1980 New York Yankees season

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.
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.
November 8, 1979: Bob Watson was signed as a free agent by the Yankees.
November 8, 1979: Rudy May was signed as a free agent by the Yankees.
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 and Ricky Burdette to the Rangers on December 13 to complete the trade.
December 10, 1979: Andre Robertson was purchased by the Yankees from the Toronto Blue Jays.

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 9–3 on March 15, 1980. The following day, 43,339 fans saw Floyd Rayford lead the Orioles to a 7–1 win over the Yankees.

Regular season

Notable transactions

April 1, 1980: Jim Kaat was signed as a free agent by the Yankees.
April 4, 1980: Johnny Oates was signed as a free agent by the Yankees.
April 30, 1980: Jim Kaat was purchased from the Yankees by the St. Louis Cardinals.
May 28, 1980: Paul Blair was signed as a free agent by the Yankees.
July 1, 1980: Paul Blair was released by the Yankees.
August 1, 1980: José Rijo was signed by the Yankees as an amateur free agent.
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 to the Rangers on October 1.

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		147	519	144	.277	14	85
1B		130	469	144	.307	13	68
2B	'	138	513	151	.294	7	46
3B	'	89	324	79	.244	16	45
SS	'	141	489	128	.262	5	52
LF		116	321	92	.287	2	27
CF		137	412	107	.260	14	47
RF	'	143	514	154	.300	41	111
DH		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
	83	328	73	.223	9	42
	100	297	80	.269	13	57
	97	259	61	.236	13	43
	78	194	54	.278	14	50
	52	164	36	.220	3	14
	74	150	34	.227	8	21
	49	86	18	.209	0	5
	34	75	13	.173	1	5
	39	65	20	.308	3	12
	39	64	12	.188	1	3
	8	8	2	.250	0	1
	2	6	1	.167	0	1
	3	6	0	.000	0	0
	4	5	0	.000	0	0
	3	4	1	.250	0	0
	2	3	1	.333	1	2
	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
	36		22	9	3.43	78
	37		17	10	3.56	166
	38	187	13	9	3.66	116
	41		15	5	2.46	133
	25		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
	15	58	3	3	6.98	16
	13	54	2	4	4.83	25
	10		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
	64	6	2	33	2.27	103
	53	9	3	7	2.95	65
	22	3	0	1	2.66	17
	14	1	0	2	3.34	13
	4	0	1	0	7.20	1

ALCS

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

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