Champions
Major League Baseball World Series: New York Yankees over Los Angeles Dodgers (4–2); Reggie Jackson, MVP
American League Championship Series MVP: None National League Championship Series MVP: Dusty Baker All-Star Game, July 19 at Yankee Stadium: National League, 7–5; Don Sutton, MVP
Other champions College World Series: Arizona State Japan Series: Hankyu Braves over Yomiuri Giants (4–1) Big League World Series: Taipei, Taiwan Little League World Series: Li-Teh, Kaohsiung, Taiwan Senior League World Series: Taipei, Taiwan Winter Leagues 1977 Caribbean Series: Tigres del Licey Dominican Republic League: Tigres del Licey Mexican Pacific League: Venados de Mazatlán Puerto Rican League: Criollos de Caguas Venezuelan League: Navegantes del Magallanes
Awards and honors Baseball Writers' Association of America AwardsBBWAA AwardNational LeagueAmerican LeagueRookie of the Year Andre Dawson (MON) Eddie Murray (BAL)Cy Young Award Steve Carlton (PHI) Sparky Lyle (NYY)Most Valuable Player George Foster (CIN) Rod Carew (MIN)Babe Ruth Award(World Series MVP) — Reggie Jackson (NYY)Gold Glove AwardsPositionNational LeagueAmerican LeaguePitcher Jim Kaat (PHI) Jim Palmer (BAL)Catcher Johnny Bench (CIN) Jim Sundberg (TEX)1st Base Steve Garvey (LAD) Jim Spencer (CWS)2nd Base Joe Morgan (CIN) Frank White (KC)3rd Base Mike Schmidt (PHI) Graig Nettles (NYY)Shortstop Dave Concepción (CIN) Mark Belanger (BAL)Outfield César Gerónimo (CIN) Juan Beníquez (TEX) Garry Maddox (PHI) Al Cowens (KC) Dave Parker (PIT) Carl Yastrzemski (BOS)
Woman Executive of the Year (major or minor league) Mary Anne Whitacre, Hawaii Islanders, Pacific Coast League
Statistical leaders American LeagueNational League Stat Player Total Player Total AVG Rod Carew (MIN) .388 Dave Parker (PIT) .338 HR Jim Rice (BOS) 39 George Foster (CIN) 52 RBI Larry Hisle (MIN) 119 George Foster (CIN) 149 W Dave Goltz (MIN)Dennis Leonard (KC)Jim Palmer (BAL) 20 Steve Carlton (PHI) 23 ERA Frank Tanana (CAL) 2.54 John Candelaria (PIT) 2.34 K Nolan Ryan (CAL) 341 Phil Niekro (ATL) 262
Major league baseball final standings American League final standings
National League final standings
Nippon Professional Baseball final standings Central League final standings +Central League Team G W L T Pct. GBYomiuri Giants 130 80 46 4 .635 –Yakult Swallows 130 62 58 10 .517 15.0Chunichi Dragons 130 64 61 5 .512 15.5Hanshin Tigers 130 55 63 12 .466 21.0Hiroshima Toyo Carp 130 51 67 12 .432 25.0Taiyo Whales 130 51 68 11 .429 25.5
Pacific League final standings +Pacific League Team G W L T Pct. 1st half ranking 2nd half rankingHankyu Braves 130 69 51 10 .575 1 2Nankai Hawks 130 63 55 12 .534 2 3Lotte Orions 130 60 57 13 .513 5 1Kintetsu Buffaloes 130 59 61 10 .492 3 6Nippon-Ham Fighters 130 58 61 11 .487 4 4Crown Lighter Lions 130 49 73 8 .402 6 5
Events January January 1 – Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Danny Frisella is killed in a dune buggy accident in Arizona. January 2 – Not even a full season into owning the Atlanta Braves, Ted Turner is suspended by Commissioner Bowie Kuhn for tampering with the signing of Gary Matthews. In addition, the Braves are stripped of their first round selections in the June 1978 baseball draft. Turner successfully appeals the suspension, and the draft picks are reinstated. January 4 – Mary Shane is hired by the Chicago White Sox as MLB's first woman TV play-by-play announcer. January 6: California Angels shortstop Mike Miley is killed in a single-car accident in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Future Hall-of-Fame first baseman Willie McCovey, four days shy of his 39th birthday, returns to the San Francisco Giants as a free agent. The slugger had spent 1974–1976 with the San Diego Padres and Oakland Athletics. Playing with his original and longtime (1959–1973) team, McCovey enjoys a renaissance in 1977, playing in 141 games, smashing 28 home runs, and batting .280 with 134 hits. January 11 – The Chicago Cubs trade pitcher Mike Garman and outfielder Rick Monday to the Los Angeles Dodgers for minor league pitcher Jeff Albert, first baseman Bill Buckner and shortstop Iván DeJesús. January 19 – The Baseball Writers' Association of America elects Ernie Banks to the Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility. January 20 – The Baltimore Orioles trade outfielder Paul Blair to the New York Yankees in exchange for outfielders Elliott Maddox and Rick Bladt. January 31 – The Special Veterans Committee selects second baseman Joe Sewell, pitcher Amos Rusie and catcher Al López for the Hall of Fame.
