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1983 New York Yankees season
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Season for the Major League Baseball team the New York Yankees
March 2026
November 2013
New York Yankees 1983 American League 91-71 (.562) East Yankee Stadium New York City George Steinbrenner Bill Bergesch Billy Martin WPIX
(Phil Rizzuto, Frank Messer, Bill White, Bobby Murcer)SportsChannel NY(Mel Allen, Fran Healy, others from WPIX) WABC (AM)(Frank Messer, Phil Rizzuto, Bill White, John Gordon)
The 1983 New York Yankees season was the 81st season for the Yankees. The team finished in third place in the American League East with a record of 91–71, finishing 7 games behind the Baltimore Orioles. New York was managed by Billy Martin. The Yankees played their home games at Yankee Stadium.
Offseason
November 3, 1982: Bobby Ramos was purchased from the Yankees by the Montreal Expos.Bobby Ramos page at Baseball Reference
December 1, 1982: Don Baylor was signed as a free agent by the Yankees.Don Baylor page at Baseball Reference
December 9, 1982: Dave Collins, Mike Morgan, Fred McGriff and cash were traded by the Yankees to the Toronto Blue Jays for Dale Murray and Tom Dodd.Fred McGriff page at Baseball Reference
December 14, 1982: Bobby Meacham was traded by the St. Louis Cardinals with Stan Javier to the New York Yankees for Steve Fincher (minors), Bob Helsom (minors) and Marty Mason (minors). https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/meachbo01.shtml Bobby Beacham: Career Statistics Baseball Reference 14 March 2018
December 22, 1982: Lee Mazzilli was traded by the New York Yankees to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Tim Burke, Don Aubin (minors), John Holland (minors), and Jose Rivera (minors).Lee Mazzilli page at Baseball Reference
January 11, 1983: Ozzie Canseco was drafted by the Yankees in the 2nd round of the 1983 Major League Baseball draft.Ozzie Canseco page at Baseball Reference
February 24, 1983: Bert Campaneris was signed as a free agent by the Yankees.Bert Campaneris page at Baseball Reference
February 28, 1983: Rowland Office was signed as a free agent by the Yankees.Rowland Office page at Baseball Reference
March 24, 1983: John Mayberry was released by the Yankees.John Mayberry page at Baseball Reference
Spring training
For the fourth straight spring training, the Yankees played an exhibition game at the Louisiana Superdome. On March 27, 1983, the Yankees beat the Toronto Blue Jays 2 to 1 behind six shutout innings from Doyle Alexander. Attendance was 15,129 for the game.Yanks' Alexander Impressive in Win Over Jays https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ISAMAAAAIBAJ&pg=3818,5134859&dq=superdome+yankees St. Petersburg Times March 28, 1983 June 19, 2009
Regular season
June 11, 1983: Longtime Yankee Bobby Murcer played in the last game of his career.https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/murcebo01.shtml?redir Bobby Murcer Stats
June 20, 1983: Bobby Murcer announced his retirement from the New York Yankees. On the same day, he became part of the Yankees Broadcasting Team for WPIX TV.Yankee for Life https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780061473418 registration Bobby Murcer Glen Waggoner 143 Harper Collins 2008 New York 978-0-06-147342-5 Bobby Murcer
July 4, 1983: Dave Righetti threw a no-hitter against the Boston Red Soxhttps://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0FCI/is_8_61/ai_88575159/print https://web.archive.org/web/20041201133916/http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0FCI/is_8_61/ai_88575159/print usurped December 1, 2004 Baseball Digest BoxScore: New York Yankees vs. Boston Red Sox July 4, 1983 - baseball game statistics - Brief Article - Statistical Data Included 8 61 2002
August 4, 1983: Dave Winfield, while warming up before the 5th inning of a game at Toronto's Exhibition Stadium, accidentally killed a seagull with a thrown ball. He doffed his cap in mock sorrow. Fans responded by hurling obscenities and improvised missiles. After the game, he was brought to the Ontario Provincial Police station on charges of cruelty to animals and was forced to post a $500 bond before being released. Quipped Yankees manager Billy Martin, "It's the first time he's hit the cutoff man." The charges were dropped the following day. Gross
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Winfield charges will be dropped
The New York Times
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August 6, 1983
For years afterward Winfield's appearances in Toronto were greeted with loud choruses of boos, but he later became a fan favorite.
