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1980 New York Yankees
1980 New York Yankees
American League East Champions
League	American League
Division	East
Ballpark	Yankee Stadium
City	New York City
Owners	George Steinbrenner
General managers	Gene Michael
Managers	Dick Howser
Television	WPIX; SportsChannel NY; (Phil Rizzuto, Frank Messer, Bill White)
Radio	WINS (AM); (Frank Messer, Phil Rizzuto, Bill White, Fran Healy)

The 1980 New York Yankees season was the 78th season for the franchise. The team finished with a record of 103–59, finishing in first place in the American League East, 3 games ahead of the Baltimore Orioles. The Kansas City Royals swept the Yankees in the ALCS. New York was managed by Dick Howser. The Yankees played at Yankee Stadium.

Offseason

November 1, 1979: Chris Chambliss, Dámaso García, and Paul Mirabella were traded by the Yankees to the Toronto Blue Jays for Rick Cerone, Tom Underwood and Ted Wilborn.^[1]
November 1, 1979: Jim Beattie, Rick Anderson, Juan Beníquez, and Jerry Narron were traded by the Yankees to the Seattle Mariners for Ruppert Jones and Jim Lewis.^[2]
November 8, 1979: Bob Watson was signed as a free agent by the Yankees.^[3]
November 8, 1979: Rudy May was signed as a free agent by the Yankees.^[4]
November 14, 1979: The Yankees traded players to be named later and cash to the Texas Rangers for Eric Soderholm. The Yankees sent Amos Lewis (minors) and Ricky Burdette (minors) to the Rangers on December 13 to complete the trade.^[5]
December 10, 1979: Andre Robertson was purchased by the Yankees from the Toronto Blue Jays.^[6]

Spring training

The Yankees played two spring training exhibition games at the Louisiana Superdome over the weekend of March 15 and 16, 1980. 45,152 spectators watched the Yankees beat the Baltimore Orioles 9 to 3 on March 15, 1980. The following day, 43,339 fans saw Floyd Rayford lead the Orioles to a 7 to 1 win over the Yankees.^[7]

Regular season

Season standings

v
t
e
AL East
Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
New York Yankees	103	59	.636	—	53‍–‍28	50‍–‍31
Baltimore Orioles	100	62	.617	3	50‍–‍31	50‍–‍31
Milwaukee Brewers	86	76	.531	17	40‍–‍42	46‍–‍34
Boston Red Sox	83	77	.519	19	36‍–‍45	47‍–‍32
Detroit Tigers	84	78	.519	19	43‍–‍38	41‍–‍40
Cleveland Indians	79	81	.494	23	44‍–‍35	35‍–‍46
Toronto Blue Jays	67	95	.414	36	35‍–‍46	32‍–‍49

Record vs. opponents

1980 American League record v t e Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14]
Team	BAL	BOS	CAL	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	MIL	MIN	NYY	OAK	SEA	TEX	TOR
Baltimore	—	8–5	10–2	6–6	6–7	10–3	6–6	7–6	10–2	7–6	7–5	6–6	6–6	11–2
Boston	5–8	—	9–3	6–4	7–6	8–5	5–7	6–7	6–6	3–10	9–3	7–5	5–7	7–6
California	2–10	3–9	—	3–10	4–6	5–7	5–8	6–6	7–6	2–10	3–10	11–2	11–2	3–9
Chicago	6–6	4–6	10–3	—	5–7	2–10	5–8	5–7	5–8	5–7	6–7	6–7	6–7–2	5–7
Cleveland	7–6	6–7	6–4	7–5	—	3–10	5–7	3–10	9–3	5–8	6–6	8–4	6–6	8–5
Detroit	3–10	5–8	7–5	10–2	10–3	—	2–10	7–6	6–6	5–8	6–6	10–2–1	4–8	9–4
Kansas City	6–6	7–5	8–5	8–5	7–5	10–2	—	6–6	5–8	8–4	6–7	7–6	10–3	9–3
Milwaukee	6–7	7–6	6–6	7–5	10–3	6–7	6–6	—	7–5	5–8	7–5	9–3	5–7	5–8
Minnesota	2–10	6–6	6–7	8–5	3–9	6–6	8–5	5–7	—	4–8	6–7	7–6	9–3	7–5
New York	6–7	10–3	10–2	7–5	8–5	8–5	4–8	8–5	8–4	—	8–4	9–3	7–5	10–3
Oakland	5–7	3–9	10–3	7–6	6–6	6–6	7–6	5–7	7–6	4–8	—	8–5	7–6	8–4
Seattle	6–6	5–7	2–11	7–6	4–8	2–10–1	6–7	3–9	6–7	3–9	5–8	—	4–9	6–6
Texas	6–6	7–5	2–11	7–6–2	6–6	8–4	3–10	7–5	3–9	5–7	6–7	9–4	—	7–5
Toronto	2–11	6–7	9–3	7–5	5–8	4–9	3–9	8–5	5–7	3–10	4–8	6–6	5–7	—

