1971 New York Yankees season

1971 New York Yankees
Major league affiliations
American League (since 1901) Eastern Division (since 1969)
Location
Yankee Stadium (since 1923) New York City, New York (since 1903)
1971 information
Owner(s)	CBS
Manager(s)	Ralph Houk
Local television	WPIX
Local radio	WMCA (Frank Messer, Phil Rizzuto, Bill White, Whitey Ford)
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The 1971 New York Yankees season was the 69th season for the franchise in New York, and its 71st season overall. The team finished fourth in the American League East with a record of 82-80, 21 games behind the Baltimore Orioles. New York was managed by Ralph Houk. The Yankees played their home games at Yankee Stadium.

1 Offseason
2 Regular season
3 Player stats
- 3.1 Batting
  - 3.1.1 Starters by position
  - 3.1.2 Other batters
- 3.2 Pitching
4 Awards and honors
5 Farm system
6 Notes
7 References

Offseason

March 31, 1971: Pete Ward was released by the Yankees.^[1]

Regular season

Season standings

AL East	W	L	GB	Pct.
Baltimore Orioles	101	57	0	.639
Detroit Tigers	91	71	12	.562
Boston Red Sox	85	77	18	.525
New York Yankees	82	80	21	.506
Washington Senators	63	96	38.5	.396
Cleveland Indians	60	102	43	.370

Notable transactions

April 9, 1971: Ron Klimkowski and Rob Gardner was traded by the Yankees to the Oakland Athletics for Felipe Alou.^[2]
May 26, 1971: Curt Blefary was traded by the Yankees to the Oakland Athletics for Rob Gardner.^[3]
May 28, 1971: Bill Burbach was traded by the Yankees to the Baltimore Orioles for Jim Hardin.^[4]
June 7, 1971: Frank Tepedino and Bobby Mitchell were traded by the Yankees to the Milwaukee Brewers for Danny Walton.^[5]
June 8, 1971: 1971 Major League Baseball Draft
- Larry Murray was drafted by the Yankees in the 5th round.^[6]
- Mike Pazik was drafted by the Yankees in the 1st round (13th pick) of the Secondary Phase.^[7]
June 25, 1971: Ron Woods was traded by the Yankees to the Montreal Expos for Ron Swoboda.^[8]
July 17, 1971: Bobby Cox was signed as a free agent by the Yankees.^[9]
August 28, 1971: Bobby Cox was released by the Yankees.^[9]

The final Senators game

The Yankees were part of Washington baseball history. The Senators played their final game in Washington at RFK Stadium and their opponents were the Yankees. Fan enmity came to a head in the game on September 30. Thousands of fans simply walked in without paying because the security guards left early in the game, swelling the paid attendance of 14,460 to around 25,000. The Senators led 7-5 with two outs in the top of the ninth. Just then, fans poured onto the field. A teenager scooped up first base and ran away. With no security guards in sight, the game was forfeited to the Yankees, 9-0.

Roster

1971 New York Yankees

Roster

Pitchers

Catchers

41 Jake Gibbs
15 Thurman Munson

Infielders

Outfielders

Manager

35 Ralph Houk

Coaches

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Pos	Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
RF	Alou, FelipeFelipe Alou	131	461	133	.289	8	69

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
Blefary, CurtCurt Blefary	21	36	7	.194	1	2
Tepedino, FrankFrank Tepedino	6	6	0	.000	0	0

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Bahnsen, StanStan Bahnsen	36	242	14	12	3.35	110

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Closter, AlAl Closter	14	28.1	2	2	5.08	22
Hardin, JimJim Hardin	12	28.1	0	2	5.08	14

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	W	L	SV	ERA	SO
Aker, JackJack Aker	41	4	4	4	2.59	24
Hambright, RogerRoger Hambright	18	3	1	2	4.39	14
Burbach, BillBill Burbach	2	0	1	0	10.80	3
Gardner, RobRob Gardner	2	0	0	0	3.00	2

Awards and honors

Outfielder Bobby Murcer competed in his first All-Star Game^[10]

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Syracuse Chiefs	International League	Loren Babe
AA	Manchester Yankees	Eastern League	Mickey Vernon
A	Kinston Eagles	Carolina League	Gene Hassell
A	Fort Lauderdale Yankees	Florida State League	Bobby Cox
Short-Season A	Oneonta Yankees	New York-Penn League	George Case
Rookie	Johnson City Yankees	Appalachian League	Jerry Walker

Notes

^ Pete Ward page at Baseball Reference
^ Felipe Alou page at Baseball Reference
^ Curt Blefary page at Baseball Reference
^ Bill Burbach page at Baseball Reference
^ Frank Tepedino page at Baseball Reference
^ Larry Murray page at Baseball Reference
^ Mike Pazik page at Baseball Reference
^ Ron Swoboda page at Baseball Reference
^ ^a ^b Bobby Cox page at Baseball Reference
^ Yankee for Life, Bobby Murcer and Glen Waggoner, p. 64, Harper Collins, 2008, New York, ISBN 978-0-06-147342-5
^ Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd and 3rd editions. Durham, N.C.: Baseball America, 1997 and 2007

