1986 New York Yankees season

The 1986 New York Yankees season was the 84th season for the Yankees. The team finished with a record of 90–72, finishing in second-place, 5.5 games behind the Boston Red Sox. New York was managed by Lou Piniella. The Yankees played at Yankee Stadium.

1986 New York Yankees
League	American League
Division	East
Ballpark	Yankee Stadium
City	New York City
Owners	George Steinbrenner
General managers	Clyde King
Managers	Lou Piniella
Television	WPIX (Phil Rizzuto, Bill White, Jim Kaat, Billy Martin) SportsChannel NY (Mel Allen, Mickey Mantle, others from WPIX)
Radio	WABC (AM) (Bill White, Phil Rizzuto, Spencer Ross, Bobby Murcer)
← 1985 Seasons 1987 →

Offseason

• November 7, 1985: Bob Geren was signed as a free agent by the Yankees.^[1]
• December 6, 1985: Billy Sample was traded by the Yankees to the Atlanta Braves for Miguel Sosa (minors).^[2]
• December 12, 1985: Ron Hassey and Joe Cowley were traded by the Yankees to the Chicago White Sox for Britt Burns, Glen Braxton (minors), and Mike Soper (minors).^[3]
• December 12, 1985: Rex Hudler was traded by the Yankees with Rich Bordi to the Baltimore Orioles for a player to be named later and Gary Roenicke. The Baltimore Orioles sent Leo Hernández (December 16, 1985) to the Yankees to complete the trade.^[4]
• December 14, 1985: Roger Maris, the Yankees record holder for most home runs in one season died from lymphatic cancer.^[5]
• February 13, 1986: Neil Allen, Scott Bradley, Glen Braxton (minors), and cash were traded by the Yankees to the Chicago White Sox for Ron Hassey, Matt Winters, Chris Alvarez (minors) and Eric Schmidt (minors).^[3]
• March 28, 1986: Don Baylor was traded by the Yankees to the Boston Red Sox for Mike Easler.^[6]

Regular season

• Don Mattingly became the sixth player in Major League history to have at least 230 hits, 100 RBIs, and 30 home runs in a season. He holds the distinction of being the first American Leaguer to reach that milestone.
• Don Mattingly became the first Yankee since Lou Gehrig to have three consecutive seasons of 200 hits.
• Dave Winfield became the first Yankee since Joe DiMaggio to achieve five straight 100 RBI seasons. DiMaggio did it from 1936 to 1942.
• Willie Randolph became the all-time Yankee leader for games played at second base. The previous record holder was Tony Lazzeri. Lazzeri held the record with 1,446 games.
• Mark McGwire made his Major League debut on August 22, 1986, in a game versus the Yankees. He had three at-bats and no hits.^[7]

Notable transactions

• May 2, 1986: Tommy John signed as a free agent with the New York Yankees.^[8]
• June 2, 1986: 1986 Major League Baseball draft
  • Andy Stankiewicz was drafted by the Yankees in the 12th round. Player signed June 10, 1986.^[9]
  • Kevin Maas was drafted by the Yankees in the 22nd round. Player signed July 20, 1986.^[10]
• June 30, 1986: Ken Griffey, Sr. and Andre Robertson were traded by the Yankees to the Atlanta Braves for Claudell Washington and Paul Zuvella.^[11]
• July 4, 1986: Ozzie Canseco was released by the Yankees.^[12]
• July 9, 1986: Ed Whitson was traded by the Yankees to the San Diego Padres for Tim Stoddard.^[13]
• July 30, 1986: Ron Hassey, Carlos Martínez and a player to be named later were traded by the Yankees to the Chicago White Sox for Ron Kittle, Wayne Tolleson, and Joel Skinner. The Yankees completed the deal by sending Bill Lindsey to the White Sox on December 24.^[3]

Season standings

This was the first season since 1904 that the Yankees finished second in the standings to the Red Sox.^[14] Then, the Yankees were known as the Highlanders and the Red Sox were the Americans.

