1995 New York Yankees season

1995  New York Yankees
American League Wild Card winners
League	American League
Division	East
Ballpark	Yankee Stadium
City	New York
Record	79–65 (.549)
Divisional place	2nd
Owners	George Steinbrenner
General managers	Gene Michael
Managers	Buck Showalter
Television	WPIX (Phil Rizzuto, Bobby Murcer, Paul Olden) MSG (Jim Kaat, Dave Cohen, Al Trautwig)
Radio	WABC (AM) (Michael Kay, John Sterling)
←  1994 Seasons 1996  →

The 1995 New York Yankees season was the 93rd season for the Yankees, and their 71st playing home games at Yankee Stadium. Managed by Buck Showalter, the team finished with a record of 79–65, seven games behind the Boston Red Sox, and returned to postseason play for the first time since the 1981 season. They won the first American League Wild Card. In the Division Series, they squandered a 2–0 series lead, losing three straight games at the Kingdome to succumb to the Seattle Mariners in five games.

Offseason

• December 14, 1994: Jack McDowell was traded by the Chicago White Sox to the New York Yankees for a player to be named later and Keith Heberling, a minor leaguer. The New York Yankees sent Lyle Mouton (April 22, 1995) to the White Sox to complete the trade. ^[1]
• December 15, 1994: Tony Fernández was signed as a free agent with the New York Yankees. ^[2]

Regular season

• On May 29, 1995, Derek Jeter made his major league baseball debut. ^[3] It was in a game against the Seattle Mariners. Jeter had 5 at-bats and had 0 hits. ^[4]
• On September 11, 1995, pitcher Jack McDowell threw exactly three pitches and recorded three outs. ^[5] This was accomplished in the ninth inning. This was also only the third time in MLB history where a team completed a nine-inning game without recording a single fielding assist, meaning that no one was thrown out and all the outs were recorded with fly balls or strikeouts. The only other teams to do it were Cleveland in 1945 and the NY Mets in 1989. ^[6]

Season standings

• v
• t
• e

AL East

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Boston Red Sox	86	58	.597	—	42‍–‍30	44‍–‍28
New York Yankees	79	65	.549	7	46‍–‍26	33‍–‍39
Baltimore Orioles	71	73	.493	15	36‍–‍36	35‍–‍37
Detroit Tigers	60	84	.417	26	35‍–‍37	25‍–‍47
Toronto Blue Jays	56	88	.389	30	29‍–‍43	27‍–‍45

Record vs. opponents

1995 American League record Source: MLB Standings Grid – 1995 v t e
Team	BAL	BOS	CAL	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	MIL	MIN	NYY	OAK	SEA	TEX	TOR
Baltimore	—	4–9	9–4	6–1	2–10	8–5	4–5	7–5	3–6	6–7	5–7	6–7	4–1	7–6
Boston	9–4	—	11–3	5–3	6–7	8–5	3–2	8–4	5–4	5–8	8–4	7–5	3–4	8–5
California	4–9	3–11	—	10–2	3–2	6–2	5–7	5–2	8–5	7–5	6–7	7–6	6–7	8–2
Chicago	1–6	3–5	2–10	—	5–8	8–4	8–5	6–7	10–3	3–2–1	7–5	4–9	5–7	6–5
Cleveland	10–2	7–6	2–3	8–5	—	10–3	11–1	9–4	9–4	6–6	7–0	5–4	6–3	10–3
Detroit	5–8	5–8	2–6	4–8	3–10	—	3–4	8–5	7–5	5–8	2–3	5–5	4–8	7–6
Kansas City	5–4	2–3	7–5	5–8	1–11	4–3	—	10–2	6–7	3–7	5–8	7–5	8–6	7–5
Milwaukee	5–7	4–8	2–5	7–6	4–9	5–8	2–10	—	9–4	5–6	7–2	3–2	5–7	7–5
Minnesota	6–3	4–5	5–8	3–10	4–9	5–7	7–6	4–9	—	3–4	5–7	4–8	5–8	1–4
New York	7–6	8–5	5–7	2–3–1	6–6	8–5	7–3	6–5	4–3	—	4–9	4–9	6–3	12–1
Oakland	7–5	4–8	7–6	5–7	0–7	3–2	8–5	2–7	7–5	9–4	—	7–6	5–8	3–7
Seattle	7–6	5–7	6–7	9–4	4–5	5–5	5–7	2–3	8–4	9–4	6–7	—	10–3	3–4
Texas	1–4	4–3	7–6	7–5	3–6	8–4	6–8	7–5	8–5	3–6	8–5	3–10	—	9–3
Toronto	6–7	5–8	2–8	5–6	3–10	6–7	5–7	5–7	4–1	1–12	7–3	4–3	3–9	—