References

1971 MLB season by team

AL East

Baltimore • Boston • Cleveland • Detroit • New York • Washington

AL West

California • Chicago • Kansas City • Milwaukee • Minnesota • Oakland

NL East

Chicago • Montréal • New York • Philadelphia • Pittsburgh • St. Louis

NL West

Atlanta • Cincinnati • Houston • Los Angeles • San Diego • San Francisco

1971 All-Star Game • 1971 World Series

New York Yankees

Formerly the Baltimore Orioles and the New York Highlanders • Based in The Bronx, New York City, New York

Franchise

History • Seasons • Records • No-hitters • Awards • Players • Managers • Coaches • Owners and executives • Broadcasters • Opening Day starting pitchers • Opening Day starting lineups • Team captains • Members of the Hall of Fame • First-round picks • YES Network

Ballparks

Oriole Park • Hilltop Park • Polo Grounds • Yankee Stadium (opened 1923) (Events) • Shea Stadium • Yankee Stadium (opened 2009)
Spring Training: Barrs Field • Bader Field • Al Lang Stadium • Fort Lauderdale Stadium • George M. Steinbrenner Field

Lore

Curse of the Bambino • Johnny Sylvester • Murderers' Row • Babe Ruth's called shot • Ed Lucas • M&M Boys • Bucky "Bleeping" Dent • Pine Tar Incident • Jeffrey Maier • The Yankee Years • The Core Four • Wildcard Wednesday

Culture

Monument Park • New York Yankees Museum • Old-Timers' Day • Bleacher Creatures • Yankees Universe • Eddie Layton • Logos, uniforms and dress code • "Holy Cow!" • Robert Merrill • John Sterling/"Yankees win! Theeeeeee Yankees win!" • Ronan Tynan • "Here Come the Yankees" • "Haya Doin'?" • "New York, New York" • "God Bless America" • The Pride of the Yankees • The Babe Ruth Story • Damn Yankees (musical · film · The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant) • Safe at Home! • 61* • The Bronx is Burning (Ladies and Gentlemen, The Bronx Is Burning • The Bronx Is Burning) • Gene Monahan • Dandy • Freddy Sez • George Costanza • Paul Olden • Yankee Stadium Legacy • Yankees HOPE Week

Rivalries

Boston Red Sox • New York Mets • Los Angeles Dodgers • San Francisco Giants • Subway Series

Monument Park
honorees

Mel Allen • Ed Barrow • Yogi Berra • Bill Dickey • Joe DiMaggio • Whitey Ford • Lou Gehrig • Lefty Gomez • Ron Guidry • Elston Howard • Miller Huggins • Reggie Jackson • Mickey Mantle • Roger Maris • Billy Martin • Don Mattingly • Joe McCarthy • Thurman Munson • Allie Reynolds • Phil Rizzuto • Red Ruffing • Jacob Ruppert • Babe Ruth • Bob Sheppard • George Steinbrenner • Casey Stengel

Retired numbers

4 • 3 • 5 • 7 • 37 • 8 • 8 • 16 • 15 • 32 • 9 • 10 • 1 • 44 • 23 • 42 • 49

Key personnel

Owners: Yankee Global Enterprises (Hal Steinbrenner • Hank Steinbrenner) • General Manager: Brian Cashman • Manager: Joe Girardi • Team Captain: Derek Jeter

Championships (27)

1923 • 1927 • 1928 • 1932 • 1936 • 1937 • 1938 • 1939 • 1941 • 1943 • 1947 • 1949 • 1950 • 1951 • 1952 • 1953 • 1956 • 1958 • 1961 • 1962 • 1977 • 1978 • 1996 • 1998 • 1999 • 2000 • 2009

American League
Pennants (40)

1921 • 1922 • 1923 • 1926 • 1927 • 1928 • 1932 • 1936 • 1937 • 1938 • 1939 • 1941 • 1942 • 1943 • 1947 • 1949 • 1950 • 1951 • 1952 • 1953 • 1955 • 1956 • 1957 • 1958 • 1960 • 1961 • 1962 • 1963 • 1964 • 1976 • 1977 • 1978 • 1981 • 1996 • 1998 • 1999 • 2000 • 2001 • 2003 • 2009

Other titles

Eastern Division: 1976 • 1977 • 1978 • 1980 • 1981 • 1996 • 1998 • 1999 • 2000 • 2001 • 2002 • 2003 • 2004 • 2005 • 2006 • 2009 • 2011 | Wild Card: 1995 • 1997 • 2007 • 2010

Minors

AAA: Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees | AA: Trenton Thunder | A: Tampa Yankees • Charleston RiverDogs • Staten Island Yankees | Rookie: Gulf Coast League Yankees • DSL Yankees1 • DSL Yankees2

Seasons (111)

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