1971 New York Yankees season
The 1971 New York Yankees season was the 69th season for the franchise. 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
Regular season
Notable transactions
- April 9, 1971: Ron Klimkowski and Rob Gardner was traded by the Yankees to the Oakland Athletics for Felipe Alou.
- May 26, 1971: Curt Blefary was traded by the Yankees to the Oakland Athletics for Rob Gardner.
- May 28, 1971: Bill Burbach was traded by the Yankees to the Baltimore Orioles for Jim Hardin.
- June 7, 1971: Frank Tepedino and Bobby Mitchell were traded by the Yankees to the Milwaukee Brewers for Danny Walton.
- June 8, 1971: 1971 Major League Baseball draft
- *Larry Murray was drafted by the Yankees in the 5th round.
- *Mike Pazik was drafted by the Yankees in the 1st round of the Secondary Phase.
- June 25, 1971: Ron Woods was traded by the Yankees to the Montreal Expos for Ron Swoboda.
- July 17, 1971: Bobby Cox was signed as a free agent by the Yankees.
- August 28, 1971: Bobby Cox was released by the Yankees.
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 | 125 | 451 | 113 | .251 | 10 | 42 | |
| 1B | Danny Cater | 121 | 428 | 118 | .276 | 4 | 50 |
| 2B | 159 | 625 | 156 | .250 | 2 | 41 | |
| 3B | 120 | 325 | 85 | .262 | 0 | 20 | |
| SS | 139 | 456 | 102 | .224 | 3 | 35 | |
| LF | 147 | 524 | 153 | .292 | 19 | 84 | |
| CF | 146 | 529 | 175 | .331 | 25 | 94 | |
| RF | 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 37 | 274.0 | 15 | 13 | 3.05 | 139 | |
| 35 | 269.2 | 16 | 12 | 2.87 | 132 | |
| 36 | 242.0 | 14 | 12 | 3.35 | 110 | |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 41 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 2.59 | 24 | |
| Gary Waslewski | 24 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3.28 | 17 |
| 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 |
| 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 10.80 | 3 | |
| 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.00 | 2 |
Awards and honors
- Outfielder Bobby Murcer competed in his first All-Star Game