Transactions

• April 12, 1995: Randy Velarde was signed as a free agent with the New York Yankees. ^[7]
• June 5, 1995: Josías Manzanillo was selected off waivers by the New York Yankees from the New York Mets. ^[8]
• June 8, 1995: Kevin Elster was released by the New York Yankees. ^[9]
• June 19, 1995: Darryl Strawberry was signed as a free agent with the New York Yankees.
• July 1, 1995: Kevin Maas was signed as a free agent with the New York Yankees. ^[10]
• July 16, 1995: Dave Silvestri was traded by the New York Yankees to the Montreal Expos for Tyrone Horne (minors). ^[11]
• July 28, 1995: David Cone was traded by the Toronto Blue Jays to the New York Yankees for Marty Janzen, Jason Jarvis (minors), and Mike Gordon (minors). ^[12]
• July 28, 1995: Danny Tartabull was traded by the New York Yankees to the Oakland Athletics for Rubén Sierra and Jason Beverlin. ^[13]
• August 5, 1995: Luis Polonia was traded by the New York Yankees to the Atlanta Braves for Troy Hughes (minors). ^[14]

Draft picks

• June 1, 1995: Donzell McDonald was drafted by the New York Yankees in the 22nd round of the 1995 amateur draft. Player signed July 22, 1995. ^[15]
• June 1, 1995: Future NFL quarterback Daunte Culpepper was drafted by the New York Yankees in the 26th round (730th pick) of the 1995 amateur draft. Culpepper was drafted out of Vanguard High School. ^[16]

Roster

1995 New York Yankees
Roster
Pitchers 54 Joe Ausanio 25 Scott Bankhead 31 Brian Boehringer 36 David Cone 47 Dave Eiland 41 Sterling Hitchcock 47 Rick Honeycutt 57 Steve Howe 28 Scott Kamieniecki 22 Jimmy Key 34 Rob MacDonald 38 Josías Manzanillo 19 Jack McDowell 39 Jeff Patterson 56 Dave Pavlas 33 Mélido Pérez 46 Andy Pettitte 42 Mariano Rivera 35 John Wetteland 27 Bob Wickman		Catchers 13 Jim Leyritz 62 Jorge Posada 20 Mike Stanley Infielders 12 Wade Boggs 24 Russ Davis 50 Robert Eenhoorn 26 Kevin Elster  6 Tony Fernández  2 Derek Jeter 14 Pat Kelly 23 Don Mattingly 43 Dave Silvestri 18 Randy Velarde		Outfielders 39 Dion James 21 Paul O'Neill 17 Luis Polonia 17,25 Rubén Rivera 26 Darryl Strawberry 45 Danny Tartabull 51 Bernie Williams 29 Gerald Williams		Manager 11 Buck Showalter Coaches  6 Clete Boyer 55 Brian Butterfield (First Base) 40 Tony Cloninger 36 Billy Connors 48 Rick Down 30 Willie Randolph (Third Base) 53 Glenn Sherlock (Bullpen Catcher)

Death of Mickey Mantle

Shortly before his death, Mantle videotaped a message to be played on Old-Timers' Day, which he was too ill to attend. He said, "When I die, I wanted on my tombstone, 'A great teammate.' But I didn't think it would be this soon." The words were indeed carved on the plaque marking his resting place at the family mausoleum in Dallas.

