1971 New York Yankees season

1971 New York Yankees
1971 New York Yankees
Major League affiliations
	American League (since 1901) Eastern Division (since 1969); ;
Location
	Yankee Stadium (since 1923); New York City (since 1903);
Other information
Owner(s)	CBS
General manager(s)	Lee MacPhail
Manager(s)	Ralph Houk
Local television	WPIX (Phil Rizzuto, Frank Messer, Bill White, Whitey Ford)
Local radio	WMCA; (Frank Messer, Phil Rizzuto, Bill White)
	< Previous season Next season >

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[]

v t AL East	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Baltimore Orioles	101	57	0.639	—	53–24	48–33
Detroit Tigers	91	71	0.562	12	54–27	37–44
Boston Red Sox	85	77	0.525	18	47–33	38–44
New York Yankees	82	80	0.506	21	44–37	38–43
Washington Senators	63	96	0.396	38½	35–46	28–50
Cleveland Indians	60	102	0.370	43	29–52	31–50

Record vs. opponents[]

1971 American League Records v t Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12]
Team	BAL	BOS	CAL	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	MIL	MIN	NYY	OAK	WSH
Baltimore	—	9–9	7–5	8–4	13–5	8–10	6–5	9–3	10–2	11–7	7–4	13–3
Boston	9–9	—	6–6	10–2	11–7	12–6	1–11	6–6	8–4	7–11	3–9	12–6
California	5–7	6–6	—	8–10	8–4	6–6	8–10	6–12	12–6	6–6	7–11	4–8
Chicago	4–8	2–10	10–8	—	3–9	7–5	9–9	11–7	7–11	5–7	11–7	10–2
Cleveland	5–13	7–11	4–8	9–3	—	6–12	2–10	4–8	4–8	8–10	4–8	7–11
Detroit	10–8	6–12	6–6	5–7	12–6	—	8–4	10–2	6–6	10–8	4–8	14–4
Kansas City	5–6	11–1	10–8	9–9	10–2	4–8	—	8–10	9–9	5–7	5–13	9–3
Milwaukee	3–9	6–6	12–6	7–11	8–4	2–10	10–8	—	10–7	2–10	3–15	6–6
Minnesota	2–10	4–8	6–12	11–7	8–4	6–6	9–9	7–10	—	8–4	8–10	5–6
New York	7–11	11–7	6–6	7–5	10–8	8–10	7–5	10–2	4–8	—	5–7	7–11
Oakland	4–7	9–3	11–7	7–11	8–4	8–4	13–5	15–3	10–8	7–5	—	9–3
Washington	3–13	6–12	8–4	2–10	11–7	4–14	3–9	6–6	6–5	11–7	3–9	—

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]

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

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	Thurman Munson	125	451	113	.251	10	42
1B	Danny Cater	121	428	118	.276	4	50
2B	Horace Clarke	159	625	156	.250	2	41
3B	Jerry Kenney	120	325	85	.262	0	20
SS	Gene Michael	139	456	102	.224	3	35
LF	Roy White	147	524	153	.292	19	84
CF	Bobby Murcer	146	529	175	.331	25	94
RF	Felipe 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
John Ellis	83	238	58	.244	3	34
Jake Gibbs	70	206	45	.218	5	21
Ron Blomberg	64	199	64	.322	7	31
Ron Hansen	61	145	30	.207	2	20
Ron Swoboda	54	138	36	.261	2	20
Jim Lyttle	49	86	17	.198	1	7
Frank Baker	43	79	11	.139	0	2
Curt Blefary	21	36	7	.194	1	2
Ron Woods	25	32	8	.250	1	2
Rusty Torres	9	26	10	.385	2	3
Danny Walton	5	14	2	.143	1	2
Frank Tepedino	6	6	0	.000	0	0
Len Boehmer	3	5	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
Stan Bahnsen	36	242	14	12	3.35	110
Fritz Peterson	37	274	15	13	3.05	139
Mel Stottlemyre	35	269.2	16	12	2.87	132
Steve Kline	31	222.1	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
Mike Kekich	37	170.1	10	9	4.07	93
Jim 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
Lindy McDaniel	44	5	10	4	5.04	39
Jack Aker	41	4	4	4	2.59	24
Gary Waslewski	24	0	1	1	3.28	17
Roger Hambright	18	3	1	2	4.39	14
Al Closter	14	2	2	0	5.08	22
Gary Jones	12	0	0	0	9.00	10
Terry Ley	6	0	0	0	10.80	3
Bill Burbach	2	0	1	0	10.80	3
Rob 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
A-Short Season	Oneonta Yankees	New York–Penn League	George Case
Rookie	Johnson City Yankees	Appalachian League	Jerry Walker

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Oneonta^[11]

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, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997 and 2007

References[]

[1] Pete Ward page at Baseball Reference

[2] Felipe Alou page at Baseball Reference

[3] Curt Blefary page at Baseball Reference

[4] Bill Burbach page at Baseball Reference

[5] Frank Tepedino page at Baseball Reference

[6] Larry Murray page at Baseball Reference

[7] Mike Pazik page at Baseball Reference

[8] Ron Swoboda page at Baseball Reference

[cox-9] Bobby Cox page at Baseball Reference

[10] Yankee for Life, Bobby Murcer and Glen Waggoner, p. 64, Harper Collins, 2008, New York, ISBN 978-0-06-147342-5

[11] Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd and 3rd editions. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997 and 2007

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

1971 New York Yankees
Major League affiliations
American League (since 1901) Eastern Division (since 1969)
Location
Yankee Stadium (since 1923) New York City (since 1903)
Other information
Owner(s)	CBS
General manager(s)	Lee MacPhail
Manager(s)	Ralph Houk
Local television	WPIX (Phil Rizzuto, Frank Messer, Bill White, Whitey Ford)
Local radio	WMCA (Frank Messer, Phil Rizzuto, Bill White)
< Previous season Next season >