1994 New York Yankees season

Last updated

1994  New York Yankees
League American League
Division East
Ballpark Yankee Stadium
CityNew York City
Owners George Steinbrenner
General managers Gene Michael
Managers Buck Showalter
Television WPIX
(Phil Rizzuto, Bobby Murcer, Paul Olden, Suzyn Waldman [1] [2] )
MSG Network
(Dewayne Staats, Tony Kubek, Al Trautwig)
Radio WABC (AM)
(Michael Kay, John Sterling)
←  1993 Seasons 1995  →

The 1994 New York Yankees season was the 92nd season for the Yankees. New York was managed by Buck Showalter and played at Yankee Stadium. The season was cut short by the 1994 player's strike, which wiped out any postseason aspirations for their first postseason appearance since losing the 1981 World Series and that their star player and captain, Don Mattingly, had not appeared in the postseason during his illustrious career. On the day the strike began, the team had a record of 70–43, 6+1⁄2 games ahead of the Baltimore Orioles, the best record in the American League and the second-best record in Major League Baseball. [3] The Yankees were on pace to win at least 100 games for the first time since 1980. [4] The Yankees' ace, 33-year-old veteran Jimmy Key, was leading the majors with 17 wins and was on pace to win 24 games. [3] Right fielder Paul O'Neill was also having a career year, as he was leading the league with a .359 batting average. [3]

Contents

The strike is remembered bitterly by Yankees fans as it shook sports fans in New York City and the Yankees to the core, [5] [6] and has been named among the 10 worst moments in New York City sports history, primarily because Mattingly had not played in a postseason. [7] It was also seen as the frustrating peak of the Yankees' downfall of the 1980s and early 1990s. [5]

Many fans said that the strike and the lost Yankees season was another blow to baseball backers in New York City, following the move of the Dodgers and the Giants to California for the 1958 season, the demise of the Yankees during the 1960s and early 1970s, and the bad baseball at Shea Stadium during the late 1970s and early 1990s. [5] The strike ruined the chance for the Yankees to follow in the footsteps of the NHL Stanley Cup Champion Rangers and NBA Eastern Conference Champion Knicks by making the championship round of their respective sport. [8] [1]

Because the Yankees' last postseason appearance had been in a season cut short by a strike, [9] the media often remarked on the parallels between the two Yankee teams (1981 and 1994), which included both teams having division leads taken away by strike. [10] [11] Throughout October, they continued to bombard the Yankees, making speculations about what might have been if there had not been a strike. [12]

Offseason

Regular season

By Friday, August 12, the Yankees had compiled a 70-43 record through 113 games. They were leading the AL East Division and had scored 670 runs (5.93 per game) and allowed 534 runs (4.73 per game). [20] Yankees hitters were walked 530 times in the strike-shortened season: the most in the Majors. They also led the Majors in on-base percentage, with .374. [1] They did, however, tie the San Diego Padres for the most double plays grounded into, with 112. [21]

The World Series, for which the Yankees appeared to be destined, [22] was never played and contributed to fallouts both on and off the field. On the field, Buck Showalter did not have his contract renewed and Don Mattingly retired after the 1995 season. [1] In addition, General Manager Gene Michael was fired as a result of the strike. [23] Off the field, the Yankees broadcast team on MSG Network left due to the strike; play-by-play announcer Dewayne Staats didn't have his contract renewed and analyst Tony Kubek, himself a former Yankee, retired from broadcasting. [24] Kubek cited "I hate what the game's become—the greed, the nastiness." He hasn't seen or broadcast a baseball game since. [25]

The 1994 New York Yankees team that could have been remains a hot discussion point in both baseball and in New York City because of the team's revival [26] [27] and Mattingly had not played in a postseason. [1] When reacting to the strike's cancellation of the season, the first words many people on the Yankees, including Owner George Steinbrenner, Michael, and Showalter all said was that they all felt bad for Mattingly, saying that he deserved a postseason. [28] [1] Mattingly led active players in both games played and at bats without ever appearing in the postseason. [29]

