1971 New York Yankees

The final standing	4th in AL East
Regular season record	82-80 (.506)
Post-season record	Did not qualify
Divisional rank	4th
ALDS record and opponent	Did not play
AL rank	6th
ALCS record and opponent	Did not play
World Series record and opponent	Did not play
Manager	Ralph Houk
Captain	–
Top batter	Home run: Bobby Murcer (25), Roy White (19), Thurman Munson (10) BA: Bobby Murcer (.331), Roy White (.292), Felipe Alou (.289) Runs: Bobby Murcer (94), Roy White (86), Horace Clarke (76) RBI: Bobby Murcer (94), Roy White (84), Felipe Alou (69)
Top pitcher/ (W-L, ERA)	Mel Stottlemyre: 16-12, 2.87Fritz Peterson: 15-13, 3.05
Attendance record	1,070,771 (3rd of 12)

1971 New York Yankees season: Summary

The 1971 New York Yankees campaign marked the 69th season for the iconic franchise, showcasing a season of nuanced performance under the astute guidance of manager Ralph Houk. The team, anchored at the legendary Yankee Stadium, concluded the season with a commendable record of 82–80. Despite their notable efforts, the Yankees secured a fourth-place finish in the fiercely competitive American League East, trailing the division-leading Baltimore Orioles by a margin of 21 games. This season, while falling short of the ultimate glory, resonates as a chapter in the enduring legacy of the Yankees, encapsulating a blend of resilience and sportsmanship.

1971 New York Yankees: Triumph over arch-rivals

In a pivotal clash on September 14th during the 1971 season, the New York Yankees orchestrated a strategic triumph against the formidable Boston Red Sox, underscoring their acumen and resolve in the pursuit of an elevated standing within the league. The intricacies of this baseball chess match unfolded as the Yankees, under the calculated leadership of Felipe Alou, orchestrated a meticulously executed 6-3 victory, narrowing the gap to a mere game behind the third-place Red Sox.

Alou’s virtuoso performance loomed large in the narrative, with a pivotal single and a precision-laden double that not only drove in two critical runs but also served as the linchpin for an offensive surge that reversed Boston’s 2-1 advantage in the sixth inning.

On the mound, the seasoned right-hander Mel Stottlemyre displayed masterful command, strategically scattering seven hits and notching his 14th win against 11 defeats. Stottlemyre navigated a perilous moment in the fifth inning with seasoned aplomb, exhibiting both composure and skill as he limited the Red Sox to a modest two-run yield.

The fulcrum of the game tilted decisively in the Yankees’ favor during the sixth inning, where Alou’s double served as the catalyst for a strategic concatenation of walks and well-placed hits. Timely contributions from Ron Swoboda and Ron Hansen further solidified the Yankees’ ascendancy, culminating in a formidable five-run surge.

This victory, beyond its statistical implications, served as a testament to the Yankees’ cerebral approach and strategic finesse, showcasing a nuanced blend of offensive prowess and pitching mastery. As they closed in on the third-place Red Sox, the Yankees’ collective effort exemplified a high-water mark in their 1971 season, marked by astute baseball IQ and an unwavering pursuit of success on the diamond.

1971 New York Yankees in videos

Postseason

(Did not qualify – Eliminated in Regular Season)

