For the second consecutive year, the Kansas City Royals (102 - 60) and the New York Yankees (100 - 62) will face off with the AL pennant on the line. Last year, the series went the distance, with one of the most iconic endings in playoff history, a Chris Chambliss walk off home run to send the Yanks to the World Series. This year, the series will once again go five games, with a dramatic finish in the final inning.
Since he was hired as full time manager after an interim stint in 1975, all Royals manager Whitey Herzog has done is lead Kansas City to their first two playoff appearances in their relatively short history. They may have come up short in the 1976 ALCS, but this team is more than ready for a second chance. These Royals and their young core have established themselves as perennial AL contenders. Leading the was is star third baseman George Brett (22 HR 88 RBI 142 OPS+), who has cemented himself as one of the top players in the game in just his age 24 season. Bolstering the heart of this powerful lineup are Hal McRae (21 HR 92 RBI 136 OPS+) and Al Cowens (23 HR 112 RBI 137 OPS+), both of whom received MVP votes but were surprisingly not All-Stars in the ’77 season. Dennis Leonard (20 - 12 3.04 ERA 292 IP) and Paul Splittorff (16 - 6 3.69 ERA 229 IP) led the way for the starters, and Herzog could deploy a bevy of reliable, but unspectacular arms to cover the late innings or spot starts.
Despite the magical finish to the previous year’s ALCS, the Yankees disappointed in the World Series, getting swept by the Big Red Machine. Still, expectations were sky high for manager Billy Martin, who had already taken 3 different teams to the playoffs to this point in his career. The Boss, owner George Steinbrenner, demands results; therefore, it’s not enough to have the reigning MVP in catcher Thurman Munson, bring in superstar Reggie Jackson on the biggest contract ever awarded to a player. The rotation was strong with former A’s All-Stars Catfish Hunter and Ken Holtzman. Let’s sign Don Gullet, who just beat us in last year. With all these new faces, it is no surprise that this team got off to a slow start, but they were just too talented to let that spoil the season. The Yankees went absolutely nuclear with a 50 - 20 second half record. Munson (18 HR 100 RBI 121 OPS +) and Jackson (32 HR 100 RBI 150 OPS+) were their typical MVP-caliber-selves, while Graig Nettles (37 HR 107 RBI 124 OPS+) put together one of the best seasons of his underrated career. The pitching staff delivered, but it wasn’t the stars that got it done. Gullet was solid in his first year as a Yankee, but Hunter and Holtzman were disasters. Figueroa and Torrez carried much of the load, but it was the unexpected breakout of lefty Ron Guidry (16 - 7 2.82 ERA 210 IP) that really elevated the NYY rotation. Perhaps the savior of the season was the duo out of the bullpen, Dick Tidrow (11 - 4 5 SV 3.16 ERA 151 IP) and Sparky Lyle (13 - 5 26 SV 2.17 ERA 137 IP), the latter taking home the AL Cy Young. If the Yankees want another pennant, they will need their stars to perform, especially on the road.
Game 1 @ NYY: LHP Don Gullet (14 - 4 3.58 ERA 158 IP) vs. LHP Paul Splittorff
Game 2 @ NYY: LHP Ron Guidry vs. LHP Andy Hassler (9 - 6 4.20 ERA 156 IP)
Game 3 @ KCR: RHP Dennis Leonard vs. RHP Mike Torrez (17 - 13 3.88 ERA 243 IP)
Game 4 @ KCR: LHP Larry Gura (8 - 5 10 SV 3.13 ERA 106 IP) vs. RHP Ed Figueroa (16 - 11 3.57 ERA 239 IP)
Game 5 @ KCR: LHP Paul Splittorff vs. LHP Ron Guidry
Audio clips from Youtube, links to specific games below
1976 ALCS GM 5 - ABC by Keith Jackson, Howard Cosell, and Reggie Jackson
Game 2 - NBC by Dick Enberg and Don Drysdale
Game 4 - WPIX by Frank Messer, Phil Rizzuto, and Bill White
NBC by Joe Garagiola and Tony Kubek
Game 5 - WPIX
As always, shout out to Baseball Reference and SABR for statistics, boxscores, background information, and much, much more.
Catch you next time,
P.C.O.