Opening Day lineup

Game log

1994 Regular Season Game Log (70-43) (Home: 33-24; Road: 37-19)
April (15-8) (Home: 9-4; Road: 6-4)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecordReport
1April 4 Rangers
2April 7 Rangers
3April 8 Tigers
4April 9 Tigers
5April 10 Tigers
6April 12@ White Sox
7April 13@ White Sox
8April 14@ White Sox
9April 15@ Tigers
10April 16@ Tigers
11April 17@ Tigers
12April 19 Mariners
13April 20 Mariners
14April 21 Mariners
15April 22 Athletics
16April 23 Athletics
17April 24 Athletics
18April 25 Angels
19April 26 Angels
20April 27@ Mariners
21April 28@ Mariners
22April 29@ Athletics
23April 30@ Athletics
May (18-7) (Home: 12-2; Road: 6-5)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecordReport
24May 1@ Athletics
25May 3@ Angels
26May 4@ Angels
27May 6 Red Sox
28May 7 Red Sox
29May 8 Red Sox
30May 9 Indians
31May 10 Indians
32May 11 Indians
33May 12 Indians
34May 13@ Brewers
35May 14@ Brewers
36May 15@ Brewers
37May 17@ Twins
38May 18@ Twins
39May 20 Orioles
40May 21 Orioles
41May 22 Orioles
42May 24 Blue Jays
43May 25 Blue Jays
44May 27@ Royals
45May 28@ Royals
46May 29@ Royals
47May 30 White Sox
48May 31 White Sox
June (14-13) (Home: 4-6; Road: 10-7)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecordReport
49June 1 White Sox
50June 3 Royals
51June 4 Royals
52June 5 Royals
53June 6@ Rangers
54June 7@ Rangers
55June 8@ Rangers
56June 9@ Blue Jays
57June 10@ Blue Jays
58June 11@ Blue Jays
59June 12@ Blue Jays
60June 13@ Orioles
61June 14@ Orioles
62June 15@ Orioles
63June 16@ Orioles
64June 17 Brewers
65June 18 Brewers
66June 19 Brewers
67June 20 Twins
68June 21 Twins
69June 22 Twins
70June 24@ Indians
71June 26@ Indians
72June 27@ Red Sox
73June 28@ Red Sox
74June 29@ Red Sox
75June 30@ Red Sox
July (17-10) (Home: 7-9; Road: 10-1)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecordReport
76July 1 Mariners
77July 2 Mariners
78July 3 Mariners
79July 4 Athletics
80July 5 Athletics
81July 6 Athletics
82July 7 Angels
83July 8 Angels
84July 9 Angels
85July 10 Angels
All-Star Break : NL def. AL at Three Rivers Stadium, 8–7 (10)
86July 14@ Mariners
87July 15@ Mariners
88July 16@ Mariners
89July 17@ Mariners
90July 18@ Athletics
91July 19@ Athletics
92July 20@ Athletics
93July 21@ Angels
94July 22@ Angels
95July 23@ Angels
96July 24@ Angels
97July 26 Red Sox
98July 27 Red Sox
99July 28 Red Sox
100July 29 Indians
101July 30 Indians
102July 31 Indians
August (6-5) (Home: 1-3; Road: 5-2)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecordReport
103August 1@ Brewers
104August 2@ Brewers
105August 3@ Brewers
106August 4@ Twins
107August 5@ Twins
108August 6@ Twins
109August 7@ Twins
110August 8 Orioles
111August 9 Orioles
112August 10 Orioles
113August 11 Blue Jays
Legend
Yankees winYankees loss All-Star Game Game postponed

Season standings

AL East
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
New York Yankees 7043.619—33‍–‍2437‍–‍19
Baltimore Orioles 6349.5626½28‍–‍2735‍–‍22
Toronto Blue Jays 5560.4781633‍–‍2622‍–‍34
Boston Red Sox 5461.4701731‍–‍3323‍–‍28
Detroit Tigers 5362.4611834‍–‍2419‍–‍38
Division leaders
Team W L Pct.
New York Yankees 7043.619
Chicago White Sox 6746.593
Texas Rangers 5262.456
Wild Card team
(Top team qualifies for postseason)
Team W L Pct. GB
Cleveland Indians 6647.584—
Baltimore Orioles 6349.5622½
Kansas City Royals 6451.5573
Toronto Blue Jays 5560.47812
Boston Red Sox 5461.47013
Minnesota Twins 5360.46913
Detroit Tigers 5362.46114
Milwaukee Brewers 5362.46114
Oakland Athletics 5163.44715½
Seattle Mariners 4963.43816½
California Angels 4768.40920

