There was a renaissance in New York Yankees history that started in the mid-to-late 1970s. The proud franchise had last reached the World Series in 1964 and after the team was sold to CBS, a period of irrelevance and bad teams followed. Yankee Stadium itself underwent renovations and the team had to share Shea Stadium with the Mets while the work was being completed. 1976 was the year the renaissance arrived and it continued until 1981.
George Steinbrenner took over the team in 1973 and his investments in the lineup paid off three years later. The Yankees returned to the World Series that year. New York lost that one, but came back to the Fall Classic each of the next two years and beat the Los Angeles Dodgers both times. In 1980, they won the AL East before losing in the playoffs. And in 1981, a season split apart by a strike, the Yankees won one more pennant, eventually losing to the Dodgers in these World Series.
The links below contain season-long narratives of those five seasons, all within a six-year window that produced at least an AL East title, four pennants and two World Series championships.
1979 is the one year missing, and it’s one that was marked by tragedy. Thurman Munson, the captain of the 1976-78 teams, was killed in a plane crash as he flew his private plane.
The rest of the New York Yankees history from 1976-81 is all here. There were big home runs off the bats of Chris Chambliss, Reggie Jackson and Bucky Dent. There was great starting pitching, especially from Ron Guidry. The bullpen, whether it was Sparky Lyle or Goose Gossage, was as good as any.
There were the turmoils, the managerial changes that Steinbrenner became renowned for, the slumps, and the moments when rivals—from the Boston Red Sox to the Baltimore Orioles to the Milwaukee Brewers at the end—seemed ready to triumph, before New York finally won. The moments—the big ones and the under-the-radar ones that marked the 1976-81 Yankee Renaissance—is here. READ MORE ABOUT THE 1976 NEW YORK YANKEES READ MORE ABOUT THE 1977 NEW YORK YANKEES READ MORE ABOUT THE 1978 NEW YORK YANKEES READ MORE ABOUT THE 1980 NEW YORK YANKEES READ MORE ABOUT THE 1981 NEW YORK YANKEES
Baseball in the Bronx was on hard times in the early-to-mid 1970s. At least hard times by the lofty standards the New York Yankees had set in winning 20 World Series titles coming into the 1976 season. But it had been 1964 since the Yanks were last even in the Fall Classic, 1962 since they won it, between 1965-75, they broke the 90-win barrier just once.
George Steinbrenner bought the team in 1973 and towards the end of the 1975 season, he hired Billy Martin as manager. The 1976 New York Yankees would be George & Billy’s first run together, and they returned this proud franchise to prominence.
In the late 1970s, Steinbrenner’s Yankees become synonymous with the phrase “The Best Team Money Can Buy”, for their use of the financial wealth generated by the New York market to overcome poor decisions in player development, a trend that continues this day. But it would not be fair to put that tag on the 1976 team. A series of smart trades took a decent team and made it into the American League’s best.
New York dealt pitcher Doc Medich, a good, but not great starter, to the Pittsburgh Pirates for three players—they got back starting pitcher Dock Ellis in return, who won 17 games with 3.19 ERA for the Yanks in 1976. New York also got Willie Randolph, who would become a fixture at second base, reliable defensive, a base stealer and consistently on base.
A bigger move came when the Yanks shipped out Bobby Bonds (father of the infamous slugger Barry) to California and got Ed Figueroa and Mickey Rivers back. Figueroa won 19 games in ’76 and was Martin’s best starter. Rivers, a speedy centerfielder, hit .312 and stole 43 bases. New York also made a modest move to add rightfielder Oscar Gamble and beef up the lineup, with Gamble’s 17 home runs.
Not every trade made proved to be inspired—a nine-player deal with the Baltimore Orioles in June, got the Yanks starting pitcher Ken Holtzman, a young Doyle Alexander and lefty reliever Grant Jackson. But Holtzman, an excellent starter on the Oakland A’s championship teams from 1972-74, made only 21 starts and had a 4.17 ERA. And Alexander would be moved out of town before fulfilling his potential.
The Yankees gave up starting pitcher Scott McGregor, catcher Rick Dempsey and relief pitcher Tippy Martinez, all of whom would be instrumental for the Orioles in coming years. And another June deal got the Yankees a backup catcher in Fran Healy in exchange for lefty Larry Gura…who was shipped to the Kansas City Royals, ended up pitching the game that clinched his new team the AL West, became their #2 starter, and developed a reputation as a Yankee killer.
But when make you a lot of moves, some will blow up on you. Stepping back and looking at the larger picture makes it plain that whatever missteps were made, New York still made themselves better for 1976.
