Sept. 3, 1977 – Yankees 7, Twins 4
- Sal Maiorana
- Sep 3, 2017
- 3 min read
BLOOMINGTON, Minn. – Lou Piniella was, and always has been, a piece of divine work.
He was given a two-year contract extension earlier in the day, then went out and ripped a two-run homer in the sixth inning that opened a 5-2 lead, just enough support for Ed Figueroa who went the distance giving up four runs on eight hits and a walk as the Yankees beat the Twins.
Piniella was also in the middle of a two-run rally in the fourth that broke a 1-1 tie as he had one of three straight singles and later scored on a sacrifice fly by Willie Randolph. That was the essence of Piniella as a player - never spectacular, so often reliable, and so carefree about it all afterward because this was his job, this was what he was supposed to do.
Following the game, New York’s sixth win in a row and 23rd in the last 26, in true Piniella fashion, he shrugged off his performance and then talked about his new contract, making it perfectly clear that playing baseball wasn’t all about the money.
“I never gave any serious thought to becoming a free agent,” said Piniella of the deal that carried through 1979 and would pay him just over $100,000 in each of the two years. That’s right, five zeroes, not six.
“I like this organization quite a bit. They had wanted to talk to me for a while, so I went up and took the first offer. I don’t think I’m a star. I think I’m a good ballplayer and I just want to be paid like a good ballplayer. I’m probably the only guy who could be a free agent without an agent. I did it all myself, I never once considered what I was worth. Their first offer was a fair raise and I took it.”
He continued.
“When you play baseball, it’s a two-way street. The owner has an investment in baseball and without their money we wouldn’t be in the game. I’m not going to get rich playing baseball. When I get out of baseball, I’m going to have to work like hell anyway, so what’s a few more dollars mean?”
Just typing that diatribe brings a smile to my face.
Not only were the Yankees methodically putting a stranglehold on the AL East race, they were helping to decide the AL West race, too.
The Kansas City Royals, who were emerging as one of the Yankees’ biggest rivals as the teams would meet four times in the ALCS between 1976-80, had taken control of the West thanks to plenty of help from the Yankees. With New York beating Minnesota again, that meant in the last two-plus weeks, the Yankees had gone 12-2 against the three teams chasing Kansas City – Minnesota, Texas, and Chicago.
This result stretched the Yankees lead over Boston to a season-high 4.5 games, while in the West, the Royals won over Milwaukee to open a four-game lead on the White Sox while the Twins fell 5.5 behind.
With a month to go, it was certainly looking like the Royals would be getting their rematch against the Yankees, thus an opportunity for revenge after the devastation of the Chris Chambliss walk-off home run that ended the epic 1976 ALCS.
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