Record vs. opponents

1994 American League record

Sources:
TeamBALBOSCALCWSCLEDETKCMILMINNYYOAKSEATEXTOR
Baltimore —4–28–42–44–63–44–17–34–54–67–54–63–37–2
Boston 2–4—7–52–43–74–24–25–51–83–79–36–61–57–3
California 4–85–7—5–50–53–46–43–33–34–83–62–76–43–4
Chicago 4–24–25–5—7–58–43–79–32–44–26–39–14–52–3
Cleveland 6–47–35–05–7—8–21–45–29–30–96–03–25–76–4
Detroit 4–32–44–34–82–8—4–86–43–33–35–46–35–75–4
Kansas City 1–42–44–67–34–18–4—5–76–44–27–36–44–36–6
Milwaukee 3–75–53–33–92–54–67–5—6–62–74–14–23–37–3
Minnesota 5–48–13–34–23–93–34–66–6—4–52–53–34–54–8
New York 6–47–38–42–49–03–32–47–25–4—7–58–43–23–4
Oakland 5–73–96–33–60–64–53–71–45–25–7—4–37–35–1
Seattle 4–66–67–21–92–33–64–62–43–34–83–4—9–11–5
Texas 3–35–14–65–47–57–53–43–35–42–33–71–9—4–8
Toronto 2–73–74–33–24–64–56–63–78–44–31–55–18–4—

Notable transactions

Roster

1994 New York Yankees
Roster
PitchersCatchers

Infielders

OutfieldersManager

Coaches

Player stats

= Indicates team leader

Batting

Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

PosPlayerGABRHAvg.HRRBI
C Mike Stanley 822905487.3001757
1B Don Mattingly 9737262113.304651
2B Pat Kelly 932863580.280341
SS Mike Gallego 893063973.239641
3B Wade Boggs 9736661125.3421155
LF Luis Polonia 9535062109.311136
CF Bernie Williams 10840880118.2891257
RF Paul O'Neill 10336868132.3592183
DH Danny Tartabull 10439968102.2561967

[34]

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

PlayerGABRHAvg.HRRBI
Randy Velarde 772804778.279934
Jim Leyritz 752494766.2651758
Gerald Williams 57861925.291413
Matt Nokes 28791123.291719
Daryl Boston 52771114.182414
Kevin Elster 72000.00000
Dave Silvestri 121832.11112
Russ Davis 41402.14301
Bob Melvin 91424.28613
Robert Eenhoorn 3412.50000

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

PlayerGIPWLERASO
Jimmy Key 25168.01743.2797
Jim Abbott 24160.1984.5590
Mélido Pérez 22151.1944.10109
Terry Mulholland 24120.2676.4972
Scott Kamieniecki 22117.1863.7671
Bob Ojeda 23.00024.003

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

PlayerGIPWLERASO
Sterling Hitchcock 2349.1414.2037
Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

PlayerGWLSVERASO
Steve Howe 4030151.8018
Bob Wickman 535463.0956
Xavier Hernandez 314465.8537
Paul Gibson 301104.9721
Donn Pall 261203.6021
Joe Ausanio 132105.1715
Jeff Reardon 111028.384
Greg A. Harris 30105.404
Rob Murphy 300016.200
Mark Hutton 20004.911

Awards and honors

All-Star Game

Farm system

LevelTeamLeagueManager
AAA Columbus Clippers International League Stump Merrill
AA Albany-Colonie Yankees Eastern League Bill Evers
A Tampa Yankees Florida State League Jake Gibbs
A Greensboro Bats South Atlantic League Trey Hillman
A-Short Season Oneonta Yankees New York–Penn League Ken Dominguez
Rookie GCL Yankees Gulf Coast League Héctor López

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Tampa [35]