1971 New York Yankees: Roster

Name	Age	B	T	Ht	Wt	DoB	Yrs	G	GS	WAR	Salary
Jack Aker	30	R	R	6′ 2″	190	Jul 13, 1940	8	41	0	0.8
Felipe Alou	36	R	R	6′ 0″	195	May 12, 1935	14	131	110	0.8	$60,000
Stan Bahnsen	26	R	R	6′ 2″	185	Dec 15, 1944	5	36	34	1.9	$33,000
Frank Baker	24	L	R	6′ 2″	178	Oct 29, 1946	2	43	29	-0.4
Curt Blefary	27	L	R	6′ 2″	195	Jul 5, 1943	7	21	9	-0.3
Ron Blomberg	22	L	R	6′ 1″	195	Aug 23, 1948	2	64	49	1.8
Len Boehmer	30	R	R	6′ 1″	192	Jun 28, 1941	3	3	1	-0.1
Bill Burbach	23	R	R	6′ 4″	215	Aug 22, 1947	3	2	0	-0.5	$13,000
Danny Cater	31	R	R	6′ 0″	170	Feb 25, 1940	8	121	106	0.7
Horace Clarke	32	B	R	5′ 9″	175	Jun 2, 1939	7	159	153	2.6
Al Closter	28	L	L	6′ 2″	190	Jun 15, 1943	2	14	1	-1
John Ellis	22	R	R	6′ 2″	225	Aug 21, 1948	3	83	64	-0.1
Rob Gardner	26	R	L	6′ 1″	176	Dec 19, 1944	6	2	0	0.1
Jake Gibbs	32	L	R	6′ 0″	180	Nov 7, 1938	10	70	48	0.7
Roger Hambright	22	R	R	5′ 10″	180	Mar 26, 1949	1st	18	0	0
Ron Hansen	33	R	R	6′ 3″	190	Apr 5, 1938	14	61	34	-1.6	$30,500
Jim Hardin	27	R	R	6′ 0″	175	Aug 6, 1943	5	12	3	-0.6
Gary Jones	26	L	L	6′ 0″	191	Jun 12, 1945	2	12	0	-0.4
Mike Kekich	26	R	L	6′ 1″	196	Apr 2, 1945	5	37	24	-0.5
Jerry Kenney	26	L	R	6′ 1″	170	Jun 30, 1945	4	120	91	3.1
Steve Kline	23	R	R	6′ 3″	200	Oct 6, 1947	2	31	30	2.6
Terry Ley	24	L	L	6′ 0″	190	Feb 21, 1947	1st	6	0	-0.3	$4,800
Jim Lyttle	25	L	R	6′ 0″	180	May 20, 1946	3	49	21	-0.6	$16,000
Lindy McDaniel	35	R	R	6′ 3″	195	Dec 13, 1935	17	44	0	-1.4
Gene Michael	33	B	R	6′ 2″	183	Jun 2, 1938	6	139	129	1.1
Thurman Munson	24	R	R	5′ 11″	190	Jun 7, 1947	3	125	114	4.1
Bobby Murcer	25	L	R	5′ 11″	160	May 20, 1946	5	146	140	6.5
Fritz Peterson	29	B	L	6′ 0″	185	Feb 8, 1942	6	37	35	2.8
Mel Stottlemyre	29	R	R	6′ 1″	178	Nov 13, 1941	8	35	35	3.8
Ron Swoboda	27	R	R	6′ 2″	195	Jun 30, 1944	7	54	41	0.7
Frank Tepedino	23	L	L	5′ 11″	185	Nov 23, 1947	4	6	0	-0.2
Rusty Torres	22	B	R	5′ 10″	175	Sep 30, 1948	1st	9	5	0.4
Danny Walton	23	R	R	6′ 0″	195	Jul 14, 1947	4	5	4	-0.4
Gary Waslewski	29	R	R	6′ 4″	190	Jul 21, 1941	5	24	0	0.3	$21,000
Roy White	27	B	R	5′ 10″	160	Dec 27, 1943	7	147	145	6.7
Ron Woods	28	R	R	5′ 10″	168	Feb 1, 1943	3	25	3	0.2	$16,000

1971 New York Yankees: Player additions, transactions, and trades

December 1970

• December 3: Traded Bill Robinson to the Chicago White Sox. Received Barry Moore.

Before 1971 Season

• Bruce Look received from the Minnesota Twins in an unknown transaction.

March 1971

• March 25: Released Mike McCormick.
• March 31: Released Pete Ward.

April 1971

• April 9: Traded Rob Gardner and Ron Klimkowski to the Oakland Athletics. Received Felipe Alou.

May 1971

• May 26: Traded Curt Blefary to the Oakland Athletics. Received Rob Gardner and Darrell Osteen.
• May 28: Traded Bill Burbach to the Baltimore Orioles. Received Jim Hardin.

June 1971

• June 7: Traded Bobby Mitchell and Frank Tepedino to the Milwaukee Brewers. Received Danny Walton.
• June 8: Drafted Mike Pazik in the 1st round (13th pick) of the 1971 amateur draft (June Secondary). Drafted Terry Whitfield in the 1st round (19th pick) of the 1971 amateur draft. Drafted Ron Guidry in the 3rd round of the 1971 amateur draft.Drafted Larry Murray in the 5th round of the 1971 amateur draft.Drafted Mike Paxton in the 13th round of the 1971 amateur draft, but did not sign the player.

June 1971

• June 25: Traded Ron Woods to the Montreal Expos. Received Ron Swoboda.

July 1971

• July: Traded Bruce Look to the Milwaukee Brewers. Received Bart Zeller. (Date given is approximate. Exact date is uncertain.)
• July 17: Signed Bobby Cox as a free agent.

August 1971

• August 28: Released Bobby Cox.

October 1971

• October 13: Traded Jim Lyttle to the Chicago White Sox. Received Rich Hinton.

