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1981 World Series: The Dodgers Finally Trump The Yankees

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Two traditional foes took a decidedly non-traditional path to meet in the 1981 World Series. The New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers met for the third time in five years in the Fall Classic. 1981 was a year marred by an in-season players’ strike that lasted for two months, which meant some creative ideas had to be used for both the regular season races and postseason structure.

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You can read more about each team’s regular season path, including the performance of key players, at the links below. This article will focus on the games of the 1981 World Series.

READ MORE ABOUT THE 1981 LOS ANGELES DODGERS
READ MORE ABOUT THE 1981 NEW YORK YANKEES

Homefield advantage for the World Series was decided on a rotation basis, and this was an American League year. The flip side was that it also meant National League rules and no DH. The Series began in Yankee Stadium on a Tuesday evening.

It was a battle of lefthanders as Ron Guidry took the mound for New York against Jerry Reuss for Los Angeles. Guidry was one of the top power lefties of the time and the 1978 Cy Young winner. Reuss was a steady veteran who had been nothing short of brilliant in the ’81 postseason, especially the Division Series.

But the Yankees continued their pattern, established in the ALCS, of getting out quickly. Jerry Mumphrey singled with one out in the first. Lou Piniella hit a ground-rule double and with two outs, Bob Watson went deep for a quick 3-0 lead. Reuss was chased in the third when Mumphrey again singled with one out, stole second and scored on a two-out hit by Piniella.

The Los Angeles bullpen had control problems, and Bobby Castillo walked four straight batters to make it 5-0 New York. Dave Goltz came on for the Dodgers and finally brought some steadiness to the mound And the offense began to chip its way back.

Steve Yeager homered in the fifth to put Los Angeles on the board. In the eighth, two walks, a single and a passed ball set up two runs and the Dodgers had two chances with the tying run at the plate in a 5-3 game. New York manager Bob Lemon called on closer Goose Gossage to try and get Steve Garvey and Ron Cey. The Goose did it, although Garvey hit a line drive out.

The ninth inning went without incident on the scoreboard and the Yankees won 5-3, but there was a big incident on the field. Third baseman Graig Nettles made a diving stop, the kind he had tormented Los Angeles with in the 1978 World Series. In the process he broke his thumb. Nettles had been MVP of the American League Championship Series sweep over the Oakland A’s and while he played Game 2, he would miss the next three games after that. And he wouldn’t make the same contribution with his bat when he was in the lineup.

Burt Hooton was Los Angeles’ MVP of the National League Championship Series, with two dominant outings to both open and close the triumph over the Montreal Expos. He got the ball in Game 2, matched up with former Dodger teammate, now in Pinstripes, Tommy John.

John and Hooton matched zeroes for four innings and the Yankees got a soft run in the fifth—an error by Davey Lopes and a sac bunt from John allowed Larry Milbourne to pick up the RBI with a two-out double.

The score stayed 1-0 into the bottom of the seventh when the Yankees loaded the bases with one out. Hooton was removed for veteran reliever Terry Forster, who got Milbourne to ground into a double play. But one inning later, the Dodgers couldn’t escape another jam.

Piniella and Nettles each singled off Steve Howe. Watson drove in a run with a base hit and a later error on a pickup throw moved runners up and allowed Willie Randolph to make it 3-0 with a sac fly. New York closed out a Game 2 win and was in command.

Los Angeles turned to the NL Cy Young winner, 20-year-old phenom Fernando Valenzuela to try and turn the World Series around, while New York had its own young talent in Dave Righetti. Playing in front of their home fans, this time it was the Dodgers who got on the attack right away.

Lopes lead off the bottom of the first with a double and Bill Russell beat out a bunt. After Dusty Baker and Garvey each missed chances to drive in the run, Ron Cey came to the plate. Cey launched a three-run blast and Los Angeles had momentum.

But New York came right back. Watson homered to start the second, Rick Cerone doubled and Larry Milbourne drove Cerone in with a single. In the top of the third, Piniella singled and Cerone went deep. It was 4-3 and the Dodgers then missed a big opportunity. They put two on with none out, chasing Righetti. George Frazier came into the game and escaped the jam.

The Yankees still had the lead and after World Series losses to the Pinstripes in both 1977 and 1978, Dodger fans had to be wondering if this would ever turn around. In the bottom of the fifth, it did.

Garvey beat out an infield hit, Cey drew a walk and Pedro Guerrero slashed a double to tie it up. After an intentional walk, Frazier got a double-play groundout, but the lead run came through the backdoor.

The Yankees had one more rally in the eighth and Cey had more heroics. After consecutive singles to start the inning, Bobby Murcer looked to put down a sac bunt. The lefthanded hitter’s bunt got up in the air on a soft line. Cey charged in, dove out, caught it on the fly and immediately got to his feet to double off Milbourne. Rally done, Valenzuela completed the game with a 5-4 win, Los Angeles was back in it.

Saturday afternoon saw Rick Reuschel take the hill for the Yanks against Bob Welch for the Dodgers. Game 4 would have a lot of twists and turns in which the starters would be long gone by the time it was settled.

Willie Randolph started the game by tripling off Welch and Milbourne promptly doubled him in. Dave Winfield drew a walk and Reggie Jackson singled to load the bases. With no room for error, Dodger manager Tom Lasorda removed Welch and summoned Goltz. A sac fly from Watson added another run, but Goltz kept it at 2-0.

Randolph homered in the third, and the Yankees got two more in the fourth, with Rick Cerone drove in both Jackson and Watson. In the bottom of that same inning, Los Angeles started to come back from the 4-0 deficit.

Ken Landreaux started it with a leadoff double and came around a base hit by Lopes, who quickly stole second base. An infield hit and a productive ground ball scored Lopes, cutting the lead in half. An inning later the Dodgers got runners to second and third with one out. Reuschel was removed, and Rudy May, a steady starting pitcher during the regular season and the playoffs, came on and escaped with the 4-2 margin intact.

Cey delivered again in the fifth, following a one-out double by Garvey with an RBI base hit. But the Yankees quickly extended the lead in the sixth, with an error by Russell opening the door consecutive RBI singles from Oscar Gamble and Watson.

Trailing 6-3, Los Angeles pushed back again the bottom of the sixth. Ron Davis, a hard-throwing righthander and the team’s second-best reliever behind Gossage came on, but couldn’t get it done. Davis walked Mike Scioscia and gave up a home run to Jay Johnstone.

Then the defense failed, as Jackson committed an error that put the speedy Lopes aboard. Lopes stole second and third, and tied the game when Russell singled. Davis was out, and Frazier was in.

Frazier couldn’t stop the Dodger momentum though. LA picked right back up in the seventh, with an infield hit by Baker and a double by Rick Monday. After Guerrero was intentionally walked, Yeager delivered a sac fly to give Los Angeles the lead for the first time.

Steve Howe, the closer, batted for himself and bunted the runners up, allowing Lopes’ infield hit to score a key insurance run. It proved to matter when Jackson homered with two outs in the eighth, but Howe closed the door after that. A wild 8-7 win for the Dodgers had the Series tied.

After the crazy back-and-forth of Game 4, a steady pitchers’ duel was the perfect foil and that’s what the Guidry-Reuss rematch of Game 5 on late Sunday afternoon provided. The Yankees again scored first, with Jackson hitting a ground-rule double and coming around on a Lopes error and Piniella infield hit. But that was the end of scoring—or even serious threatening—until the seventh.

Guerrero and Yeager came up in the bottom of the seventh and delivered the decisive blows of the World Series—they homered back-to-back. It was Guidry’s only weak spot all day, but it was enough. Reuss completed a five-hitter and Los Angeles improbably had the Series lead.

The first four innings of Game 6 made it look like the Yankees might provide some pushback with the Series back in the Bronx. Randolph hit a solo home run in the third off Hooton, and while the Dodgers got singles from Baker, Monday and Yeager to tie it in the fourth, this was still a 1-1 game with the veteran John on the mound for New York.

Then the Yankees broke. John was pinch-hit for in the bottom of the inning with runners on first and second and two outs. It’s a legitimate scoring opportunity and Murcer, a good hitter, was the one who came off the bench. He hit the ball well, though it ended up a fly ball out to deep right. But that’s just way too early to pull a veteran starting pitcher in a big game. And the roof caved in immediately.

Lopes started the top of the fifth by singling off of Frazier. Lopes was bunted up and scored on a two-out single from Cey. Baker extended the inning with a single and Guerrero delivered the big blow with a triple that put LA up 4-1.

Davis came out of the Yankee bullpen in the sixth and issued a pair of walks, including one to Hooton. Russell drove in a run with a single, and now Reuschel came out of the Yankee pen to try and stop the bleeding. A double steal, a walk and an RBI grounder made it 6-1. Nettles, back in the lineup with his broken thumb committed a two-out error to reload the bases. Guerrero delivered again, with a two-run single to make it 8-1.

The Yankees got a run in the sixth, and Guerrero finished his magical night with a home run in the eighth. The final was 9-2. Howe worked the final 3.2 IP to close it out and Watson flied to Landreaux, the Dodgers were World Series champs.

Frazier proved an unfortunate goat for New York. He had been reliable in long relief all year and other than Game 6, didn’t pitch all that badly in this series. But he ended up the losing pitcher in three games, the first time a pitcher had ever lost three in a World Series.

It was the first title for the proud Dodger franchise since 1965, meaning it was the first since the expansion of 1969 created playoff rounds prior to the World Series. It was the first for Lasorda, who became the skipper in 1977.

