A Look Back at Brian Doyle

By Sal Maiorana

February 2024

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On the evening of Sept. 29, 1978, the final weekend of the season, Yankees second baseman Willie Randolph pulled a hamstring while beating out an infield single at Yankee Stadium against Cleveland, an injury that ultimately ended his season.

That unfortunate mishap set in motion a whirlwind two weeks for Brian Doyle that transformed him from middling Yankees prospect into one of the most unlikely World Series heroes MLB has ever seen.

“I wasn’t a good player; all you got to do is look at my bubble-gum card,” Doyle once said when asked, for about the millionth time, to recollect his moment in the MLB spotlight. “It was definitely not because of my ability. It was being blessed at the right place, at the right time and having the mental capacity to block everything out and be focused.”

Before the Randolph injury, Doyle was slated to return home to Bowling Green, Kentucky where he had procured an offseason job at a clothing store. Instead, when the Yankees and Red Sox finished tied atop the AL East at 99-63, forcing the one-game playoff at Fenway Park, Doyle - who had appeared in just 39 games and made 54 plate appearances during his rookie season - was the man playing second base that day.

He contributed nothing as he went 0-for-2 and did not handle a chance in the field, but once the Yankees’ 5-4 victory was secured and the postseason began, Doyle enjoyed the best couple weeks he ever spent in the majors. He entered into a second base platoon with Fred Stanley, but because he was a lefty swinger, he saw more action which turned out to be a very good thing for the Yankees.

Doyle started Game 1 of the ALCS in Kansas City and went 2-for-5 with an RBI - after having none in the regular season - in New York’s 7-1 victory, started Game 4 and drew a walk as the Yankees clinched the pennant with a 2-1 victory.

The 24-year-old - whose more accomplished brother, Denny, had just retired from the game in 1977 - made his first World Series start in Game 2 and had a single as the Yankees lost 4-3 to fall into a two games to none hole.

They flew home to New York and that’s when everything changed. Doyle went 0-for-4 but handled nine chances in the field as the Yankees won Game 3, the game where Graig Nettles put on a fielding clinic at third base that Brooks Robinson would have been awed by. And after sitting out Game 4 when the Yankees evened the Series on Lou Piniella’s walk-off RBI single in the 10th, Doyle started the final two games and delivered three hits in each as the Yankees won 12-2 and 7-2 to successfully defend their 1977 World Series title.

“Who would figure that Bucky Dent and Brian Doyle (17 hits) would get more hits combined than Steve Garvey and Ron Cey (16),” said Dodgers second baseman Davey Lopes. Doyle finished with a .438 average, highest of any player in the Series, though Dent and his .417 average earned the MVP award.

“It was the greatest thrill of my life in baseball,” Doyle said as the champagne was spraying in the visiting clubhouse at Dodger Stadium. “I won’t be able to comprehend everything until three or four days from now after I sit down and think about it.”

Nobody in Hollywood would have tried to produce a script that would end like this.”

Yankees manager Bob Lemon on Brian Doyle’s unlikely star turn.

Thanks to the World Series bonus he earned, Doyle announced that his offseason was going to change. “All I know is I’m not going to sell clothes this winter,” he said.

Doyle never came close to reaching these heights again. Randolph was entrenched at second base and Doyle played only four more seasons, most of that spent in the Yankees’ minor league system. He finished his career in 1981 with the A’s having played in just 110 regular-season MLB games, batting .161 with one homer, 13 RBI, and an on-base of .201.

But for two weeks in 1978, Doyle - who survived Leukemia and now has been battling Parkinson’s Disease for nearly a decade - was the toast of the biggest town in the world.

“There are a lot of guys on a ballclub that every pitcher, every manager says you don’t want this guy to beat you. And I wasn’t that guy,” Doyle said. “So you get good pitches to hit. It seems like in the playoffs and World Series, someone is going to have a big game that you are not expecting and the reason you are not expecting is this: Every pitch is so important and the guys that might beat you, you’re going to not give them a pitch to hit and you’re going to give the other guys pitches to hit. And if you are focused, it’s right there for you.”