1994 New York Yankees season

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. 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.[1] The Yankees were on pace to win at least 100 games for the first time since 1980.[2] The Yankees' ace, 33-year-old veteran Jimmy Key, was leading the majors with 17 wins and was on pace to win 24 games.[1] Right fielder Paul O'Neill was also having a career year, as he was leading the league with a .359 batting average.[1]

1994 New York Yankees
Major League affiliations
Location
Other information
Owner(s)George Steinbrenner
General manager(s)Gene Michael
Manager(s)Buck Showalter
Local televisionWPIX
(Phil Rizzuto, Bobby Murcer, Paul Olden)
MSG
(Dewayne Staats, Tony Kubek, Al Trautwig)
Local radioWABC (AM)
(Michael Kay, John Sterling)
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The strike is remembered bitterly by Yankees fans as it shook sports fans in New York City and the Yankees to the core,[3] and has been named among the 10 worst moments in New York City sports history, primarily because Mattingly had not played in a postseason.[4] It was also seen as the frustrating peak of the Yankees' downfall of the 1980s and early 1990s.[3]

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.[3] 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.[5][6]

Because the Yankees' last postseason appearance had been in a season cut short by a strike,[7] 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.[8][9] Throughout October, they continued to bombard the Yankees, making speculations about what might have been if there had not been a strike.[10]

Offseason
  • November 27, 1993: Andy Stankiewicz and Domingo Jean were traded by the Yankees to the Houston Astros for Xavier Hernandez.[11]
  • December 9, 1993: Spike Owen was traded by the Yankees with cash to the California Angels for Jose Musset (minors).[12]
  • December 20, 1993: Luis Polonia was signed as a free agent by the Yankees.[13]
  • December 22, 1993: Sam Horn was signed as a free agent by the Yankees.[14]
  • January 28, 1994: Bob Ojeda signed as a free agent by the Yankees.[15]
  • February 9, 1994: Bobby Muñoz, Ryan Karp, and Kevin Jordan were traded by the Yankees to the Philadelphia Phillies for Terry Mulholland and a player to be named later. The Phillies completed the deal by sending Jeff Patterson to the New York Yankees on November 8.[16]
  • February 15, 1994: Jeff Reardon was signed as a free agent by the Yankees.[17]

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).[18] 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.[6] They did, however, tie the San Diego Padres for the most double plays grounded into, with 112.[19]

The World Series, for which the Yankees appeared to be destined,[20] was never played and contributed to Buck Showalter not having his contract renewed and Don Mattingly retiring after the 1995 season.[6] In addition, General Manager Gene Michael was fired as a result of the strike.[21] The 1994 New York Yankees team that could have been remains a hot discussion point in both baseball and in New York City because Mattingly had not played in a postseason.[6] 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.[22][6] Mattingly led active players in both games played and at bats without ever appearing in the postseason.[23]

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 4Rangers
2April 7Rangers
3April 8Tigers
4April 9Tigers
5April 10Tigers
6April 12@ White Sox
7April 13@ White Sox
8April 14@ White Sox
9April 15@ Tigers
10April 16@ Tigers
11April 17@ Tigers
12April 19Mariners
13April 20Mariners
14April 21Mariners
15April 22Athletics
16April 23Athletics
17April 24Athletics
18April 25Angels
19April 26Angels
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 6Red Sox
28May 7Red Sox
29May 8Red Sox
30May 9Indians
31May 10Indians
32May 11Indians
33May 12Indians
34May 13@ Brewers
35May 14@ Brewers
36May 15@ Brewers
37May 17@ Twins
38May 18@ Twins
39May 20Orioles
40May 21Orioles
41May 22Orioles
42May 24Blue Jays
43May 25Blue Jays
44May 27@ Royals
45May 28@ Royals
46May 29@ Royals
47May 30White Sox
48May 31White Sox
June (14-13) (Home: 4-6; Road: 10-7)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecordReport
49June 1White Sox
50June 3Royals
51June 4Royals
52June 5Royals
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 17Brewers
65June 18Brewers
66June 19Brewers
67June 20Twins
68June 21Twins
69June 22Twins
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 1Mariners
77July 2Mariners
78July 3Mariners
79July 4Athletics
80July 5Athletics
81July 6Athletics
82July 7Angels
83July 8Angels
84July 9Angels
85July 10Angels
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 26Red Sox
98July 27Red Sox
99July 28Red Sox
100July 29Indians
101July 30Indians
102July 31Indians
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 8Orioles
111August 9Orioles
112August 10Orioles
113August 11Blue Jays
Legend
Yankees win Yankees loss All-Star Game Game postponed

Season standings
AL East W L Pct. GB Home Road
New York Yankees 7043 0.619 — 33–24 37–19
Baltimore Orioles 6349 0.562 6½ 28–27 35–22
Toronto Blue Jays 5560 0.478 16 33–26 22–34
Boston Red Sox 5461 0.470 17 31–33 23–28
Detroit Tigers 5362 0.461 18 34–24 19–38
Division leaders W L Pct.
New York Yankees 7043 0.619
Chicago White Sox 6746 0.593
Texas Rangers 5262 0.456
Wild Card team
(Top team qualifies for postseason)		 W L Pct. GB
Cleveland Indians 6647 0.584 —
Baltimore Orioles 6349 0.562 2½
Kansas City Royals 6451 0.557 3
Toronto Blue Jays 5560 0.478 12
Boston Red Sox 5461 0.470 13
Minnesota Twins 5360 0.469 13
Detroit Tigers 5362 0.461 14
Milwaukee Brewers 5362 0.461 14
Oakland Athletics 5163 0.447 15½
Seattle Mariners 4963 0.438 16½
California Angels 4768 0.409 20