And it was a championship driven by comebacks—Los Angeles became the first team to win best-of-five series after losing the first two in the Division Series. They won two straight road games in elimination spots to win the NLCS. They had won the World Series after losing the first two. And they had returned the favor to the Yankees, who three years earlier became the first team to drop Games 1 & 2 and then win four straight.

Three players shared 1981 World Series MVP honors, Cey, Guerrero and Yeager. Guerrero had the magic Game 6 and hit .333 for the Series. Yeager batted .286 and had two home runs, one of which came in the critical sequence of Game 5. These players had obviously helped. But this award should have gone to Cey alone.

Ron Cey hit .350 for the World Series, and he hit a three-run shot in Game 3 which came when Los Angeles desperately needed momentum, having lost the first two and about to squander an early opportunity in the third game. Cey then sealed the win with a defensive gem, and as the .350 average suggests, he contributed consistently throughout.

After a steady run of Dodgers-Yankees World Series that undoubtedly pleased the networks, these teams have not met in the Fall Classic since. New York disappeared from the postseason stage altogether until 1995. Los Angeles returned to the NLCS in 1983 and 1985 and won the World Series again in 1988.

1981 ALDS: The Yankees & Billy Martin Earn A Fight With Each Other

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The Division Series, the best-of-five round that takes place among the last four teams left in both leagues, came about by design in the realignment of the 1994 season. But more than a decade prior, the first Division Series came about by accident and it produced an ironic result–not only did the New York Yankees advance, but so did their old manager, who moved on with the Oakland A’s.

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A players’ strike from mid-June to mid-August called for some creativity. MLB decided to have teams leading at the strike play those that won the post-strike period after starting from scratch. Out of the blue, everyone was told an extra round was added to the playoffs. Here’s a look back at the 1981 ALDS, who got there, and how it unfolded day-by-day.

The Yankees and A’s led their divisions when the strike began on June 12—with no Central Division in existence yet, there was just an East & West. After play resumed in August, the Milwaukee Brewers won the AL East’s second-half and the Kansas City Royals took the other berth in the AL West.

You can read more about all four teams regular season paths, the key players and decisive moments in their push to October at the links below. This article will focus on going day-by-day through the Division Series.

READ MORE ABOUT THE 1981 NEW YORK YANKEES
READ MORE THE 1981 OAKLAND A’S
READ MORE ABOUT THE 1981 MILWAUKEE BREWERS
READ MORE ABOUT THE 1981 KANSAS CITY ROYALS

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 6

The 1981 ALDS began on a Tuesday afternoon in Kansas City, as the Royals hosted the A’s. Kansas City, who had won the AL West four times in the previous five years, and the pennant in 1980, sent their ace, Dennis Leonard to the mound. Oakland had been the superior team in 1981, with a workhorse starting rotation and Billy Martin as their manager. The A’s countered with young Mike Norris on the hill.

Kansas City got the first threat of Game 1, loading the bases with one out. Norris, pitching like a postseason veteran, got two Royal vets, Frank White and George Brett, to escape unscathed. Oakland quickly made KC play. Dwayne Murphy drew a one-out walk in the fourth, and then Brett committed a two-out error. Oakland third baseman Wayne Gross ripped a three-run blast and the A’s had a 3-0 lead.

Norris was only challenged one more time, when Kansas City loaded the bases with none out in the fifth. Norris got leadoff hitter Willie Wilson to pop up, and then a White line drive went right at Gross, who turned it into a double play. Murphy gave Oakland some insurance in the eighth with a solo home run.

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 7

Both series would be in action today and Oakland-KC, being two small market teams, again got stuck playing a weekday afternoon game. The A’s sent Steve McCatty to face KC righthander Mike Jones. The Royals had gotten decent work from Jones in 1981, but turning to him in this spot underscored that both Rich Gale and Paul Splittorff had struggled during the season and why Kansas City wasn’t quite as good as in previous years.

Murphy again got Oakland going, this time right away in the first, with a one-out single. He scored on a double by DH Cliff Johnson. The inning might have been bigger, but Johnson mysteriously only advanced one base on a subsequent double, and Kansas City was only behind 1-0.

It looked like Oakland’s failure to make the first inning bigger would hurt them. Both pitchers settled in, and with two outs in the fifth, the Royals tied it on successive singles from John Wathan, U.L. Washington and Wilson.

But Murphy once again came through, this time in the eighth inning for Oakland. He singled to lead off, was bunted up by Johnson and scored on a double by Tony Armas. McCatty delivered a complete-game six-hitter and Oakland had come into KC’s house and taken the first two games.

The focus of the American League stayed in the heartland, but went several hours north, as the Yankees and Brewers met in the old Milwaukee County Stadium in prime-time. New York had a former Cy Young winner, lefty Ron Guidry, while Milwaukee would rely on Moose Haas, a consistent, if unspectacular righthander.

Milwaukee could hit, and they got after Guidry in the second, with a two-out double from Sal Bando and an RBI base hit from Charlie Moore. In the third, Jim Gantner doubled off Guidry to start the inning. Paul Molitor laid down a sac bunt that was flubbed and the Brewers had runners on the corners.

It might have been a big inning, but Guidry settled down. Robin Yount picked up Gantner with a sac fly, but at 2-0, the Yankees had the bats to bet back into it. And that’s what they did immediately, starting in the top of the fourth.

After Haas walked Reggie Jackson, Oscar Gamble went deep and the game was quickly tied. Then Bob Watson singled and pesky Larry Milbourne beat out an infield hit. Rick Cerone doubled to clear the bases. Haas was gone and the Brewers were staring at a 4-2 hole.

Milwaukee’s offense got Guidry out of the game in the fifth, when the sequence of a Yount single, a walk of Cecil Cooper and a base hit by Ted Simmons made it 4-3. New York manager Bob Lemon called in his hard-throwing young reliever Ron Davis.
The move paid off—Davis got out of the inning with the one-run lead intact and he worked 2.2 innings of perfect baseball. Milwaukee never threatened again, and New York picked up an insurance run in the ninth to win it 5-3.

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 8

Oakland and Kansas City were traveling, and New York and Milwaukee got it going in an afternoon game. Both teams sent lefthanders to the hill, although that was about all Dave Righetti and Mike Caldwell had in common. New York’s Righetti was a hard-throwing young arm. Milwaukee’s Caldwell was a veteran finesse pitcher. Both were brilliant on this day.

The Yankees’ Lou Piniella got to Caldwell for a two-out home run in the fourth inning and into the seventh inning, the 1-0 game stood up, with nary a threat from either side. In the bottom of the seventh, Davis came on, but lacked the control of the previous night. Two walks and a single loaded the bases.

New York was stacked in the bullpen, and Lemon simply upgraded to closer Goose Gossage, a future Hall of Famer. With one out, Gossage got Yount to pop up and struck out Cooper. In the top of the ninth, the Yankees got a two-run blast from Jackson. The insurance runs weren’t technically needed, although they undoubtedly improved Lemon’s peace of mind when the Brewers got singles from Bando and Molitor with one out in the ninth. But Yount again popped out, Gossage slammed the door and with the 3-0 win, the Yankees joined the A’s in taking the first two games on the road.

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 9

There was no travel day for Brewers-Yanks, so this would be a doubleheader day in the ALDS. The Royals and A’s started with a 2:10 PM local start that was early evening on the East Coast, meaning it could swing into the Brewers-Yankees at 8:20 PM local time in the Bronx.

Kansas City turned to their veteran lefty Larry Gura to try and keep the season alive, with Oakland countering with Rick Langford, who’d pitched as well all year as Norris and McCatty. And Langford continued the trend of great A’s starting pitching.

The A’s gave Langford a quick run when Rickey Henderson drew a walk, stole second with two outs and scored on a single by Armas. In the third, Henderson singled and again took off for second—this time he was out…but for an error by Washington at short that kept Henderson on the basepaths. Then Wathan, the KC catcher, dropped a foul-ball out on Murphy. Then Murphy beat out in an infield hit, and Henderson kept on chugging all the way home.

It was 2-0 and Kansas City did not look like the experienced veteran team. Oakland loaded the bases with no outs, but consecutive strikeouts by the A’s weak bottom of the order forced Martin to try something improbable—Murphy took off on a steal of home, but it didn’t work. The Royals weren’t playing well, but they were breathing.

White led off the KC fourth with a single. Willie Aikens singled to right. White took third on the hit and scored on an RBI grounder by Amos Otis. But as quickly as Kansas City got on the board, Oakland had an answer, and once again Murphy was in the middle of it.

It began with a solo home run by Dave McKay. With two outs, Henderson again singled and Murphy slashed an RBI double and it was 4-1.

Kansas City didn’t go quietly—they got four singles in the top of the fifth, but the combination of Clint Hurdle being picked off, runners moving up just one base at a time and a couple infield popouts, meant no runs. In the top of the eighth, the Royals put two on with one out. Martin summoned Tom Underwood in relief of Langford, and he struck out the power-hitting Aikens who represented the tying run. Martin then turned to Dave Beard to get Otis.

That was the last shot for the Royals. Beard slammed the door in the ninth and for the first time since 1975, the Oakland A’s were AL West champs.

Could Friday be a day of a sweep on both coasts? The pitching matchup certainly suggested it. The Yankees had their terrific veteran lefty Tommy John, while the Brewers put their season into the hands of journeyman Randy Lerch.

But Lerch was terrific. New York got a run in the fourth when Bob Watson delivered a two-out RBI single, but even with John pitching great, the Yankee lead was only 1-0 into the seventh. And then the Brewer offense awoke.

It started small, with an infield hit by Cooper, but quickly went big, as Simmons homered for a 2-1 Milwaukee lead. Gorman Thomas singled, and was sacrificed up by Ben Ogilvie. Bando drove in the run with a single and Milwaukee had a 3-1 lead, with the league MVP—closer Rollie Fingers—in reserve.

