1975 New York Yankees season

The 1975 New York Yankees season was the 73rd season for the Yankees. The team finished with a record of 83–77, finishing 12 games behind the Boston Red Sox. The Yankees played at Shea Stadium due to the ongoing renovation of Yankee Stadium, which re-opened in 1976.

1975 New York Yankees
League	American League
Division	East
Ballpark	Shea Stadium
City	New York City
Owners	George Steinbrenner
General managers	Gabe Paul
Managers	Bill Virdon (games 1-104) Billy Martin (games 104-160)
Television	WPIX (Phil Rizzuto, Frank Messer, Bill White)
Radio	WMCA (Frank Messer, Phil Rizzuto, Bill White, Dom Valentino)
← 1974 Seasons 1976 →

Bill Virdon opened the season as Yankees manager, but he was replaced on August 1 by Billy Martin. This would be the first of five stints as Yankees manager for Martin.

Offseason

• October 22, 1974: Bobby Murcer was traded by the Yankees to the San Francisco Giants for Bobby Bonds.^[1]
• December 3, 1974: Joe Pactwa was purchased from the Yankees by the Alijadores de Tampico.^[2]
• December 20, 1974: Sam McDowell was released by the Yankees.^[3]
• December 31, 1974: Catfish Hunter was signed as a free agent by the Yankees.^[4]
• January 21, 1975: Gene Michael was released by the Yankees.^[5]

Regular season

Season standings

• v
• t
• e

AL East

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Boston Red Sox	95	65	.594	—	47‍–‍34	48‍–‍31
Baltimore Orioles	90	69	.566	4½	44‍–‍33	46‍–‍36
New York Yankees	83	77	.519	12	43‍–‍35	40‍–‍42
Cleveland Indians	79	80	.497	15½	41‍–‍39	38‍–‍41
Milwaukee Brewers	68	94	.420	28	36‍–‍45	32‍–‍49
Detroit Tigers	57	102	.358	37½	31‍–‍49	26‍–‍53

Record vs. opponents

1975 American League record v t e Sources:
Team	BAL	BOS	CAL	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	MIL	MIN	NYY	OAK	TEX
Baltimore	—	9–9	6–6	7–4	10–8	12–4	7–5	14–4	6–6	8–10	4–8	7–5
Boston	9–9	—	6–6	8–4	7–11	13–5	7–5	10–8	10–2	11–5	6–6	8–4
California	6–6	6–6	—	9–9	3–9	6–5	4–14	7–5	8–10	7–5	7–11	9–9
Chicago	4–7	4–8	9–9	—	7–5	5–7	9–9	8–4	9–9	6–6	9–9	5–13
Cleveland	8–10	11–7	9–3	5–7	—	12–6	6–6	9–9	3–6	9–9	2–10	5–7
Detroit	4–12	5–13	5–6	7–5	6–12	—	6–6	7–11	4–8	6–12	6–6	1–11
Kansas City	5–7	5–7	14–4	9–9	6–6	6–6	—	7–5	11–7	7–5	11–7	14–4
Milwaukee	4–14	8–10	5–7	4–8	9–9	11–7	5–7	—	2–10	9–9	5–7	6–6
Minnesota	6–6	2–10	10–8	9–9	6–3	8–4	7–11	10–2	—	4–8	6–12	8–10
New York	10–8	5–11	5–7	6–6	9–9	12–6	5–7	9–9	8–4	—	6–6	8–4
Oakland	8–4	6–6	11–7	9–9	10–2	6–6	11–7	7–5	12–6	6–6	—	12–6
Texas	5–7	4–8	9–9	13–5	7–5	11–1	4–14	6–6	10–8	4–8	6–12	—

Notable transactions

• June 3, 1975: 1975 Major League Baseball Draft
  • Jim Beattie was drafted by the New York Yankees in the 4th round.^[6]
  • Willie Upshaw was drafted by the Yankees in the 5th round.^[7]
• June 13, 1975: Ed Brinkman was purchased by the Yankees from the Texas Rangers.^[8]

