April 18, 1977 - Blue Jays 5, Yankees 1
- Sal Maiorana
- Apr 18, 2017
- 3 min read
NEW YORK - It’s days like these where you realize that baseball is simply the greatest game. You had the Yankees – the greatest franchise in baseball history, and a star-studded team expected to do great things in 1977 – against the expansion Toronto Blue Jays, playing the 11th game of their first season and doing it with a roster of guys, most of whom no one had ever heard of.
If ever there was a matchup of the haves and the have nots, this was it. And yet, when those nine innings were complete at venerable Yankee Stadium, it was the Yankees who looked like the expansion team playing the 11th game in its history as New York committed four errors in an embarrassing loss witnessed by less than 10,000 fans.
“We’re 2-7 and we’re not hitting,” said Jackson, who heard some boos during his 0-for-4 day. “You’re supposed to get booed. But those fans weren’t booing the team, they’re not down on the team. They’re just saying, ‘You should be doing better, dummies.’”
As you might imagine, manager Billy Martin was not happy, and he skipped his post-game meeting with the reporters. He sequestered himself in the trainers’ room and sent a Yankee employee out to tell the media, “Mr. Martin will not be in. He has no comments."
Toronto’s Doug Ault broke a 1-1 tie in the sixth when he walked, stole second, and came all the way around to score when Thurman Munson’s throw sailed into center field. And then, on the next pitch Ed Figueroa threw, ex-Yankee farm-hand Otto Velez launched it for a solo home run. Veteran Ron Fairly, one of the few recognizable players on the Toronto roster, had an RBI double in the eighth off Dick Tidrow and Velez tacked on an RBI single to put the game out of reach.
Toronto starter Dave Lemanczyk went the distance and gave up just four hits and three walks while striking out five as the Jays improved to 6-5, while the Yankees fell to 2-7.
Back in spring training, veteran free agent signee Jimmy Wynn looked around his new clubhouse and opined, "If this club starts losing a lot early, the whole thing could blow up. If the guys' minds are right they can run away from the league. If these guys' minds are not right, then there's trouble."
With seven losses in the first nine games, Wynn's theory was going to be put to the test.
The night before, the man who would later be identified as David Berkowitz, struck in the Bronx along the Hutchinson River Parkway, only a few miles from Yankee Stadium. Two people, a man and a woman, were shot dead, and Berkowitz left a haunting handwritten note between their slain bodies meant for NYPD captain Joseph Borrelli, who had been put in charge of a task force to hunt down and capture the killer.
"I am deeply hurt by your calling me a woman hater," the killer wrote, referring to something Borrelli had said at a press conference. "I am not. But I am a monster. I am the Son of Sam. I say goodbye and good night. Police: Let me haunt you with these words. I'll be back! Yours in Murder, Mr. Monster."
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