But Fingers struggled in the seventh, and New York got four straight one-out singles from Watson, Milbourne, Cerone and Willie Randolph to immediately tie the game back up. Milwaukee could have been forgiven for folding—but they didn’t—Molitor homered to start the eighth and put his team right back on top.

Yount beat out an infield hit. John was removed, and Simmons again had a big RBI, this time a double for a 5-3 lead. Given a reprieve, Fingers rolled through the eighth and ninth. We would come back to Yankee Stadium on Saturday.

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 10

Milwaukee’s Pete Vuckovich was a year away from an 18-win Cy Young season. He shouldered his team’s fate against New York’s Rick Reuschel, who had been the ace of some disappointing Cubs’ teams in the late 1970s and now had the chance to be on the October stage.

Both pitchers rolled through three innings and the Brewers began chipping away in the fourth. Molitor and Yount both singled. A sac fly from Cooper plated the first run and Ogilvie’s two-out double staked Vuckovich to a 2-zip lead.

An error and a double by Dave Winfield gave the Yankees second and third with no outs in the sixth. Vuckovich was removed for lefthander Jamie Easterly. It wasn’t a long or noteworthy career for Easterly, but this is at or near the top of his greatest moments.

He struck out Jackson, and even though Piniella picked up one run with an RBI groundout, Easterly had maintained the lead.
And a Brewer tag-team of Jim Slaton from the right side, Bob McClure from the left and eventually Fingers, slammed the door. Milwaukee won 2-1 and this strange series, with the road team winning every game, would go to a decisive finale on Sunday night.

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 11

It was a Hass-Guidry rematch and the Brewers again showed they could hit the renowned Yankee ace. Thomas homered in the second. In the third, utility man Ed Romero singled, Molitor walked, Young legged out an infield hit, Cooper picked up the RBI with a sac fly and it was 2-0…just like it had been in Game 1.

And just like the opener, Haas couldn’t hold the lead and it was the fourth inning, with the Jackson/Gamble duo doing the Brewer pitcher in. It began with a leadoff single from Milbourne. Jackson then went deep tie the game and Gamble immediately followed with a home run to put New York on top.

Haas was gone and Caldwell was in, but the Brewer lefty didn’t have the stuff of Game 2. Graig Nettles and Watson each singled and with runners on the corners, Rick Cerone picked up the RBI with a productive groundball.

It was still only 4-2, and just like Game 1, the Brewers got a run back. In the seventh inning, with Righetti on for Guidry, Yount tripled and came in on a Cooper base hit. But New York immediately answered when Cerone took Slaton deep.

In a battle of teams with great closers, it was New York who turned a lead over to Gossage, while Fingers could only watch. The Goose gave up a couple walks in the eighth, but got Don Money to fly out and keep the 5-3 lead. New York tacked on two insurance runs in the bottom of the inning, and it was all over, but the shouting, ending 7-3.

Both series of the 1981 ALDS had been taken by the first-half winners, as the New York Yankees and Oakland A’s advanced to the American League Championship Series.

1981 DIVISION SERIES MVPS

This wasn’t an official award then, nor is it today, but it should be. So let’s rectify the omission and give out some hardware. In the Oakland-KC series, Dwayne Murphy is an easy choice. He was 6-for-11 and there was no significant A’s rally that Murphy didn’t have his hands in.

The New York-Milwaukee series has three worthwhile candidates. Gamble went 5-for-9 and hit two home runs, both in decisive spots of the series opener and closer. Righetti won two games—he came on in the fifth inning of Game 5 and got the win in that game and pitched brilliantly in nine total innings.

But the overriding factor in this series was the dominance of the New York bullpen. Gossage saved all three New York victories and they were all legitimate saves (i.e., none of this stuff were you get three easy outs with a three-run lead). The Goose pitched multiple innings in close games. In 6.2 IP of work, he shut out a great offensive team and only gave up three hits. He would be my choice.

THE AFTERMATH FOR THE VANQUISHED

Milwaukee and Kansas City would each be back. The Brewers built on the postseason experience gained, won the AL East in 1982 and reached the World Series, losing a good seven-game Fall Classic to the St. Louis Cardinals. The Royals were a steady organization and though it took a couple more years, they again won the AL West in 1984. One year later, Kansas City saw its dreams come true, with a World Series victory over St. Louis.

THE AFTERMATH FOR THE VICTORIOUS

New York and Oakland’s ALCS matchup featured two good games, but the Yankees won both of those, and took home the pennant in a three-game sweep.

The Yankees then won the first two games of the World Series at home against the Los Angeles Dodgers. But the trip west proved their undoing. New York lost three consecutive one-run games and then were blown out on their home field in Game 6.

Most surprising is that the Yankees and A’s disappeared from the October stage for several years. New York fielded pretty good teams in the coming years, but not up to the usual standards of this franchise and they didn’t make the postseason until the new alignment and wild-card era began in 1995.

Oakland fell completely off the map, as their starting pitching burned out, Martin burned out and the A’s disappeared until a new cast of characters emerged later in the decade. Neither disappearing act would have been expected when the Yankees and A’s were pouring champagne at the end of the 1981 ALDS.

The Rebound Season Of The 1980 New York Yankees

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The New York Yankees won three straight American League pennants and two consecutive World Series from 1976-78. The franchise suffered a step back in 1979 on the field, finishing fourth in a competitive AL East, and they lived through tragedy off of it—the death of catcher and team captain Thurman Munson in private plane crash. Nothing could make up for that loss, but the 1980 New York Yankees were able to turn the on-field part of the equation around, winning another AL East title.

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George Steinbrenner had a new manager in town. After the combination of Billy Martin and Bob Lemon had overseen the previous four years, Steinbrenner turned to quiet, low-key Dick Howser to run the team in 1980. It was just one part of a lot of changes the Boss made for 1980.

New York traded away sparkplug centerfielder Mickey Rivers in a deal where they got Eric Soderholm. The latter wasn’t a big name and never had a big career, but he was a solid contributor in 1980, with a .353 on-base percentage/.462 slugging percentage.

The Yanks dealt first baseman Chris Chambliss as part of a package where they acquired a young catcher in Rick Cerone and a young pitcher in Tom Underwood. The former became the replacement to Munson, and was functionable, if not a standout. Underwood won 13 games and was the #3 starter on a staff that finished second in the American League in ERA.

Tommy John and Ron Guidry anchored the staff. John, who had been a rival of the Yankees when he pitched for the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 1977 and 1978 World Series, won 22 games in Pinstripes. Guidry won 17. In the bullpen, Rich “Goose” Gossage saved 33 games with a 2.27 ERA. And Howser turned often to a talented young flamethrower in Ron Davis who worked 131 innings and finished with a 2.95 ERA.

Depth was lacking in the Yankee staff, and that made the role Rudy May played all the more important. May made 17 starts, came on in relief 24 more times, and won 15 games with a 2.46 ERA.

Offensively, the Yankees got down years from a number of spots, including Graig Nettles at third base, now 35-years-old. Lou Piniella had a respectable .343 OPB, but not much in the way of power. Ruppert Jones was an inadequate replacement for Rivers in center. Bucky Dent was an offensive liability at shortstop.

Three players stepped up with big years and helped the Yankees still produce the second-best offense in the AL in spite of it all. Bob Watson, the 34-year-old who replaced Chambliss at first, finished with a .368/.456 stat line. Willie Randolph had the best year of his young career at second base, and the 25-year-old finished with a .427 OBP.

No one was better than Reggie Jackson. The rightfielder was now 34-years-old, but produced one of the best seasons of his own career. He batted .300 for the first time and it didn’t come at the expense of his power. Reggie hit 41 home runs and finished with 111 RBIs.

Normally, that would be an MVP year, if not for the fact Kansas City Royals’ third baseman George Brett made a run at .400 and was an easy pick for the award. Reggie finished second in the voting, and was the biggest reason the Yankees thrived in a tough division.

New York was a little slow out of the gate, losing six of the first nine. Then they met the defending AL pennant winners, the Baltimore Orioles, and swept three one-run games in the Bronx. The Yanks won seven of eight after that, and by Memorial Day they had a 3 ½ game lead that seemed larger. The nearest team was the Toronto Blue Jays, who were not a serious contender.

The Milwaukee Brewers and Boston Red Sox were 4 ½ back, but neither team would be as good as in previous years. The Orioles were slow out of the gate and were six games out.

New York further opened up the race in the early part of the summer. They won nine in a row against lower-level AL West teams and went to Fenway Park to hang a three-game sweep on the Red Sox. By the All-Star break, the Yanks were in command, with a record of 51-27. The lead in the AL East 7 ½, and it was nine over the Orioles.

The lead peaked at 9 ½ games on July 19. New York started to play a little sluggish, going 5-7 the balance of the month and Baltimore started to gain ground. The Orioles were within 5 ½ games on August 8 when they came to the Bronx for a three-game series.

An opportunity for New York to put the race away instead turned into an opportunity for it to tighten, as consistent late-inning failures led to a Baltimore sweep. The Yanks led the Friday night opener 2-1 in the eighth. Oriole first baseman Eddie Murray homered off Guidry to tie it and Baltimore scored three times off Gossage to win.

The Birds broke a 2-2 tie in the eighth with a pair of runs to win 4-2 on Saturday. In the Sunday finale, John was clinging to a 5-4 lead and was left in the game to try and finish the ninth inning. Baltimore scored twice, completed the sweep and closed to within 2 ½ games.

New York made a return trip to Baltimore just three days later, this time for a five-game series. Even though Jackson hit an early home run in the opener, the losing continued. Steve Stone, the eventual AL Cy Young winner, two-hit the Yanks and Baltimore won 6-1.

