July 17, 1977 – Royals 8, Yankees 4

KANSAS CITY – Losing for the seventh time in their last nine games, including this weekend sweep by their rivals from the AL West, the Yankees limped into the All-Star break in third place in the AL East, three games in arrears, which certainly wasn’t what anyone, especially George Steinbrenner, envisioned.

“It sure can’t hurt,” Paul Blair said of the upcoming three days off for most of the players. “I hope we can get things together in three days.”

It had been a miserable week-plus for the Yankees, a long road trip through Baltimore, Milwaukee and Kansas City that netted a 3-7 record; criticism from Steinbrenner, capped by a team-wide audience with the angry owner; snipping at each other in the clubhouse, including an odd, on-air diatribe from normally mild-mannered Catfish Hunter; and the prospect of returning to a borough that was still burning after the massive destruction triggered by the New York City blackout.

“We didn’t have any consistency as far as our hitting and our pitching,” Billy Martin said, summing up the road trip from hell. “And our defense hasn’t been that good. A lot of balls that fell in should be caught.”

So, to summarize, the Yankees weren’t hitting, they weren’t pitching, and they weren’t fielding. They were, of course, certainly bitching, non-stop, and it was clear three days away from the pressure of the pennant chase could only help the ballclub.

“I’m not happy at all, not happy that we aren’t in first place,” said Martin. “We just have to battle back, start right off the bat Thursday (after the break), put it right to them and get off to a big winning streak.”

Ken Clay was forced into the rotation with Don Gullett back in New York tending to his latest injury, and he lasted only three innings allowing four runs, two coming on a home run by Darrell Porter. Dick Tidrow pitched the final five and also allowed four runs, three of those drive in by Royals center fielder Amos Otis.

The daily baseball report

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