Mantle received a liver transplant at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas, on June 8, 1995, after his liver had been damaged by years of chronic alcoholism, cirrhosis and hepatitis C. In July, he had recovered enough to deliver a press conference at Baylor, and noted that many fans had looked to him as a role model. "This is a role model: Don't be like me", he said. He also established the Mickey Mantle Foundation to raise awareness for organ donations. Soon, he was back in the hospital, where it was found that his liver cancer spread throughout his body.

Mickey Mantle died on August 13, 1995, at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas. He was 63 years old. During the first Yankee home game after Mantle's passing, Eddie Layton played "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" on the Hammond organ at Yankee Stadium because Mickey had once told him it was his favorite song. The Yankees played the rest of the season with black mourning bands topped by a small number 7 on their left sleeves.

Phil Rizzuto, angered over the refusal of television station WPIX to give him a day off to attend his former teammate's funeral, abruptly resigned from his play-by-play announcing job with the station on August 19. He would return to call a partial schedule for the station in 1996 before retiring for good.

Game log

Regular season

1995 regular season game log: 79–65–1 (Home: 46–26–1; Away: 33–39)
April: 3–1 (Home: 1–0; Away: 2–1) # Date Time (ET) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/ Streak
May: 10–16 (Home: 6–5; Away: 4–11) # Date Time (ET) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/ Streak 5 May 1 7:40 p.m. EDT Red Sox W 5–3 Howe (1–0) Lilliquist (0–1) Wetteland (3) 2:30 17,412 4–1 W1 6 May 2 7:36 p.m. EDT Red Sox L 0–8 Eshelman (1–0) Hitchcock (0–1) – 2:25 13,694 4–2 L1 7 May 3 7:36 p.m. EDT Red Sox W 4–3 (13) Wickman (1–0) Pierce (0–1) – 4:06 19,990 5–2 W1 8 May 4 7:36 p.m. EDT Red Sox W 5–3 Ausanio (1–0) Johnston (0–1) – 3:01 18,994 6–2 W2 15 May 12 7:07 p.m. EDT @ Red Sox W 12–2 Hitchcock (1–2) Sele (2–1) – 3:08 32,754 10–5 W1 16 May 13 1:07 p.m. EDT @ Red Sox L 4–6 Eshelman (3–0) Wickman (1–1) Ryan (2) 3:10 32,695 10–6 L1 17 May 14 1:07 p.m. EDT @ Red Sox L 2–3 Peña (1–0) Howe (1–1) – 2:49 32,526 10–7 L2 18 May 16 7:35 p.m. EDT Indians L 5–10 Nagy (2–0) Key (1–2) – 3:00 18,246 