The Yankees finally got a couple wins. Jackson hit a two-run homer to key a 4-3 win, and then Gaylord Perry delivered. The veteran, known for his spitball and a career 300-game winner was at the tail end of his career. He only made eight starts for the Yanks in 1980, but none was bigger than the middle game of this series, when he won 4-1.

Perry’s win averted disaster, as Baltimore won the next two games, 1-0 and 6-5 and the lead was still at 2 ½ games. In late August, it would shrink to a half-game and for six tantalizing days, it stayed right here, as the Yankees and Orioles either won or lost in tandem with each other.

There were no more head-to-head matchups between the two heavyweights and it was New York who struck the big blow in early September. A stretch of games against the Oakland A’s—now managed by Martin, the California Angels, Toronto and Boston, provided an opportunity to get wins and the Yanks took full advantage. They went 15-2 and while it didn’t knock the Orioles out, it gave New York some breathing room.

The Yankees led by as many as six games in September, but the Orioles knocked it back down to 2 ½ games with five days left. On the Wednesday of the final week, Reggie and Oscar Gamble each unloaded for a 4 RBI night in Cleveland and the Yankees hung 18 runs on the board. On Thursday, they came home to face Detroit for the final series. Again, Gamble and Reggie homered and Guidry beat Tiger ace Jack Morris.

The Orioles were idle on Thursday, so the lead was three games entering the final weekend—New York needed just one win, or one Baltimore loss, and there was still a one-game playoff in reserve if that didn’t work out. After rain on Friday wiped out games in both cities, the Yankees finished the job on Saturday. Trailing 2-1 in the fifth, Reggie hit a three-run shot, May went seven strong innings and the 4-2 win clinched the division.

It was rematch time in the American League Championship Series, as the Yankees met the Kansas City Royals, the team New York had vanquished each from 1976-78. This time, it was Kansas City’s year. The Royals won three straight (the LCS was best-of-five from 1969-84) closing out the finale in Yankee Stadium.

The playoff loss was handled by Steinbrenner as you might expect—he fired Howser, who went on to later manage Kansas City to a World Series title in 1985. It was an unfortunate response to one of the best managerial jobs the franchise has seen. New York won 103 games, more than any of their late 1970s pennant-winning teams. After one more pennant-winning year in ’81, the Yankees disappeared from the radar until the renaissance of the Joe Torre era.

The 1978 New York Yankees: A Tale Of Two Halves

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The New York Yankees were coming off two straight pennants—they returned to the World Series in 1976 for the first time in thirteen years, and then won it in 1977. They made it three straight pennants and two straight championships, but it was anything but easy. The 1978 New York Yankees went through a tale of two seasons, a managerial change and finally won one of the most dramatic baseball games ever played.

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Pitching was the foundation on which the success of the late 1970s was built and the ’78 team finished with the best ERA in the American League. Ron Guidry had an amazing season, winning 25 games with a 1.74 ERA and running away with the Cy Young Award. Ed Figueroa won 20 and posted a 2.99 ERA. The depth wasn’t great, but between veteran Catfish Hunter, the versatile Dick Tidrow and young Jim Beattie, the Yanks had plenty of arms.

And if you didn’t beat New York early, you certainly weren’t going to beat them late. Sparky Lyle didn’t repeat his Cy Young campaign of 1977, but the tobacco-chewing lefty still worked 111 innings and had a 3.47 ERA. The Yankees had acquired closer Rich “Goose” Gossage from the Pittsburgh Pirates and Gossage saved 27 games—a good number at the time—with a 2.01 ERA. With a hard, rising fastball, the Goose looked unhittable.

Offensively, New York was led by Graig Nettles at third base and Reggie Jackson in right field. Each hit 27 home runs and were 90-plus in RBIs, and each had solid on-base percentages. Lou Piniella was a regular for the first time and had a .361 OBP/.445 slugging g percentage in left. The Yankees had speedsters in centerfielder Mickey Rivers, fourth outfielder Roy White and notable veterans in catcher Thurman Munson and first baseman Chris Chambliss. But it should be noted that none really had signature years in ’78.

When we call 1978 a year of two seasons, it’s important to emphasize that New York did not necessarily play badly in the first half. They were 29-17 at the end of May, a .630 pace. But the Boston Red Sox were blazing, out to a 34-16 record in the same timeframe, a .680 win percentage. The Yankees struggled along to a 14-15 record in June and fell nine games back of Boston.

July started even worse, as New York was swept on the road by the surprising Milwaukee Brewers and at home by the two-time defending AL West champions Kansas City Royals. The vaunted Yankee staff gave up 34 runs in those six losses.

On the night of July 17, the deficit hit 14 games. Boston was running away with it, with the Brewers in second place. Tensions between manager Billy Martin and owner George Steinbrenner were sky-high, with Jackson often being the object of contention.

Martin hated the rightfielder and on a road trip, over drinks, he blurted to a reporter about the two of them “One’s a born liar, the other’s convicted.” (The latter was a reference to Steinbrenner’s conviction for an illegal campaign contribution to Richard Nixon’s re-election in 1972). When word got back to the Boss about the comments, there was really no choice left—Billy was fired.

It was now time to move into the second phase of the Yankee season, as easygoing Bob Lemon, recently canned by the Chicago White Sox, was hired as the replacement. But let’s not forget that Lemon did inherit a team that was starting to play well—the Yankees won their last five games under Martin and the size of their deficit was still much more about Boston playing at an insanely hot level. What if the Red Sox turned human?

That’s what happened, and the worm began to turn. New York chipped away at the lead, knocked it down 7 ½ games by August 25 and then turned on the juice. The Yanks won 12 of 14 and trimmed the lead to four games, just in time for a four-game set in Fenway Park over Labor Day weekend.

It’s become known in Red Sox lore as “The Boston Massacre” and there’s no exaggeration there. The Yankees took a 12-0 lead after four innings in the series opener and won 15-3, beating Mike Torrez, who had left New York for Boston the previous offseason. On Friday night, New York scored eight runs in the first two innings, keyed by a three-run shot from Jackson.

Guidry tossed a complete-game two-hitter on Saturday, supported by seven runs in the first four innings. Sunday was a little closer—New York only scored five times in the first two innings and won 7-4. And talk about consistency in an offense—the Yankees scored those runs on the strength of 18 hits—all singles. The AL East race was a dead heat and to say the momentum was in the Yankees’ corner understated the case.

Five days later the teams reunited in the Bronx and Guidry picked up right where he left off—he threw another complete-game two-hitter, an amazing display of dominance under any circumstances, but especially against the most potent offense of the late 1970s.

The Red Sox finally began to resemble a baseball team again on Saturday afternoon. It’s a game I still remember watching at my grandmother’s house. I was eight years old and was sitting here with an aunt from Chicago, a diehard White Sox fan. We both professed our hatred of the Yankees, and the game went to the ninth inning tied 2-2. Me and Aunt Julia ended up unhappy—Rivers hit a leadoff triple in the ninth and scored on a sac fly by Munson for another New York win. Boston finally won on Sunday, but the Yankees had a 2 ½ game lead.

Boston revived itself and began winning again, and chipped the lead back down to a game by the final week. From Monday thru Saturday, the Yankees and Red Sox kept answering each other with wins. The Red Sox won again on Sunday. New York needed only to win in Cleveland and they sent Hunter to the mound. But the veteran didn’t have it, and the Yankees were in a 6-2 hole by the third inning. Indians’ lefty Rick Waits went the distance for Cleveland—and got a thank you posted on the Fenway Park scoreboard.

The Yankees and Red Sox were the two best teams in baseball, each with a record of 99-63 and would play a one-game playoff to settle the 1978 AL East. That game has taken its place in baseball lore, thanks to light-hitting shortstop Bucky Dent lofting a three-run homer into the netting that then sat behind the Green Monster. New York won 5-4 and took home the division crown.

New York went on to the American League Championship Series, and for the third straight year they would face the Kansas City Royals. Unlike the previous two years, this one didn’t go to the ninth inning of Game 5 (the LCS round was best-of-five through 1984). The Yankees won this one in four games, but Games 3 & 4 were still dramatic, as New York clinched in front of the home fans.

The World Series was another rerun, as the Yankees faced the Los Angeles Dodgers in a rematch of 1977. It didn’t start well, as the Dodgers took the first two games at home. But New York completed a comeback year in an appropriate way. They became the first team to win four straight games after losing the first two. A historic comeback in the AL East division race was consummated with a historic World Series turnaround and the Yankees were repeat champions in 1978.

1977 World Series: The Yankees & Dodgers Renew An Old Rivalry

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The New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers were old sparring partners in the World Series. Their eight previous meetings in the Fall Classic were the most of any matchup combination and they had met six times in ten years (1947-56) when the Dodgers were still in Brooklyn. They met again in 1963 after the Dodgers moved west. So perhaps it was appropriate that the Yankees’ first championship in sixteen years—and first under the ownership of George Steinbrenner—came over the Dodgers in the 1977 World Series.

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You can read more about the paths New York and Los Angeles took to their respective division titles, along with the key contributors at the links below. This article will focus on the games of the 1977 World Series itself.

READ MORE ABOUT THE 1977 NEW YORK YANKEES
READ MORE ABOUT THE 1977 LOS ANGELES DODGERS

The Fall Classic began on a Tuesday night in the Big Apple, where the Yankees held homefield advantage by virtue of an AL-NL rotation system.

New York’s rotation was shot to pieces after a draining ALCS with the Kansas City Royals and they opened with Don Gullett, who had won 14 games and was a good arm, but not one of the Yankees’ best. Los Angeles wasted little time in getting after him.

