# 1994 New York Yankees season

The 1994 New York Yankees 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 1994 player's strike, which wiped out any postseason aspirations for their first postseason appearance since losing the 1981 World Series and any postseason aspirations that their star player and captain, Don Mattingly, had for the first time in his career. 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. The Yankees were on pace to win at least 100 games for the first time since 1980. The Yankees' ace, 33-year-old veteran Jimmy Key, was leading the majors with 17 wins and was on pace to win 24 games. Right fielder Paul O'Neill was also having a career year, as he was leading the league with a .359 batting average.
The strike is remembered bitterly by Yankees fans as it shook sports fans in New York City and the Yankees to the core, and has been named among the 10 worst moments in New York City sports history, primarily because Mattingly had not played in a postseason. It was also seen as the frustrating peak of the Yankees' downfall of the 1980s and early 1990s.
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. 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. Throughout October, they continued to bombard the Yankees, making speculations about what might have been if there had not been a strike.

## Offseason

* November 27, 1993: Andy Stankiewicz and Domingo Jean were traded by the Yankees to the Houston Astros for Xavier Hernandez.
* December 9, 1993: Spike Owen was traded by the Yankees with cash to the California Angels for Jose Musset (minors).
* December 20, 1993: Luis Polonia was signed as a free agent by the Yankees.
* December 22, 1993: Sam Horn was signed as a free agent by the Yankees.
* January 28, 1994: Bob Ojeda signed as a free agent by the Yankees.
* February 9, 1994: Bobby Muñoz, Ryan Karp, and Kevin Jordan were traded by the Yankees to the Philadelphia Phillies for Terry Mulholland and a player to be named later. The Phillies completed the deal by sending Jeff Patterson to the New York Yankees on November 8.
* February 15, 1994: Jeff Reardon was signed as a free agent by the Yankees.

## 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). 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. They did, however, tie the San Diego Padres for the most double plays grounded into, with 112.
The World Series, for which the Yankees appeared to be destined, was never played and contributed to fallouts both on and off the field. On the field, Buck Showalter did not have his contract renewed and Don Mattingly retired after the 1995 season. In addition, General Manager Gene Michael was fired as a result of the strike. Off the field, the Yankees broadcast team on MSG Network left due to the strike; play-by-play announcer Dewayne Staats didn't have his contract renewed and analyst Tony Kubek, himself a former Yankee, retired from broadcasting. Kubek cited "I hate what the game's become—the greed, the nastiness." He hasn't seen or broadcast a baseball game since.
The 1994 New York Yankees team that could have been remains a hot discussion point in both baseball and in New York City because of the team's revival and Mattingly had not played in a postseason. When reacting to the strike's cancellation of the season, the first words many people on the Yankees, including Owner George Steinbrenner, Michael, and Showalter all said was that they all felt bad for Mattingly, saying that he deserved a postseason. Mattingly led active players in both games played and at bats without ever appearing in the postseason.

### Game log

1994 Regular Season Game Log (70-43) (Home: 33-24; Road: 37-19) :
April (15-8) (Home: 9-4; Road: 6-4)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecordReport
1April 4Rangers
2April 7Rangers
3April 8Tigers
4April 9Tigers
5April 10Tigers
6April 12@ White Sox
7April 13@ White Sox
8April 14@ White Sox
9April 15@ Tigers
10April 16@ Tigers
11April 17@ Tigers
12April 19Mariners
13April 20Mariners
14April 21Mariners
15April 22Athletics
16April 23Athletics
17April 24Athletics
18April 25Angels
19April 26Angels
20April 27@ Mariners
21April 28@ Mariners
22April 29@ Athletics
23April 30@ Athletics :
May (18-7) (Home: 12-2; Road: 6-5)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecordReport
24May 1@ Athletics
25May 3@ Angels
26May 4@ Angels
27May 6Red Sox
28May 7Red Sox
29May 8Red Sox
30May 9Indians
31May 10Indians
32May 11Indians
33May 12Indians
34May 13@ Brewers
35May 14@ Brewers
36May 15@ Brewers
37May 17@ Twins
38May 18@ Twins
39May 20Orioles
40May 21Orioles
41May 22Orioles
42May 24Blue Jays
43May 25Blue Jays
44May 27@ Royals
45May 28@ Royals
46May 29@ Royals
47May 30White Sox
48May 31White Sox :
June (14-13) (Home: 4-6; Road: 10-7)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecordReport
49June 1White Sox
50June 3Royals
51June 4Royals
52June 5Royals
53June 6@ Rangers
54June 7@ Rangers
55June 8@ Rangers
56June 9@ Blue Jays
57June 10@ Blue Jays
58June 11@ Blue Jays
59June 12@ Blue Jays
60June 13@ Orioles
61June 14@ Orioles
62June 15@ Orioles
63June 16@ Orioles
64June 17Brewers
65June 18Brewers
66June 19Brewers
67June 20Twins
68June 21Twins
69June 22Twins
70June 24@ Indians
71June 26@ Indians
72June 27@ Red Sox
73June 28@ Red Sox
74June 29@ Red Sox
75June 30@ Red Sox :
July (17-10) (Home: 7-9; Road: 10-1)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecordReport
76July 1Mariners
77July 2Mariners
78July 3Mariners
79July 4Athletics
80July 5Athletics
81July 6Athletics
82July 7Angels
83July 8Angels
84July 9Angels
85July 10Angels
All-Star Break: NL def. AL at Three Rivers Stadium, 8–7 (10)
86July 14@ Mariners
87July 15@ Mariners
88July 16@ Mariners
89July 17@ Mariners
90July 18@ Athletics
91July 19@ Athletics
92July 20@ Athletics
93July 21@ Angels
94July 22@ Angels
95July 23@ Angels
96July 24@ Angels
97July 26Red Sox
98July 27Red Sox
99July 28Red Sox
100July 29Indians
101July 30Indians
102July 31Indians :
August (6-5) (Home: 1-3; Road: 5-2)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecordReport
103August 1@ Brewers
104August 2@ Brewers
105August 3@ Brewers
106August 4@ Twins
107August 5@ Twins
108August 6@ Twins
109August 7@ Twins
110August 8Orioles
111August 9Orioles
112August 10Orioles
113August 11Blue Jays :
Legend :
| Yankees win | Yankees loss | All-Star Game | Game postponed |

