The 1980

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one of ...

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 The American League East is one of Major League Baseball's six divisions. MLB consists of an East, Central, and West division for each of its two 15-team leagues, the American League (AL) and National League (NL). This division was created before ...

, 3 games ahead of the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...

. The Kansas City Royals swept the Yankees in the ALCS. New York was managed by

Dick Howser Richard Dalton Howser (May 14, 1936 – June 17, 1987) was an American Major League Baseball shortstop, coach, and manager who was best known as the manager of the Kansas City Royals during the 1980s and for guiding them to the franchise's first ...

. The Yankees played at

Yankee Stadium Yankee Stadium is a baseball stadium located in the Bronx, New York City. It is the home field of the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball, and New York City FC of Major League Soccer. Opened in April 2009, the stadium replaced the orig ...

Offseason

* November 1, 1979:

Chris Chambliss Carroll Christopher Chambliss (born December 26, 1948) is an American professional baseball player and coach (baseball), coach. He played in Major League Baseball from to for the Cleveland Indians, New York Yankees and Atlanta Braves. He served ...

Dámaso García Dámaso Domingo García Sánchez (7 February 1957 – 15 April 2020) was a Dominican professional baseball second baseman, best known for his time spent with the Toronto Blue Jays of Major League Baseball (MLB), in the 1980s. García was orig ...

, and

Paul Mirabella Paul Thomas Mirabella (born March 20, 1954) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. Mirabella, who threw left-handed, played all or parts of 13 seasons in Major League Baseball for the Texas Rangers (1978 and 1982), New York Yankees ...

were traded by the Yankees to the

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...

for Rick Cerone,

Tom Underwood Thomas Gerald Underwood (December 22, 1953 – November 22, 2010) was an American Major League Baseball pitcher. His younger brother, Pat was also a pitcher, and made his major league debut against Tom. It was the first time in major league histo ...

and Ted Wilborn. * November 1, 1979: Jim Beattie, Rick Anderson,

Juan Beníquez Juan José Beníquez Torres (born May 13, 1950) is a former center fielder in Major League Baseball who played for the Boston Red Sox, Texas Rangers, New York Yankees, Seattle Mariners, California Angels, Baltimore Orioles, Kansas City Royals an ...

, and Jerry Narron were traded by the Yankees to the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The team joined the American League as an expansion team ...

for Ruppert Jones and Jim Lewis. * November 8, 1979:

Bob Watson Robert José Watson (April 10, 1946May 14, 2020) was an American professional baseball player, coach and general manager. He played in Major League Baseball as a first baseman and left fielder from 1966 to 1984, most prominently as a member of ...

was signed as a free agent by the Yankees. * November 8, 1979:

Rudy May Rudolph May, Jr. (born July 18, 1944) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a left-handed pitcher in and from to for the California Angels, New York Yankees, Baltimore Orioles and Montreal Expo ...

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 Eric Thane Soderholm (born September 24, 1948) is a former Major League Baseball third baseman who played for the Minnesota Twins, Chicago White Sox, Texas Rangers, and New York Yankees from 1971 to 1980. Soderholm was selected with the 1st overa ...

. The Yankees sent Amos Lewis (minors) and Ricky Burdette (minors) to the Rangers on December 13 to complete the trade. * December 10, 1979: Andre Robertson was purchased by the Yankees from the

Spring training

The Yankees played two spring training exhibition games at the

Louisiana Superdome The Caesars Superdome, commonly known as the Superdome (formerly known as Mercedes-Benz Superdome), is a multi-purpose stadium located in the Central Business District of New Orleans, Louisiana. It is the home stadium of the New Orleans Saints ...

over the weekend of March 15 and 16, 1980. 45,152 spectators watched the Yankees beat the

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.

