May 28, 1977 – White Sox 9, Yankees 4
- Sal Maiorana
- May 28, 2017
- 2 min read
NEW YORK – The biggest crowd to watch a game at the new Yankee Stadium since it was refurbished and reopened in 1976 walked out disappointed following a shellacking administered by the White Sox.
Ron Guidry, now a full-fledged member of the rotation, had nothing and suffered his first defeat after three victories. He last just 3.1 innings and surrendered six earned runs on six hits and four walks. Ken Holtzman took over and basically threw batting practice as he was shelled for 10 hits and three runs in 4.1 innings.
“They’re really swinging those bats, aren’t they,” Billy Martin said of the White Sox who improved to 24-17 and upped their league-best team batting average above .290.
Of course, they had plenty of help from Guidry. “He didn’t have good stuff,” Martin said of the young lefty. “He was up with everything he threw, and he didn’t have a good breaking ball.”
The raking began early as Guidry walked leadoff man Alan Bannister before getting tagged for a two-run homer by Lamar Johnson in the first. Johnson then followed a Richie Zisk with an RBI double in the third, and then came a four-run barrage in the fourth that ended Guidry’s day. The last three of those runs scored when Zisk ripped a shot into right field that skipped past Reggie Jackson and rolled all the way to wall, clearing the bases.
As if he needed more aggravation, Billy Martin was made aware of a story where Reds manager Sparky Anderson said the Yankees – due in large part to Martin – lacked class. “He’s going to lose his good-guy award for popping off,” Martin said. “I’ve made it a point ever since I managed not to comment on other teams’ policies, and not say how they should be run. Sparky has enough problems with his team having all those superstars and losing. This is the first time he’s had to manage and maybe he’s finding out it isn’t so easy. At the rate his team is going, they’ll probably be out of it by the end of July.”
An ugly, ugly day, but at least 30,000 of the fans took home a nice new Yankees jacket on Jacket Day. Don’t you miss promotions like that? Bat day was always a big fan favorite. Nowadays you get a cheap plastic mug, a stupid bobblehead doll, a key chain, maybe a Dunkin’ Donuts gift card, or a beach towel.
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