10–8 L3 22 May 23 @ Angels L 0–10 12–10 L1 23 May 24 @ Angels L 1–3 12–11 L2 24 May 25 @ Angels L 2–15 12–12 L3 28 May 29 8:07 p.m. EDT @ Mariners L 7–8 (12) Ayala (1–0) Bankhead (1–1) – 4:05 18,948 13–15 L1 29 May 30 10:05 p.m. EDT @ Mariners L 3–7 Nelson (2–0) Pérez (2–2) – 3:08 10,709 13–16 L2 30 May 31 10:36 p.m. EDT @ Mariners L 9–11 Wells (2–3) MacDonald (0–1) Ayala (8) 3:38 13,035 13–17 L3
June: 13–14 (Home: 8–8; Away: 5–6) # Date Time (ET) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/ Streak 31 June 2 Angels L 2–3 13–18 L4 32 June 3 Angels L 2–4 13–19 L5 33 June 4 Angels W 11–3 14–19 W1 38 June 9 7:35 p.m. EDT Mariners L 1–11 Belcher (3–0) Pérez (3–3) – 2:49 19,650 15–23 L2 39 June 10 1:37 p.m. EDT Mariners L 2–3 Nelson (3–0) Howe (1–2) Ayala (9) 3:03 25,279 15–24 L3 40 June 11 1:37 p.m. EDT Mariners W 10–7 Howe (2–2) Frey (0–3) Wetteland (7) 3:33 26,037 16–24 W1 45 June 16 7:05 p.m. EDT @ Indians W 4–2 Wickman (2–1) Poole (1–3) Wetteland (8) 3:04 41,643 19–26 W1 46 June 17 1:05 p.m. EDT @ Indians L 4–7 Black (3–1) Pettitte (1–4) Mesa (17) 2:53 41,662 19–27 L1 47 June 18 8:05 p.m. EDT @ Indians W 9–5 McDowell (3–4) Nagy (4–3) Wetteland (9) 3:13 41,667 20–27 W1
July: 17–11–1 (Home: 9–4–1; Away: 8–7) # Date Time (ET) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/ Streak 66th All-Star Game in Arlington, TX 72 July 17 8:06 p.m. EDT White Sox T 1–1 (7) – – – 2:16 22,707 33–38–1 T1
August: 14–17 (Home: 9–6; Away: 5–11) # Date Time (ET) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/ Streak 96 August 10 (1) 4:37 p.m. EDT Indians L 9–10 Poole (2–3) Wetteland (1–2) Mesa (31) 2:58 – 49–46–1 L2 97 August 10 (2) 8:06 p.m. EDT Indians L 2–5 Ogea (6–3) Hitchcock (5–7) Mesa (32) 3:09 48,115 49–47–1 L3 98 August 11 7:35 p.m. EDT Indians L 4–5 Tavarez (7–1) Wetteland (1–3) Mesa (33) 3:59 33,739 49–48–1 L4 99 August 12 8:07 p.m. EDT Indians W 3–2 McDowell (10–8) Martínez (9–3) – 2:53 35,795 50–48–1 W1 100 August 13 1:43 p.m. EDT Indians W 4–1 Cone (13–6) Clark (6–5) – 2:27 45,866 51–48–1 W2 101 August 14 7:09 p.m. EDT @ Red Sox L 3–9 Hanson (11–4) Kamieniecki (3–4) – 3:04 34,319 51–49–1 L1 102 August 15 7:08 p.m. EDT @ Red Sox W 9–2 Hitchcock (6–7) Cormier (5–3) – 2:57 34,616 52–49–1 W1 103 August 16 1:08 p.m. EDT @ Red Sox L 4–7 Gunderson (2–1) Wickman (2–4) Belinda (8) 2:58 34,304 52–50–1 L1 104 August 18 @ Angels W 7–3 