Figueroa and Ellis were the best starting pitchers, though Catfish Hunter was the nominal ace, winning 17 games with a 3.53 ERA. Sparky Lyle anchored the bullpen, saving 23 games with a 2.26 ERA, and Dick Tidrow was a reliable #2 reliever, ten saves and a 2.63 ERA. Yankee pitching was the best in the American League in 1976.
The offense was almost as good, ranking second in the AL in runs scored, and effective at all facets of offensive play. New York was second in batting average, second in steals, second in slugging percentage and second in home runs. The only thing the Yanks didn’t do was take walks, where they ranked near the bottom of the league. But they hit so well, that it didn’t affect the final team on-base percentage, which was still second in the league.
Martin liked to play aggressively, and Randolph, Rivers and left fielder Roy White combined to steal 111 bases. Graig Nettles cleaned up, hitting 32 home runs. First baseman Chris Chambliss popped 17 home runs and had 96 RBIs. Carlos May, the designated hitter, had a solid .358 on-base percentage.
Then there was the catcher—Thurman Munson was the Yankee captain, and he batted .302 and drove in 105 runs. His offense, along with his leadership and work behind the plate got Thurman the American League MVP award.
New York started fast, winning 10 of their first 13. This included taking two straight in Baltimore behind Hunter and Ellis, and knocking around Jim Palmer—who had won the Cy Young Award in 1975 and would do so again in 1976.
The Yanks only led the AL East by a half-game, but that margin was on the Milwaukee Brewers—a lowly team that no one took seriously as a contender, and who would quickly live down to expectations. The real contenders—the Orioles, and the defending AL champs, the Boston Red Sox, were slow out of the gate and below .500 at the end of April.
New York went 16-12 in the month of May, capping it by taking two of three from the Red Sox in Fenway Park. Boston was now eight back and would never recover, in a season filled with underachievement. Baltimore was in striking range, five games out, but New York was simply too consistent.
There was no signature win streak, no singular dominating stretch for the 1976 New York Yankees. They just kept grinding away. A seven-game string at the end of June was able to nudge the lead out to nine games, they were 10 ½ up at the All-Star break, and the race never got closer than 8 ½ the rest of the way. New York finished the season 97-62, a healthy 10 ½ games up on Baltimore.
October marked the first appearance for the Yankees in the American League Championship Series, instituted in 1969, after expansion resulted in the leagues splitting into two divisions apiece. The Yanks and Royals played an outstanding ALCS that wasn’t settled until Chambliss broke a 6-6 tie in the decisive game by hitting a ninth-inning walkoff shot and sending the Bronx into pandemonium.
The World Series was a different story. The Big Red Machine of Cincinnati was at the peak of its power, led by Hall of Famers Johnny Bench, Joe Morgan, Tony Perez and Pete Rose (well, at least Rose is a Hall of Famer in terms of baseball merit). New York was only marginally competitive in the Series, and the Reds completed a perfect October, by sweeping the World Series.
Even though the season ended in a disappointing fashion, and Steinbrenner responded in a predictable way, lashing out in Martin, even though the manager had completely turned the team around, the message had been sent loud and clear—the New York Yankees were back in business. And there were championships in their immediate future, in both 1977 and 1978.
The 1976 baseball season saw the New York Yankees return to prominence, winning the AL East for the first time since the divisional split took place in 1969. The Kansas City Royals were a completely fresh face on the postseason stage, capturing the AL West and ending the Oakland A’s dynastic run of the early-to-mid 1970s.
You can read more about the regular season paths taken by the Yankees & Royals and the seasons enjoyed by their key players at the links below. This article will focus squarely on the games of the 1976 ALCS.
The League Championship Series round was best-of-five in 1976, and used a 2-3 homefield format that rotated between the divisions without regard to regular season record. The series opened in Kansas City and concluded in the Bronx.
New York came out on the attack in Game 1, and Brett had defensive problems in his first inning of postseason play. Rivers had an infield hit and Brett’s throwing error put the speedy runner on second. He came on to score and another Brett error would make it 2-0 before the inning was over.
Yankee starter Catfish Hunter was in command and not until the eighth would the Royals get on the board. Royals’ pitcher Larry Gura kept the Yanks under control, but in the ninth the Pinstripes added two insurance runs. Ninth-place hitter Fred Stanley got the last of his three hits to start the rally, Rivers singled and White doubled them both in.
New York had at least earned a split and now enormous pressure shifted to Kansas City for Game 2. The Royals answered the bell immediately with a pair of singles setting up a Brett sacrifice fly, then a stolen base and throwing error by Munson setting up a two-out RBI single by Tom Poquette.
17-game winner Dennis Leonard was on the mound for Kansas City, but he could not hold the lead. In the top of the third, with the lead down to 2-1, White and Munson both doubled. Then first baseman Chris Chambliss hit an RBI single. Leonard was removed for lefty Paul Splittorff, but now the Royals trailed 3-2.