Davey Lopes led off the Series with a walk and immediately scored on a triple by Bill Russell, who scored himself on a sacrifice fly. The inning might have been worse, with Gullett issuing two more walks, but Yankee catcher Thurman Munson gunned down Reggie Smith trying to steal and the score stayed 2-0.

Los Angeles sent veteran Don Sutton to the mound, who had been brilliant in a must-win Game 2 of the NLCS against the Philadelphia Phillies. Sutton got the first two batters out, but was quickly peppered by consecutive singles from Munson, Reggie Jackson and Chris Chambliss to cut the lead in half.

The pitchers settled in from there until New York second baseman Willie Randolph homered to tie the game in the sixth. A potential Yankee rally in the seventh was cut off when Smith, the Dodger rightfielder, turned the tables on the Yanks and threw out Lou Piniella trying to stretch a single into a double.

In eighth, Randolph drew a walk and came around on a Munson double. Jackson drew a walk, and both runners were bunted up. The Yankees had a chance to put the game away, but Elias Sosa came out of the bullpen. The Dodgers’ best reliever, outstanding in the regular season, but roughed up in the NLCS, returned to form. He struck out Piniella and got Bucky Dent to escape.

Sosa’s keeping it a 3-2 game proved vital, because LA got to New York’s Cy Young reliever Sparky Lyle in the ninth. Dusty Baker hit a leadoff single. Steve Yeager drew a walk, and Lee Lacy tied the game 3-3. We were going to extra innings.

Lyle stayed on the mound and redeemed himself with three scoreless innings. It bought enough time for Randolph to get something instigated one more time. He drilled a double to lead off the bottom of the 12th and then scored on a base hit by veteran outfielder Paul Blair. New York’s first victory in a World Series game since 1964 was a long time coming, but they had Game 1, 4-3.

New York’s Catfish Hunter, once one of the top pitchers in baseball, but now faltering, was the starter for Game 2, and once again the Dodgers jumped out of the gate fast. With two outs in the first, Smith doubled, Ron Cey hit a home run and it was 2-0.

This time, there was no immediate Yankee response. Burt Hooton was outstanding for Los Angeles, tossing a complete-game five-hitter. He got more offensive help when Yeager hit a two-out home run in the third, and Smith drilled a two-run shot in the third.

The Yanks picked up a run in the fourth, but it came off of Jackson grounding into a double play that brought the run in through the backdoor but killed a bigger rally. Los Angeles won 6-1 after Steve Garvey hit one more home run in the ninth.

The World Series was shifting west for three games over the weekend, and it seemed the Dodgers might have the edge. But pitching matters more than homefield, and the Yankees could finally throw two of their top starters, Mike Torrez for Game 3 and Ron Guidry for Game 4. These two pitchers decisively changed the course of the 1977 World Series.

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE 1977 MLB SEASON
The most consequential teams and each postseason series

New York continued the trend of the road team pouncing in the top of the first when they scored three runs to open Game 3. Mickey Rivers doubled and scored on another double from Munson. Jackson knocked in Munson with a single, took second on a misplay in left by Baker, and then scored on a single from Piniella.

Torrez had a hiccup in the third inning. With two on and two out, Baker redeemed himself for the error that put Jackson in scoring position. The LA leftfielder ripped a three-run shot to tie the game.

But the Dodgers never threatened again. New York quickly got the lead back in the fourth, when Graig Nettles and Bucky Dent each singled, were sacrificed up by Torrez and Rivers drove in a run with a productive ground ball to the right side. In the fifth, Jackson drew a walk, Piniella beat out an infield hit and Chambliss drove in Jackson. Torrez made the 5-3 score stand up.

Guidry got the ball for Saturday afternoon. The 16-game winner was a year away from an amazing 25-win Cy Young season and he gave the Dodgers a foretaste of what was to come in Game 4, with a complete-game four-hitter.

New York staked Guidry to a 3-0 lead in the second. Jackson doubled and scored on a single from Piniella, and then Chambliss doubled. LA manager Tommy Lasorda wisely did not give starter Doug Rau any rope and he quickly went to Rick Rhoden, another starter, who was in the bullpen for the playoffs. But Nettles got an RBI grounder, and then the light-hitting Dent took a single the other way with two outs.

Guidry already had all he needed, though Los Angeles kept it interesting. They picked up two runs in the second on a Rhoden double and a Lopes home run. In the top of the sixth though, Jackson took a home run the other way for New York. It was Jackson’s first home run of this World Series and he was most definitely not done. This game was though, as Guidry rolled home to a 4-2 win.

It was tough to find reason for optimism if you were a Dodger fan tuning in on late Sunday afternoon for Game 5. Even if you won, there were still two games in the Bronx. But Los Angeles didn’t lay down. In fact, they came out swinging off of Gullett.
Lopes hit a leadoff triple and scored in the first running, at least allowing his team to play with a lead as they faced elimination. In the bottom of the fourth, Baker hit an RBI single and Yeager ripped a three-run homer.

Sutton was on the mound for Los Angeles and didn’t ever let New York off the mat. Before the Yankees could get on the board, the Dodgers had added three more in the fifth to make it 8-0, and then Smith hit a two-run homer in the sixth. New York got four runs off Sutton in the final three innings, including back-to-back homers by Munson and Jackson, but by that point, everyone was mentally flying back to New York already. The Dodgers’ 10-4 win had kept the Series alive.

Hooton again got the ball for Los Angeles, hoping to repeat his performance of Game 2. Martin turned to Torrez on three days’ rest, though that wasn’t nearly as dramatic an issue as it would be today. Los Angeles scored right away. After two were out, Dent booted a grounder, Cey walked and Garvey tripled both in for a 2-0 lead.

In the bottom of the second, Jackson walked on four pitches and Chambliss homered to tie the game. Smith answered right back for the Dodgers with a solo shot in the third. Then the sequence of events this World Series is most remembered for began to unfold. Reggie took it over.

In the bottom of the fourth, after Munson hit a leadoff single, Jackson took the first pitch from Hooton out and New York was ahead 4-3. Chambliss doubled and came around on productive outs by Nettles and Piniella before the inning was over.

In the bottom of the sixth, after a leadoff single from Rivers, two were out and the inning was set to die. Reggie came up, this time facing Sosa. Jackson took the first pitch deep. It was 7-3 and the Yankees could start to taste the champagne.

The score was still 7-3 in the bottom of the eighth. Charlie Hough was on for Los Angeles. Jackson came up. The first pitch was sent out of the yard. Keeping in mind that Jackson’s early walk was on four straight pitches, this means he took only three swings on the night—and every one was a home run.

Los Angeles got a run in the ninth and had a runner on first. Pinch-hitter Vic Davalillo beat out a bunt single. After a similar bunt hit had started an improbable rally that turned the NLCS around, one would be loath to dismiss its consequence or any paranoia Yankee fans might have felt, with the tying run now on-deck. Lacy tried to follow suit, but his bunt popped up, Torrez caught it and the World Series was over.

Jackson was named World Series MVP. Normally I’m suspicious in situations like this, where an electric one-game performance overshadows the Series as a whole. But in this case, it’s justified. Even if you throw out Game 6, Jackson was still 6-for-17 and had homered twice. Take that, and add one of the great individual performances in World Series history to it, and you have the makings of a Series MVP.

Munson had a strong Series, batting .320 and Torrez had a very strong case for MVP, with two complete game wins, one of them being the momentum-turner in Game 3 and the other being the clincher. I can see the case for Torrez. But Jackson was the right pick.

The New York Yankees had returned to the top of the baseball world. For all of Billy Martin’s success as a manager, here and elsewhere, this was his one time as a World Series champ. His boss, George Steinbrenner, also had his first ring, although in that case, the Boss would be back for more.

1976 New York Yankees: Steinbrenner & Martin Bring The Yanks Back

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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.

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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.

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE 1976 MLB SEASON
The most consequential teams and each postseason series

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.

1976 World Series: The Big Red Machine Sweeps Their Way To A Dynasty

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One team was the powerful defending champions, already one of the dominant teams of the decade and looking to secure the legacy of a dynasty. Another was the team making its first World Series appearance in over a decade. It was the Cincinnati Reds and New York Yankees.But unlike what we would expect today, it was the Reds aiming for a dynasty and the Yankees who were thrilled to be back at the party, when they met in the 1976 World Series.

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You can learn more about the paths each team took to their respective division titles and through the playoffs, along with the seasons enjoyed by their key contributors, at the links below. This article will focus exclusively on the games of the 1976 World Series itself.

READ MORE ABOUT THE 1976 CINCINNATI REDS
READ MORE ABOUT THE 1976 NEW YORK YANKEES

Cincinnati held homefield advantage for the World Series based on the rotation system that existed up until 2003. There would also be an American League rule in effect for the first time in World Series play—the DH would be used in all games. The DH would alternate opposite homefield—i.e., it would be used in a year where the NL held homefield advantage.

The Yankees’ best starting pitchers were drained after their dramatic ALCS with the Kansas City Royals, and they turned to untested 25-year-old Doyle Alexander. And it took the Reds precisely three batters to get to him. With two outs in the first, Joe Morgan homered and Cincy was up 1-0.
New York was able to quickly counter in the top of the second, as Lou Piniella doubled to lead off the inning and scored on productive outs from Chris Chambliss and Graig Nettles. Cincinnati reclaimed the lead in the third, on a triple by Dave Concepion and Pete Rose’s sac fly.

Alexander settled down, and through the middle innings the Yankees had their chances against the Reds’ staff race Don Gullett. New York had two on with none out in the fifth, before Gullett got a double play ball to escape. And with two aboard in the sixth, speedy Yankee leadoff man Mickey Rivers took a lead off second a bit too long, and was gunned down by Johnny Bench.

