1989 New York Yankees season

The 1989 New York Yankees season was the 87th season for the Yankees. The team finished with a record of 74–87, finishing in fifth place, 14.5 games behind the Toronto Blue Jays. New York was managed by Dallas Green and Bucky Dent. The Yankees played at Yankee Stadium.

1989 New York Yankees
League	American League
Division	East
Ballpark	Yankee Stadium
City	New York City
Owners	George Steinbrenner
General managers	Bob Quinn
Managers	Dallas Green, Bucky Dent
Television	WPIX (Phil Rizzuto, George Grande, Tom Seaver) MSG (Bobby Murcer, Tommy Hutton, Lou Piniella, Greg Gumbel)
Radio	WABC (AM) (John Sterling, Jay Johnstone)
← 1988 Seasons 1990 →

Offseason

• October 24, 1988: Jack Clark and Pat Clements were traded by the Yankees to the San Diego Padres for Stan Jefferson, Jimmy Jones and Lance McCullers.^[1]
• November 17, 1988: Don Schulze was signed as a free agent by the Yankees.^[2]
• November 23, 1988: Steve Sax was signed as a free agent by the Yankees.^[3]
• November 26, 1988: Steve Kiefer was signed as a free agent by the Yankees.^[4]
• December 5, 1988: Bobby Meacham was traded by the New York Yankees to the Texas Rangers for Bob Brower.^[5]
• December 8, 1988: Andy Hawkins was signed as a free agent by the Yankees.^[6]
• December 18, 1988: Wayne Tolleson was signed as a free agent by the Yankees.^[7]
• December 20, 1988: Jamie Quirk was signed as a free agent by the Yankees.^[8]
• December 22, 1988: Dickie Noles was signed as a free agent by the Yankees.^[9]
• January 10, 1989: Rick Rhoden was traded by the Yankees to the Houston Astros for John Fishel, Mike Hook (minors), and Pedro DeLeon (minors).^[10]
• February 13, 1989: Tommy John was signed as a free agent by the Yankees.^[11]
• March 19, 1989: Joel Skinner was traded by the Yankees to the Cleveland Indians for Mel Hall.^[12]
• March 23, 1989: Charles Hudson was traded by the Yankees to the Detroit Tigers for Tom Brookens.^[13]
• March 29, 1989: Dana Ridenour (minors) was traded by the Yankees to the Seattle Mariners for Steve Balboni.^[14]

Regular season

• Alvaro Espinoza was second in the majors with 23 sacrifices.
• In 1989, Yankees pitcher Tommy John matched Deacon McGuire's record (since broken) for most seasons played in a Major League Baseball career with 26 seasons played.^[15]
• Sammy Sosa made his major league debut on June 16, 1989, in a game against the New York Yankees.^[16] Sosa appeared in 4 at-bats and had 2 hits.

Season standings

• v
• t
• e

AL East

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Toronto Blue Jays	89	73	.549	—	46‍–‍35	43‍–‍38
Baltimore Orioles	87	75	.537	2	47‍–‍34	40‍–‍41
Boston Red Sox	83	79	.512	6	46‍–‍35	37‍–‍44
Milwaukee Brewers	81	81	.500	8	45‍–‍36	36‍–‍45
New York Yankees	74	87	.460	14½	41‍–‍40	33‍–‍47
Cleveland Indians	73	89	.451	16	41‍–‍40	32‍–‍49
Detroit Tigers	59	103	.364	30	38‍–‍43	21‍–‍60