Opening Day lineup

Notable transactions

April 1, 1980: Jim Kaat was signed as a free agent by the Yankees.^[8]
April 4, 1980: Johnny Oates was signed as a free agent by the Yankees.^[9]
April 30, 1980: Jim Kaat was purchased from the Yankees by the St. Louis Cardinals.^[8]
May 28, 1980: Paul Blair was signed as a free agent by the Yankees.^[10]
July 1, 1980: Paul Blair was released by the Yankees.^[10]
August 1, 1980: José Rijo was signed by the Yankees as an amateur free agent.^[11]
August 14, 1980: Ken Clay and a player to be named later were traded by the Yankees to the Texas Rangers for Gaylord Perry. The Yankees completed the deal by sending Marvin Thompson (minors) to the Rangers on October 1.^[12]

Roster

1980 New York Yankees

Roster

Pitchers

Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Manager

34 Dick Howser

Coaches

Game log

Regular season

1980 regular season game log: 103–59 (Home: 53–28; Away: 50–31)

April: 9–9 (Home: 5–4; Away: 4–5)

#	Date	Time (ET)	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Time of Game	Attendance	Record	Box/ Streak	GB
1	April 10	8:35p.m. EST	@ Rangers	0–1 (12)	Lyle (1–0)	Underwood (0–1)		2:39	33,196	0–1	L1	-1
2	April 11	8:35p.m. EST	@ Rangers	7–11	Jenkins (1–0)	Davis (0–1)	Rajsich (1)	2:18	21,424	0–2	L2	-1½
–	April 12	–	@ Rangers	Postponed (rain); Makeup: April 13
3	April 13 (1)	4:35p.m. EST	@ Rangers	9–4	Tiant (1–0)	Comer (0–1)		2:39	–	1–2	W1	-½

May: 19–7 (Home: 9–5; Away: 10–2)

#	Date	Time (ET)	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Time of Game	Attendance	Record	Box/ Streak	GB

June: 19–9 (Home: 10–4; Away: 9–5)

#	Date	Time (ET)	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Time of Game	Attendance	Record	Box/ Streak	GB

July: 16–12 (Home: 5–5; Away: 11–7)

#	Date	Time (ET)	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Time of Game	Attendance	Record	Box/ Streak	GB
–	July 8		1980 Major League Baseball All-Star Game at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles

August: 15–14 (Home: 7–6; Away: 8–8)

#	Date	Time (ET)	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Time of Game	Attendance	Record	Box/ Streak	GB

September: 21–7 (Home: 14–3; Away: 7–4)

#	Date	Time (ET)	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Time of Game	Attendance	Record	Box/ Streak	GB

October: 4–1 (Home: 3–1; Away: 1–0)

#	Date	Time (ET)	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Time of Game	Attendance	Record	Box/ Streak	GB

Legend: = Win = Loss = Postponement
Bold = Yankees team member

Postseason Game log

1980 Postseason game log: 0–3 (Home: 0–1; Away: 0–2)

AL Championship Series: vs. Kansas City Royals 0–3 (Home: 0–1; Away: 0–2)

#	Date	Time (ET)	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Time of Game	Attendance	Record	Box/ Streak

Legend: = Win = Loss
Bold = Yankees team member

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

Bold indicates American League All-Star.

