1977 World Series
Team (Wins) Managers Season New York Yankees (4) Billy Martin 100–62 (.617), GA: 2+1⁄2 Los Angeles Dodgers (2) Tommy Lasorda 98–64 (.605), GA: 10
Dates	October 11–18
Venue(s)	Yankee Stadium (New York) Dodger Stadium (Los Angeles)
MVP	Reggie Jackson (New York)
Umpires	Nestor Chylak (AL),Ed Sudol (NL), Larry McCoy (AL),Jerry Dale (NL), Jim Evans (AL),John McSherry (NL)
Hall of Famers	Yankees: Catfish Hunter Reggie Jackson Yogi Berra (coach) Bobby Cox (1st base coach) Dodgers: Tommy Lasorda (mgr.) Don Sutton Umpires: Nestor Chylak
Broadcast
Television	ABC
TV announcers	Keith Jackson,Howard Cosell, andTom Seaver
Radio	CBS
Radio announcers	Ross Porter (in New York) Bill White (in Los Angeles) Win Elliot
ALCS	New York Yankees overKansas City Royals (3–2)
NLCS	Los Angeles Dodgers overPhiladelphia Phillies (3–1)
World Series program
← 1976 World Series 1978 →

The1977 World Series was thechampionship series ofMajor League Baseball's (MLB)1977 season. The 74th edition of the World Series,^[1] it was abest-of-seven playoff played between theAmerican League (AL) championNew York Yankees and theNational League (NL) championLos Angeles Dodgers.^[2] The Yankees defeated the Dodgers four games to two to win the franchise's 21st World Series championship, their first since1962, and the first under the ownership ofGeorge Steinbrenner (who assumed ownership of the club in 1973). Played from October 11 to 18, the Series was televised on ABC.

During this Series,Reggie Jackson earned his nickname "Mr. October" for his heroics.Billy Martin won what would be his only World Series title as a manager after guiding the Yankees to asecond straight pennant.

This was the first six-game World Series since the Dodgers defeated theChicago White Sox in1959. In between, ten World Series went the full seven games, three ended in four-game sweeps, and four lasted five games.

TheNew York Yankees returned to the World Series after being swept by theCincinnati Reds theprevious year. In free agency, the Yankees signed sluggingright fielderReggie Jackson for US$2.96 million ($16,356,164 in current dollar terms) over five years^[3] and Cincinnati Reds acepitcherDon Gullett for $2 million ($11,051,462 in current dollar terms) over six years.^[4] Two other key players were acquired by the Yankees through trades. ShortstopBucky Dent was picked up from theChicago White Sox for outfielderOscar Gamble, pitcherLaMarr Hoyt, and $200,000. After only one year with theOakland Athletics, pitcherMike Torrez was acquired in exchange for pitcherDock Ellis and utilitymenMarty Perez andLarry Murray.

After a lackluster first half, the Yankees finished strong, winning 38 of their last 51 games, edging both theBoston Red Sox and theBaltimore Orioles by2+1⁄2 games. Among the star-laden lineup was an emerging superstar,Ron Guidry. Early in the season Guidry was moved from the bullpen into the starting rotation, finishing 16–7 with a 2.82 ERA. The Yankees advanced to the World Series after beating theKansas City Royals in an exciting fifth and final1977 American League Championship Series (ALCS) game, winning it with three runs in the top of the ninth on a string of singles and a costly error byGeorge Brett.

TheNational League championLos Angeles Dodgers were managed byTommy Lasorda, who was in his first full season asmanager.^[5] The 1977 Dodgers became the first team to have four players hit 30 or more home runs in one season,^[6] asSteve Garvey hit 33,Reggie Smith hit 32,Ron Cey hit 30, andDusty Baker hit 30.^[7] The pitching staff, which led theNational League in ERA, 3.22, were led by 20-game winnerTommy John and closerCharlie Hough with 22 saves. The Dodgers won 22 of their first 26 games, winning the Western Division by 10 games over theCincinnati Reds, then eliminated thePhiladelphia Phillies in the1977 National League Championship Series (NLCS) in four games.

The matchup of the Yankees and the Dodgers harkened back to the "Subway Series" matchups between the two teams of the 1940s and 1950s.^[5] The two teams had met in eight previous World Series, with the Yankees winning in1941,1947,1949,1952,1953, and1956 and the Dodgers in1955 and1963. The 1963 series was their first meeting after the Dodgers had moved from Brooklyn to Los Angeles in1958.