53–50–1 W1 105 August 19 @ Angels L 3–5 53–51–1 L1 106 August 20 @ Angels L 5–10 53–52–1 L2 110 August 24 6:37 p.m. EDT @ Mariners L 7–9 Nelson (5–1) Wetteland (1–4) – 3:30 17,592 53–56–1 L6 111 August 25 11:07 p.m. EDT @ Mariners L 4–7 Bosio (9–6) Pettitte (6–8) – 3:01 28,130 53–57–1 L7 112 August 26 10:05 p.m. EDT @ Mariners L 0–7 Johnson (13–2) Hitchcock (6–9) – 2:49 41,182 53–58–1 L8 113 August 27 4:36 p.m. EDT @ Mariners W 5–2 Kamieniecki (4–5) Belcher (8–9) Wetteland (23) 3:32 24,913 54–58–1 W1 115 August 29 Angels W 12–4 55–58–1 W2 116 August 30 Angels W 4–1 56–58–1 W3 117 August 31 Angels W 11–6 57–58–1 W4
September: 21–6 (Home: 13–3; Away: 8–3) # Date Time (ET) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/ Streak 121 September 4 1:05 p.m. EDT Mariners W 13–3 Pettitte (8–8) Torres (3–9) – 3:00 24,885 60–60–1 W1 122 September 5 7:35 p.m. EDT Mariners L 5–6 Wolcott (3–1) Rivera (5–3) Chalton (6) 3:08 15,340 60–61–1 L1 123 September 6 7:35 p.m. EDT Mariners W 4–3 McDowell (13–10) Belcher (9–10) – 2:38 15,426 61–61–1 W1 124 September 8 8:08 p.m. EDT Red Sox W 8–4 Cone (15–7) Wakefield (15–4) Howe (2) 2:40 35,896 62–61–1 W2 125 September 9 1:36 p.m. EDT Red Sox W 9–1 Pettitte (9–8) Smith (7–8) – 2:39 47,719 63–61–1 W3 126 September 10 8:07 p.m. EDT Red Sox W 9–3 Hitchcock (8–9) Hanson (13–5) – 2:47 27,527 64–61–1 W4 127 September 11 7:05 p.m. EDT @ Indians W 4–0 McDowell (14–10) Martínez (10–5) – 2:52 41,835 65–61–1 W5 128 September 12 7:45 p.m. EDT @ Indians W 9–2 Kamieniecki (5–5) Hill (8–8) – 3:18 41,276 66–61–1 W6 129 September 13 8:52 p.m. EDT @ Indians L 0–5 Nagy (14–5) Cone (15–8) – 2:29 41,708 66–62–1 L1 141 September 26 8:07 p.m. EDT @ Brewers W 5–4 Hitchcock (10–10) Karl (5–7) Wetteland (30) 2:57 8,618 75–65–1 W1 142 September 27 2:07 p.m. EDT @ Brewers W 6–3 Cone (18–8) Givens (5–7) – 2:59 8,635 76–65–1 W2 143 September 29 8:06 p.m. EDT @ Blue Jays W 4–3 Pettitte (12–9) Castillo (1–5) Wetteland (31) 2:50 40,318 77–65–1 W3 144 September 30 1:35 p.m. EDT @ Blue Jays W 6–1 Kamieniecki (7–6) Leiter (11–11) – 2:40 49,233 78–65–1 W4
October: 1–0 (Home: 0–0; Away: 1–0) # Date Time (ET) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/ Streak 145 October 1 1:35 p.m. EDT @ Blue Jays W 6–1 Hitchcock (11–10) Hentgen (10–14) – 2:55 47,182 79–65–1 W5
Legend:       = Win       = Loss       = Postponement Bold = Yankees team member