• v
• t
• e

AL East

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Boston Red Sox	95	66	.590	—	51‍–‍30	44‍–‍36
New York Yankees	90	72	.556	5½	41‍–‍39	49‍–‍33
Detroit Tigers	87	75	.537	8½	49‍–‍32	38‍–‍43
Toronto Blue Jays	86	76	.531	9½	42‍–‍39	44‍–‍37
Cleveland Indians	84	78	.519	11½	45‍–‍35	39‍–‍43
Milwaukee Brewers	77	84	.478	18	41‍–‍39	36‍–‍45
Baltimore Orioles	73	89	.451	22½	37‍–‍42	36‍–‍47

Record vs. opponents

1986 American League record v t e Sources:
Team	BAL	BOS	CAL	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	MIL	MIN	NYY	OAK	SEA	TEX	TOR
Baltimore	—	4–9	6–6	9–3	4–9	1–12	6–6	6–7	8–4	5–8	5–7	6–6	5–7	8–5
Boston	9–4	—	5–7	7–5	10–3	7–6	6–6	6–6	10–2	5–8	7–5	8–4	8–4	7–6
California	6–6	7–5	—	7–6	6–6	7–5	8–5	5–7	7–6	7–5	10–3	8–5	8–5	6–6
Chicago	3–9	5–7	6–7	—	5–7	6–6	7–6	5–7	6–7	6–6	7–6	8–5	2–11	6–6
Cleveland	9–4	3–10	6–6	7–5	—	4–9	8–4	8–5	6–6	5–8	10–2	9–3	6–6	3–10–1
Detroit	12–1	6–7	5–7	6–6	9–4	—	5–7	8–5	7–5	6–7	6–6	6–6	7–5	4–9
Kansas City	6–6	6–6	5–8	6–7	4–8	7–5	—	6–6	6–7	4–8	8–5	5–8	8–5	5–7
Milwaukee	7–6	6–6	7–5	7–5	5–8	5–8	6–6	—	4–8	8–5	5–7	6–6	4–8	7–6
Minnesota	4–8	2–10	6–7	7–6	6–6	5–7	7–6	8–4	—	4–8	6–7	6–7	6–7	4–8
New York	8–5	8–5	5–7	6–6	8–5	7–6	8–4	5–8	8–4	—	5–7	8–4	7–5	7–6
Oakland	7–5	5–7	3–10	6–7	2–10	6–6	5–8	7–5	7–6	7–5	—	10–3	3–10	8–4
Seattle	6–6	4–8	5–8	5–8	3–9	6–6	8–5	6–6	7–6	4–8	3–10	—	4–9	6–6
Texas	7–5	4–8	5–8	11–2	6–6	5–7	5–8	8–4	7–6	5–7	10–3	9–4	—	5–7
Toronto	5–8	6–7	6–6	6–6	10–3–1	9–4	7–5	6–7	8–4	6–7	4–8	6–6	7–5	—

Roster

1986 New York Yankees
Roster
Pitchers 36 Mike Armstrong 62 Brad Arnsberg 34,62 Doug Drabek 54 Brian Fisher 49 Ron Guidry 36,56 Al Holland 25 Tommy John 26 John Montefusco 31 Joe Niekro 41 Scott Nielsen 47 Alfonso Pulido 45 Dennis Rasmussen 19 Dave Righetti 28 Rod Scurry 29 Bob Shirley 33,43 Tim Stoddard 35 Bob Tewksbury 38 Ed Whitson		Catchers 58 Juan Espino 12 Ron Hassey 12 Joel Skinner 27 Butch Wynegar Infielders  2 Dale Berra 26 Iván DeJesús 22 Mike Fischlin 38 Leo Hernández 26 Bryan Little 23 Don Mattingly 20 Bob Meacham 13 Mike Pagliarulo 30 Willie Randolph  2 Wayne Tolleson 26 Paul Zuvella		Outfielders 46 Henry Cotto 17 Mike Easler 33 Ken Griffey 24 Rickey Henderson 33 Ron Kittle 50 Phil Lombardi 21 Dan Pasqua 11 Gary Roenicke 18 Claudell Washington 31 Dave Winfield		Manager 14 Lou Piniella Coaches 48 Joe Altobelli 41 Sammy Ellis 42 Stump Merrill  1 Gene Michael 44 Jeff Torborg  6 Roy White

Billy Martin

Billy Martin's number 1 was retired by the New York Yankees in 1986.

On August 10, 1986, the Yankees retired Martin's uniform number 1 and dedicated a plaque in his honor for Monument Park at Yankee Stadium. The plaque contains the words, There has never been a greater competitor than Billy. Martin told the crowd, "I may not have been the greatest Yankee to put on the uniform, but I am the proudest."