The Reds were an aggressive running team and made the first use of their speed in the bottom of the sixth. After Rose walked, he was replaced on the bases by Ken Griffey, who grounded into a force play. Griffey promptly stole second and then scored on a single by Tony Perez.

Gullett, having survived the fifth and sixth, worked a clean seventh and into the eighth inning. Cincinnati got some insurance when George Foster singled, Bench tripled him home and then scored on a wild pitch. Game 1 of the Series had gone to form, with the Reds getting a comfortable 5-1 win.

Cincinnati looked like it might blow Game 2 open quickly against Yankee starter Catfish Hunter. Dan Driessen, the excellent Reds’ utility player who was getting his chance as the DH, doubled to start the bottom of the second, and scored on a single from Foster. Even though the latter was caught stealing, Bench doubled, Cesar Geronimo walked, and Concepion singled to make it 2-0. Geronimo took third on the base hit and scored on a sac fly from Griffey.

It was 3-0, but the Yankees didn’t go quietly into oblivion. Hunter escaped a jam in the third, and then put it on cruise control through eight. It gave his teammates a chance to get back in it, though every Yankee run seemed like pulling teeth.

Thurman Munson beat out an infield hit in the top of the fourth, followed by singles from Chambliss and Nettles. The latter was able to take second on a throw to third, and there was only one out. But Elliot Maddox, the DH, struck out and enabled Cincy starter Fred Norman to get out of the inning at 3-1.

Maddox had a chance to redeem himself with two on and one out in the sixth, but grounded into a double play. The Yankees finally pulled even in the seventh, on a single from Willie Randolph, a double by Fred Stanley and another infield hit from Munson.

Jack Billingham came out of the Cincinnati bullpen and settled things down, keeping the game tied 3-3 I the bottom of the ninth. Hunter was still on the mound and he got the first two batters out. Griffey hit a grounder into the hole at short. Stanley made a bad throw, and Griffey wound up on second. Perez singled him in, and just like that, a strong Yankee effort still ended in a 4-3 loss.

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE 1976 MLB SEASON
The most consequential teams and each postseason series

It was time for the Fall Classic to return to the Bronx and the newly renovated Yankee Stadium, where the Yanks had returned after spending a couple seasons sharing Shea Stadium with the Mets while the renovations were taking place.

Driessen again made his mark early in, beating out an infield hit in the second inning, stealing second base and scoring a double by Foster. Cincinnati was all over New York starter Dock Ellis. Bench beat out an infield hit. Cesar Geronimo replaced him on the bases after a force out that scored Foster. Geronimo promptly stole second and scored on a Conception single. Two innings later, Driessen delivered again, with a home run that made it 4-zip.
Cincinnati starter Pat Zachry had a strong outing, and though the Yanks scraped over a run in the fourth, it was not until the seventh that New York made its first real threat at winning Game 3.

A light-hitting shortstop, Jim Mason, hit a surprise home run with one out to make it a 4-2 game. Rivers drew a walk, and with two outs, Munson singled. Zachry departed and Will McEnaney came on to face Chris Chambliss, who represented the lead run and had been the hero of the ALCS with a walkoff home run to win it. But there no heroics this time—Chambliss grounded to first.

The Reds got singles from Rose and Griffey in the eight. Morgan knocked in Rose with a double, and then Griffey came around on a base hit by Foster. There were no more Yankee rallies. The Series was but settled after the 6-2 win, but New York still hoped to avoid being swept in their own backyard.

Munson was the Yankee captain and MVP of the American League, and his two-out single in the bottom of the first inning in Game 4 was the first of four hits for Munson. He scored on a double by Chambliss, as they gave 19-game winner Ed Figueroa an early run.

In an ideal New York world—where the rotation was lined up, Figueroa would have pitched one of the games in Cincinnati, but the extended ALCS kept him out until tonight. He kept the Reds quiet through three, but in the fourth inning, the Big Red Machine broke through.

Morgan walked and stole second, and then with two outs, the real damage came. Foster tied the game with an RBI single and Bench unloaded for a two-run homer. It was 3-1 and Cincy starter Gary Nolan had all the runs he would need.

New York had a rally in the fourth, two on and no outs, but this time it was Nettles’ turn to stray too far off of second and be picked off by Bench. The Yanks did crawl to within 3-2 in the fifth when Rivers singled, stole second and scored on a base hit by Munson.

But the game went to the ninth, still at 3-2. In the top of the inning, Cincinnati stripped whatever minimal drama remained in this Series. After two walks, Figueroa was removed and Bench greeted Dick Tidrow by going deep. For good measure, Geronimo and Concepion each doubled to make it 7-2.

We would say the Yankees went quietly in the ninth, but nothing with Billy Martin in the dugout ever happens quietly. The New York manager was ejected for throwing a baseball onto the field, the last fireworks before the Big Red Machine closed its second straight title.

Bench was named 1976 World Series MVP. He went 8-for-15 in the four games, homered twice and had six RBIs, in addition to his defensive prowess. If you want to pick a nit with this selection, it can be pointed out that virtually all of Bench’s power damage—both home runs and five of the ribbies—came in Game 4, when the Series was already all but over. But he also went 6-for-11 in the first three games, and was a worthy selection.

Honorable mention goes to Driessen, for his tone-setting play in Games 2 & 3, along with the .429 average posted by Foster.

But the biggest honorable mention goes to the Big Red Machine itself. With two World Series titles to go with their four NL pennants and five NL West crowns, there was no denying they were a true dynasty.

The 2009 New York Yankees: A-Rod Finally Hears Cheers In October

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The 2009 New York Yankees were entering a new era for the proud franchise. The old Yankee Stadium had closed down following the 2008 season and a new one under the same name was opening up. The old stadium had seen the home team win a World Series in the first year of its existence in 1923 and nothing less than a repeat performance would be expected in 2009.

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There were significant on-field changes as well. The Yankees’ string of making the playoffs every year from 1995-2007 had ended the previous season. Joe Girardi was entering his second year as the successor to Joe Torre, the manager for almost the entire run of playoff seasons, including six American League pennants and four World Series titles. The failure to make the postseason in 2008 had rankled management and significant upgrades—even by the Yankees’ free-spending standards were made.

New York added first baseman Mark Teixeira, a big-time power hitter and RBI guy, and outbid the rival Boston Red Sox at the last minute. The Yanks acquired A.J. Burnett, who would become a steady #2 starter and have one the best seasons of his career.
But no free agent signing mattered more than C.C. Sabathia. The big lefty had pitched the Cleveland Indians into the playoffs in 2007, done the same for the Milwaukee Brewers in 2008 and he came to New York and promptly delivered a 19-win season, logged 230 innings and posted a 3.37 ERA in a new park whose hitter-friendliness would quickly become notorious.

The Yankees had good pitching all year, even if the depth was lacking. Andy Pettite won 14 games and was a solid veteran presence and the incomparable Mariano Rivera was closing games out, 44 saves in all with a 1.76 ERA. New York finished fourth in the American League in ERA.

It was the offense that really made New York feared though. Of the nine everyday players, eight of them posted both on on-base percentage in excess of .350 and a slugging percentage higher than .460. And in several cases, it was a lot higher. Teixeira had 122 RBIs and hit 39 home runs. Derek Jeter’s OBP was .406. Alex Rodriguez hit 30 home runs, drove in 100, and had an OBP of .402. The lineup was filled out Jorge Posada, Robinson Cano, Johnny Damon, Nick Swisher and Hideki Matsui.

The Yankees started relatively slow, though they stayed at or near the top of the AL East. They had a curious early problem with the Red Sox, losing eight straight to their archrival, but New York significantly outplayed Boston when the teams weren’t playing each other and by the end of May, the teams were trading first place back and forth.

New York finally broke through head-to-head with a big four-game sweep of Boston in the Bronx in early August. The Yanks pulled away in the AL East and won 103 games, en route to the best record in baseball.

There’s only season that matters in the Bronx though, and that’s October. No one knew that better than A-Rod. Since arriving in New York prior to the 2004 season, he had won two MVP awards (2005 and 2007) and been the consensus best player in baseball. But his October failings—shortcomings that were real, and not just the media trumping them up—were overshadowing everything else.

Furthermore, A-Rod had been at the center of the storm just prior to the season when it was revealed he was on a list of players that had failed steroid tests several years earlier. Rodriguez insisted he was now clean—something we know today to be demonstrably false—but he knew he needed to vindicate himself for the Yankee fans and the only way to do that was to produce in October.

Rodriguez began the process of vindication in Game 2 of the Division Series against the Minnesota Twins. The Yanks had grabbed Game 1 behind Sabathia, but were trailing 3-1 in the ninth inning of the second game. After Teixeira singled to right to open the ninth, A-Rod homered to tie the game against Twins closer Joe Nathan, arguably the best closer in baseball during 2009. Another bomb from Teixeira would win the game in the 11th, and the Yanks subsequently closed out a three-game sweep in the Twin Cities.

It was the Los Angeles Angels, rather than the hated Red Sox that awaited in the American League Championship Series. The Angels had swept the Red Sox out and had their own ace, John Lackey, ready for Game 1. Sabathia was too dominant though, going eight strong innings and New York took the opener 4-1.

Another Game 2, another dire moment for the Yanks and another clutch delivery from A-Rod was up next. This game was tied 2-2 after nine innings, but the Angels scraped over a run in the 11th. Rodriguez immediately responded with a leadoff home run in the bottom of the inning to extend the game. New York won in 13 innings after a Los Angeles throwing error produced the winning run.

