On This Day in Yankee History: 1981
Dave Righetti was named the American League Rookie of the Year, earning 91% of the vote over Boston’s Rich Gedman. On November 10, 1978 Righetti was traded to the Yankees from Texas, who had drafted him as their 10th overall pick the year before. In January 1979 he was very close to being sent to Minnesota as part of a deal that would have brought Rod Carew to the Bronx in exchange for Chris Chambliss, Juan Beniquez, Dámaso García and Righetti. The deal fell threw and Righetti returned to the minor leagues before being brought up in 1981 as a permanent starter. In 1981 he led the American League in ERA, hits per 9 innings, home runs per 9 innings and strikeouts per 9 innings while helping the Yankees reach the World Series.
Dave Righetti’s 1981 Statistics:
8-4 | 2.05 ERA | 2 CG | 24 ER | 1 HR | 38 BB | 89 SO | 1.073 WHIP | 6.4 H/9 | .1 HR/9 | 7.6 SO/9
Dave Righetti
