1981 New York Yankees

59-48 • .551 Win% • 4th in AL E

The 1981 New York Yankees went 59-48 (.551) finishing 4th in the AL E division. They won the pennant but did not win the World Series. The club scored 421 runs, allowed 343, and played home games at Yankee Stadium II. Team leaders included Reggie Jackson (15 HR, 54 RBI) and Ron Guidry (11-5, 2.76 ERA).

W (Wins):
Games credited to a pitcher whose team took a lead it never surrendered while he was the pitcher of record.
L (Losses):
Games charged to the pitcher of record when the opposing team took a lead it never surrendered.
RS (Runs Scored (team)):
Total runs a team scored across the season.
RA (Runs Allowed):
Total runs a team allowed across the season.

Data updated

📊 Season Record

59 Wins
48 Losses
.551 Win %
4th Rank
421 R 343 RA
Diff +78

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⚡ Quick Stats

421 Runs Scored
343 Runs Allowed
+78 Run Diff
1,614K Attendance

📈 vs. 1981 AL Average

Batting Avg .251 2% below the 1981 league average (.256)
OBP .325 1% above the 1981 league average (.320)
SLG .391 5% above the 1981 league average (.372)
Team ERA 2.90 21% better than the 1981 league average (3.66)
Runs Scored 421 4% below the 1981 league average (437 R)

🏟️ Home Ballpark

🏟️
StadiumYankee Stadium II
📅
Home Games 51
👥
Total Attendance 1,614,482
📊
Avg per Game 31,656

⚾ Batting Leaders

Team HR Leaders — 1981

Batting Avg

1 Aurelio Rodriguez 0.346 2 Larry Milbourne 0.313 3 Jerry Mumphrey 0.307 4 Dave Winfield 0.294 5 Lou Piniella 0.277

Home Runs

1 Reggie Jackson 15 2 Graig Nettles 15 3 Dave Winfield 13 4 Oscar Gamble 10 5 Bucky Dent 7

RBI

1 Dave Winfield 68 2 Reggie Jackson 54 3 Graig Nettles 46 4 Jerry Mumphrey 32 5 Bucky Dent 27
1981 New York Yankees — RBI
Player G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB AVG
Dave Winfield 105 388 52 114 25 1 13 68 43 41 11 0.294
Willie Randolph 93 357 59 83 14 3 2 24 57 24 14 0.232
Graig Nettles 103 349 46 85 7 1 15 46 47 49 0 0.244
Reggie Jackson 94 334 33 79 17 1 15 54 46 82 0 0.237
Jerry Mumphrey 80 319 44 98 11 5 6 32 24 27 14 0.307
Rick Cerone 71 234 23 57 13 2 2 21 12 24 0 0.244
Bucky Dent 73 227 20 54 11 0 7 27 19 17 0 0.238
Oscar Gamble 80 189 24 45 8 0 10 27 35 23 0 0.238
Larry Milbourne 61 163 24 51 7 2 1 12 9 14 2 0.313
Lou Piniella 60 159 16 44 9 0 5 18 13 9 0 0.277
Bob Watson 59 156 15 33 3 3 6 12 24 17 0 0.212
Barry Foote 40 125 12 26 4 0 6 10 8 21 0 0.208
Dave Revering 45 119 8 28 4 1 2 7 11 20 0 0.235
Bobby Murcer 50 117 14 31 6 0 6 24 12 15 0 0.265
Jim Spencer 25 63 6 9 2 0 2 4 9 7 0 0.143
Bobby Brown 31 62 5 14 1 0 0 6 5 15 4 0.226
Dennis Werth 34 55 7 6 1 0 0 1 12 12 1 0.109
Aurelio Rodriguez 27 52 4 18 2 0 2 8 2 10 0 0.346
Johnny Oates 10 26 4 5 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 0.192
Andre Robertson 10 19 1 5 1 0 0 0 0 3 1 0.263
Mike Patterson 4 9 2 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0.222
Steve Balboni 4 7 2 2 1 1 0 2 1 4 0 0.286
Tucker Ashford 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Doug Bird 17 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Bill Castro 11 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Ron Davis 43 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
George Frazier 16 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Rich Gossage 32 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Mike Griffin 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Ron Guidry 23 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Tommy John 20 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Dave LaRoche 26 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Rudy May 27 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Andy McGaffigan 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Gene Nelson 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Rick Reuschel 12 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Dave Righetti 15 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Tom Underwood 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Dave Wehrmeister 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000

