1994 New York Yankees season

The New York Yankees' 1994 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 infamous 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 and made 1994 one of the worst years in New York City sports history,[3] and has been named among the 10 worst moments in New York City sports history,[4] primarily because Mattingly had not played in a postseason.[5][6] 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.

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

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).[17]

The World Series, for which the Yankees appeared to be destined,[9] was never played and contributed to Buck Showalter being fired and Don Mattingly retiring after the 1995 season.[18] 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.[19][20] When reacting to the strike's cancellation of the season, the first words many people on the Yankees, including Owner George Steinbrenner, General Manager Gene Michael, and Showalter all said was that they all felt bad for Mattingly, saying that he deserved a postseason.[21][22][23][24][25] Mattingly led active players in both games played and at bats without ever appearing in the postseason.[6][22]

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.[22] They did, however, tie the San Diego Padres for the most double plays grounded into, with 112.[26]

Game log
1994 Regular Season Game Log (70-43) (Home: 33-24; Road: 37-19)
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
W L Pct.
Cleveland Indians 6647 0.584
Baltimore Orioles 6349 0.562
Kansas City Royals 6451 0.557
Toronto Blue Jays 5560 0.478
Boston Red Sox 5461 0.470
Minnesota Twins 5360 0.469
Detroit Tigers 5362 0.461
Milwaukee Brewers 5362 0.461
Oakland Athletics 5163 0.447
Seattle Mariners 4963 0.438
California Angels 4768 0.409

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.[27]
  • March 29, 1994: Kevin Maas was released by the Yankees.[28]
  • May 1, 1994: Kevin Elster was signed as a Free Agent with the New York Yankees.[29]
  • May 5, 1994: Bob Ojeda was released by the New York Yankees.[14]
  • May 6, 1994: Jeff Reardon was released by the New York Yankees.[16]
  • June 23, 1994: Sam Horn was released by the New York Yankees.[13]
  • July 3, 1994: Greg A. Harris was signed as a Free Agent with the New York Yankees.[30]
  • July 13, 1994: Greg A. Harris was released by the New York Yankees.[30]

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
3BWade Boggs9736661125.3421155
CFBernie Williams10840880118.2891257
RFPaul O'Neill10336868132.3592183

[31]

Other batters

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

Player G AB R H Avg. HR RBI
Randy Velarde772804778.279934

Starting pitchers

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

2 Jim Abbott 3 Mélido Pérez

Player G IP W L ERA SO

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
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
Bob Wickman535463.0956

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[32]

References
  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. Johnson, Richard A.; Stout, Glenn; Johnson, Dick (2002). Yankees Century: 100 Years of New York Yankees Baseball. Houghton Mifflin Company. p. 386. ISBN 0-618-08527-0.
  6. "Mattingly Blames Both Sides". The New York Times. September 16, 1994. p. B11. Mattingly...logged more career at-bats (6,545) without a playoff appearance than any other active player.
  7. Curry, Jack (August 7, 1994). "BASEBALL; Flashback to '81: Another Lead, Another Strike". The New York Times. p. A1.
  8. 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.
  9. 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.
  10. Andy Stankiewicz page at Baseball Reference
  11. "Spike Owen Statistics and History". Retrieved December 6, 2013.
  12. Luis Polonia page at Baseball Reference
  13. Sam Horn page at Baseball Reference
  14. Bob Ojeda page at Baseball Reference
  15. Terry Mulholland page at Baseball Reference
  16. Jeff Reardon page at Baseball Reference
  17. "1994 American League Team Statistics and Standings". baseball-reference.com.
  18. Costello, Brian (August 8, 2004). "'94 Yanks Cut Short". New York Post. p. 58.
  19. Amore, Dom (May 15, 2005). "Imagine: Buck's Yankees, but Not Jeter's". The Hartford Courant. p. E8.
  20. Harper, John (October 24, 2007). "It's a Job Well Don. Ex-Mate Gallego Hopes Mattingly Lands Yankees' Gig". New York Daily News. p. 63. (Mike) Gallego was saying at Fenway Park. 'I...feel bad for him. We had a shot at winning everything in '94, and then the strike hit when we were leading our division. That was Donnie's shot at getting a ring, and then it was gone.
  21. Jacobson, Steve (September 11, 1994). "Sympathy For Season Of Promise". Newsday. p. 17. 'Some guys deserve the reward", Michael said... 'More than anybody on this ballclub, Donnie does.'
  22. McCarron, Anthony (August 10, 2014). "'94 The Season That Wasn't". New York Daily News. p. 71. Retrieved May 15, 2015.
  23. Bodley, Hal (September 13, 1994). "Steinbrenner doubts season can be saved". USA Today. p. 7C. 'I'm so sad for Don Mattingly (who has never been in the postseason),...I feel so badly for that kid.'
  24. Heyman, Jon (September 14, 1994). "End Is Near Boss stays solid behind Bud, owners". Newsday. p. A70. 'I feel so sorry for Don Mattingly. That really hurts me. Here's a guy who's given everything he had to get to the postseason. He and {Wade} Boggs and {Jimmy} Key were the leaders, who helped get them a ​6 1⁄2-game lead.' However, Steinbrenner later said, in talking about Mattingly, 'They're grown men. They're part of the strike. They walked out. They were pretty cocksure of certain things. He knew what they were doing. They made the decision to walk. They struck. We didn't lock them out.
  25. Frey, Jennifer (October 8, 1995). "Finally, an October to Savor for 'Donnie Baseball'". The Washington Post. p. D9. Buck Showalter...sat at home in admitted misery...ached for Mattingly, the one player he believed deserved a postseason more than anyone else in the game.
  26. "1994 MLB Team Statistics". baseball-reference.com.
  27. Paul Assenmacher page on Baseball Reference
  28. Kevin Maas page at Baseball Reference
  29. https://www.baseball-reference.com/e/elsteke01.shtml
  30. https://www.baseball-reference.com/h/harrigr01.shtml
  31. https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/NYY/1994.shtml
  32. Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles (2007) [1997]. The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (2nd and 3rd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America.
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