The 1983 New York Yankees season was the 81st season for the Yankees. The team finished in third place in the American League East with a record of 91–71, finishing 7 games behind the Baltimore Orioles. New York was managed by Billy Martin. The Yankees played their home games at Yankee Stadium.

Offseason November 3, 1982: Bobby Ramos was purchased from the Yankees by the Montreal Expos.Bobby Ramos page at Baseball Reference December 1, 1982: Don Baylor was signed as a free agent by the Yankees.Don Baylor page at Baseball Reference December 9, 1982: Dave Collins, Mike Morgan, Fred McGriff and cash were traded by the Yankees to the Toronto Blue Jays for Dale Murray and Tom Dodd.Fred McGriff page at Baseball Reference December 14, 1982: Bobby Meacham was traded by the St. Louis Cardinals with Stan Javier to the New York Yankees for Steve Fincher (minors), Bob Helsom (minors) and Marty Mason (minors). December 22, 1982: Lee Mazzilli was traded by the New York Yankees to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Tim Burke, Don Aubin (minors), John Holland (minors), and Jose Rivera (minors).Lee Mazzilli page at Baseball Reference January 11, 1983: Ozzie Canseco was drafted by the Yankees in the 2nd round of the 1983 Major League Baseball draft.Ozzie Canseco page at Baseball Reference February 24, 1983: Bert Campaneris was signed as a free agent by the Yankees.Bert Campaneris page at Baseball Reference February 28, 1983: Rowland Office was signed as a free agent by the Yankees.Rowland Office page at Baseball Reference March 24, 1983: John Mayberry was released by the Yankees.John Mayberry page at Baseball Reference

Spring training For the fourth straight spring training, the Yankees played an exhibition game at the Louisiana Superdome. On March 27, 1983, the Yankees beat the Toronto Blue Jays 2 to 1 behind six shutout innings from Doyle Alexander. Attendance was 15,129 for the game.

Regular season June 11, 1983: Longtime Yankee Bobby Murcer played in the last game of his career. June 20, 1983: Bobby Murcer announced his retirement from the New York Yankees. On the same day, he became part of the Yankees Broadcasting Team for WPIX TV. July 4, 1983: Dave Righetti threw a no-hitter against the Boston Red Sox August 4, 1983: Dave Winfield, while warming up before the 5th inning of a game at Toronto's Exhibition Stadium, accidentally killed a seagull with a thrown ball. He doffed his cap in mock sorrow. Fans responded by hurling obscenities and improvised missiles. After the game, he was brought to the Ontario Provincial Police station on charges of cruelty to animals and was forced to post a $500 bond before being released. Quipped Yankees manager Billy Martin, "It's the first time he's hit the cutoff man." The charges were dropped the following day. For years afterward Winfield's appearances in Toronto were greeted with loud choruses of boos, but he later became a fan favorite.

Pine Tar Game

The Pine Tar Game refers to a controversial incident that took place in an American League baseball game played between the Kansas City Royals and New York Yankees on July 24, 1983.

Playing at New York's Yankee Stadium, the Royals were trailing 4–3 with two outs in the top of the ninth and U L Washington on first base. In the on deck circle, George Brett was heard remarking to a teammate, "Watch this baby fly" as he shook his bat. He then came to the plate and connected off Yankee reliever Rich "Goose" Gossage for a two-run home run and a 5–4 lead. As Brett crossed the plate, New York manager Billy Martin approached home plate umpire Tim McClelland and requested that Brett's bat be examined. Earlier in the season, Martin and other members (most notably, third baseman Graig Nettles, who as a member of the Minnesota Twins, recalled a similar incident involving Thurman Munson) of the Yankees had noticed the amount of pine tar used by Brett, but Martin had chosen not to say anything until the home run.

With Brett watching from the dugout, McClelland and the rest of the umpiring crew inspected the bat. Measuring the bat against the width of home plate (which is 17 inches), they determined that the amount of pine tar on the bat's handle exceeded that allowed by Rule 1.10(b) of the Major League Baseball rule book, which read that "a bat may not be covered by such a substance more than 18 inches from the tip of the handle." McClelland then turned to the Royals dugout, where Brett was standing watching the discussion, and ruled him out. An irate Brett charged out of the dugout to argue his case and had to be held back by several of his teammates.

The call ended the game and gave the Yankees a 4-3 victory, but a protest by the Royals was successful. The home run was restored and the two teams returned to the field on August 18 for the final four outs of the contest, and Brett, manager Dick Howser, pitcher Gaylord Perry (who attempted to steal the bat), and coach Rocky Colavito were all ejected from the game (Brett for the illegal bat and the others for their actions in the aftermath). George Frazier struck out Hal McRae to end the top of the ninth, and Dan Quisenberry retired the Yankees in order in the bottom half to preserve the 5-4 victory. Mike Armstrong was given the win with Gossage taking the loss.

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Notable transactions May 31, 1983: Doyle Alexander was released by the Yankees.Doyle Alexander page at Baseball Reference June 6, 1983: University of Nebraska quarterback Turner Gill was selected by the Yankees in the 18th round of the 1983 Major League Baseball draft. June 9, 1983: Rick Reuschel was released by the Yankees.Rick Reuschel page at Baseball Reference June 15, 1983: Ben Callahan, Marshall Brant and cash were traded by the Yankees to the Oakland Athletics for Matt Keough.Matt Keough page at Baseball Reference June 17, 1983: Dave Wehrmeister was traded by the Yankees to the Philadelphia Phillies for Jim Rasmussen (minors) and Kelly Faulk (minors).Dave Wehrmeister page at Baseball Reference July 22, 1983: Mike York was released by the Yankees.Mike York page at Baseball Reference

Roster 1983 New York Yankees Roster Pitchers Catchers

Infielders Outfielders

Other batters Manager

Coaches

(Bullpen)

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 94 301 89 .296 6 42 1B 118 458 140 .306 11 46 2B 104 420 117 .279 2 38 SS 130 451 124 .275 18 62 3B 129 462 123 .266 20 75 LF 152 598 169 .283 32 116 CF 83 267 70 .262 7 36 RF 109 373 90 .241 12 49 DH 144 534 162 .303 21 85

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 98 322 80 .248 1 22 91 279 79 .283 4 32 80 246 54 .220 2 22 74 180 47 .261 7 26 48 152 38 .250 1 17 53 148 43 .291 2 16 60 143 46 .322 0 11 32 86 20 .233 5 17 31 70 14 .200 0 2 22 51 12 .235 0 4 11 29 6 .207 0 5 10 23 6 .261 1 3 9 22 4 .182 1 1 13 14 2 .143 0 0 2 2 0 .000 0 1

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 31 250.1 21 9 3.42 156 34 238.1 14 14 3.78 124 31 217.0 14 8 3.44 169 15 97.1 8 2 3.33 27 12 55.2 3 4 5.17 26 John Montefusco 6 38.0 5 0 3.32 15

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 25 108.0 5 8 5.08 53 19 82.0 1 5 5.38 61 8 28.1 0 2 6.35 17

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 57 13 5 22 2.27 90 61 4 4 8 3.43 78 40 2 4 1 4.48 45 15 1 5 0 6.87 16 5 0 1 0 4.32 7 4 0 0 0 3.12 8 1 0 0 0 18.00 0

Awards and honors Ron Guidry and Dave Winfield represented the Yankees at the 1983 Major League Baseball All-Star Game.

Gold Gloves were awarded to pitcher, Guidry and outfielder, Winfield.

Winfield also won the Silver Slugger Award.

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 1983 New York Yankees at Baseball Reference 1983 New York Yankees team page at www.baseball-almanac.com