July 16, 1977 – Royals 5, Yankees 1
- Sal Maiorana
- Jul 16, 2017
- 3 min read
KANSAS CITY – Mike Torrez was not happy. He had been with the Yankees less than three months, but he was growing increasingly frustrated by the team’s unwillingness to work with his agent on a new contract, and it was starting to affect him on the field.
“I don’t feel like part of the club, because what they offered me makes me feel like I’m not wanted,” Torrez said after getting roughed up by the Royals and suffering his third straight loss which pushed his ERA to 4.90. “They offered me what a utility player is making.”
Torrez reflected on his last victory, June 25 when he shut down the red-hot Red Sox. “I wanted to do well in that game because my agent was in New York to negotiate my contract and I wanted to show them how well I could pitch,” Torrez said. “But since their offer, I haven’t felt like pitching like that. I’ve been upset about the whole thing ever since.”
It showed. In his four starts since, Torrez had failed to get past the sixth inning three times, and he had allowed 15 earned runs in 20.2 innings with losses to the Tigers, Orioles and Royals and a no-decision against the Indians.
“I just feel that George Steinbrenner has not been honest with me the way the negotiations have gone,” Torrez continued. “I was happy when I came over here and I pitched two good games. I felt in my heart they wanted me because they traded three players for me. They’ve got me in a negative attitude now. I feel like they’re using me. They got me for a year and that’s all.”
Which, of course, proved to be correct as Torrez was not re-signed after the season, went on to sign with the Red Sox, and as we all know served up the famous pitch that Bucky Dent hit over the Green Monster in the special playoff game that decided the 1978 division title.
This was the Yankees sixth loss in their last eight games and they fell three games behind Boston in the AL East. This must have really pissed off Steinbrenner because he had given every player an envelope before the game with either $200 or $300 in it, his way of saying that despite everything, these were still his guys. Billy Martin said the idea behind the gifts was for the players to spend a little extra on their wives during the upcoming All-Star break. “No other club in baseball would do that,” Martin said.
Another music interlude from 1977. Foreigner performing Feels Like the First Time.
“I need more than $300,” Mickey Rivers said, “but I like anything I get for free.”
The game was a mess for the Yankees. Torrez gave up a run in each of the first four innings, and the New York offense was muted by Royals starter Dennis Leonard who pitched a complete-game seven-hitter. One of the culprits in the malaise was none other than Reggie Jackson, who played terribly and was told so by Sparky Lyle, prompting yet another dugout altercation involving Jackson.
Getting his wish and batting in the cleanup spot for the first time since May 15, Jackson went 0-for-4, and in the field he was credited with one error and should have been given another when he muffed a fly ball that led to a run. His error was a beauty. Hal McRae lashed one off Lyle into the right-center gap and it rolled to the wall. Jackson didn’t seem to run too hard, and when he got to the ball, he kept fumbling it as he tried to pick it up and McRae rounded the bases and scored on a play that was scored as a triple and an error.
“He told me to get my head out of my ass,” Jackson recounted. He accused me of loafing. I didn’t say anything.”
Comentários