Pos	Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
C	Rick Cerone	147	519	144	.277	14	85
1B	Bob Watson	130	469	144	.307	13	68
2B	Willie Randolph	138	513	151	.294	7	46
3B	Graig Nettles	89	324	79	.244	16	45
SS	Bucky Dent	141	489	128	.262	5	52
LF	Lou Piniella	116	321	92	.287	2	27
CF	Bobby Brown	137	412	107	.260	14	47
RF	Reggie Jackson	143	514	154	.300	41	111
DH	Eric Soderholm	95	275	79	.287	11	35

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
Ruppert Jones	83	328	73	.223	9	42
Bobby Murcer	100	297	80	.269	13	57
Jim Spencer	97	259	61	.236	13	43
Oscar Gamble	78	194	54	.278	14	50
Aurelio Rodríguez	52	164	36	.220	3	14
Joe Lefebvre	74	150	34	.227	8	21
Fred Stanley	49	86	18	.209	0	5
Brian Doyle	34	75	13	.173	1	5
Dennis Werth	39	65	20	.308	3	12
Johnny Oates	39	64	12	.188	1	3
Ted Wilborn	8	8	2	.250	0	1
Roger Holt	2	6	1	.167	0	1
Marshall Brant	3	6	0	.000	0	0
Bruce Robinson	4	5	0	.000	0	0
Dennis Sherrill	3	4	1	.250	0	0
Brad Gulden	2	3	1	.333	1	2
Paul Blair	12	2	0	.000	0	0

Pitching

Starting pitchers

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

Bold indicates American League All-Star.

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Tommy John	36	265+1⁄3	22	9	3.43	78
Ron Guidry	37	219+2⁄3	17	10	3.56	166
Tom Underwood	38	187	13	9	3.66	116
Rudy May	41	175+1⁄3	15	5	2.46	133
Luis Tiant	25	136+1⁄3	8	9	4.89	84

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
Ed Figueroa	15	58	3	3	6.98	16
Mike Griffin	13	54	2	4	4.83	25
Gaylord Perry	10	50+2⁄3	4	4	4.44	28

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
Goose Gossage	64	6	2	33	2.27	103
Ron Davis	53	9	3	7	2.95	65
Doug Bird	22	3	0	1	2.66	17
Tim Lollar	14	1	0	2	3.34	13
Jim Kaat	4	0	1	0	7.20	1

ALCS

Game 1

October 8 Royals Stadium

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
New York	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	10	1
Kansas City	0	2	2	0	0	0	1	2	X	7	10	0
W: Larry Gura (1-0) L: Ron Guidry (0-1)
HRs: NYY – Rick Cerone (1) Lou Piniella (1) KCR – George Brett (1)

Game 2

October 9 Royals Stadium

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
New York	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	2	8	0
Kansas City	0	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	X	3	6	0
W: Dennis Leonard (1-0) L: Rudy May (0-1) S: Dan Quisenberry (1)
HRs: NYY – Graig Nettles

Game 3

October 10 Yankee Stadium

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Kansas City	0	0	0	0	1	0	3	0	0	4	12	1
New York	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	2	8	0
W: Dan Quisenberry (1-0) L: Rich Gossage (0-1)
HRs: KCR – George Brett (2) Frank White (1)

Awards and honors

Bucky Dent, Goose Gossage, Reggie Jackson, Tommy John, Graig Nettles and Willie Randolph represented the Yankees at the 1980 Major League Baseball All-Star Game.

Randolph earned the inaugural Silver Slugger Award at second base.

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Columbus Clippers	International League	Joe Altobelli
AA	Nashville Sounds	Southern League	Stump Merrill
A	Fort Lauderdale Yankees	Florida State League	Doug Holmquist
A	Greensboro Hornets	South Atlantic League	Bob Schaefer
A-Short Season	Oneonta Yankees	New York–Penn League	Art Mazmanian
Rookie	Paintsville Yankees	Appalachian League	Mike Easom
Rookie	GCL Yankees	Gulf Coast League	Carlos Tosca

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Columbus, Fort Lauderdale, Greensboro, Oneonta, Paintsville

Notes

^ Rick Cerone at Baseball Reference
^ Jim Beattie at Baseball Reference
^ Bob Watson at Baseball Reference
^ Rudy May at Baseball Reference
^ Eric Soderholm at Baseball-Reference
^ Andre Robertson at Baseball Reference
^ Associated Press (March 17, 1980). "Big Crowds see Baseball at Superdome". Toledo Blade. Retrieved June 19, 2009.
^ ^a ^b Jim Kaat at Baseball Reference
^ Johnny Oates at Baseball Reference
^ ^a ^b Paul Blair at Baseball Reference
^ José Rijo at Baseball Reference
^ Gaylord Perry at Baseball Reference