August 23, 1977 – Yankees 8, White Sox 3
- Sal Maiorana
- Aug 23, 2017
- 2 min read
CHICAGO – The point Graig Nettles made could not be argued. Even though the Yankees beat the White Sox at the same time Boston was losing its fifth straight game, sending the Yankees a half-game up in the standings, technically, the Yankees weren’t over the hump.
“I don’t really consider us to be in first place,” said Nettles, whose 30th home run, a three-run shot in the eighth inning broke open a close game and gave the Yankees their 14th win in their last 16 games. “As far as I’m concerned, you’re never in first until you’ve got the fewest losses, and we’re still behind in the loss column.”
Yes, the Yankees had 51 losses, one more than the Red Sox. But let the record show that on Aug. 23, 1977, the Yankees moved into first place in the division based on winning percentage, and they would remain there for the rest of the season.
Mickey Rivers went 5-for-5 (all singles) and drove in three runs, Nettles went 3-for-4 and scored three runs, and Mike Torrez pitched his seventh straight complete game victory. It gave the Yankees a 6-1 road trip which had enabled them to gain five games in the standings on the suddenly slumping Red Sox.
Rivers led off the game with a single but was stranded, and the next time he came up in the second inning, he delivered a two-run single that gave the Yankees a 3-0 lead against knuckleballer Wilbur Wood. The White Sox had the game tied by the fourth, and it remained that way until Rivers came through again with a clutch two-out RBI single in the seventh.
And then in the eighth, Thurman Munson doubled and scored on Reggie Jackson’s single, and after Lerrin LaGrow replaced Wood, Chris Chambliss reached on an error and Nettles launched his bomb that made it 8-3.
It was reported before the game that the teams engaged in some gamesmanship during the two-game set. George Steinbrenner had suggested coach Gene Michael work from the press box with a walkie-talkie so he could assist in defensive positioning. In Detroit and Texas this was no problem, and Michael relayed his instructions to the dugout without incident. But cagey White Sox owner Bill Veeck, always one to stir the pot, prohibited Michael from working up there, so he had to sit in the stands during the first game, with fans heckling him throughout.
The Yankees complained to the American League office, and after a day of arguing back and forth between Veeck and Steinbrenner, Michael was allowed to sit in a radio booth for this game, with a White Sox employee monitoring him. “I have a hunch I annoyed George,” Veeck said with a gleeful smile.
Perhaps, but Steinbrenner’s team was back in first place, and that’s all that really mattered to him.
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