Thing about Gid was, he had three 20 win seasons (1978, 1983 & 1985) The one common, was that Billy Martin was the manager for most of those wins. Billy had that knack for getting that extra out something of pitchers, even if he did ruin some of them for the long haul like in did in the early 80s with Oakland.

1977 was my first one, too. I remember well game 3 in 1978. Most folks were expecting another shut-down performance from Guidry, but he was tired by the end of that year and was really never the same again (close, but not quite). Nettles was a wizard in the field, saving Guidry and the series. If he had hit just a little he would have won MVP. That man routinely made outstanding plays and was a joy to watch. Led the league in HR’s, too, in 1976.
Anyway, good memory Steve. And mid-October is the right time for the WS, not November.

FWIW, it was my first one too.

Yeah, it was my first championship. I’m sure the 80s & 90s generation will view 1996 as I do 1977 down the road.

@ 77yankees:
BTW, thought you might like this one, because of your handle:

http://waswatching.com/2007/07/08/77-yanks-jan-brady-champs/

It was mainly Lopes wagging his “We’re #1″ finger in the air the first two games in LA. Next time you watch Game 3 when they play it on Yankees Classics, watch Lopes on the pivots at 2nd. No fewer than Chris Chambliss, Brian Doyle and Paul Blair all take him out with hard slides at 2nd.

Albeit it’s not Graig Nettles bulldozing Frank White at 2nd base in Game 4 of the 1977 ALCS, after Hal McRae’s cheap slide on Willie Randolph two days earlier – nevertheless the message want sent to Lopes, and by some of the lower key placid Yankees to boot.

@ Weekly Journalist:
Too many bad memories from 1981. I tend to want to block Yankees post-season losses from my memory.

Ah, good old optimistic Lombardi.

Hey, why didn’t you just use 1981 as your example? Surely that works much better since you don’t have to flip the teams. Or did you forget about that one?