Brian Doyle (baseball)

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For other people named Brian Doyle, see Brian Doyle (disambiguation).

Brian Doyle
Runs batted in
13
Teams
Career highlights and awards

Brian Reed Doyle (born January 26, 1954) is an American former Major League Baseball infielder. Although a reserve for most of his career, Doyle starred in the 1978 World Series for the World Champion New York Yankees who beat the Los Angeles Dodgers.[1]

Texas Rangers

Doyle was drafted by the

farm system when he was traded to the Yankees along with Greg Pryor in exchange for Sandy Alomar Sr.[2]

New York Yankees

After spending the

Tacoma Yankees. Doyle wasn't originally expected to be part of the Yankees' post season roster, however, All-Star second baseman Willie Randolph had been dealing with cartilage problems in his left knee all season.[3] A hamstring injury on September 29 sidelined him for the post season.[4]
Doyle was added in his place.

Doyle went 2-for-5 with his first career RBI in game one of the

plate appearances.[6]

1978 World Series

Doyle took the field as a late inning defensive replacement, but for the most part, sat out game one of the World Series with left hander Tommy John pitching.[7] He went 1-for-3 in game two,[8] and hitless in four at bats in game three.[9]

In game five, Doyle went 3-for-5 with two

runs scored in the Yankees' 12-2 dismantling of the Dodgers.[10] After which, he was featured on the October 23, 1978 cover of Sports Illustrated.[11]

In game six, Doyle came to bat in the second

extra base hit. He drove in a second run in the sixth.[12]

For the 1978 World Series Champion New York Yankees, Doyle batted a team leading .438 with seven hits in sixteen at bats, one double, four runs scored and two RBIs.[13] In the post season overall, he had nine hits in 23 at bats. Compared to the 1978 regular season, in which he only had ten hits (.192 avg.) and six runs scored with no RBIs.

He finished second to Bucky Dent in World Series Most Valuable Player Award balloting. Batting behind Doyle, the number nine hitter batted .417 with seven RBIs. The number eight and nine slots in the Yankees' batting order batted .400 with seven runs scored and nine RBIs.[14]

Oakland A's

Regardless of his post season heroics, Doyle saw little action over the remainder of his Yankees career. He appeared in 54 games in the

Cleveland Indians' Len Barker.[15]

On November 3, 1980, the Yankees traded Stanley and a player to be named later to the Oakland Athletics for pitcher Mike Morgan.[16] The Yankees sent Doyle to the A's to complete the deal, but Commissioner of Baseball Bowie Kuhn voided the transfer because Doyle was assigned to the Columbus Clippers at the time. On December 8, the A's selected Doyle in the Rule 5 draft.

He began the

Otto Velez separated Doyle's shoulder attempting to break up a double play.[17] He played 21 games in triple A, but never returned to the majors. He split the 1982 season between the Blue Jays' and Indians' International League affiliates before going into coaching for 1983
.

Personal

He and his wife, Connie, have been married since 1974. They have two children, Kirk and Kristin.

His twin brother, Blake, played minor league ball before becoming a major league coach. His brother, Denny (1944–2022), also played in the major leagues. In 1978, the Doyle brothers founded Doyle Baseball, a baseball school.

In 1983, Doyle managed the

Batavia Trojans
to a 32–43 record. In the 1990s, Doyle was diagnosed with leukemia, and was later on diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease in 2015.

References

  1. ^ Syken, Bill (April 28, 2003). "Brian Doyle Infielder (October 23, 1978)". Sports Illustrated.
  2. ^ "Alomar Traded to Rangers". The Spokesman-Review. February 18, 1977.
  3. ^ "Jarvis Leaves Idaho". The Register-Guard. June 28, 1978. p. 3C.
  4. ^ "Welch Closes Door on Yankees as Dodgers Go 2-up in Series". Rome News-Tribune. October 12, 1978. p. 1-B.
  5. ^ "1978 American League Championship Series, Game 1". Baseball-Reference.com. October 3, 1978.
  6. ^ "1978 American League Championship Series, Game 4". Baseball-Reference.com. October 7, 1978.
  7. ^ "1978 World Series, Game 1". Baseball-Reference.com. October 10, 1978.
  8. ^ "1978 World Series, Game 2". Baseball-Reference.com. October 11, 1978.
  9. ^ "1978 World Series, Game 3". Baseball-Reference.com. October 13, 1978.
  10. ^ "1978 World Series, Game 5". Baseball-Reference.com. October 15, 1978.
  11. ^ "World Series". Sports Illustrated. October 23, 1978.
  12. ^ "1978 World Series, Game 6". Baseball-Reference.com. October 17, 1978.
  13. ^ "1978 World Series". Baseball-Reference.com. October 10–17, 1978.
  14. ^ Fimrite, Ron (October 30, 1978). "The Yankee D Boys Did Double Duty". Sports Illustrated.
  15. ^ "New York Yankees 7, Cleveland Indians 2". Baseball-Reference.com. June 29, 1980.
  16. ^ "Oakland A's Trade Right-handed Pitcher Mike Morgan to the New York Yankees for Fred Stanley and a Player to be Named Later". United Press International. November 3, 1980.
  17. ^ McCarron, Anthony (May 23, 2015). "Hero of 1978 World Series for Yankees, Brian Doyle isn't letting Parkinson's Disease stop him". New York Daily News.

External links

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