Record vs. opponents

1989 American League record v t e Sources:
Team	BAL	BOS	CAL	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	MIL	MIN	NYY	OAK	SEA	TEX	TOR
Baltimore	—	6–7	6–6	6–6	7–6	10–3	6–6	7–6	4–8	8–5	5–7	6–6	9–3	7–6
Boston	7–6	—	4–8	7–5	8–5	11–2	4–8	6–7	6–6	7–6	7–5	5–7	6–6	5–8
California	6–6	8–4	—	8–5	5–7	11–1	4–9	7–5	11–2	6–6	5–8	7–6	6–7	7–5
Chicago	6–6	5–7	5–8	—	7–5	4–8	6–7	10–2	5–8	5–6	5–8	7–6	3–10	1–11
Cleveland	6–7	5–8	7–5	5–7	—	5–8	8–4	3–10	5–7	9–4	2–10	6–6	7–5	5–8
Detroit	3–10	2–11	1–11	8–4	8–5	—	6–6	6–7	5–7	6–7	4–8	4–8	4–8	2–11
Kansas City	6–6	8–4	9–4	7–6	4–8	6–6	—	8–4	7–6	6–6	7–6	9–4	8–5	7–5
Milwaukee	6–7	7–6	5–7	2–10	10–3	7–6	4–8	—	9–3	8–5	5–7	7–5	5–7	6–7
Minnesota	8–4	6–6	2–11	8–5	7–5	7–5	6–7	3–9	—	6–6	6–7	7–6	5–8	9–3
New York	5–8	6–7	6–6	6–5	4–9	7–6	6–6	5–8	6–6	—	3–9	8–4	5–7	7–6
Oakland	7–5	5–7	8–5	8–5	10–2	8–4	6–7	7–5	7–6	9–3	—	9–4	8–5	7–5
Seattle	6–6	7–5	6–7	6–7	6–6	8–4	4–9	5–7	6–7	4–8	4–9	—	6–7	5–7
Texas	3–9	6–6	7–6	10–3	5–7	8–4	5–8	7–5	8–5	7–5	5–8	7–6	—	5–7
Toronto	6–7	8–5	5–7	11–1	8–5	11–2	5–7	7–6	3–9	6–7	5–7	7–5	7–5	—

Notable transactions

• April, 30 1989 Al Leiter was traded by the Yankees to the Toronto Blue Jays for Jesse Barfield.
• May 16, 1989: Jamie Quirk was released by the Yankees.^[8]
• May 30, 1989: Tommy John was released by the Yankees.^[11]
• June 5, 1989: J. T. Snow was drafted by the Yankees in the 5th round of the 1989 Major League Baseball draft. Player signed June 11, 1989.^[17]
• June 21, 1989: Rickey Henderson was traded by the Yankees to the Oakland Athletics for Greg Cadaret, Eric Plunk, and Luis Polonia.^[18]
• June 22, 1989: Richard Dotson was released by the Yankees.^[19]
• July 20, 1989: Stan Jefferson was traded by the Yankees to the Baltimore Orioles for John Habyan.^[1]
• July 22, 1989: Mike Pagliarulo and Don Schulze were traded by the Yankees to the San Diego Padres for Walt Terrell and a player to be named later. The Padres completed the deal by sending Freddie Toliver to the Yankees on September 27.^[2]
• August 10, 1989: Rich Gossage was selected off waivers by the Yankees from the San Francisco Giants.^[20]
• August 29, 1989: John Candelaria was traded by the Yankees to the Montreal Expos for Mike Blowers.^[21]
• August 30, 1989: Ken Phelps was traded by the Yankees to the Oakland Athletics for Scott Holcomb (minors).^[22]

Roster

1989 New York Yankees
Roster
Pitchers 25 Greg Cadaret 45 John Candelaria 51 Chuck Cary 34 Bob Davidson 34,36 Richard Dotson 28 Dave Eiland 54 Goose Gossage 35 Lee Guetterman 40 Andy Hawkins 25 Tommy John 26 Jimmy Jones 29,42 Dave LaPoint 28 Al Leiter 41 Lance McCullers 45 Kevin Mmahat 28,54 Dale Mohorcic 33,55 Scott Nielsen 38 Clay Parker 33 Eric Plunk 19 Dave Righetti 34,51,54 Don Schulze 34 Walt Terrell		Catchers 56 Brian Dorsett 53 Bob Geren 18 Jamie Quirk 11 Don Slaught Infielders 50 Steve Balboni 13 Mike Blowers 12 Tom Brookens 20 Álvaro Espinoza 26,64 Steve Kiefer 23 Don Mattingly 28,57,58 Hensley Meulens 13 Mike Pagliarulo 21 Ken Phelps  6 Steve Sax  2 Wayne Tolleson 18 Randy Velarde		Outfielders 28,29 Jesse Barfield 33 Bob Brower 27 Mel Hall 24 Rickey Henderson 26 Stan Jefferson 39 Roberto Kelly 24,28 Marcus Lawton 21,22,28 Hal Morris 22 Luis Polonia 18,24 Deion Sanders 22 Gary Ward		Manager 17,30 Bucky Dent 46 Dallas Green Coaches 36,42 Billy Connors (Pitching) 47 Pat Corrales (First Base) 43 Lee Elia (Third Base) 52 Mike Ferraro (First Base) 52 Charlie Fox (Bench) 48 Frank Howard (Hitting) 43 Gene Michael (Third Base) 44 John Stearns (Bullpen) 47 Champ Summers (Hitting)