This was the first World Series in which the ceremonial first pitches were from the mound instead of from the Commissioner's box, although this did not become permanent until1989.

ALNew York Yankees (4) vs. NLLos Angeles Dodgers (2)

The Dodgers scored twice in the top of the first inning, whenDavey Lopes walked and scored on aBill Russell triple offDon Gullett.^[14]Ron Cey made it 2–0 on a sacrifice fly. In the bottom of the inning, the Yankees responded with consecutive two-out singles byThurman Munson,Reggie Jackson, andChris Chambliss, scoring Munson.^[14]

In the top of the sixth inning,Steve Garvey beat out a bunt and, with two out, attempted to score from first on a hit-and-run single to center field byGlenn Burke.Mickey Rivers, who did not possess a strong throwing arm, threw home. Replays showed Garvey clearly beat the tag but he was called out at the plate.^{[citation needed]} The Yankees tied it in their half of the sixth inning whenWillie Randolph hit ahome run offDon Sutton.^[14]

The Yankees took the lead in the eighth inning when Munson doubled home Randolph. Later in the inning, the Yankees loaded the bases with one out, but Dodger relieverElías Sosa struck outLou Piniella and retiredBucky Dent on a forceout to end the threat.^[14]

The Dodgers tied it at 3–3 in the ninth inningDusty Baker led off with a single and was almost picked off first when pinch-hitterManny Mota failed on a bunt attempt. Mota flied out, butSteve Yeager walked and pinch-hitterLee Lacy drove Baker home with a single.^[14]

In extra innings, the Yankees got their leadoff hitters on in both the tenth and eleventh innings but did not score due to failure to lay down sacrifice bunts. Finally, in the 12th, Randolph led off and doubled and Munson waswalked intentionally. Yankee managerBilly Martin at first wantedPaul Blair, the next hitter, to try to sacrifice again, but after two failed attempts, Martin had Blairhit away and Blair singled home Randolph with the game-winner.

1977 AL Cy Young award winnerSparky Lyle took the win in Game 1 and, coupled with his wins in Games 4 and 5 of the1977 ALCS, as of 2019^[update] is the only pitcher to win three consecutive decisions in a single postseason.

With acesRon Guidry andMike Torrez having both pitched in Game 5 of the ALCS,Billy Martin was forced to use a sore-shoulderedCatfish Hunter in Game 2.^[14] The Dodgers hit three homers in the first three innings off Hunter, asRon Cey hit a two-run home run in the first,Steve Yeager a home run in the second, andReggie Smith a two-run home run in the third.^[6]Steve Garvey hit a home run in the ninth off ofSparky Lyle.Burt Hooton pitched a five-hit complete game, allowing only run one in the fourth onReggie Jackson's ground ball double play afterWillie Randolph andThurman Munson led off the inning with back-to-back singles. Hooton made amends for his meltdown inGame 3 of the 1977 NLCS.

About an hour before the first pitch, a fire had started in Public School 3, an abandoned elementary school a few blocks east of Yankee Stadium. During the game, ABC cut to ahelicopter camera for an overhead view ofYankee Stadium and the surrounding neighborhood, catching the fire.

The Yankees struck for three runs in the first offTommy John.Mickey Rivers led off with a bloop double to right (his first hit of the series) and scored on a harder-hitThurman Munson double to right.Reggie Jackson singled to left to score Munson and went to second when Dodger left fielderDusty Baker overran the ball.Lou Piniella then scored Jackson on an RBI single up the middle to make it 3–0.

Baker atoned for his first-inning error by hitting a three-run homer in the third off Yankee starterMike Torrez. The Yankees regained the lead with single runs in the fourth and fifth on an RBI groundout by Rivers, who finished the game with three hits (including two doubles), and an RBI single byChris Chambliss. Torrez then shut out the Dodgers for the rest of the way. Torrez finished with nine strikeouts in the complete-game win.

Before the game, amoment of silence was held in memory of entertainer and formerPittsburgh Pirates co-ownerBing Crosby, who died earlier that day.

