Sept. 8, 1977 – Yankees 4, Indians 3

CLEVELAND – Fully recovered from getting swept in the doubleheader that began this five-game stay in Cleveland, the Yankees won for the third night in a row to win the series. By bumping their lead over Boston back to 3.5 games, they reduced their magic number to clinch the division to 20 games with a seven-game homestand on tap against the awful Blue Jays and the not-awful Red Sox.

Nothing came easy in these five games against the Indians, and that was the case again in the finale. Ed Figueroa went the distance for his 14th win, but he had to negotiate the last three innings with only a one-run lead, doing so masterfully as he allowed only one baserunner.

The Yankees broke open a 1-1 game with three runs in the fifth. Willie Randolph reached on an error, Bucky Dent singled, and Mickey Rivers executed a perfect drag bunt single that loaded the bases. In the dugout, Billy Martin was certainly smiling because he had been imploring the speedy Rivers to drag bunt since spring training, and the mercurial Rivers had refused because … well, because he didn’t want to do it.

“I’ll only work on things I’m good at,” Rivers had said in the spring. “Don’t do no good to work on the things I’m not good at.”

That, ladies and gentlemen, was the wacky logic of one Mickey Rivers.

More pop culture from 1977. One of the greatest sitcoms ever debuted that year. Soap, starring Yankee fan and comedian Billy Crystal among others. Here's a clip.

So, what changed his mind?

“I know how to play ball,” he said. “That’s it right there. Situations, you gotta think in situations. You gotta know your players out there, you gotta know how they move. I ain’t giving any of my secrets away. When I faked a bunt, they didn’t move.”

It was unclear why none of these “situations” had come up in the first five months of the season, but in any event, the drag bunt worked perfectly in this instance. Graig Nettles, battling an 0-for-22 slump, lifted a fly ball to right that plated Randolph with the go-ahead run. That RBI, his 95th of the season, tied the Yankees record for a third baseman, and when Nettles was apprised of this, he responded, “Is that right? I didn’t know it. Well, with any luck I’ll break it.”

Thurman Munson singled home a run, and after Reggie Jackson walked, Chris Chambliss hit a sacrifice fly that made it 4-1. Figueroa yielded two runs in the sixth when Duane Kuiper singled, Larvell Blanks tripled him home, and Andre Thornton hit a RBI grounder to short to cut the deficit to 4-3, but that was the end of the scoring on both sides.

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