1971 New York Yankees: Player debuts

• Roger Hambright – 07-19-1971 – 22 years old
• Terry Ley – 08-20-1971 – 24 years old
• Rusty Torres – 09-20-1971 – 22 years old

1971 New York Yankees team stats (batting)

Pos	Name	Age	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA
C	Thurman Munson	24	125	517	451	71	113	15	4	10	42	6	5	52	65	0.251
1B	John Ellis	22	83	271	238	16	58	12	1	3	34	0	0	23	42	0.244
2B	Horace Clarke#	32	159	696	625	76	156	23	7	2	41	17	7	64	43	0.25
SS	Gene Michael#	33	139	514	456	36	102	15	0	3	35	3	3	48	64	0.224
3B	Jerry Kenney*	26	120	395	325	50	85	10	3	0	20	9	8	56	38	0.262
LF	Roy White#	27	147	634	524	86	153	22	7	19	84	14	7	86	66	0.292
CF	Bobby Murcer*	25	146	624	529	94	175	25	6	25	94	14	8	91	60	0.331
RF	Felipe Alou	36	131	501	461	52	133	20	6	8	69	5	5	32	24	0.289
CI	Danny Cater	31	121	456	428	39	118	16	5	4	50	0	3	19	25	0.276
C	Jake Gibbs*	32	70	224	206	23	45	9	0	5	21	2	2	12	23	0.218
RF	Ron Blomberg*	22	64	216	199	30	64	6	2	7	31	2	4	14	23	0.322
RF	Ron Swoboda	27	54	170	138	17	36	2	1	2	20	0	0	27	35	0.261
3B	Ron Hansen	33	61	159	145	6	30	3	0	2	20	0	0	9	27	0.207
SS	Frank Baker*	24	43	98	79	9	11	2	0	0	2	3	0	16	22	0.139
RF	Jim Lyttle*	25	49	97	86	7	17	5	0	1	7	0	2	8	18	0.198
UT	Curt Blefary*	27	21	39	36	4	7	1	0	1	2	0	0	3	5	0.194
OF	Ron Woods	28	25	36	32	4	8	1	0	1	2	0	0	4	2	0.25
OF	Rusty Torres#	22	9	26	26	5	10	3	0	2	3	0	1	0	8	0.385
OF	Danny Walton	23	5	14	14	1	2	0	0	1	2	0	0	0	7	0.143
LF	Frank Tepedino*	23	6	6	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3B	Len Boehmer	30	3	5	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
P	Fritz Peterson#	29	37	106	85	2	7	1	0	0	8	0	0	5	22	0.082
P	Mel Stottlemyre	29	35	103	94	6	16	1	0	1	11	0	0	5	29	0.17
P	Stan Bahnsen	26	36	88	79	6	12	2	1	0	3	0	0	1	32	0.152
P	Steve Kline	23	31	75	66	6	9	1	0	0	1	0	0	4	16	0.136
P	Mike Kekich	26	37	62	52	2	8	0	0	0	4	0	0	2	11	0.154
P	Lindy McDaniel	35	44	10	9	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0.111
P	Al Closter*	28	14	7	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
P	Jack Aker	30	41	6	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
P	Jim Hardin	27	12	4	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
P	Roger Hambright	22	18	2	2	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	0.5
P	Bill Burbach	23	2	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
P	Gary Jones*	26	12	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
P	Gary Waslewski	29	24	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
P	Rob Gardner	26	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
P	Terry Ley*	24	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Team Totals	28.5	162	6165	5413	648	1377	195	43	97	607	75	55	581	717	0.254
	Rank in 12 AL teams				6	6	5	8	1	9		5	11	2	1	3
	Non-Pitcher Totals	28.6	162	5698	5009	626	1323	190	42	96	579	75	55	564	597	0.264
	Pitcher Totals	27.1	162	467	404	22	54	5	1	1	28	0	0	17	120	0.134

1971 New York Yankees team stats (pitching)

Pos	Name	Age	W	L	W-L%	ERA	G	GS	GF	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	R	ER
SP	Fritz Peterson*	29	15	13	0.536	3.05	37	35	2	16	4	1	274	269	106	93
SP	Mel Stottlemyre	29	16	12	0.571	2.87	35	35	0	19	7	0	269.2	234	100	86
SP	Stan Bahnsen	26	14	12	0.538	3.35	36	34	2	14	3	0	242	221	99	90
SP	Steve Kline	23	12	13	0.48	2.96	31	30	0	15	1	0	222.1	206	87	73
SP	Mike Kekich*	26	10	9	0.526	4.07	37	24	5	3	0	0	170.1	167	89	77
RP	Lindy McDaniel	35	5	10	0.333	5.04	44	0	28	0	0	4	69.2	82	41	39
RP	Jack Aker	30	4	4	0.5	2.59	41	0	20	0	0	4	55.2	48	20	16
RP	Gary Waslewski	29	0	1	0	3.28	24	0	8	0	0	1	35.2	28	15	13
RP	Roger Hambright	22	3	1	0.75	4.39	18	0	14	0	0	2	26.2	22	13	13
	Al Closter*	28	2	2	0.5	5.08	14	1	1	0	0	0	28.1	33	22	16
	Jim Hardin	27	0	2	0	5.08	12	3	3	0	0	0	28.1	35	19	16
	Gary Jones*	26	0	0		9	12	0	5	0	0	0	14	19	14	14
	Terry Ley*	24	0	0		5	6	0	5	0	0	0	9	9	9	5
	Bill Burbach	23	0	1	0	10.8	2	0	1	0	0	0	3.1	6	6	4
	Rob Gardner*	26	0	0		3	2	0	1	0	0	0	3	3	1	1
	Team Totals	27.3	81	80	0.503	3.43	162	162	95	67	15	12	1452	1382	641	554
	Rank in 12 AL teams		6	7		7				2	4	12	4	10	7	7