Before the game,Linda Ronstadt sang thenational anthem, standing alone in center field wearing jeans and a Dodgerswarmup jacket. The attire drew much media attention afterwards. The performance itself was later ranked by theWashington Examiner as the second-best national anthem rendition at a sporting event; according to the magazine, "it was such a hit Ronstadt wore a similar satin jacket — along with short shorts, kneepads and roller skates — on the cover of her 1978 album,Living in the USA."^[15]

WithDon Sutton needing another day of rest, Dodger managerTommy Lasorda started left-handerDoug Rau to counter the Yankees' left-handed power. Rau was rusty, having only pitched in relief inone game of the 1977 NLCS. After a relatively easy first inning,Reggie Jackson hit a leadoff double in the second.Lou Piniella singled Jackson home with the first run and was doubled to third byChris Chambliss. Lasorda then pulled Rau in favor ofRick Rhoden, resulting in a heated argument between Lasorda and Rau on the mound.^[16] At that point, Rau had given up four hits, including three to left-handed hitters. The Yankees scored two more runs in the inning on an RBI groundout byGraig Nettles and an RBI single byBucky Dent.

The Dodgers scored twice in the third. Rhoden, a good hitting pitcher, hit aground-rule double to left, andDavey Lopes followed with a two-run homer off Yankee starterRon Guidry. The Dodgers scored nothing else off Guidry, as he pitched a four-hitcomplete game.

The Dodgers almost tied the game in the fourth whenRon Cey sent a drive to deep left thatLou Piniella leaped up and caught. Jackson ended the scoring with an opposite-field home run off Rhoden in the sixth inning.

The Dodgers needed a win to send the Series back to New York.Davey Lopes led off the first with a triple and came home whenBill Russell singled. In the fourth, the Dodgers had an RBI single byDusty Baker and a three-run homer bySteve Yeager. Baker added another RBI single in the fifth,Lee Lacy singled home a run, and Yeager batted in another run with a sacrifice fly.Reggie Smith completed the scoring with a two-run homer in the sixth inning.

The Yankees scored two runs each in the seventh and eighth; the two runs in the eighth coming on back-to-back homers byThurman Munson andReggie Jackson. Nevertheless, Dodger starting pitcherDon Sutton pitched a complete game for the win.

Game 6 shifted the series back to New York, where 56,407 filled Yankee Stadium.^[13]

After two infield ground outs byDavey Lopes andBill Russell,Steve Garvey put the Dodgers on the board with a two-run triple down the right field line offMike Torrez, scoringReggie Smith andRon Cey; both runs were unearned after shortstopBucky Dent booted Smith's ground ball and Cey walked. New York tied it in the second asChris Chambliss lifted a 2–1 pitch from starterBurt Hooton into the right center seats afterReggie Jackson walked on four pitches, but the next three batters went down in order. After Lopes and Russell grounded out again in the top of the third, Smith put Los Angeles up 3–2 with his third homer of the Series, pounding a 1–1 pitch well into the right center seats. Cey lined an infield hit to third, knocked down byGraig Nettles, but Garvey flew to center to end the threat.

In the fourth,Dusty Baker flew out andRick Monday singled to left. CatcherSteve Yeager pulled one over third base, but it kicked out to left fielderLou Piniella, who gunned out Yeager at second, and Torrez struck out Hooton to strand Monday at third. In the bottom half, catcherThurman Munson led off and singled to left. On the next pitch, Jackson turned on a fastball and put into the right field seats for a one-run Yankees' lead, which chased Hooton.^[17] WithElias Sosa pitching, Chambliss lifted a high fly to shallow left between Russell and Baker that fell for a double, then went to third on Nettles' ground out to second. Piniella made it 5–3 with an unchallenged sacrifice fly to left field. Dent walked and Torrez grounded out to shortstop to end the inning.

In the fifth, Lopes flew out to left, Russell walked, and Smith grounded into a 6-4-3 double play.Mickey Rivers led off the bottom half with a single up the middle.Willie Randolph bunted, but Yeager pounced on it and forced out Rivers at second for a fielder's choice, and Munson hit a low fly to center for the second out. After a throw to first to keep Randolph close, Jackson connected on the first pitch off Sosa, a screaming low line drive into the right field seats to make the score 7–3.^[17] Los Angeles managerTommy Lasorda brought in lefthanderDoug Rau to face Chambliss, who grounded out to Garvey at first.

Leading off the bottom of the eighth, Jackson strode to the plate, amid the chants of "REG-GIE, REG-GIE, REG-GIE!", and drove the firstCharlie Hough knuckleball he saw 475 feet (145 m) into the center field "batter's eye" (empty blackened bleachers) for an 8–3 lead; he became the first to hit three home runs in a World Series game in 49 years, sinceBabe Ruth (in1926 and1928).^[17] With his Game 5 first-pitch homer (in the eighth) and his four-pitch walk in the second inning of Game 6, Jackson homered on his last four swings of the bat in the Series, each off a different Dodger pitcher. The last eight pitches delivered to Jackson in the Series were all productive for the Yankees—the four-pitch walk in the second inning allowed him to score on the Chambliss homer.

