Lyle was a clubhouse clown, called “sparky” for his upbeat lifestyle. He always had his pouch of tobacco in his mouth and he basically made his living off of legendary slider.

From 1972-1977 with the Yankees, you could argue that he was the best relief pitcher in the game. 5 times he had a sub-3.00 ERA, and twice he led the league in saves. His climax in his career came in 1977, when for the first time, a reliever had won the Cy Young Award. With a 13-5 record, 2.17 ERA, a league leading 72 games and 60 games finished, and a whopping 137 innings, Lyle seemed unstoppable. In the Yankees' 2 World Series years from 1977-78, he pitched a 0.72 ERA in the playoffs.

From Cy Young to sayonara in one season.“
—Graig Nettles

Despite Lyle dominating the league, the Yankees signed Gossage. This gave them the two best closers in the game…But the question was: “Who would be closer?” Gossage ended up being closer, and while Lyle still was productive in 1978, he was traded.

During 1977-1978, he wrote a book that really defined the antics of the Yankees, The Bronx Zoo.

Cliff Johnson had 1 full season with New York, along with 2 half seasons. 1977 was a pretty good half season for Johnson, hitting .296 with 12 homeruns in 56 games for the Yankees.

In his first full season though in 1978, he was awful. He never met the Mendoza Line, and hit only .184. Limited playing time was seen with only 76 games played.

Where to start with Reggie? Despite playing a relatively short 5 year stint with New York, there’s so much to talk about.

Reggie started his career with Oakland.. There, he won 3 World Series, in which his postseason legend was only getting started. He did some great things with Oakland, such as winning an MVP, a couple home run titles, lots of strikeouts. He then played with Baltimore before signing as a free agent to New York with a 5 year, 2.92 million dollar contract.

The next few years with New York were glorious and at times painful to watch…

1977

Martin wasn’t very willing of the signing, knowing that Reggie was an egomaniac. This was a no-no for Martin who liked players who played with grit, selflessness, and caring about it for the team. Feelings in the clubhouse got very awkward when, at the way beginning of the season, he was quoted as saying in a magazine article:

This team, it all flows from me. I’m the straw that stirs the drink. Maybe I should say me and Munson, but he can only stir it bad."

Of course, lots of teammates didn’t like the diss against The Captain.
Then came the dugout incident:
It was Game of the Week, and the entire world was watching. Jim Rice (who was a power hitter, so Reggie was playing deep) hit a blooper to right field. Instead of charging the ball, Jackson lollygagged in Martin’s eyes after the ball. Rice was able to make it to second base. Martin was furious and took Jackson out of the game. When Jackson came back to the dugout, he was furious too, and there was a heated exchange. The entire world saw the fracas, but unfortunately there is no video of it on the internet.

Yankees fans still loved him though.

His 32 homers, 110 RBI, and .286 average were enough for forgiveness.
Mr. October
But then came his .450 World Series performance. To top it off, in Game 6, he had the legendary 3 home run performance still revered today.

He’s answered the whole world!

1978

I mean Reggie Bars…for real?

With the monkey on his back, Reggie became a Yankee. He was still controversial nonetheless, but hey. He was Reggie. He was a big piece in the Yankee’s defeating Boston to become AL East champion, including a homer in the One Game Playoff.http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=IowgfzVsXGA#t=6834 He excelled in the World Series once again, including the infamous getting-hit-in-the-butt-play, and the most intense and memorable at-bat ever. He hit .462 in the ALCS nad .391 in the World Series.

Later Career With New York

The World Series titles stopped there, but not the Reggie Jackson lore. 1980 was Reggie’s greatest season with New York, hitting 41 homers (league leading) and for the first time ever, hitting .300. In 1981, he went to the World Series again, but lost.

44 is now a retired number for New York.

“Mick the Quick” was the catalyst for the Yankees in the late 70’s dynasty. When the Yanks traded Bobby Bonds for Rivers (and Ed Figueroa), they got him for one thing—his speed. With California, he managed to lead the league with 70 steal. His speed was exactly what the Yanks were looking for.

He stole 43 bases in 1976. In ‘77 and '78 he stole 22 and 25 bases, respectively. He speed was very valued, but, as seen in those stats, wasn’t translated into stolen bases. He was an above average fielder and hit .299 in his career as a Yankee. He even garnered some MVP votes in his first 3 seasons there.

“Sweet Lou” started his career with Baltimore on a short stint. Later he was called up again as a Royal, where in 1969 he was Rookie of the Year. After 5 solid years with Kansas City, Piniella became a Yankee.

Piniella became a consistent force for New York for 11 straight seasons. He hit over .300 5 times. He was also a fan favorite with his fiery passion.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohQaOO_mTzs
Shortly after his career ended, he became manager for the Yankees with moderate success as manager and was (for a very short time) the GM also. After his managerial stint with New York he became one of the greatest managers of all time. Most notably, he won a World Series with Cincinnati. He then had a ten year span back when the Mariners were dominant.

Roy White is one of the most underrated players in Yankee History. He was a consistent player for his 15 years of being a life-long Yankee.
Take a look at his consistency:

• 9 seasons of 15+ stolen bases

• 9 seasons of 70+ walks

• 10 seasons of .350+ OBP (White was great at drawing walks. He walked 80 times 5 times and almost always walked more than he struck out)

• 10 seasons of 3+ WAR

Through his venture with New York, he played with the likes of Mickey Mantle, to Bobby Murcer, to Thurman Munson, to Ron Guidry.

In 1978 (White’s second to last season), he hit .269 with 8 homeruns.

When the Yankees acquired Figueroa in 1976, he immediately became one of their best starters. That year he went 19-10 with a 3.02 ERA and 256.2 innings. He even finished fourth in Cy Young Voting.

1978 was another great year for Figueroa. He went 20-9, 2.99 ERA, and 253 innings pitched.

“Dirt” had a nice career with New York. A career 3.61 ERA with the Bronx Bombers, he was always a quality secondary starter.

In 1978, a 3.84 ERA and 185.1 innings showed a quality season.

And that high-kick sidearm…

Jim Beattie had a fairly forgettable rookie season in 1978: 6-9 record, but a not too shabby 3.73 ERA.

However, he won when it mattered most. In the famous Boston Massacre where the Yankees were 4 games behind Boston with a 4 game series to be played. The Yankees swept the Red Sox, with Beattie winning game 2 in a dominating 8 run shutout.
He then won game 1 of the ALCS and threw a complete game (and won) in game 5 of the World Series. Overall, 1.88 ERA that postseason.

Later in his life, he became the Expos general manager from 1995-2001, and Orioles GM from 2003-2005.

Catfish was a star pitcher for the Oakland dynasty in the early 1970’s. Then Catfish became the first big free agent ever and signed a 5 year, 3.35 million dollar contract (the first of many for the Yankees eventually).

In Hunter’s first season as a Yankee, 1975 he had one of the most remarkable seasons ever (innings pitched wise).

30 complete games, 1294 batters faced and 328 innings!

He also led the league in wins (23), WHIP (1.009), and Hits/9 innings (6.8)

While of course he wasn’t a disappointment (he was a very productive starter) all those innings led his arm to burn out. He was retired by age 33, and 1978 was his second-to-last season. With only 118 innings, he was still able to contribute 12 wins and a 3.58 ERA.