Regular season

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Opening Day lineup

Notable transactions

* April 1, 1980:

Jim Kaat James Lee Kaat (; born November 7, 1938) is an American former professional baseball player and television sports commentator. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a left-handed pitcher for the Washington Senators / Minnesota Twins (–), ...

was signed as a free agent by the Yankees.Jim Kaat
at ''Baseball Reference'' * April 4, 1980:

Johnny Oates Johnny Lane Oates (January 21, 1946 – December 24, 2004) was an American professional baseball player, coach, and manager. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a catcher for the Baltimore Orioles, Atlanta Braves, Philadelphia Phillies, ...

was signed as a free agent by the Yankees. * April 30, 1980: Jim Kaat was purchased from the Yankees by the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

. * May 28, 1980: Paul Blair was signed as a free agent by the Yankees.Paul Blair
at ''Baseball Reference'' * July 1, 1980: Paul Blair was released by the Yankees. * August 1, 1980:

José Rijo José Antonio Rijo Abreu (born May 13, 1965) is a Dominican former pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB) who spent the majority of his career with the Cincinnati Reds (1988–1995 and 2001–2002). Originally signed by the New York Yankees as ...

was signed by the Yankees as an amateur free agent. * August 14, 1980:

Ken Clay Kenneth Earl Clay (born April 6, 1954) is a former Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher. Following his brief major league career, Clay had several run ins with the law. Most recently, he was sentenced to five years in jail for grand theft fo ...

and a player to be named later were traded by the Yankees to the Texas Rangers for

Gaylord Perry Gaylord Jackson Perry (September 15, 1938 – December 1, 2022) was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a right-handed pitcher for eight different teams from 1962 to 1983. During a 22-year baseb ...

. The Yankees completed the deal by sending Marvin Thompson (minors) to the Rangers on October 1.Gaylord Perry
at ''Baseball Reference''

Roster

Game log

Regular season

, - , - , - , - style="background:#bbcaff;" , – , , July 8 , , , , colspan=10 , 1980 Major League Baseball All-Star Game at

Dodger Stadium Dodger Stadium is a baseball stadium in the Elysian Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. It is the home stadium of Major League Baseball's Los Angeles Dodgers. Opened in 1962, it was constructed in less than three years at a cost of ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

, - , - , - , - , - style="text-align:center;" , Legend: = Win = Loss = Postponement
Bold = Yankees team member

Postseason Game log

, - , - style="text-align:center;" , 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.

Other batters

''Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in''

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.

Other pitchers

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

Relief pitchers

''Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts''

ALCS

Game 1

October 8

Royals Stadium Kauffman Stadium (), often called "The K", is a baseball stadium located in Kansas City, Missouri. It is home to the Kansas City Royals of Major League Baseball (MLB). It is part of the Truman Sports Complex together with the adjacent Arrowhead S ...

Game 2

October 9

Game 3

October 10

Awards and honors

Bucky Dent Russell Earl "Bucky" Dent (born Russell Earl O'Dey; November 25, 1951) is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) player and manager. He earned two World Series rings as the starting shortstop for the New York Yankees in 1977 and 1978 and ...

Goose Gossage Richard Michael "Goose" Gossage (born July 5, 1951) is an American former baseball pitcher who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) between 1972 and 1994. He pitched for nine different teams, spending his best years with the New Yo ...

, Reggie Jackson,

Tommy John Thomas Edward John Jr. (born May 22, 1943), nicknamed "The Bionic Man," is an American retired professional baseball pitcher who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for 26 seasons between 1963 and 1989. He played for the Cleveland Indians, ...

Graig Nettles Graig Nettles (born August 20, 1944), nicknamed "Puff", is an American former Major League Baseball third baseman. During a 22-year baseball career, he played for the Minnesota Twins (1967–1969), Cleveland Indians (1970–1972), New York Yankee ...

and

Willie Randolph William Larry Randolph (born July 6, 1954) is an American former professional baseball second baseman, coach, and manager. During an 18-year career in Major League Baseball (MLB), he played from 1975 to 1992 for six different teams, most notabl ...

represented the Yankees at the 1980

Major League Baseball All-Star Game The Major League Baseball All-Star Game, also known as the "Midsummer Classic", is an annual professional baseball game sanctioned by Major League Baseball (MLB) and contested between the all-stars from the American League (AL) and National ...

. Randolph earned the inaugural

Silver Slugger Award The Silver Slugger Award has been awarded annually since 1980 to the best offensive player at each position in both the American League and the National League, as determined by the coaches and managers of Major League Baseball. These voters co ...

at second base.

Farm system

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

Notes

References

1980 New York Yankees at Baseball Reference1980 New York Yankees
at ''Baseball Almanac'' {{New York Yankees New York Yankees seasons

1980s in the Bronx American League East champion seasons Yankee Stadium (1923)