1971 New York Yankees: Record vs. opponents/ Team splits

Opponent (Games)	Won	Lost	WP
Baltimore Orioles (18)	7	11	0.389
Boston Red Sox (18)	11	7	0.611
California Angels (12)	6	6	0.500
Chicago White Sox (12)	7	5	0.583
Cleveland Indians (18)	10	8	0.556
Detroit Tigers (18)	8	10	0.444
Kansas City Royals (12)	7	5	0.583
Milwaukee Brewers (12)	10	2	0.833
Minnesota Twins (12)	4	8	0.333
Oakland Athletics (12)	5	7	0.417
Washington Senators (18)	7	11	0.389

1971 New York Yankees: Monthly record

Month (Games)	Won	Lost	WP
April (18)	8	10	0.444
May (29)	13	16	0.448
June (30)	14	16	0.467
July (30)	17	13	0.567
August (27)	14	13	0.519
September (28)	16	12	0.571

1971 New York Yankees All-Stars

• Bobby Murcer

1971 New York Yankees: Awards and Honors

Gold Glove

• Bobby Murcer

All-Star Appearance

• Bobby Murcer

Other Achievements

• Bobby Murcer finished 7th in AL MVP Voting.

1971 New York Yankees: Stottlemyre’s mastery on the mound

On April 10, 1971, the New York Yankees secured a decisive 6-0 victory over the Washington Senators at Robert F. Kennedy Stadium, marking their first win of the season and showcasing a dominant performance by pitcher Mel Stottlemyre. This game not only highlighted Stottlemyre’s prowess on the mound but also set a positive tone for the Yankees’ 1971 campaign.

Mel Stottlemyre, the Yankees’ ace, delivered an exceptional performance, pitching a complete game shutout. He allowed only three hits, issued no walks, and struck out five batters, demonstrating precise control and efficiency. Stottlemyre faced 30 batters, just three over the minimum, and maintained composure throughout the game, keeping the Senators’ offense at bay.

The game was a testament to Stottlemyre’s dominance and consistency, as he was the Yankees’ undisputed ace throughout the early ’70s. He finished the 1971 season with a 16-12 record, a 2.87 ERA, and 16 complete games, solidifying his place as one of the best pitchers of his era.

While the Yankees didn’t make the postseason that year, Stottlemyre’s near no-hitter remains one of the most remarkable individual performances of the 1971 season, a shining moment in an otherwise transitional period for the franchise.

Over his final 10 starts, Stottlemyre completed six games, a testament to his durability and efficiency on the mound. During this stretch, he was nearly unhittable, tossing three shutouts, two of which were three-hitters. His dominance resulted in a remarkable 2.05 ERA over 79 innings, reaffirming his role as the Yankees’ workhorse. Teammate Roy White described Stottlemyre’s effectiveness on the mound, stating, “He doesn’t embarrass you. He doesn’t overwhelm you. He’s an annoying kind of pitcher. He just gets you out.”

By the season’s end, Stottlemyre led the Yankees’ pitching staff in nearly every major category, finishing with 16 wins, a 2.87 ERA, 19 complete games, and seven shutouts. His durability was matched by a formidable starting rotation that included Fritz Peterson (15-13, 274 innings), Stan Bahnsen (14-12, 242 innings), and Steve Kline (12-13, 222⅓ innings). Together, the quartet combined for over 1,000 innings pitched, marking the first time since 1922 that a Yankees staff had at least four pitchers surpass the 200-inning threshold in a single season.

Although the 1971 Yankees fell short of contention, Stottlemyre’s late-season resurgence cemented his status as the club’s most reliable arm. His workhorse mentality and unwavering consistency laid the foundation for future Yankees teams, proving that even in a down year, dominant pitching could still steal the spotlight.

How do you rate the 1971 New York Yankees?