The Angels won their own extra inning affair in Game 3 with the series out west, and now Girardi got aggressive. He came back with Sabathia on three days’ rest—a scenario that would allow the big ace to also pitch a seventh game if needed. C.C. was up to the task, with another brilliant eight-inning outing and New York won this game easily 10-1.

Game 4’s win all but sealed the pennant. New York scored six runs in the seventh inning of Game 5 to take a 6-4 lead, before handing it back in the bottom of the inning in a 7-6 loss. But the return to the Big Apple brought the first pennant since 2003. Damon, Teixeira and A-Rod all hit two hits apiece in the 2-3-4 spots in the order, Pettite pitched well and a 5-2 victory sent New York to the World Series.

The Philadelphia Phillies stood in the way. The Phils had won the 2008 World Series and strengthened themselves at this year’s July 31 trade deadline when they acquired ace lefty Cliff Lee. The Phillies were the first team in the postseason to have an ace that could match up with Sabathia.

In fact, the two lefties were each a part of the 2007 Cleveland team that came within one win of the World Series and the fact they went head-to-head for different teams in Game 1 of the 2009 World Series added to the legacy of heartbreak that is the history of Cleveland sports.

Lee quieted the Yankee bats and the Stadium crowd in Game 1. Sabathia pitched very well, but Philadelphia second baseman Chase Utley got him for two solo home runs. The Phils led 2-1 after seventh and then with C.C. out of the game, broke it open against the bullpen, winning 6-1. For the first time in October, the Yankees were truly in a tough spot.

A.J. Burnett answered the bell with a big-time outing in Game 2, outdueling Pedro Martinez, the former Red Sox star who was on his last ride with the Phillies, having reinvented himself as a finesse pitcher in the twilight of his career. Matsui and Teixeira each homered and the Yankees won 3-1.

Philadelphia got three runs off of Pettite early in Game 3 and looked poised to get control back of the Series. It was A-Rod who had the answer, with a two-run homer in the fourth. Pettite redeemed himself at the plate with an RBI base hit that tied the game and Damon ripped a two-run double. On a rain-soaked night in Philly, the Yankees won 8-5.

Girardi again went to Sabathia on short rest for Game 4. He wasn’t dominant, but he was effective, working into the seventh inning. The game was still tied 4-4 in the ninth, when the sequence that all but decided the World Series title took place. And once again, Alex Rodriguez was the hero.

With two outs, Damon singled, and then stole both second and third. A-Rod tripled to bring in the lead run. Two more insurance runs were tacked on. The Yanks won 7-4 and now had three chances—two of them at home—to win their first World Series title since 2000.

It wouldn’t come in Game 5. Lee took the ball for Philadelphia, the Phils built up an 8-2 lead and though the Yanks rallied late, it came up short 8-6. Nonetheless, the series was going to the Bronx and Philadelphia had yet to prove they could win a game in this Series without Lee on the mound—and he was done, save the possibility of a relief appearance in a Game 7.

There would be no Game 7. New York was ready to party in Game 6 and a party is what they got. Matsui hit a two-run homer in the second inning to start the scoring. He would drive in six runs for the game and hit .615 for the Series, earning him MVP honors. The game ended 7-3, and the first year in the new Stadium had concluded with a championship.

Alex Rodriguez isn’t in the books as MVP of the ALCS or World Series, and that’s appropriate, as Sabathia and Matsui were more consequential in those individual matchups. But if baseball had an award like the NHL does with the Conn Smythe Award, that honors the entire postseason, then this was A-Rod’s October.

From the Game 2s against Minnesota and Los Angeles, to Games 3 & 4 against Philadelphia, he had delivered in the big moments with series-altering hits. And even with the steroid allegations on his record, he could finally hear the cheers of the Yankee faithful.

The Yankees-Royals Rivalry Continues In The Great 1977 ALCS

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The New York Yankees and Kansas City Royalshad waged a classic battle in the 1976 American League Championship Series, a series not settled until Yankee first baseman Chris Chambliss won the decisive game with a ninth-inning walkoff home run. In 1977, the Yankees and Royals each won 100 games, won their respective divisions and in the era when leagues were simply an East & West with only first-place teams advancing, a rematch was set for the 1977 ALCS.

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You can read more about the regular season paths and the key players for each team at the links below. This article will focus squarely on the games of the 1977 American League Championship Series.

READ MORE ABOUT THE 1977 NEW YORK YANKEES
READ MORE ABOUT THE 1977 KANSAS CITY ROYALS

Paul Splittorff got the ball for Game 1. The Royals had blown away the AL West, so the fact that the lefty, and not Leonard, was the Game 1 starter was clearly a sign of Whitey Herzog’s confidence in Splittorff against the Yankees. It proved to be well-justified.

Kansas City got after Don Gullett quickly, scoring two runs in each of the first three innings. Hal McRae, Al Cowens and first baseman John Mayberry all homered. It was an easy Royals’ win, with the Yankees able to take one consolation from the 7-2 drubbing—when Dick Tidrow came on in relief, he was able to get 20 outs for Billy Martin and avoid chewing up the pen—and Cy Young award winner Sparky Lyle—in a lost cause.

Ron Guidry provided an answer for New York the next night, and Kansas City could muster only three hits. But the game was still tied 2-2 in the bottom of the sixth. With one out, Thurman Munson singled. With two outs, there was still only Munson aboard, and Herzog pulled starter Andy Hassler. It was a move that didn’t work.

Lou Piniella, a roving utility player who batted .330 during the season without a full-time position, singled. Cliff Johnson, the DH would be the most consistent Yankee hitter in this series, doubled in Munson. After an intentional walk to Chris Chambliss, George Brett booted a grounder that resulted in two more runs. New York rolled on to a 6-2 series-tying win.

Kansas City could still good about themselves—in spite of Brett having gone 1-for-9 and making a huge error, the Royals had still picked up a win in New York and now had the pennant reduced to a best-of-three with all the games in their backyard.

That backyard was very good to the Royals for Game 3. Dennis Leonard threw a complete-game four-hitter. Although this does beg the question of why Leonard hadn’t pitched the second game. The logic of overlooking him as staff ace for Game 1 made sense, in light of Splittorff’s track record against New York. Overlooking him again in Game 2 seemed to be pushing the point.

In any event, Leonard was dominant, Brett got back on track with a 2-for-4 night, McRae and Darrell Porter each had mult-hit games and the Royals moved to the brink of their first American League pennant with a 6-2 win.

A sunny Saturday afternoon dawned in Kansas City for Game 4 and the offenses on both sides came out blazing. Mickey Rivers got four hits to jump-start the Yankee attack and they led 5-2 in the bottom of the fourth. Then the Royals got consecutive RBI doubles from shortstop Freddie Patek and second baseman Frank White. Brett was coming to the plate with two outs.

Martin managed this at-bat and the rest of the game exactly as he should have—like nothing else mattered. He summoned Lyle. It was a lefty-on-lefty matchup for the Yankees and it also ensured that if the season ended, Martin would go down firing his best shots.

As it turned out, it wasn’t the end of the season and Lyle had the greatest moment of his career. He got Brett, then finished the rest of the game. He allowed only two singles, never allowed the tying run to second base and the Yanks finally got an insurance run in the ninth to win 6-4. It would be winner-take-all on Sunday night for the American League pennant.

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE 1977 MLB SEASON
The most consequential teams and each postseason series

Game 5 could be the subject of an entire book onto its own. Splittorff was pitching for the Royals and of all the Yankees, no one had a more difficult time handling him than Jackson. Martin made the gutsy call to sit Reggie Jackson, with the backing of the players who said Reggie couldn’t Splitorff, “not with a paddle.”

Then the game itself broke into several movements, like the great symphony that it was. After a first-inning single by McRae, Brett ripped an RBI triple. He slid hard into Graig Nettles at third, who responded by kicking his Royal counterpart. The benches cleared and there was real fighting. In a sign of how different baseball was back then, no one was ejected—and lest you think that it was just because of the magnitude of the game, there weren’t any fines after the fact either.

Brett would score on an RBI groundout from Cowens. The Yankees got one back in the third when Rivers singled and stole second with two outs, then scored on a base hit by Munson. The Royals quickly answered that same inning with the same trio of hitters who did it in the first. McRae doubled, Brett moved him to third and Cowens picked up the RBI single.

The 3-1 score held through seven and Splittorff was rolling. Then a leadoff single got him removed. This is another questionable pitching move by Herzog. By today’s standards, it’s perfectly normal. But in the late 1970s, it was still customary to let pitchers finish their business and the lefty was by no means in trouble. The winning run hadn’t even reached base.

What’s more, Martin was now liberated to bring Reggie into the lineup and Jackson delivered an RBI single that cut the lead to 3-2. Herzog turned to Steve Mingori, who got the final two outs of the inning with the tying and lead runs aboard though and it looked like Kansas City might survive.

Leonard opened the ninth for KC and clearly didn’t have it. He gave up a single to Paul Blair and a walk to Roy White. Had Leonard pitched Game 2, he would have been on three days’ rest here (allowing for the travel day) rather than one day rest after pitching Game 3. It’s hard to see how that doesn’t make a difference.

Whitey Herzog was a great manager at this time and he would further prove his greatness in St. Louis through the 1980s. But one big part of this series is that Martin made correct decisions, while Herzog did not.

With the lead runs aboard, Rivers singled to right to tie the game and move White up to third. A sacrifice fly by Willie Randolph gave New York the lead. Brett made another big error, allowing the Yankees to get ahead 5-3.