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References

Inline citations

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 McCarron, Anthony (August 10, 2014). "'94 The Season That Wasn't". New York Daily News. p. 70-71. Retrieved May 15, 2015.
  2. ↑ Albanese, Laura (March 31, 2019). "'I'M TOLERATED, NOT ACCEPTED': Waldman's road to radio booth has been rough". Newsday. p. 68. In 1994, she became the play-by-play person for WPIX's Yankees telecasts.
  3. 1 2 3 Curry, Jack (August 26, 2002). "Lost Games, Lost Dreams". The New York Times . p. D1.
  4. ↑ O'Connell, Jack (August 3, 1994). "In the End, a Big Finish for Yankees". The Hartford Courant. p. G1. They are on a pace for a 103-victory season over 162 games. The Yankees have not won 100 games since winning 103 under Dick Howser in 1980.
  5. 1 2 3 McShane, Larry (September 16, 1994). "Yankees Fans Left with Broken Hearts". Associated Press.
  6. ↑ Pennington 2019 , pp. 210–211
  7. ↑ Eckstein, Bob (September 16, 1997). "New York's top ten worst moments in sports". The Village Voice. 42 (37): 142.
  8. ↑ Pennington 2019 , p. 188, 210
  9. ↑ Pennington 2019 , pp. 7, 203, 211
  10. ↑ Curry, Jack (August 7, 1994). "BASEBALL; Flashback to '81: Another Lead, Another Strike". The New York Times. p. A1.
  11. ↑ Kawakami, Tim (August 10, 1994). "'81, '94 Yankees Both Winners but Worlds Apart in Personality". The Los Angeles Times. p. C2. Those who followed the 1981 New York Yankees...can't help but notice potential similarities with this year's first-place Yankee club.
  12. ↑ O'Connell, Jack (April 25, 1995). "Finishing What They Started". The Hartford Courant. p. G2. In the lengthy and uncertain off-season, an unfair anointing was bestowed on the Yankees. To emphasize the sense of loss with no World Series, many columnists kept referring to the dates in October when the Yankees might have played a Series game. This kind of reference occurred so often, fans may have gotten the idea the Yankees were a lock for the Series. An unforeseen stumble on the way to the playoffs or in one of the newly expanded rounds of postseason play was out of the question.
  13. ↑ Andy Stankiewicz page at Baseball Reference
  14. ↑ "Spike Owen Statistics and History" . Retrieved December 6, 2013.
  15. ↑ Luis Polonia page at Baseball Reference
  16. 1 2 Sam Horn page at Baseball Reference
  17. 1 2 Bob Ojeda page at Baseball Reference
  18. ↑ Terry Mulholland page at Baseball Reference
  19. 1 2 Jeff Reardon page at Baseball Reference
  20. ↑ "1994 American League Team Statistics and Standings". baseball-reference.com.
  21. ↑ "1994 MLB Team Statistics". baseball-reference.com.
  22. ↑ Pennington 2019 , pp. 208–2011, 221
  23. ↑ Pennington 2019 , pp. 271–274, 280, 311
  24. ↑ Staats, Dewayne; Scheiber, Dave (2015). Position to Win: A Look at Baseball and Life From the Best Seat in the House. Advance Ink Publishing. ISBN   978-0692487969.
  25. ↑ Araton, Harvey (July 22, 2008). "Kubek's New Life". The New York Times.
  26. ↑ Pennington 2019 , p. 211
  27. ↑ Kurkjian, Tim (August 12, 2019). "'Oh my God, how can we do this?': An oral history of the 1994 MLB strike". ESPN. Retrieved June 5, 2024. It was the summer of 1994, and, on the field, baseball was thriving...The Yankees were in a revival. The Expos looked like they might make history...
  28. ↑ Pennington 2019 , p. 209
  29. ↑ Pennington 2019 , pp. 187, 204, 209
  30. ↑ Paul Assenmacher page on Baseball Reference
  31. ↑ Kevin Maas page at Baseball Reference
  32. ↑ "Kevin Elster Stats".
  33. 1 2 "Greg Harris Stats".
  34. ↑ "1994 New York Yankees Statistics".
  35. ↑ Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles (2007) [1997]. The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (2nd and 3rd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America.

Bibliography

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