Record vs. opponents
1994 American League Records

Sources:
Team BAL BOS CAL CWS CLE DET KC MIL MIN NYY OAK SEA TEX TOR
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
  • March 21, 1994: Paul Assenmacher was traded by the Yankees to the Chicago White Sox for Brian Boehringer.[24]
  • March 29, 1994: Kevin Maas was released by the Yankees.[25]
  • May 1, 1994: Kevin Elster was signed as a free agent with the New York Yankees.[26]
  • May 5, 1994: Bob Ojeda was released by the New York Yankees.[15]
  • May 6, 1994: Jeff Reardon was released by the New York Yankees.[17]
  • June 23, 1994: Sam Horn was released by the New York Yankees.[14]
  • July 3, 1994: Greg A. Harris was signed as a free agent with the New York Yankees.[27]
  • July 13, 1994: Greg A. Harris was released by the New York Yankees.[27]

Roster
1994 New York Yankees
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders Manager

Coaches

Player stats
= Indicates team leader

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 R H Avg. HR RBI
CMike Stanley822905487.3001757
1BDon Mattingly9737262113.304651
2BPat Kelly932863580.280341
SSMike Gallego893063973.239641
3BWade Boggs9736661125.3421155
LFLuis Polonia9535062109.311136
CFBernie Williams10840880118.2891257
RFPaul O'Neill10336868132.3592183
DHDanny Tartabull10439968102.2561967

[28]

Other batters

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

Player G AB R H Avg. HR RBI
Randy Velarde772804778.279934
Jim Leyritz752494766.2651758
Gerald Williams57861925.291413
Matt Nokes28791123.291719
Daryl Boston52771114.182414
Kevin Elster72000.00000
Dave Silvestri121832.11112
Russ Davis41402.14301
Bob Melvin91424.28613
Robert Eenhoorn3412.50000

Starting 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
Jimmy Key25168.01743.2797
Jim Abbott24160.1984.5590
Mélido Pérez22151.1944.10109
Terry Mulholland24120.2676.4972
Scott Kamieniecki22117.1863.7671
Bob Ojeda23.00024.003

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
Sterling Hitchcock2349.1414.2037
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
Steve Howe4030151.8018
Bob Wickman535463.0956
Xavier Hernandez314465.8537
Paul Gibson301104.9721
Donn Pall261203.6021
Joe Ausanio132105.1715
Jeff Reardon111028.384
Greg A. Harris30105.404
Rob Murphy300016.200
Mark Hutton20004.911

Awards and honors

All-Star Game

Farm system
See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
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[29]

References

Inline citations
  1. Curry, Jack (August 26, 2002). "Lost Games, Lost Dreams". The New York Times. p. D1.
  2. 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.
  3. McShane, Larry (September 16, 1994). "Yankees Fans Left with Broken Hearts". Associated Press.
  4. Eckstein, Bob (September 16, 1997). "New York's top ten worst moments in sports". The Village Voice. 42 (37): 142.
  5. Pennington 2019, p. 188, 210
  6. McCarron, Anthony (August 10, 2014). "'94 The Season That Wasn't". New York Daily News. p. 70-71. Retrieved May 15, 2015.
  7. Pennington 2019, pp. 7, 203, 211
  8. Curry, Jack (August 7, 1994). "BASEBALL; Flashback to '81: Another Lead, Another Strike". The New York Times. p. A1.
  9. 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.
  10. 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.
  11. Andy Stankiewicz page at Baseball Reference
  12. "Spike Owen Statistics and History". Retrieved December 6, 2013.
  13. Luis Polonia page at Baseball Reference
  14. Sam Horn page at Baseball Reference
  15. Bob Ojeda page at Baseball Reference
  16. Terry Mulholland page at Baseball Reference
  17. Jeff Reardon page at Baseball Reference
  18. "1994 American League Team Statistics and Standings". baseball-reference.com.
  19. "1994 MLB Team Statistics". baseball-reference.com.
  20. Pennington 2019, pp. 208–2011, 221
  21. Pennington 2019, pp. 271–274, 280, 311
  22. Pennington 2019, p. 209
  23. Pennington 2019, pp. 187, 204, 209
  24. Paul Assenmacher page on Baseball Reference
  25. Kevin Maas page at Baseball Reference
  26. "Kevin Elster Stats".
  27. "Greg Harris Stats".
  28. "1994 New York Yankees Statistics".
  29. Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles (2007) [1997]. The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (2nd and 3rd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America.

Bibliography
  • Pennington, Bill (2019). Chumps to Champs: How the Worst Teams in Yankees History Led to the '90s Dynasty. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. ISBN 9781328849854.
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