August 21, 1977 – Yankees 2, Rangers 1
- Sal Maiorana
- Aug 21, 2017
- 3 min read
ARLINGTON, Tex. – When the Yankees headed out to start their seven-game, three-city road trip, Lou Piniella had said that a record in the neighborhood of 4-3 wasn’t going to be good enough, not with the Red Sox playing as well as they were.
If the Yankees hoped to not only stay in the AL East race, but perhaps win the division, they needed to get rolling and there was no time like the present, Piniella reasoned.
After finishing off a weekend sweep of Texas, on the heels of winning the first two games of the trip in Detroit, the Yankees were now 5-0 on the journey, winners of eight in a row overall, and 13 of 14. Meanwhile, the Red Sox had begun careening back to earth as they suffered a sweep in Kansas City which enabled the Yankees to pull within a half-game of the lead, the closest they’d been since July 12.
“If we keep playing like this,” said Fred Stanley, “we’re going to be tough to beat.”
Boston had won 16 of 17 to bulk its lead up to 4.5 games over New York on Aug. 16, but then it headed out on its own seven-game, three-city roadie. After a split in Milwaukee and the sweep in Kansas City, the Red Sox had lost four games in the standings and it was clear the Yankees were poised to move ahead.
Ron Guidry scattered four hits and four walks while striking out eight during a seven-inning performance that netted him his 10th win of the season. Sparky Lyle, as usual, closed one out for the 20th time with two strong innings of relief. And Graig Nettles provided the big hits, a solo homer off Doyle Alexander in the second and a RBI double in the fourth that chased home Chris Chambliss.
“Last year I thought Graig was our most valuable player, and I haven’t seen any difference this year,” said Lyle. “He’s one of the most overlooked and underrated players I’ve ever seen.”
Nettles now had 29 home runs and had jacked his batting average up to .245 and his OPS to .812. Not bad for a guy who’d hit only one home run and was batting .154 at the end of April.
The frenetic tightening of the AL East race wasn’t the only newsworthy event on this Sunday afternoon. In Baltimore, the great Brooks Robinson announced his retirement, effective immediately. One of the greatest fielding third basemen in the history of the game, Robinson was a 16-time Gold Glove winner who also amassed 2,848 hits in 2,896 games including 268 home runs and 1,357 RBI. He was the AL MVP in 1964, the World Series MVP in 1970, and the All-Star Game MVP in 1966. In 1977, Robinson was clearly in decline, and in his 23rd big-league season, he was batting just .149.
Back in New York, all eyes were on Shea Stadium as Tom Seaver faced his old Mets teammates for the first time since being traded to Cincinnati. Not surprisingly, Seaver was brilliant as he pitched a complete-game six-hitter with 11 strikeouts as the Reds beat the Mets 5-1.
“It was awfully nice to come home, but this was no fun,” said Seaver, who was greeted by a standing ovation by an adoring crowd of 46,265, all of whom were still pissed at the Mets front office for trading him. “It was too emotional. I was aware that they were up there at bat, but I tried to block it out of my mind. And now I’m awfully glad it’s over.”
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