Postseason game log

1995 Postseason game log: 2–3 (Home: 2–0; Away: 0–3)
AL Division Series: vs. Seattle Mariners 2–3 (Home: 2–0; Away: 0–3) # Date Time (ET) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Series Box/ Streak 1 October 3 8:07 p.m. EDT Mariners W 9–6 Cone (1–0) Nelson (0–1) – 3:38 57,178 1–0 W1 2 October 4 8:07 p.m. EDT Mariners W 7–5 (15) Rivera (1–0) Belcher (0–1) – 5:12 57,126 2–0 W2 3 October 6 8:07 p.m. EDT @ Mariners L 4–7 Johnson (1–0) McDowell (0–1) Chalton (1) 3:04 57,944 2–1 L1 4 October 7 7:07 p.m. EDT @ Mariners L 8–11 Charlton (1–0) Wetteland (0–1) Risley (1) 4:08 57,180 2–2 L2 5 October 8 7:07 p.m. EDT @ Mariners L 5–6 (11) Johnson (2–0) McDowell (0–2) – 4:19 57,411 2–3 L3
Legend:       = Win       = Loss      Bold = Yankees team member

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

Pos	Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
C	Mike Stanley	118	399	107	.268	18	83
1B	Don Mattingly	128	458	132	.288	7	49
2B	Pat Kelly	89	270	64	.237	4	29
3B	Wade Boggs	126	460	149	.324	5	63
SS	Tony Fernández	108	304	94	.245	5	39
LF	Luis Polonia	67	238	62	.261	2	15
CF	Bernie Williams	144	563	173	.307	18	82
RF	Paul O'Neill	127	460	138	.300	22	96
DH	Rubén Sierra	56	215	56	.260	7	44

Other batters

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

Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
Randy Velarde	111	367	102	.278	7	46
Jim Leyritz	77	264	71	.269	7	37
Dion James	85	209	60	.287	2	26
Danny Tartabull	59	192	43	.224	6	28
Gerald Williams	100	182	45	.247	6	28
Russ Davis	40	98	27	.276	2	12
Darryl Strawberry	32	87	24	.276	3	13
Derek Jeter	15	48	12	.250	0	7
Dave Silvestri	17	21	2	.095	1	4
Kevin Elster	10	17	2	.118	0	0
Robert Eenhoorn	5	14	2	.143	0	2
Rubén Rivera	5	1	0	.000	0	0
Jorge Posada	1	0	0	----	0	0

Pitching

Starting pitchers

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

Player	GS	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Jack McDowell	30	217.2	15	10	3.93	157
Andy Pettitte	26	175.0	12	9	4.17	114
Sterling Hitchcock	27	168.1	11	10	4.70	121
David Cone	13	99.0	9	2	3.82	89
Scott Kamieniecki	16	89.2	7	6	4.01	43
Mélido Pérez	12	69.1	5	5	5.58	44
Jimmy Key	5	30.1	1	2	5.64	14

Other pitchers

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

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Mariano Rivera	19	67.0	5	3	5.51	51
Brian Boehringer	7	17.2	0	3	13.75	10
Dave Eiland	4	10.0	1	1	6.30	6

Relief pitchers

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

Player	G	W	L	SV	ERA	SO
John Wetteland	60	1	5	31	2.93	66
Bob Wickman	63	2	4	1	4.05	51
Steve Howe	56	6	3	2	4.96	28
Bob MacDonald	33	1	1	0	4.86	41
Joe Ausanio	28	2	0	1	5.73	36
Scott Bankhead	20	1	1	0	6.00	20
Josías Manzanillo	11	0	0	0	2.08	11
Dave Pavlas	4	0	0	0	3.18	3
Jeff Patterson	3	0	0	0	2.70	3
Rick Honeycutt	3	0	0	0	27.00	0

ALDS

Game	Score	Date
1	Seattle 6, New York 9	Oct 3, 1995
2	Seattle 5, New York 7	Oct 4, 1995
3	New York 4, Seattle 7	Oct 6, 1995
4	New York 8, Seattle 11	Oct 7, 1995
5	New York 5, Seattle 6	Oct 8, 1995

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Columbus Clippers	International League	Bill Evers
AA	Norwich Navigators	Eastern League	Jimmy Johnson
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	Rob Thomson
Rookie	GCL Yankees	Gulf Coast League	Héctor López

^[17]

References

1. Jack McDowell Statistics Baseball-Reference.com
2. "Tony Fernandez Stats".
3. "Derek Jeter Stats".
4. "Box Score of Game played on Monday, May 29, 1995 at Kingdome".
5. 3 Pitch Inning
6. "13 of the Most Extraordinary Baseball Games of All Time".
7. "Randy Velarde Stats".
8. "Josias Manzanillo Stats".
9. "Kevin Elster Stats".
10. "Kevin Maas Stats".
11. "Dave Silvestri Stats".
12. David Cone Statistics Baseball-Reference.com
13. Danny Tartabull Statistics Baseball-Reference.com
14. Luis Polonia Statistics Baseball-Reference.com
15. "Donzell McDonald Stats".
16. "26th Round of the 1995 MLB June Amateur Draft".
17. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd and 3rd editions. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997 and 2007

External links

• 1995 New York Yankees at Baseball Reference
• 1995 New York Yankees team page at www.baseball-almanac.com