1981 American League Championship Series
Encyclopedia
Game 1
Tuesday, October 13, 1981 at Yankee Stadium in Bronx, New YorkIn Billy Martin
Billy Martin
Alfred Manuel "Billy" Martin, Jr. was an American Major League Baseball second baseman and manager. He is best known as the manager of the New York Yankees, a position he held five different times...
's return to Yankee Stadium (for the first time since the Yankees fired him in 1979), the Yankees drew first blood in front of their old skipper. Graig Nettles
Graig Nettles
Graig Nettles , nicknamed "Puff", is a former Major League Baseball third baseman. During a 22-year baseball career, he played for the Minnesota Twins , Cleveland Indians , New York Yankees , San Diego Padres , Atlanta Braves and Montreal Expos .Nettles was one of the best...
' three-run bases-loaded double in the first inning was all the run support that Tommy John
Tommy John
Thomas Edward John Jr. is a former left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball whose 288 career victories rank as the seventh highest total among left-handers in major league history...
needed.
The A's mounted a threat in the eighth when setup man Ron Davis walked both Dwayne Murphy
Dwayne Murphy
Dwayne Keith Murphy is a former Major League Baseball player who spent most of his career playing for the Oakland Athletics as an outfielder. He is currently the hitting coach for the Toronto Blue Jays. He was drafted by the Oakland Athletics in 1973 and made his Major League debut in 1978...
and Cliff Johnson with one out. Yankee manager Bob Lemon
Bob Lemon
Robert Granville Lemon was an American right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1976....
removed Davis and brought in closer Goose Gossage
Goose Gossage
Richard Michael "Goose" Gossage is a former Major League Baseball right-handed relief pitcher. During a 22-year baseball career, he pitched from 1972-1994 for nine different teams, spending his best years with the New York Yankees and San Diego Padres. The nickname "Goose" is a play on his surname...
earlier than expected to face Tony Armas
Tony Armas
Antonio Rafael Armas Machado is a former Venezuelan professional baseball player who played as an outfielder in Major League Baseball. He was one of the top sluggers in the American League in the early 1980s. Twice Armas led the league in home runs, and led all of Major League Baseball in RBIs in...
. Armas was the tying run at that point and was also the A's leading home run and RBI man. Gossage retired Armas and Wayne Gross
Wayne Gross
Wayne Dale Gross , is a former professional baseball player who played in Major League Baseball primarily as a third baseman from 1976-1986. Gross was an All-Star as a rookie in 1977, belting 22 home runs that year...
to end the inning and closed out the win the rest of the way.
Game 2
Wednesday, October 14, 1981 at Yankee Stadium in Bronx, New YorkWith a 3–1 lead after innings and American League ERA
Earned run average
In baseball statistics, earned run average is the mean of earned runs given up by a pitcher per nine innings pitched. It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number of innings pitched and multiplying by nine...
leader Steve McCatty
Steve McCatty
Steven Earl McCatty is a former Major League Baseball pitcher who played for the Oakland Athletics from 1977 to 1985. He graduated from Troy High School in Troy, Michigan in 1972. On June 2nd, 2009 McCatty was named interim pitching coach of the Washington Nationals following Randy St...
cruising, the A's seemed headed for a 1–1 tie going back home to Oakland. It could have been worse, but Dave Winfield
Dave Winfield
David Mark Winfield is an American former Major League Baseball outfielder. He is currently Executive Vice President/Senior Advisor of the San Diego Padres and an analyst for the ESPN program Baseball Tonight...
made a leaping catch in the second to rob Tony Armas
Tony Armas
Antonio Rafael Armas Machado is a former Venezuelan professional baseball player who played as an outfielder in Major League Baseball. He was one of the top sluggers in the American League in the early 1980s. Twice Armas led the league in home runs, and led all of Major League Baseball in RBIs in...
of a homer.
But, Graig Nettles
Graig Nettles
Graig Nettles , nicknamed "Puff", is a former Major League Baseball third baseman. During a 22-year baseball career, he played for the Minnesota Twins , Cleveland Indians , New York Yankees , San Diego Padres , Atlanta Braves and Montreal Expos .Nettles was one of the best...
led off the bottom of the fourth with a single and Rick Cerone
Rick Cerone
Richard Aldo Cerone from Seton Hall University is a former Major League Baseball player from 1975 to 1992 for the Cleveland Indians, Toronto Blue Jays, New York Yankees, Atlanta Braves, Milwaukee Brewers, Boston Red Sox, New York Mets, and Montreal Expos...
was hit by a McCatty pitch. After Willie Randolph
Willie Randolph
Willie Larry Randolph is a former Major League Baseball second baseman and manager, most recently the third base coach for the Baltimore Orioles...