Pine Tar Game
thumb|300px|right|The baseball bat used by Kansas City Royals third baseman George Brett in the Pine Tar Incident on July 24, 1983.
The Pine Tar Game refers to a controversial incident that took place in an American League baseball game played between the Kansas City Royals and New York Yankees on July 24, 1983.
Playing at New York's Yankee Stadium, the Royals were trailing 4–3 with two outs in the top of the ninth and U L Washington on first base. In the on deck circle, George Brett was heard remarking to a teammate, "Watch this baby fly" as he shook his bat. He then came to the plate and connected off Yankee reliever Rich "Goose" Gossage for a two-run home run and a 5–4 lead. As Brett crossed the plate, New York manager Billy Martin approached home plate umpire Tim McClelland and requested that Brett's bat be examined. Earlier in the season, Martin and other members (most notably, third baseman Graig Nettles, who as a member of the Minnesota Twins, recalled a similar incident involving Thurman Munson) of the Yankees had noticed the amount of pine tar used by Brett, but Martin had chosen not to say anything until the home run.
With Brett watching from the dugout, McClelland and the rest of the umpiring crew inspected the bat. Measuring the bat against the width of home plate (which is 17 inches), they determined that the amount of pine tar on the bat's handle exceeded that allowed by Rule 1.10(b) of the Major League Baseball rule book, which read that "a bat may not be covered by such a substance more than 18 inches from the tip of the handle." McClelland then turned to the Royals dugout, where Brett was standing watching the discussion, and ruled him out. An irate Brett charged out of the dugout to argue his case and had to be held back by several of his teammates.
The call ended the game and gave the Yankees a 4-3 victory, but a protest by the Royals was successful. The home run was restored and the two teams returned to the field on August 18 for the final four outs of the contest, and Brett, manager Dick Howser, pitcher Gaylord Perry (who attempted to steal the bat), and coach Rocky Colavito were all ejected from the game (Brett for the illegal bat and the others for their actions in the aftermath). George Frazier struck out Hal McRae to end the top of the ninth, and Dan Quisenberry retired the Yankees in order in the bottom half to preserve the 5-4 victory. Mike Armstrong was given the win with Gossage taking the loss.
Season standings
Record vs. opponents
NYY
Notable transactions
May 31, 1983: Doyle Alexander was released by the Yankees.Doyle Alexander page at Baseball Reference
June 6, 1983: University of Nebraska quarterback Turner Gill was selected by the Yankees in the 18th round of the 1983 Major League Baseball draft.https://www.baseball-reference.com/draft/index.cgi?year_ID=1983&round=18&draft_type=junreg 18th Round of the 1983 MLB June Amateur Draft
June 9, 1983: Rick Reuschel was released by the Yankees.Rick Reuschel page at Baseball Reference
June 15, 1983: Ben Callahan, Marshall Brant and cash were traded by the Yankees to the Oakland Athletics for Matt Keough.Matt Keough page at Baseball Reference
June 17, 1983: Dave Wehrmeister was traded by the Yankees to the Philadelphia Phillies for Jim Rasmussen (minors) and Kelly Faulk (minors).Dave Wehrmeister page at Baseball Reference
July 22, 1983: Mike York was released by the Yankees.Mike York page at Baseball Reference
Roster
1983 New York Yankees Roster Pitchers
