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)
Other information
Owner(s)	CBS
Manager(s)	Ralph Houk
Local television	WPIX (Phil Rizzuto, Frank Messer, Bill White, Whitey Ford)
Local radio	WMCA (Frank Messer, Phil Rizzuto, Bill White)
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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.

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 22 Jack Aker 45 Stan Bahnsen 50 Bill Burbach 50 Al Closter 39,43 Rob Gardner 46 Roger Hambright 29 Jim Hardin 39 Gary Jones 18 Mike Kekich 38 Steve Kline 43 Terry Ley 40 Lindy McDaniel 19 Fritz Peterson 30 Mel Stottlemyre 54 Gary Waslewski		Catchers 41 Jake Gibbs 15 Thurman Munson Infielders 26 Frank Baker 25 Len Boehmer 10 Danny Cater 20 Horace Clarke 23 John Ellis 28 Ron Hansen  2 Jerry Kenney 17 Gene Michael		Outfielders 24 Felipe Alou 13 Curt Blefary 12 Ron Blomberg 27 Jim Lyttle  1 Bobby Murcer 14 Ron Swoboda 21 Frank Tepedino 21 Rusty Torres 21 Danny Walton  6 Roy White  9 Ron Woods		Manager 35 Ralph Houk Coaches 44 Jim Hegan 32 Elston Howard 34 Dick Howser 31 Jim Turner

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
C	Munson, ThurmanThurman Munson	125	451	113	.251	10	42
1B	Cater, DannyDanny Cater	121	428	118	.276	4	50
2B	Clarke, HoraceHorace Clarke	159	625	156	.250	2	41
3B	Kenney, JerryJerry Kenney	120	325	85	.262	0	20
SS	Michael, GeneGene Michael	139	456	102	.224	3	35
LF	White, RoyRoy White	147	524	153	.292	19	84
CF	Murcer, BobbyBobby Murcer	146	529	175	.331	25	94
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
Peterson, FritzFritz Peterson	37	274	15	13	3.05	139
Stottlemyre, MelMel Stottlemyre	35	269⅔	16	12	2.87	132
Kline, SteveSteve Kline	31	222⅓	12	13	2.96	81

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

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Oneonta^[11]

Notes

References

• 1971 New York Yankees
• 1971 New York Yankees team page at www.baseball-almanac.com

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

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