singled in Nettles, Jerry Mumphrey
Jerry Mumphrey
Jerry Wayne Mumphrey is a retired Major League Baseball outfielder who played for the St. Louis Cardinals , San Diego Padres , New York Yankees , Houston Astros and Chicago Cubs ....
walked. Dave Beard
Dave Beard
Charles David Beard is a former right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball for the Oakland Athletics, Seattle Mariners, Chicago Cubs, and Detroit Tigers from to ....
came on in relief and proceeded to give up an RBI single to Larry Milbourne
Larry Milbourne
Lawrence William "Larry" Milbourne is a retired professional baseball player whose career spanned 15 seasons, 11 of which were spent in Major League Baseball with the Houston Astros , the Seattle Mariners , the New York Yankees , the Minnesota Twins , the Cleveland Indians , and...
, an two-run double to Winfield, and a three-run homer to Lou Piniella
Lou Piniella
Louis Victor Piniella is a former Major League Baseball outfielder and manager. He has been nicknamed "Sweet Lou," both for his swing as a major league hitter and, facetiously, to describe his demeanor as a player and manager...
. Beard even gave up two more hits and loaded the bases after that, but Cerone flied out to end the disastrous inning. The Yankees now led 8–3.
The Yankees would add five more runs, three coming on a Nettles homer in the seventh, to complete the rout.
Game 3
Thursday, October 15, 1981 at Oakland-Alameda County ColiseumMcAfee Coliseum
O.co Coliseum is a multi-purpose stadium, located in Oakland, California, in the Coliseum Industrial area...
in Oakland, California
Oakland, California
Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...
Prior to the game, Bob Lemon
Bob Lemon
Robert Granville Lemon was an American right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1976....
inexplicably dropped Willie Randolph
Willie Randolph
Willie Larry Randolph is a former Major League Baseball second baseman and manager, most recently the third base coach for the Baltimore Orioles...
from the leadoff spot in the batting order to ninth. Randolph kept any ill feelings to him self and broke a scoreless pitching duel between Dave Righetti
Dave Righetti
David Allan Righetti is a former left-handed pitcher for various Major League Baseball teams, primarily the New York Yankees. He is currently the pitching coach for the San Francisco Giants and was the first player in history to both pitch a no-hitter and also lead the league in saves in his career...
and Matt Keough
Matt Keough
Matthew Lon Keough Drafted by the Oakland A's out of Corona del Mar High School in 1973. Keough is a former Major League Baseball pitcher who played from through for the Oakland Athletics , New York Yankees , St. Louis Cardinals , Chicago Cubs and Houston Astros...
with a solo homer in the sixth. That run would be all Righetti would need through six innings. Series MVP Graig Nettles
Graig Nettles
Graig Nettles , nicknamed "Puff", is a former Major League Baseball third baseman. During a 22-year baseball career, he played for the Minnesota Twins , Cleveland Indians , New York Yankees , San Diego Padres , Atlanta Braves and Montreal Expos .Nettles was one of the best...
plated three more runs in the ninth with a bases-loaded double resulting when A's center fielder Rick Bosetti
Rick Bosetti
Richard Alan Bosetti is a retired Major League Baseball outfielder who played from to for the Philadelphia Phillies, St. Louis Cardinals, Toronto Blue Jays, and Oakland Athletics....
turned the wrong way on his fly ball.
In the seventh, A's manager Billy Martin
Billy Martin
Alfred Manuel "Billy" Martin, Jr. was an American Major League Baseball second baseman and manager. He is best known as the manager of the New York Yankees, a position he held five different times...
tried to use his "Billyball" tactics to rattle Ron Davis. Martin had his hitters step out of the batter's box frequently during the inning and asked to inspect the baseball at one point. Regardless of Martin's tactics, Davis pitched two scoreless innings before giving way to Goose Gossage
Goose Gossage
Richard Michael "Goose" Gossage is a former Major League Baseball right-handed relief pitcher. During a 22-year baseball career, he pitched from 1972-1994 for nine different teams, spending his best years with the New York Yankees and San Diego Padres. The nickname "Goose" is a play on his surname...
, but he was clearly rattled.
The most widely accepted debut of "the wave"
Audience wave
The wave or the Mexican wave is an example of metachronal rhythm achieved in a packed stadium when successive groups of spectators briefly stand and raise their arms...
occurred during Game 3, led by Krazy George Henderson
Krazy George Henderson
Krazy George Henderson is a professional cheerleader and claimed inventor of the audience wave.Krazy George began cheerleading while a student at San Jose State in 1968, where he was also a member of the National Championship winning judo team...
.
Composite box
1981 ALCS (3–0): New York YankeesNew York Yankees
The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...
over Oakland Athletics
Oakland Athletics
The Oakland Athletics are a Major League Baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League. From to the present, the Athletics have played in the O.co Coliseum....