52 Doyle Alexander
35 Roger Erickson
47,57 Ray Fontenot
43 George Frazier
54 Goose Gossage
49 Ron Guidry
53,50 Jay Howell
55 Curt Kaufman
34 Matt Keough
34,38 Dave LaRoche
45 Rudy May
24 John Montefusco
48 Dale Murray
26 Shane Rawley
19 Dave Righetti
29 Bob Shirley Catchers
10 Rick Cerone
65 Juan Espino
27 Butch Wynegar
Infielders
28,66 Steve Balboni
56 Bert Campaneris
33 Ken Griffey
20 Bob Meacham
39 Larry Milbourne
9 Graig Nettles
30 Willie Randolph
18 Andre Robertson
12 Roy Smalley Outfielders
62 Brian Dayett
17 Oscar Gamble
21 Steve Kemp
46 Don Mattingly
22 Omar Moreno
22 Jerry Mumphrey
39 Otis Nixon
20 Rowland Office
14 Lou Piniella
31 Dave Winfield
Other batters
25 Don Baylor
2 Bobby Murcer Manager
1 Billy Martin
Coaches
8 Yogi Berra
42 Art Fowler
41,11 Jeff Torborg (Bullpen)
Lee Walls
6 Roy White
40,23 Don Zimmer
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
Pos Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI C Butch Wynegar 94 301 89 .296 6 42 1B Ken Griffey Sr. 118 458 140 .306 11 46 2B Willie Randolph 104 420 117 .279 2 38 SS Roy Smalley III 130 451 124 .275 18 62 3B Graig Nettles 129 462 123 .266 20 75 LF Dave Winfield 152 598 169 .283 32 116 CF Jerry Mumphrey 83 267 70 .262 7 36 RF Steve Kemp baseball 109 373 90 .241 12 49 DH Don Baylor 144 534 162 .303 21 85
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 Andre Robertson 98 322 80 .248 1 22 Don Mattingly 91 279 79 .283 4 32 Rick Cerone 80 246 54 .220 2 22 Oscar Gamble 74 180 47 .261 7 26 Omar Moreno 48 152 38 .250 1 17 Lou Piniella 53 148 43 .291 2 16 Bert Campaneris 60 143 46 .322 0 11 Steve Balboni 32 86 20 .233 5 17 Larry Milbourne 31 70 14 .200 0 2 Bob Meacham 22 51 12 .235 0 4 Brian Dayett 11 29 6 .207 0 5 Juan Espino baseball 10 23 6 .261 1 3 Bobby Murcer 9 22 4 .182 1 1 Otis Nixon 13 14 2 .143 0 0 Rowland Office 2 2 0 .000 0 1
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 Ron Guidry 31 250.1 21 9 3.42 156 Shane Rawley 34 238.1 14 14 3.78 124 Dave Righetti 31 217.0 14 8 3.44 169 Ray Fontenot 15 97.1 8 2 3.33 27 Matt Keough 12 55.2 3 4 5.17 26 John Montefusco 6 38.0 5 0 3.32 15
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 Bob Shirley 25 108.0 5 8 5.08 53 Jay Howell 19 82.0 1 5 5.38 61 Doyle Alexander 8 28.1 0 2 6.35 17
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 Rich Gossage 57 13 5 22 2.27 90 George Frazier George Frazier (pitcher) 61 4 4 8 3.43 78 Dale Murray 40 2 4 1 4.48 45 Rudy May 15 1 5 0 6.87 16 Roger Erickson Roger Erickson (baseball) 5 0 1 0 4.32 7 Curt Kaufman 4 0 0 0 3.12 8 Dave LaRoche 1 0 0 0 18.00 0
Awards and honors
Ron Guidry and Dave Winfield represented the Yankees at the 1983 Major League Baseball All-Star Game.
Gold Gloves were awarded to pitcher, Guidry and outfielder, Winfield.
Winfield also won the Silver Slugger Award.
Farm system
Minor League Baseball
AAA Columbus Clippers International League Johnny Oates AA Nashville Sounds Southern League Doug Holmquist A Fort Lauderdale Yankees Florida State League Stump Merrill A Greensboro Hornets South Atlantic League Carlos Tosca A-Short Season Oneonta Yankees New York–Penn League Bill LiveseyJohnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd and 3rd editions. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997 and 2007
Notes
2
References
1983 New York Yankees at Baseball Reference
1983 New York Yankees team page at www.baseball-almanac.com
Category:New York Yankees seasons
New York Yankees
New York Yankees
Category:1980s in the Bronx