The Dodgers pushed across a run in the ninth, but Torrez pitched his second complete game win of the Series.^[18] It was the first six-game Series since1959.

1977 World Series(4–2):New York Yankees (A.L.) overLos Angeles Dodgers (N.L.)

This World Series is notable for being a six-game series in which the winning team was outscored. It happened previously in1918 and1959 and later in1992,1996, and2003. Seven-game series winners were outscored in1957,1960,1962,1964,1971,1972,1973,1975,1991,1997,2002, and2025; (equaled in2016 and2017).

With complete games pitched consecutively in Games 2 through 6 (all for the winning pitcher), as of 2025^[update], this was the last World Series to be completed without a pitcher recording asave.

The 1977 World Series was the first World Series televised by theABC network since1949 and the first since television of the World Series started in1947 not to be televised, at least in part, by rival networkNBC. NBC had been the exclusive television network of the World Series from1950 to1976 and had covered that year'sYankees–Royals andDodgers–Philliesplayoff series that year. As was customary at the time, the competing teams' local flagship stations (WPIX in New York andKTTV in Los Angeles) were allowed to air asimulcast of ABC's national broadcast.

It was also the first time that the participating teams' local announcers were not featured during game play on the network telecast, though the Yankees'Bill White and the Dodgers'Ross Porter did pre-game television features, and White handled the post-game celebration in the Yankee clubhouse after they won the title. White and Porter also split theCBS Radio play-by-play for the World Series.

This World Series cemented Jackson's legacy as a postseason performer, giving him the nickname "Mr. October".^[17] Ironically, the Dodgers had had two chances to obtain Jackson: a possible trade withOakland A's in 1975, and an offer of more money than the Yankees during the 1976 off-season.^[20][21]

Twenty-four years later a similar nickname would be given to another Yankee, shortstopDerek Jeter, after a walk-off home run in Game 4 of the2001 World Series.

Jackson won theWorld Series Most Valuable Player Award andBabe Ruth Award.^[22] Lyle won the ALCy Young Award. Nettles and Garvey both wonGold Glove Awards.

The Yankees and Dodgers met again in the1978,1981 and2024 World Series.

Los Angeles became the first metropolitan area to host a World Series and aSuper Bowl in the same calendar year.Super Bowl XI was played January 9, 1977 at theRose Bowl inPasadena.

After the 1977 World Series,Melissa Ludtke, a reporter forSports Illustrated, sued MLB CommissionerBowie Kuhn for having been denied access to the Yankees' clubhouse during the series, asserting that her14th Amendment right was violated. Ludtke won her case.^[23]

The 1977 New York Yankees is one of the key plot points, along with theSon of Sam and theNew York City Blackout of 1977, in the movieSummer of Sam directed bySpike Lee.

The 1977 Yankees season, including the World Series, is one of the subjects of Jonathan Mahler's 2005 non-fiction bookLadies and Gentlemen, the Bronx Is Burning, which was subsequently adapted into the 2007ESPN mini-seriesThe Bronx Is Burning.

• 1977 Japan Series

• Cohen, Richard M.; Neft, David S. (1990).The World Series: Complete Play-By-Play of Every Game, 1903–1989. New York: St. Martin's Press. pp. 365–370.ISBN 0-312-03960-3.
• Reichler, Joseph (1982).The Baseball Encyclopedia (5th ed.). Macmillan Publishing. p. 2203.ISBN 0-02-579010-2.
• Forman, Sean L."1977 World Series".Baseball-Reference.com — Major League Baseball Statistics and History. RetrievedDecember 9, 2007.

• 1977 World Series atWorldSeries.com viaMLB.com
• 1977 World Series atBaseball Almanac
• 1977 World Series atBaseball-Reference.com
• The 1977 Post-Season Games (box scores and play-by-play) atRetrosheet
• History of the World Series - 1977 atThe Sporting News. Archived fromthe original in May 2006.
• REGGIE REGGIE REGGIE at SI.com
• The 1977 New York Yankees at baseballlibrary.com
• The 1977 Los Angeles Dodgers at baseballlibrary.com
• MLB.com review on 1977 World Series DVD setArchived December 31, 2007, at theWayback Machine
• 1977 World Series, Game 6: Dodgers @ Yankees – MLBClassics –YouTube

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