🎯 Pitching Leaders

Team K Leaders — 1981

ERA

1 Rich Gossage 0.77 2 Dave Righetti 2.05 3 Dave LaRoche 2.49 4 Tommy John 2.63 5 Rick Reuschel 2.67

Wins

1 Ron Guidry 11 2 Tommy John 9 3 Dave Righetti 8 4 Rudy May 6 5 Doug Bird 5

Strikeouts

1 Ron Guidry 104 2 Dave Righetti 89 3 Ron Davis 83 4 Rudy May 79 5 Tommy John 50
1981 New York Yankees — Strikeouts
Player W L ERA G GS SV IP H ER BB SO
Rudy May 6 11 4.14 27 22 1 147.2 137 68 41 79
Tommy John 9 8 2.63 20 20 0 140.1 135 41 39 50
Ron Guidry 11 5 2.76 23 21 0 127.0 100 39 26 104
Dave Righetti 8 4 2.05 15 15 0 105.1 75 24 38 89
Ron Davis 4 5 2.71 43 0 6 73.0 47 22 25 83
Rick Reuschel 4 4 2.67 12 11 0 70.2 75 21 10 22
Doug Bird 5 1 2.70 17 4 0 53.1 58 16 16 28
Dave LaRoche 4 1 2.49 26 1 0 47.0 38 13 16 24
Rich Gossage 3 2 0.77 32 0 20 46.2 22 4 14 48
Gene Nelson 3 1 4.81 8 7 0 39.1 40 21 23 16
Tom Underwood 1 4 4.41 9 6 0 32.2 32 16 13 29
George Frazier 0 1 1.63 16 0 3 27.2 26 5 11 17
Bill Castro 1 1 3.79 11 0 0 19.0 26 8 5 4
Andy McGaffigan 0 0 2.57 2 0 0 7.0 5 2 3 2
Dave Wehrmeister 0 0 5.14 5 0 0 7.0 6 4 7 7
Mike Griffin 0 0 2.08 2 0 0 4.1 5 1 0 4

🏆 Postseason Results

AEDIV
NYA def. ML4 3-2
AL Championship
NYA def. OAK 3-0
World Series
Lost to LAN 4-2

👥 Roster (39)

Tucker Ashford Steve Balboni Doug Bird Bobby Brown Bill Castro Rick Cerone Ron Davis Bucky Dent Barry Foote George Frazier Oscar Gamble Rich Gossage +27 more

39 players

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The 1981 New York Yankees in brief

The 1981 New York Yankees won 59 games and lost 48, ending up 4th in the AL East. The club won the pennant and took the division title. The New York Yankees scored 421 runs and allowed 343, a run differential of +78. The team batting average of .251 was 2% below the 1981 league mark of .256. Pitchers allowed 2.90 earned runs per nine innings, against a league figure of 3.66.

The home run leader was Reggie Jackson, who hit 15. The pitching staff's wins leader was Ron Guidry (11). The AL East division playoff ended in a win against ML4 3-2. The AL Championship Series ended in a win against OAK 3-0. In the World Series, the New York Yankees lost to LAN 4-2.

Frequently Asked Questions about the 1981 New York Yankees

What was the 1981 New York Yankees record?
The 1981 New York Yankees finished 59-48 (.551 win pct).
Who led the 1981 New York Yankees in home runs?
Reggie Jackson led the 1981 New York Yankees with 15 home runs.
What was the 1981 New York Yankees team ERA?
The 1981 New York Yankees posted a team ERA of 2.90.
Did the 1981 New York Yankees win the World Series?
No. The 1981 New York Yankees did not win the World Series.
Where did the 1981 New York Yankees play?
The 1981 New York Yankees played home games at Yankee Stadium II.
Who led the 1981 New York Yankees in hitting and pitching?
Team leaders were Reggie Jackson (15 HR, 54 RBI) and Ron Guidry (11-5, 2.76 ERA).
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