1994 New York Yankees: What If

1994 New York Yankees: What If

1994 New York Yankees: What If

Baseball in the Bronx borough of New York City had seen a sharp decline in quality ever since the 1981 World Series appearance of the New York Yankees, and throughout the latter part of the 1980’s and the beginning of the 1990’s many Yankees fans were wondering what it was going to take to get the Bronx Bombers back to relevance. Truth be told the Yankees were starting to develop a strong nucleus of talent toward the mid 1990’s, and the results were starting to favor the Yankees, especially in 1994.

By the time of August 12, 1994 the New York Yankees went 70-43, and they were leading the American League East division by 6.5 games over the Baltimore Orioles. The Yankees went 6-4 against the Orioles in head-to-head play. The Yankees went 33-24 at home and 37-19 on the road. The Yankees kept steady from month to month as they went 15-8 in April, 18-7 in May, 14-13 in June, 17-10 in July and 6-5 in August. In blowout games which resulted in margins of 5 or more runs, the Yankees went 23-14.

Right fielder Paul O’Neill had one of the best seasons of his career as he batted .359 with 21 home runs and 83 RBI’s off 132 hits and 25 doubles in 103 games. Third baseman Wade Boggs batted .342 with 11 home runs, 125 hits and 19 doubles in 97 games. Left fielder Luis Polonia batted .311 with 109 hits, 21 doubles, 6 triples and 20 stolen bases in 95 games. First baseman Don Mattingly was a sentimental favorite among Yankees fans, especially towards the end of his playing career as he was yet to make a postseason appearance. Mattingly batted .304 with 113 hits and 20 doubles in 97 games.

Catcher Mike Stanley batted .300 with 17 home runs, 87 hits and 20 doubles in 82 games. Center fielder Bernie Williams batted .289 with 12 home runs, 118 hits, 29 doubles and 16 stolen bases in 108 games. Second baseman Pat Kelly batted .280 with 80 hits and 21 doubles in 93 games. Infielder Randy Velarde batted .279 with 9 home runs, 78 hits and 15 doubles in 77 games. Utility player Jiom Leyritz had 17 home runs, 66 hits and 12 doubles in 75 games. Designated Hitter Danny Tartabull had 19 home runs and 67 RBI’s off 102 hits and 24 doubles in 104 games. Shortstop Mike Gallego, who conveniently wore the #2 jersey before a certain “Captain” broke onto the scene, had 73 hits and 17 doubles in 89 games.

By mid August the Yankees appeared to have their starting rotation set for a deep postseason run. Starting pitcher Jimmy Key went 17-4 with 97 strikeouts and a 3.27 ERA, recording 1 complete game. Meldo Perez went 9-4 with 109 strikeouts and 1 complete game. Jim Abbott, one of the most famous one-handed pitchers in baseball history, went 9-8 with 90 strikeouts and 2 complete games. Scott Kamieniecki went 8-6 with 71 strikeouts and a 3.76 ERA, recording 1 complete game. Terry Mulholland had 72 strikeouts and recorded 2 complete games despite going 6-7. Sterling Hitchcock went 4-1 with 1 complete game and 2 saves as a bullpen option.

Closer Steve Howe went 3-0 with 15 saves and a 1.80 ERA. Relief pitcher Bob Wickman went 5-4 with 6 saves and a 3.09 ERA. Xavier Hernandez went 4-4 with 6 saves. Joe Ausanio went 2-1 from the bullpen.

Early in the season the Yankees appeared to be on their way to doing great things as they had a 10-game winning streak, which started with a 3-1 win over the fierce rival Boston Red Sox on May 6, and it ended with a 12-1 pounding of the Milwaukee Brewers on May 15. Speaking of that game in Milwaukee County Stadium, it was certainly one of the best highlights of a season that was cut short for the Yankees.

Scott Kamieniecki pitched 8 innings and gave up 5 hits, 4 walks and 1 run while striking out 1 batter. In the top of the 3rd inning the Yankees quickly burst onto the scene with the bats. Wade Boggs had an RBI double, and then Don Mattingly followed with an RBI single. In the top of the 4th Randy Velarde had an RBI single, Mike Gallego had an RBI double, Luis Polonia had a 2-run triple, and then Boggs had a sacrifice fly to score Polonia. In the bottom of the 6th the Brewers got their only run of the ballgame when catcher Brian Harper had an RBI double. In the top of the 7th Mattingly hit a solo home run, Jim Leyritz had an RBI double, and then Bernie Williams belted a 2-run home run. Boggs put the cherry on top of this 11-run rout by hitting his own solo home run in the top of the 8th.

In the case of Yankee fans, the 1994 season has left them asking questions of the “What If” variety as the rest of the regular season and the entire postseason would never be played due to the infamous players strike. The strike officially started on August 12 and it went completely unresolved for 232 days until March 28, 1995. The strike ultimately cost Don Mattingly, the captain of the pinstripes before shortstop Derek Jeter took that title, his best chance of finally making the postseason. Following the 1995 season Mattingly announced his retirement from the game of baseball. Manager of the Year Buck Schowalter and General Manager Gene Michael, both of whom would be fired after 1995, were quoted as saying that they felt bad about Mattingly’s situation, that he deserved a postseason opportunity. Owner George Steinbrenner echoed those statements.

Having the second best record in Major League Baseball in 1994, with only the Montreal Expos being better at 74-40, the Yankees showed signs of improvement that would carry them along to the rest of the 1990’s, which happened to be some of the best years in franchise history. One year after Mattingly retired, 1996 would be the start of the “Modern Yankee Dynasty” where they would win 4 World Series in a 5-year span.