In the bottom of the ninth, Lyle was on. Frank White hit a one-out single. Freddie Patek was up next, with the trio of McRae-Brett-Cowens behind him. The moment was at hand for more drama. Lyle squelched the moment, inducing a ground ball to Nettles, who started a 5-4-3 double play and the Yankees were going to the World Series.

Kansas City would be back—in fact, the Yankees and Royals were only halfway through a four times-in-five-years run of meetings in the ALCS. But not until 1980 would KC finally break through, and if it was possible for a loss to be more disheartening than the one they experienced in 1976, the ending to the 1977 ALCS was it.

New York would go on to defeat the Los Angeles Dodgers in six games and claim their first World Series title since 1962.

The 1999 World Series: A Showdown That Turns Into A Sweep

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It’s not often, at least since the MLB playoff expansion of 1995, that the teams with the two best records in baseball survive to meet in the World Series. The 1999 World Series not only gave baseball fans such a showdown, but the New York Yankees and Atlanta Braves were angling to become the team of the 1990s.

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The Yankees had won two of the previous three Fall Classics. The Braves were in their fifth Series of the decade and aiming for their second title. It was all set up to a great World Series Showdown…only it didn’t turn out quite that way.

New York won 98 games and was led by Derek Jeter and Bernie Williams, each driving in and scoring 100 runs. A balanced pitching staff was the second-best in the American League and had Mariano Rivera at the back end, with 45 saves and 1.83 ERA. New York rolled through the American League playoffs, going 7-1 in dispatching the Texas Rangers and Boston Red Sox.

Atlanta went 103-59 with their now-traditional dominant pitching. The Braves had their usual Big Three of Tom Glavine, Greg Maddux and John Smoltz and supplemented that with the emergence of 18-game winner Kevin Millwood. Offensively, third baseman Chipper Jones batted .319, hit 45 home runs and won the National League MVP award. Atlanta took out the Houston Astros and the New York Mets to make the World Series.

Game 1 was in Atlanta and the Braves led 1-0 after seven on the strength of a Jones home run. In the eighth a walk, single and an error led to RBI singles from Jeter and Paul O’Neill and New York slipped by Maddux 4-1.

One night later the small-ball Yankee attack continued. They peppered Millwood with five singles in a three-run first and coasted to a 7-2 win. The Showdown Series was slipping away from Atlanta as the series shifted north.

Atlanta appeared ready to revive their hopes behind Glavine in Game 3. They led 4-1 early, and in spite of solo home runs from New York’s Chad Curtis and Tino Martinez, had a 5-3 lead in the eighth. Then Chuck Knoblauch hit a tying two-run homer in the eighth. Curtis went deep for the second time to lead off the tenth and the 6-5 win made the Series all over but the shouting.

New York got three early runs in Game 4 and Roger Clemens turned in a strong outing. Atlanta got Jones to the plate as the tying run in the eighth, but Rivera was summoned and he nailed down the championship in a 4-1 win.

It was Rivera’s second save, to go with his Game 3 win and he was named Series MVP. The Yankees were a dynasty, with three crowns in four years, as they turned a highly anticipated 1999 World Series Showdown into a sweep.

New York’s championship was the second leg of a three-peat they would complete one year later. Atlanta has not been back to the World Series since.

The 1998 New York Yankees: The Best Team Ever To Wear Pinstripes

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The New York Yankees felt like they’d missed an opportunity in the 1997 playoffs when they lost to the Cleveland Indians in the Division Series. The 1998 New York Yankees took it out on the rest of baseball with a display that, even allowing the many great teams this organization has fielded over the years, was the absolute best.

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There have been numerous cases in Yankee history, especially recently, where the team seems a store-bought collection of stars. The 1998 edition wasn’t one of them. They were well-balanced and did everything well.

Ten players had on-base percentages over .350. Eight players hit at least 17 home runs, but no one hit more than 28. David Cone anchored the pitching staff with 20 wins, while David Wells went 18-4 and Andy Pettite won 16.

New York won 114 games and set a new American League record (three years later, the Seattle Mariners would break it with 116 wins, tying the overall MLB record). The Yankees ran away with the AL East, swept the Texas Rangers in the Division Series and opened the American League Championship Series by dropping five runs in the first inning on the Cleveland Indians, winning the opener.

Then the Yankee run hit its first snag. They lost a bizarre 12-inning game in Game 2. Second baseman Chuck Knoblauch argued a call at first base, oblivious to the fact the ball he had was still in play and Indian runners circled the bases with the winning runs.

The series reverted to Cleveland and the potent Tribe offense, led by Manny Ramirez and Jim Thome lit up Pettite with four home runs in a 6-1 win.

Suddenly the Yankees were on the road and facing a Game 4 they realistically had to have. Orlando Hernandez would get the ball. “El Duque”, as he was called, had the best ERA on the staff at 3.13, though he had started only 21 games. Any concern over his big-game worthiness were put to rest when he threw seven shutout innings and won 4-0.

Wells pitched well in a Game 5 win, his second victory of the series. It was enough to make him ALCS MVP two nights later when the Yankees clinched the pennant at home in Game 6.

The San Diego Padres were the World Series opponent, and the threshold moment came in the series opener in the Bronx.
San Diego led 5-2 in the bottom of the seventh, when New York unloaded for seven runs and a 9-6 win. The Yanks rolled the momentum right into Game 2, scoring three runs in the first and three more in the second, en route to a 9-3 win.

Third baseman Scott Brosius would hit .471 for the World Series and end up being named Series MVP. The biggest moment came in Game 3. With New York trailing 3-0 after six innings, Brosius homered twice in the final three frames, keying the rally to a 5-4 win. Pettite got the ball in Game 4 and the Yankees clinched with a 3-0 shutout. The last out, appropriately enough was a ground ball to Brosius.

It was the second World Series title in three years for the Yankees, and the first of what would be the first three-peat since the Oakland A’s did it in 1974. All of that alone was enough to make the 1998 New York Yankees memorable. But their unparalleled excellence would be enough even if they were remembered by this season alone.

The 1994 New York Yankees Bring Winning Back To The Bronx

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The 1994 New York Yankees were in what would be an unusual spot in the city’s sports landscape today. They were actually under the radar. The Big Apple was cheering on the Rangers in their push for the Stanley Cup, and the Knicks, who reached the NBA Finals. The Yankees hadn’t seen the postseason since 1981 or even seriously contended for it since 1988.

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There was rebuilding in the Bronx under the watchful eye of general manager Gene Michael, and a young Buck Showalter was the field boss. By the standards of even a few years later, this wasn’t the star-studded lineup we’ve come to expect from the House of Steinbrenner. Don Mattingly was winding down a great career, and while he could hit for average and get on base, a lot of the power was gone from his swing.

On the other side of the infield, the Yanks had Wade Boggs, the Red Sox mainstay who’d left the team on bad terms and was now employing his precision hitting skills for the enemy. Boggs hit .342 in 1994, and his .489 slugging percentage showed he had some power to the alleys. Showalter’s power came from rightfielder Paul O’Neill and centerfield Bernie Williams, both of whom would be cornerstones of the dynasty in the later part of the decade.

Pitching was a problem, but not at the top. Jimmy Key won 17 games in a season that ended in early August. The closer was Steve Howe, remembered mostly for blowing numerous “last chances” when it came to his drug use and eventually being banned from the game.

Howe’s repeated screw-ups and baseball’s repeated willingness to bring him back was immortalized in the police-action comedy The Naked Gun 2 ½, when actor Leslie Nielsen warned the villain—‘This is your last chance…and I don’t mean one of those Steve Howe kind of last chances. I mean your last chance.” Howe could still pitch in ’94, getting 15 saves with a buck-eighty ERA.

Behind Key and Howe, Showalter mixed and matched and found ways to win games. In a stretch from April 19 to May 3, the played the soft AL West (everyone in the division was at least ten games under .500 when the strike hit on August 12) and went 10-5. The Yanks were only 2 ½ games back of the Boston Red Sox in the AL East.

New York enjoyed a pretty good May. On the first weekend of the month, Boston came to town. Key opened the series with a complete game win on Friday. On Saturday, the Yanks trailed 5-4 in the ninth, but Boggs helped haunt his old team. The last of his three hits was part of a ninth-inning rally and his pinch-runner eventually scored the winning run. Then on Sunday the offense had a power surge, hitting four home runs, two by catcher Mike Stanley and the three-game sweep left them a half-game out.

Showalter’s team used the Red Sox sweep as a springboard to a ten-game win streak that moved them into first place and the Sox eventually faded and were replaced by the Orioles as the principal challenger in the AL East. Baltimore came into New York two weekends after Boston had, and the Yanks won two of three and led the race by 1.5 games. The prospect of a strike loomed over the game, but the winning was back in the Bronx.

The Yankees gave the city reason to hope for a third team to make their sport’s showcase event and possibly produce another victory parade. They went to Baltimore and won three of four, extending their division lead to three games. In late July they took an 11-game trip to the West to face the A’s, Mariners and Angels and went 10-1. The lead in the division was now up to 5.5 games, and it hit ten games by August 5.

In the final week leading up to the strike—a point where a work stoppage was seen as imminent—they lost five of six, but still held the lead in any area it mattered.

No one was optimistic about much of the regular season being salvaged, but there was talk perhaps the postseason could be preserved. If it was held in its entirety, the Yanks had the AL East crown. They also had the best record in the American League overall, meaning they were safe if a partial postseason were picked up starting with the League Championship Series, or even just going directly to the World Series.

The LCS option wasn’t radical for the time, because this was the first year of the three-division alignment for each league and the Division Series still a new phenomenon. Regardless, none of it happened and the season just ended there. The 1994 New York Yankees wouldn’t be able to give the city another championship, but they had given them a nice summer run to help sports fans wind down after the magnificent spring.

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