On May 24, 1986, on the season finale of Saturday Night Live, co-host Martin was "fired" by executive producer Lorne Michaels for being "drunk" in a skit, slurring his lines. During the goodnights, Martin "sets fire" to the dressing room in retaliation.^[15] (Only three cast members would be re-hired the next season.) In 1988, on Saturday Night Live's Weekend Update, comedian Dennis Miller opened the sports with, "In Calgary tonight, Katarina Witt won the gold medal in figure skating, prompting Yankees owner George Steinbrenner to fire manager Billy Martin."

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	Butch Wynegar	61	194	40	.206	7	29
1B	Don Mattingly	162	677	238	.352	31	113
2B	Willie Randolph	141	492	136	.276	5	50
3B	Mike Pagliarulo	149	504	120	.238	28	71
SS	Wayne Tolleson	60	215	61	.284	0	14
LF	Dan Pasqua	102	280	82	.293	16	45
CF	Rickey Henderson	153	608	160	.263	28	74
RF	Dave Winfield	154	565	148	.262	24	104
DH	Mike Easler	146	490	148	.302	14	78

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
Ken Griffey, Sr.	59	198	60	.303	9	26
Ron Hassey	64	191	57	.298	6	29
Joel Skinner	54	166	43	.259	1	17
Bobby Meacham	56	161	36	.224	0	10
Gary Roenicke	69	136	36	.265	3	18
Claudell Washington	54	135	32	.237	6	16
Dale Berra	42	108	25	.231	2	13
Mike Fischlin	71	102	21	.206	0	3
Henry Cotto	35	80	17	.213	1	6
Ron Kittle	30	80	19	.238	4	12
Paul Zuvella	21	48	4	.083	0	2
Bryan Little	14	41	8	.195	0	0
Juan Espino	27	37	6	.162	0	5
Phil Lombardi	20	36	10	.278	2	6
Leo Hernández	7	22	5	.227	1	4
Iván DeJesús	7	4	0	.000	0	0

Pitching

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
Dennis Rasmussen	31	202.0	18	6	3.88	131
Ron Guidry	30	192.1	9	12	3.98	140
Doug Drabek	27	131.2	7	8	4.10	76
Bob Tewksbury	23	130.1	9	5	3.31	49
Joe Niekro	25	125.2	9	10	4.87	59
Tommy John	13	70.2	5	3	2.93	28
Scott Nielsen	10	56.0	4	4	4.02	20

^[16]

Other pitchers

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

Player	G	IP	W	L	SV	ERA	SO
Tim Stoddard	24	49.1	4	1	0	3.83	34
Ed Whitson	14	37.0	5	2	0	7.54	27
Alfonso Pulido	10	30.2	1	1	1	4.70	13
John Montefusco	4	12.1	0	0	0	2.19	3
Mike Armstrong	7	8.2	0	1	0	9.35	8
Brad Arnsberg	2	8.0	0	0	0	3.38	3

Relief pitchers

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

Player	G	IP	W	L	SV	ERA	SO
Dave Righetti	74	106.2	8	8	46	2.45	83
Brian Fisher	62	96.2	9	5	6	4.93	67
Bob Shirley	39	105.1	0	4	3	5.04	64
Rod Scurry	31	39.1	1	2	2	3.66	36
Al Holland	25	40.2	1	0	0	5.09	37

Awards and records

• Rickey Henderson – American League Leader Stolen Bases (87)
• Rickey Henderson – American League Leader Runs Scored (130)
• Don Mattingly – American League Leader Hits (238)
• Don Mattingly, Silver Slugger Award
• Don Mattingly, Yankees Single Season Record, Hits in a Season (238)
• Don Mattingly, Yankees Single Season Record, Doubles in a Season (53)
• Dave Righetti, Major League Record (since broken), Most Saves in One Season by a Relief Pitcher(46)^[17]
• Dave Righetti, Major League Record, Most Saves in One Season by a Left-handed Pitcher(46)^[17]

All-Star Game

• Rickey Henderson, starting lineup, outfield
• Dave Winfield, starting lineup, outfield^[18]
• Don Mattingly, reserve, first baseman
• Dave Righetti, reserve, pitcher

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Columbus Clippers	International League	Barry Foote
AA	Albany-Colonie Yankees	Eastern League	Jim Saul
A	Fort Lauderdale Yankees	Florida State League	Bucky Dent
A-Short Season	Oneonta Yankees	New York–Penn League	Buck Showalter
Rookie	GCL Yankees	Gulf Coast League	Fred Ferreira

^[19]