February February 2 – Fritz Peterson, who gained notoriety in as a member of the New York Yankees when he and teammate Mike Kekich swapped wives and families, is released by the Texas Rangers, ending his major league career. In 355 games pitched over 11 seasons, Peterson posted a 133–131 won–lost record (3.30 earned run average) with 20 shutouts and one 20-win season () for the Yanks, Rangers and Cleveland Indians. February 3 – The Special Committee on the Negro Leagues elects Martín Dihigo and John Henry Lloyd to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Dihigo, a dominant pitcher born in Cuba, also is one of just two players to be inducted to the Cuban, Dominican Republic, Mexican Baseball and Venezuelan Halls of Fame, being the other Willie Wells. Lloyd, a standout shortstop and prolific hitter, played in the Negro Leagues from 1906 through 1932, and is also a member of the Cuban and Mexican Halls of Fame. The committee then dissolves, its functions being taken over by the Veterans Committee. February 5 – The Chicago Cubs trade pitcher Darold Knowles to the Texas Rangers for a "Player to be named later (PTBNL)." Outfielder Gene Clines is later sent to Chicago to complete the deal. February 11 – The Cubs continue their busy off-season, sending third baseman and 1975–1976 National League batting champion Bill Madlock and second baseman Rob Sperring to the San Francisco Giants for third baseman Steve Ontiveros, outfielder Bobby Murcer and minor-league pitcher Andrew Muhlstock. February 16: Third baseman Dave Roberts, acquired by the brand-new Toronto Blue Jays from the San Diego Padres on October 22, 1976, is traded back to the Padres in exchange for pitcher Jerry Johnson. The Cubs make their fourth trade in five weeks, sending outfielder Champ Summers to the Cincinnati Reds for outfielder Dave Schneck. February 18 – The New York Yankees trade Sandy Alomar to the Texas Rangers for fellow infielders Brian Doyle and Greg Pryor. February 19 – The Oakland Athletics sell the contract of veteran relief pitcher Paul Lindblad to the Rangers for a reported $400,000. February 23 – The Detroit Tigers sign veteran second baseman Tito Fuentes, 33, who had been granted free agency from the San Diego Padres on December 1, 1976. Fuentes will start 149 games at second for the 1977 Tigers before ceding his position to top prospect Lou Whitaker in 1978. February 24 – The Oakland Athletics trade veteran first baseman/outfielder Ron Fairly to the Toronto Blue Jays for minor league infielder Mike Weathers. Fairly, a key member of the Montreal Expos from June 1969 through the 1974 season, will become the first major leaguer to play for both Canadian franchises.