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	Don Slaught	117	350	88	.251	5	38
1B	Don Mattingly	158	631	191	.303	23	113
2B	Steve Sax	158	651	205	.310	5	63
3B	Mike Pagliarulo	74	223	44	.197	4	16
SS	Álvaro Espinoza	146	503	142	.282	0	41
LF	Rickey Henderson	65	235	58	.247	3	22
CF	Roberto Kelly	137	441	133	.302	9	48
RF	Jesse Barfield	129	441	106	.240	18	56
DH	Steve Balboni	110	300	71	.237	17	59

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
Mel Hall	113	361	94	.260	17	58
Luis Polonia	66	227	71	.313	2	29
Bob Geren	65	205	59	.288	9	27
Ken Phelps	86	185	46	.249	7	29
Tom Brookens	66	168	38	.226	4	14
Wayne Tolleson	80	140	23	.164	1	9
Randy Velarde	33	100	34	.340	2	11
Bob Brower	26	69	16	.232	2	3
Deion Sanders	14	47	11	.234	2	7
Mike Blowers	13	38	10	.263	0	3
Hensley Meulens	8	28	5	.179	0	1
Jamie Quirk	13	24	2	.083	0	0
Brian Dorsett	8	22	8	.364	0	4
Hal Morris	15	18	5	.278	0	4
Gary Ward	8	17	5	.294	0	1
Marcus Lawton	10	14	3	.214	0	0
Stan Jefferson	10	12	1	.083	0	1
Steve Kiefer	5	8	1	.125	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
Andy Hawkins	34	208.1	15	15	4.80	98
Clay Parker	22	120.0	4	5	3.68	53
Dave LaPoint	20	113.2	6	9	5.62	51
Walt Terrell	13	83.0	6	5	5.20	30
Tommy John	10	63.2	2	7	5.80	18
Richard Dotson	11	51.2	2	5	5.57	14
Dave Eiland	6	34.1	1	3	5.77	11
Al Leiter	4	26.2	1	2	6.08	22
Don Schulze	2	11.0	1	1	4.09	5

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
Chuck Cary	22	99.1	4	4	3.26	79
Greg Cadaret	20	92.1	5	5	4.58	66
Eric Plunk	27	75.2	7	5	3.69	61
John Candelaria	10	49.0	3	3	5.14	37
Jimmy Jones	11	48.0	2	1	5.25	25
Kevin Mmahat	4	7.2	0	2	12.91	3

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
Dave Righetti	55	2	6	25	3.00	51
Lee Guetterman	70	5	5	13	2.45	51
Lance McCullers	52	4	3	3	4.57	82
Dale Mohorcic	32	2	1	2	4.99	24
Rich Gossage	11	1	0	1	3.77	6
Scott Nielsen	2	1	0	0	13.50	0
Bob Davidson	1	0	0	0	18.00	0

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Columbus Clippers	International League	Bucky Dent and Rick Down
AA	Albany-Colonie Yankees	Eastern League	Buck Showalter
A	Prince William Cannons	Carolina League	Mark Weidemaier and Stump Merrill
A	Fort Lauderdale Yankees	Florida State League	Clete Boyer
A-Short Season	Oneonta Yankees	New York–Penn League	Brian Butterfield
Rookie	GCL Yankees	Gulf Coast League	Jack Gillis

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Albany-Colonie, Prince William, GCL Yankees^[23]