June 9, 1977 – Yankees 10, Brewers 1
- Sal Maiorana
- Jun 9, 2017
- 2 min read
MILWAUKEE – Like so many things in the game of baseball that are diametrically different in 2017 as opposed to 1977, you would be hard-pressed to find a situation today where a team was scheduled for an 11-day road trip with stops in five cities.
That’s what the Yankees endured – two games in Boston and Minnesota, three in Chicago, then two in Texas and Milwaukee. That’s crazy travel, yet with their second consecutive blowout victory over the Brewers, the Yankees managed to go 7-4 and maintain a one-game lead in the AL East.
“The guys are exhausted,” said Jimmy Wynn. “Five cities in 11 days is a draining experience, especially when you’re playing tough ballclubs in tough ballgames. It should make a world of difference to get back home.”
Yet even though the Yankees were finally heading home, there still was no off day as they would be walking right into a three-game weekend set with Minnesota, the team with the best record in the American League. In fact, the Yankees would not have a day off until June 15, meaning they were in the middle of playing 19 consecutive days.
True, it’s not like they were traveling by train as in the old days, but Boston to Minnesota to Chicago to Texas to Milwaukee and then back to New York wasn’t exactly ideal.
Given the way the Yankees started this game, you certainly couldn’t tell they were, as Wynn suggested, exhausted. They jumped on Moose Haas for four runs in the first inning through a combination of three singles, two walks, a Brewers error, and two stolen bases. The big hit was a two-run single by Fran Healy, playing again in place of Thurman Munson who was in a New York hospital having his infected hand treated.
Don Gullett took the mound with that cushion, and while he wasn’t great, he was more than good enough, especially when the Yankees kept piling on runs. Gullett went seven innings and gave up four hits and four walks to improve to 5-2 on the season, a pretty good record given his 4.62 ERA and various health issues.
“I’m getting it together physically now,” Gullett said. “Injury is always on your mind, but when you get out there and throw well, such thoughts begin to disappear.”
Billy Martin wasn’t exactly enthralled with Gullett. “Don had trouble finding his rhythm. Early on he was easing up and trying to aim the ball over. In the middle innings he was OK, but later he began rushing himself.”
Otherwise, Martin was very happy with his team, especially the way the offense had broken out. On the 11-game trip, the Yankee scored 71 runs. “These are the Yankees I’ve been waiting for,” Martin said. “This is the opening of the season.”
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