 | 6–12 | 6–6 | 1–11 |
| Kansas City | 5–7 | 5–7 | 14–4 | 9–9 | 6–6 | 6–6 | — | 7–5 | 11–7 | 7–5 | 11–7 | 14–4 |
| Milwaukee | 4–14 | 8–10 | 5–7 | 4–8 | 9–9 | 11–7 | 5–7 | — | 2–10 | 9–9 | 5–7 | 6–6 |
| Minnesota | 6–6 | 2–10 | 10–8 | 9–9 | 6–3 | 8–4 | 7–11 | 10–2 | — | 4–8 | 6–12 | 8–10 |
| New York | 10–8 | 5–11 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 9–9 | 12–6 | 5–7 | 9–9 | 8–4 | — | 6–6 | 8–4 |
| Oakland | 8–4 | 6–6 | 11–7 | 9–9 | 10–2 | 6–6 | 11–7 | 7–5 | 12–6 | 6–6 | — | 12–6 |
| Texas | 5–7 | 4–8 | 9–9 | 13–5 | 7–5 | 11–1 | 4–14 | 6–6 | 10–8 | 4–8 | 6–12 | — |

### Notable transactions

* June 3, 1975: 1975 Major League Baseball Draft
** Jim Beattie was drafted by the New York Yankees in the 4th round.
** Willie Upshaw was drafted by the Yankees in the 5th round.
* June 13, 1975: Ed Brinkman was purchased by the Yankees from the Texas Rangers.

### Roster
## Player stats

* = Indicates team leader

### 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 | Thurman Munson | 157 | 597 | 83 | 190 | .318 | 12 | 102 | 3 |
| 1B | Chris Chambliss | 150 | 562 | 66 | 171 | .304 | 9 | 72 | 0 |
| 2B | Sandy Alomar Sr. | 151 | 489 | 61 | 117 | .239 | 2 | 39 | 28 |
| 3B | Graig Nettles | 157 | 581 | 71 | 155 | .267 | 21 | 91 | 1 |
| SS | Jim Mason | 94 | 223 | 17 | 34 | .152 | 2 | 16 | 0 |
| LF | Roy White | 148 | 566 | 81 | 161 | .290 | 12 | 59 | 16 |
| CF | Elliott Maddox | 55 | 218 | 36 | 67 | .307 | 1 | 23 | 9 |
| RF | Bobby Bonds | 145 | 529 | 93 | 143 | .270 | 32 | 85 | 30 |
| DH | Ed Herrmann | 80 | 200 | 16 | 51 | .255 | 6 | 30 | 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 |
| Fred Stanley | 117 | 252 | 56 | .222 | 0 | 15 |
| Lou Piniella | 74 | 199 | 39 | .196 | 0 | 22 |
| Walt Williams | 82 | 185 | 52 | .281 | 5 | 16 |
| Rick Dempsey | 71 | 145 | 38 | .262 | 1 | 11 |
| Alex Johnson | 52 | 119 | 31 | .261 | 1 | 15 |
| Rick Bladt | 52 | 117 | 26 | .222 | 1 | 11 |
| Rich Coggins | 51 | 107 | 24 | .224 | 1 | 6 |
| Ron Blomberg | 34 | 106 | 27 | .255 | 4 | 17 |
| Terry Whitfield | 28 | 81 | 22 | .272 | 0 | 7 |
| Ed Brinkman | 44 | 63 | 11 | .175 | 0 | 2 |
| Bob Oliver | 18 | 38 | 5 | .132 | 0 | 1 |
| Kerry Dineen | 7 | 22 | 8 | .364 | 0 | 1 |
| Dave Bergman | 7 | 17 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Otto Vélez | 6 | 8 | 2 | .250 | 0 | 1 |
| Larry Murray | 6 | 1 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Eddie Leon | 1 | 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 |
| Catfish Hunter | 39 | 328.0 | 23 | 14 | 2.58 | 177 |
| Doc Medich | 38 | 272.1 | 16 | 16 | 3.50 | 132 |
| Rudy May | 32 | 212.0 | 14 | 12 | 3.06 | 145 |
| Pat Dobson | 33 | 207.2 | 11 | 14 | 4.07 | 129 |
| Larry Gura | 26 | 151.1 | 7 | 8 | 3.51 | 65 |

#### 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 |
| Sparky Lyle | 49 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 3.12 | 65 |
| Dick Tidrow | 37 | 6 | 3 | 5 | 3.12 | 38 |
| Tippy Martinez | 23 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 2.68 | 20 |
| Dave Pagan | 13 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4.06 | 18 |
| Ron Guidry | 10 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3.45 | 15 |
| Rick Sawyer | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.00 | 3 |
| Mike Wallace | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14.54 | 2 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Syracuse Chiefs | International League | Bobby Cox |
| AA | West Haven Yankees | Eastern League | Pete Ward |
| A | Fort Lauderdale Yankees | Florida State League | Leo Posada |
| A-Short Season | Oneonta Yankees | New York–Penn League | Mike Ferraro |