Sept. 17, 1977 – Yankees 9, Tigers 4
- Sal Maiorana
- Sep 17, 2017
- 2 min read
DETROIT – The newest Yankee made his presence felt right away. Prior to the final game of the Boston series, the Yankees acquired right-handed power hitter Dave Kingman from the Angels, figuring that even though he wouldn’t be eligible for the playoffs, he might be able to help get the Yankees there.
In his first game, Kingman began that process. He hit one of New York’s five home runs to rout the Tigers, keeping the Yankees 2.5 games ahead of the Orioles who, for the second night in a row, beat the Red Sox, dropping Boston 4.5 behind. Reggie Jackson hit two homers, and Thurman Munson and Graig Nettles also went deep in an impressive display of Bronx bombing.
Kingman, who was the DH, had been jettisoned by the Mets to the Padres at the trade deadline, a trade that made almost no ripples because that same day, the Mets also dealt Tom Seaver to the Reds. San Diego waived Kingman on Sept. 6 even though he hit 11 homers in a little more than two months, and he was claimed by the Angels. Nine days later, the Yankees made an inquiry and the Angels accepted cash and minor-league pitcher Randy Stein.
“I feel more at home here than if I went back to the other side of town,” Kingman said, a comment that surely must have pissed off Mets fans. “If you put me back with the Mets, I’d feel like more of a stranger there than here. This is a lot better ballclub and the guys want to win. I also don’t feel I have to prove anything to these teammates because they’ve seen me before. They know I’ll strike out and they know I’ll hit a home run. I feel like I fit right in.”
He’d sure fit into baseball today. In typical Kingman fashion, he also doubled and struck out three times in his Yankee debut.
Dick Tidrow got the start in place of the disabled Catfish Hunter, and once again he did a great job filling in. He pitched seven innings and allowed only two runs on four hits with no walks. Sparky Lyle, though, struggled for the second outing in a row as he had the same numbers - two runs, four hits - in only two innings.
Munson launched a two-run blast in the first, and then Kingman hit one into the upper deck in left field in the third to make it 4-0. Rusty Staub and Jason Thompson hit back-to-back solo homers in fourth for Detroit, but Reggie answered with a two-run shot in the fifth, Nettles hit a two-run blast in the sixth, and Reggie went solo in the eighth, meaning all nine New York runs scored via the home run.
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