# 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.

## 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.
* November 17, 1988: Don Schulze was signed as a free agent by the Yankees.
* November 23, 1988: Steve Sax was signed as a free agent by the Yankees.
* November 26, 1988: Steve Kiefer was signed as a free agent by the Yankees.
* December 5, 1988: Bobby Meacham was traded by the New York Yankees to the Texas Rangers for Bob Brower.
* December 8, 1988: Andy Hawkins was signed as a free agent by the Yankees.
* December 18, 1988: Wayne Tolleson was signed as a free agent by the Yankees.
* December 20, 1988: Jamie Quirk was signed as a free agent by the Yankees.
* December 22, 1988: Dickie Noles was signed as a free agent by the Yankees.
* January 10, 1989: Rick Rhoden was traded by the Yankees to the Houston Astros for John Fishel, Mike Hook (minors), and Pedro DeLeon (minors).
* February 13, 1989: Tommy John was signed as a free agent by the Yankees.
* March 19, 1989: Joel Skinner was traded by the Yankees to the Cleveland Indians for Mel Hall.
* March 23, 1989: Charles Hudson was traded by the Yankees to the Detroit Tigers for Tom Brookens.
* March 29, 1989: Dana Ridenour (minors) was traded by the Yankees to the Seattle Mariners for Steve Balboni.

## 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.
* Sammy Sosa made his major league debut on June 16, 1989, in a game against the New York Yankees. Sosa appeared in 4 at-bats and had 2 hits.

### Season standings

vteAL 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 recordvte 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.
* May 30, 1989: Tommy John was released by the Yankees.
* 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.
* June 21, 1989: Rickey Henderson was traded by the Yankees to the Oakland Athletics for Greg Cadaret, Eric Plunk, and Luis Polonia.
* June 22, 1989: Richard Dotson was released by the Yankees.
* July 20, 1989: Stan Jefferson was traded by the Yankees to the Baltimore Orioles for John Habyan.
* 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.
* August 10, 1989: Rich Gossage was selected off waivers by the Yankees from the San Francisco Giants.
* August 29, 1989: John Candelaria was traded by the Yankees to the Montreal Expos for Mike Blowers.
* August 30, 1989: Ken Phelps was traded by the Yankees to the Oakland Athletics for Scott Holcomb (minors).

### Roster
## 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

| 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