Splittorff would earn a reputation as a Yankee-killer and he saved the day here, throwing 5 2/3 innings of shutout baseball. Brett tripled to leadoff the bottom of the sixth and scored the tying run. After a John Mayberry single, Poquette got another big hit with a double to put the Royals up 4-3.
In the bottom of the eighth, Poquette again got things started, drawing a walk to lead off an inning where the Royals would score three times and break the game open. It ended 7-4 and the American League pennant was now down to a best-of-three settled from Tuesday through Thursday in the Bronx.
If Kansas City was intimidated by the bright lights of Broadway, they didn’t show it. A single and stolen base in the first inning set up Brett for an RBI single. The jitters of Game 1’s first inning were well past the third baseman and he was on his way to a big series. He later scored on a sac fly by Hal McRae, and Poquette showed up again with a two-out RBI double.
New York starter Dock Ellis settled down though, and the Royals wouldn’t score again. New York went to work on that 3-0 deficit in the fourth. Lou Piniella hit a two-out double and then Chambliss, in a moment that would prove to be foreshadowing, homered to right-center. The Yankees chased Royal starter Andy Hassler with three runs in sixth, Chambliss again picking up an RBI.
The 5-3 Yankee win had them in position to play for the pennant in late afternoon start for Game 4 on Wednesday. They sent Hunter, a veteran of the Oakland dynasty, to try and clinch it, but the Royals got to him early. With two on and two out in the second inning, it was the bottom of the Kansas City lineup that did the damage. Freddie Patek hit a two-run double and then Buck Martinez singled Patek home.
Chambliss got the Yankees going with a leadoff single in the bottom of the inning, and Nettles homered, but starting pitcher Larry Gura was quickly removed for Doug Bird, with Kansas City still ahead 3-2. The Royals opened it up with two runs in the fourth, with other unknown, Jamie Quirk, hitting a big triple. Quirk later added a sac fly and with the 7-4 win, it was down to one game for a trip to the World Series.
Game 5 of the 1976 American League Championship Series would earn its place on the list of the best games ever played. Both offenses came out on the attack. Brett hit a two-out double and McRae homered to stake KC to a 2-0 first inning lead. Rivers answered with a leadoff triple. White drove him in and promptly stole second. Chambliss would pick up White with a sac fly.
Kansas City manager Whitey Herzog didn’t hesitate to pull starter Dennis Leonard in the first inning and gave the ball to Splittorff. The lefty pitched well, but not quite as dominant as in Game 2. Kansas City was able to get a 3-2 lead in the second when Martinez hit a two-out RBI single, but the Yankees came grinding back.
Rivers, White and Munson came up to lead off the third and produced the tying run and runners on first and third. Chambliss again was in the middle of things with an RBI single to put New York up 4-3. In the sixth, Rivers singled, took second on a sac bunt and scored on a RBI base hit by Munson. Lest we forget Chambliss, he drove in another run. Now it was 6-3, and when it stayed that way going to the eighth, it looked all but over.
Ed Figueroa had settled down as the New York starter, but was removed after an Al Cowens singled. New York manager Billy Martin summoned lefty Grant Jackson.
I don’t understand the logic behind Martin ignoring Sparky Lyle. The latter was his closer, and though that role wasn’t defined as precisely as it is today, that’s even more of an argument for bringing Lyle in. He had a 2.26 ERA and like Jackson, was a lefthander who could face Brett, now in the on-deck circle with a man aboard. Nor was there an injury factor—Lyle had pitched in this series and would resume normal duty in the World Series.
After another single, Brett showed why we second-guess Martin’s bullpen decisions. The third baseman unloaded a home run that tied the game and stunned the crowd. It was 6-6, and the Yankees did not answer in the eighth.
The Royals couldn’t score in the ninth, and Mark Littell, who’d had a solid year was on the mound. Chambliss was the leadoff hitter. In a fitting climax to his postseason performance, Chambliss homered into right-center and in the days before crowd control was a priority, had to make his way through a mob to stomp home plate and secure the pennant.
One of the great games, great series and great moments was now in the books. LCS MVP honors were not given in 1976, but with a .524 batting average, eight RBIs, seemingly all of them at big moments and a walkoff home run to win the pennant, it seems safe to say Chambliss deserves the honor retroactively.
The Yankee run ended with this dramatic win. New York ran into Cincinnati’s Big Red Machine and were swept out of the World Series.
But the 1976 ALCS was a true laying-of-the-groundwork series. The Yankees won the World Series in both 1977and 1978. Both years they defeated the Royals in the ALCS. Kansas City finally broke through against New York in 1980. A great rivalry was born in 1976.