Roster

1975 New York Yankees
Roster
Pitchers 36 Pat Dobson 49 Ron Guidry 39 Larry Gura 29 Catfish Hunter 28 Sparky Lyle 40 Tippy Martinez 43 Rudy May 33 Doc Medich 53 Dave Pagan 41 Rick Sawyer 19 Dick Tidrow 41 Mike Wallace		Catchers 46 Rick Dempsey 45 Ed Herrmann 15 Thurman Munson Infielders  2 Sandy Alomar Sr. 20 Ed Brinkman 10 Chris Chambliss 20 Eddie Leon 22 Jim Mason  9 Graig Nettles 42 Bob Oliver 11 Fred Stanley 52 Otto Vélez		Outfielders 18 Dave Bergman 24 Rick Bladt 12 Ron Blomberg 25 Bobby Bonds 26 Rich Coggins 49 Kerry Dineen 23 Alex Johnson 27 Elliott Maddox 18 Larry Murray 14 Lou Piniella  6 Roy White 44 Terry Whitfield 13 Walt Williams		Manager  1 Billy Martin 21 Bill Virdon Coaches 62 Cloyd Boyer 16 Whitey Ford 32 Elston Howard 34 Dick Howser 31 Mel Wright

Player stats

= Indicates team leader

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	R	H	Avg.	HR	RBI	SB
C	Thurman Munson	157	597	83	190	.318	12	102	3
1B	Chris Chambliss	150	562	66	171	.304	9	72	0
2B	Sandy Alomar Sr.	151	489	61	117	.239	2	39	28
3B	Graig Nettles	157	581	71	155	.267	21	91	1
SS	Jim Mason	94	223	17	34	.152	2	16	0
LF	Roy White	148	566	81	161	.290	12	59	16
CF	Elliott Maddox	55	218	36	67	.307	1	23	9
RF	Bobby Bonds	145	529	93	143	.270	32	85	30
DH	Ed Herrmann	80	200	16	51	.255	6	30	0

^[9]

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
Fred Stanley	117	252	56	.222	0	15
Lou Piniella	74	199	39	.196	0	22
Walt Williams	82	185	52	.281	5	16
Rick Dempsey	71	145	38	.262	1	11
Alex Johnson	52	119	31	.261	1	15
Rick Bladt	52	117	26	.222	1	11
Rich Coggins	51	107	24	.224	1	6
Ron Blomberg	34	106	27	.255	4	17
Terry Whitfield	28	81	22	.272	0	7
Ed Brinkman	44	63	11	.175	0	2
Bob Oliver	18	38	5	.132	0	1
Kerry Dineen	7	22	8	.364	0	1
Dave Bergman	7	17	0	.000	0	0
Otto Vélez	6	8	2	.250	0	1
Larry Murray	6	1	0	.000	0	0
Eddie Leon	1	0	0	----	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
Catfish Hunter	39	328.0	23	14	2.58	177
Doc Medich	38	272.1	16	16	3.50	132
Rudy May	32	212.0	14	12	3.06	145
Pat Dobson	33	207.2	11	14	4.07	129
Larry Gura	26	151.1	7	8	3.51	65

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
Sparky Lyle	49	5	7	6	3.12	65
Dick Tidrow	37	6	3	5	3.12	38
Tippy Martinez	23	1	2	8	2.68	20
Dave Pagan	13	0	0	1	4.06	18
Ron Guidry	10	0	1	0	3.45	15
Rick Sawyer	4	0	0	0	3.00	3
Mike Wallace	3	0	0	0	14.54	2

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Syracuse Chiefs	International League	Bobby Cox
AA	West Haven Yankees	Eastern League	Pete Ward
A	Fort Lauderdale Yankees	Florida State League	Leo Posada
A-Short Season	Oneonta Yankees	New York–Penn League	Mike Ferraro

^[10]

Notes

1. "Bobby Murcer Stats - Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com.
2. "Joe Pactwa Stats - Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com.
3. "Sam McDowell Stats - Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com.
4. "Catfish Hunter Stats - Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com.
5. "Gene Michael Stats - Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com.
6. "Jim Beattie Stats - Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com.
7. "Willie Upshaw Stats - Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com.
8. "Ed Brinkman Stats - Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com.
9. "1975 New York Yankees Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com.
10. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd and 3rd editions. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997 and 2007

References

• 1975 New York Yankees at Baseball Reference
• 1975 New York Yankees team page at www.baseball-almanac.com