March March 2 – Free-agent pitcher Ed Farmer is signed by the Baltimore Orioles. March 15: Oakland Athletics owner Charles O. Finley announces four trades, three of them with the Chicago Cubs, in an attempt to remake his team after free agency has liberated his former stars to sign elsewhere. His three transactions with the Cubs net him pitcher Joe Coleman and outfielder Jim Tyrone in exchange for pitcher Jim Todd and infielders Gaylen Pitts and Jerry Tabb. In his most significant transaction, made with the Pittsburgh Pirates, Finley obtains six players—pitchers Doug Bair, Dave Giusti, Rick Langford and Doc Medich and outfielders Tony Armas and Mitchell Page—in exchange for pitcher Chris Batton, American League All-Star second baseman Phil Garner, and veteran infielder Tommy Helms. March 16 – Finley's Oakland Athletics sign veteran seven-time All-Star slugger and AL MVP Dick Allen, 35, who had been granted free agency from the Philadelphia Phillies on November 5, 1977. March 17 – Charlie Finley is in the news again. A Federal Court rules in favor of Commissioner of Baseball Bowie Kuhn's decision—"in the best interest of baseball"—to void his Oakland Athletics' June 1976 deals that saw the team sell the contracts of Rollie Fingers and Joe Rudi to the Boston Red Sox and Vida Blue to the New York Yankees for a total of $3.5 million. Finley had sued Kuhn and MLB to force the deals to go through. March 18 – The Minnesota Twins sign free agent pitcher Geoff Zahn, released by the Chicago Cubs on January 17. March 21 – The Detroit Tigers' Mark Fidrych, American League Rookie of the Year, rips the cartilage in his left knee shagging fly balls in the outfield. He will undergo surgery March 31 and not return to the mound until May 27. March 26: The Oakland Athletics trade 22-year-old outfielder Claudell Washington, a 1975 AL All-Star, to the Texas Rangers for pitcher Jim Umbarger, infielder Rodney "Cool Breeze" Scott, and cash. The Houston Astros trade second baseman Rob Andrews and cash to the San Francisco Giants for second baseman Rob Sperring and outfielder Willie Crawford. The Boston Red Sox release popular third baseman Rico Petrocelli, 33, a 13-year veteran and two-time American League All-Star. Instead of signing with another team, Petrocelli opts to retire from baseball. March 28: While in Orlando, Florida for an exhibition game with the Minnesota Twins, Texas Rangers second baseman Lenny Randle, angered with manager Frank Lucchesi over playing time and remarks Lucchesi has made to the press, exchanges heated words with his manager during batting practice. When the argument escalates, Randle punches Lucchesi, still in street clothes, in the face and knocks him down. Lucchesi is hospitalized for a week: he needs plastic surgery to repair his fractured cheekbone, broken in three places. He also receives bruises to his kidney and back. The Rangers suspend Randle for 30 days without pay and fine him $10,000; he never plays for them again. Randle is also charged with assault and pleads no contest to battery charges in a Florida court, where he is slapped with an additional $1,050 fine. The Cincinnati Reds trade outfielder Joel Youngblood to the St. Louis Cardinals in exchange for pitcher Bill Caudill. March 29 – The Cleveland Indians reacquire outfielder John Lowenstein from the Toronto Blue Jays for shortstop Héctor Torres. March 30 – The Seattle Mariners trade pitcher Roy Thomas, who had been selected in the expansion draft, to the Houston Astros for second baseman Larry Milbourne.
April April 4 – The Pittsburgh Pirates acquire outfielder Mike Easler from the California Angels for minor-league pitcher Randy Sealy. April 5: The New York Yankees acquire shortstop Bucky Dent from the Chicago White Sox for pitchers LaMarr Hoyt and Bob Polinsky, outfielder Oscar Gamble and $200,000. Dent, 25, a American League All-Star with the Pale Hose, will have a notable six-year tenure in Yankee pinstripes—hitting one of the most famous homers in club history in 1978, earning two World Series rings in and (in which he will star as the Series' MVP), and making two more All-Star teams. The Los Angeles Dodgers sign veteran Boog Powell, the American League Most Valuable Player, who was released by the Cleveland Indians on March 30. Powell, 35, will pinch hit in 47 games for the 1977 Dodgers. April 6 – Before 57,762 fans, the Seattle Mariners play their first American League game and open their home stadium, the Kingdome, with a 7–0 loss to the California Angels. José Báez' first-inning single is the first hit in Mariners' history. April 7: