The 1981 New York Yankees season was the franchise's 79th season. Games were suspended for 50 days due to the 1981 Major League Baseball strike, causing a split season. The Yankees competed as members of the American League East, finishing first in the first half of the season, and tying for fifth in the second half of the season; overall, they won 59 games while losing 48. The team advanced to the postseason due to their first-half first-place finish, where they defeated the Milwaukee Brewers in the American League Division Series and the Oakland Athletics in the American League Championship Series, capturing the Yankees' only pennant of the 1980s. The Yankees then lost the World Series in six games to the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Yankees played their home games at Yankee Stadium and were managed by Gene Michael until September 5, and by Bob Lemon thereafter.

Offseason November 18, 1980: Brad Gulden was traded by the New York Yankees with $150,000 to the Seattle Mariners for a player to be named later and Larry Milbourne. The Seattle Mariners sent back Brad Gulden (May 18, 1981) to the New York Yankees to complete the trade. In effect, Brad Gulden was traded for himself. December 8, 1980: Brian Doyle was drafted from the Yankees by the Oakland Athletics in the 1980 rule 5 draft.Brian Doyle page at Baseball Reference December 15, 1980: Dave Winfield was signed as a free agent with the New York Yankees.Dave Winfield page at Baseball Reference February 16, 1981: Rafael Santana was traded by the Yankees to the St. Louis Cardinals for a player to be named later. The Cardinals completed the deal by sending George Frazier to the Yankees on June 7.Rafael Santana page at Baseball Reference March 31, 1981: Chris Welsh, Ruppert Jones, Joe Lefebvre, and Tim Lollar were traded by the Yankees to the San Diego Padres for Jerry Mumphrey and John Pacella.Chris Welsh page at Baseball Reference

Regular season The team finished in first place in the American League East for the first half of the season with a 34–22 record but finished fifth in the second half with a 25–26 record, for an overall record of 59–48. The season was suspended for 50 days due to the infamous 1981 players strike and the league chose as its playoff teams, the division winners from the first and second halves of the season, respectively.

Notable transactions April 6, 1981: Johnny Oates was signed as a free agent by the Yankees.Johnny Oates page at Baseball Reference May 20, 1981: Jim Spencer and Tom Underwood were traded by the Yankees to the Oakland Athletics for Dave Revering, Mike Patterson, and Chuck Dougherty (minors).Dave Revering page at Baseball Reference June 12, 1981: Doug Bird, a player to be named later, and $400,000 were traded by the Yankees to the Chicago Cubs for Rick Reuschel. The Yankees completed the deal by sending Mike Griffin to the Cubs on August 5.Rick Reuschel page at Baseball Reference August 19, 1981: Pat Tabler was traded by the Yankees to the Chicago Cubs for players to be named later. The Cubs completed the deal by sending Bill Caudill to the Yankees on April 1, 1982, and Jay Howell to the Yankees on August 2.Pat Tabler page at Baseball Reference

Draft picks June 8, 1981: 1981 Major League Baseball draft John Elway was drafted by the Yankees in the 2nd round.1981 MLB June Draft Second Round Picks Phil Lombardi was drafted by the Yankees in the 3rd round.Phil Lombardi page at Baseball Reference Eric Plunk was drafted by the Yankees in the 4th round. Player signed June 15, 1981.Eric Plunk page at Baseball Reference Fred McGriff was drafted by the Yankees in the 9th round. McGriff signed on June 11, 1981.Fred McGriff page at Baseball Reference

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Roster 1981 New York Yankees Roster Pitchers Catchers

Infielders Outfielders

Other batters Manager

Coaches

Game log Regular season First half

|- style="text-align:center;" | Legend:      = Win      = Loss      = PostponementBold = Yankees team member

Second half

|- style="background:#bbcaff;" | – || August 9 || ||colspan=10 |1981 Major League Baseball All-Star Game at Cleveland Stadium in Cleveland

|- style="text-align:center;" | Legend:      = Win      = Loss      = PostponementBold = Yankees team member

Postseason Game log

|- style="text-align:center;" | Legend:      = Win      = Loss      = PostponementBold = Yankees team member

Player stats = Indicates team leader

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 R H Avg. HR RBI SB C 71 234 23 57 .244 2 21 0 1B 59 156 15 33 .212 6 12 0 2B 93 357 59 83 .232 2 24 14 SS 73 227 20 54 .238 7 27 0 3B 103 349 46 85 .244 15 46 0 LF 105 388 52 114 .294 13 68 11 CF 80 319 44 98 .307 6 32 14 RF 94 334 33 79 .237 15 54 0 DH 50 117 14 31 .265 6 24 0

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 80 189 45 .238 10 27 61 163 51 .313 1 12 60 159 44 .277 5 18 40 125 26 .208 6 10 45 119 28 .235 2 7 25 63 9 .143 2 4 31 62 14 .226 0 6 34 55 6 .109 0 1 Aurelio Rodriguez 27 52 18 .346 2 8 10 26 5 .192 0 0 Andre Robertson 10 19 5 .263 0 0 4 9 2 .222 0 0 Steve Balboni 4 7 2 .286 0 2 Tucker Ashford 3 0 0 ---- 0 0

Pitching

= Indicates league leader

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 Rudy May 27 147.2 6 11 4.14 79 Tommy John 20 140.1 9 8 2.63 50 Ron Guidry 23 127.0 11 5 2.76 104 15 105.1 8 4 2.05 89 Rick Reuschel 12 70.2 4 4 2.67 22 Gene Nelson 8 39.1 3 1 4.81 16

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 17 53.1 5 1 2.70 28 9 32.2 1 4 4.41 29

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 Rich Gossage 32 3 2 20 0.77 48 Ron Davis 43 4 5 6 2.71 83 Dave LaRoche 26 4 1 0 2.49 24 16 0 1 3 1.63 17 Bill Castro 11 1 1 0 3.79 4 5 0 0 0 5.14 7 Andy McGaffigan 2 0 0 0 2.57 2 Mike Griffin 2 0 0 0 2.08 4

Postseason

ALDS

New York wins series, 3–2.

GameScoreDate1New York 5, Milwaukee 3October 72New York 3, Milwaukee 0October 83Milwaukee 5, New York 3 October 94Milwaukee 2, New York 1 October 105New York 7, Milwaukee 3 October 11

ALCS

New York Yankees win the Series over the Oakland Athletics, 3–0

GameScoreDateLocationAttendance1Oakland – 1, New York – 3October 13Yankee Stadium55,7402Oakland – 3, New York – 13October 14Yankee Stadium48,4973New York – 4, Oakland – 0October 15Oakland Coliseum47,302

World Series

+ NL Los Angeles Dodgers (4) vs. AL New York Yankees (2)GameScoreDateLocationAttendanceTime of Game1 Dodgers – 3, Yankees – 5 October 20Yankee Stadium (New York) 56,470 2:322 Dodgers – 0, Yankees – 3 October 21Yankee Stadium (New York) 56,505 2:293 Yankees – 4, Dodgers – 5 October 23Dodger Stadium (Los Angeles) 56,236 3:044 Yankees – 7, Dodgers – 8 October 24Dodger Stadium (Los Angeles) 56,242 3:325 Yankees – 1, Dodgers – 2 October 25Dodger Stadium (Los Angeles) 56,115 2:196 Dodgers – 9, Yankees – 2 October 28Yankee Stadium (New York) 56,513 3:09

Awards and honors Tommy John, Lou Gehrig Memorial Award Dave Righetti was honored as the AL Rookie of the Year. Graig Nettles, Most Valuable Player in the AL Championship Series.

All-Star Game Willie Randolph Bucky Dent Reggie Jackson Dave Winfield Ron Davis Rich Gossage

Farm system

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

Notes

References 1981 New York Yankees at Baseball Reference 1981 World Series 1981 New York Yankees team page at www.baseball-almanac.com