### Season standings

vteAL East :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| New York Yankees | 70 | 43 | .619 | — | 33‍–‍24 | 37‍–‍19 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 63 | 49 | .562 | 6½ | 28‍–‍27 | 35‍–‍22 |
| Toronto Blue Jays | 55 | 60 | .478 | 16 | 33‍–‍26 | 22‍–‍34 |
| Boston Red Sox | 54 | 61 | .470 | 17 | 31‍–‍33 | 23‍–‍28 |
| Detroit Tigers | 53 | 62 | .461 | 18 | 34‍–‍24 | 19‍–‍38 |
vteDivision leaders :
| Team | W | L | Pct. |
| New York Yankees | 70 | 43 | .619 |
| Chicago White Sox | 67 | 46 | .593 |
| Texas Rangers | 52 | 62 | .456 |
vteWild Card team (Top team qualifies for postseason) :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB |
| Cleveland Indians | 66 | 47 | .584 | — |
| Baltimore Orioles | 63 | 49 | .562 | 2½ |
| Kansas City Royals | 64 | 51 | .557 | 3 |
| Toronto Blue Jays | 55 | 60 | .478 | 12 |
| Boston Red Sox | 54 | 61 | .470 | 13 |
| Minnesota Twins | 53 | 60 | .469 | 13 |
| Detroit Tigers | 53 | 62 | .461 | 14 |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 53 | 62 | .461 | 14 |
| Oakland Athletics | 51 | 63 | .447 | 15½ |
| Seattle Mariners | 49 | 63 | .438 | 16½ |
| California Angels | 47 | 68 | .409 | 20 |

### Record vs. opponents

1994 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BAL | BOS | CAL | CWS | CLE | DET | KC | MIL | MIN | NYY | OAK | SEA | TEX | TOR |
| Baltimore | — | 4–2 | 8–4 | 2–4 | 4–6 | 3–4 | 4–1 | 7–3 | 4–5 | 4–6 | 7–5 | 4–6 | 3–3 | 7–2 |
| Boston | 2–4 | — | 7–5 | 2–4 | 3–7 | 4–2 | 4–2 | 5–5 | 1–8 | 3–7 | 9–3 | 6–6 | 1–5 | 7–3 |
| California | 4–8 | 5–7 | — | 5–5 | 0–5 | 3–4 | 6–4 | 3–3 | 3–3 | 4–8 | 3–6 | 2–7 | 6–4 | 3–4 |
| Chicago | 4–2 | 4–2 | 5–5 | — | 7–5 | 8–4 | 3–7 | 9–3 | 2–4 | 4–2 | 6–3 | 9–1 | 4–5 | 2–3 |
| Cleveland | 6–4 | 7–3 | 5–0 | 5–7 | — | 8–2 | 1–4 | 5–2 | 9–3 | 0–9 | 6–0 | 3–2 | 5–7 | 6–4 |
| Detroit | 4–3 | 2–4 | 4–3 | 4–8 | 2–8 | — | 4–8 | 6–4 | 3–3 | 3–3 | 5–4 | 6–3 | 5–7 | 5–4 |
| Kansas City | 1–4 | 2–4 | 4–6 | 7–3 | 4–1 | 8–4 | — | 5–7 | 6–4 | 4–2 | 7–3 | 6–4 | 4–3 | 6–6 |
| Milwaukee | 3–7 | 5–5 | 3–3 | 3–9 | 2–5 | 4–6 | 7–5 | — | 6–6 | 2–7 | 4–1 | 4–2 | 3–3 | 7–3 |
| Minnesota | 5–4 | 8–1 | 3–3 | 4–2 | 3–9 | 3–3 | 4–6 | 6–6 | — | 4–5 | 2–5 | 3–3 | 4–5 | 4–8 |
| New York | 6–4 | 7–3 | 8–4 | 2–4 | 9–0 | 3–3 | 2–4 | 7–2 | 5–4 | — | 7–5 | 8–4 | 3–2 | 3–4 |
| Oakland | 5–7 | 3–9 | 6–3 | 3–6 | 0–6 | 4–5 | 3–7 | 1–4 | 5–2 | 5–7 | — | 4–3 | 7–3 | 5–1 |
| Seattle | 4–6 | 6–6 | 7–2 | 1–9 | 2–3 | 3–6 | 4–6 | 2–4 | 3–3 | 4–8 | 3–4 | — | 9–1 | 1–5 |
| Texas | 3–3 | 5–1 | 4–6 | 5–4 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 3–4 | 3–3 | 5–4 | 2–3 | 3–7 | 1–9 | — | 4–8 |
| Toronto | 2–7 | 3–7 | 4–3 | 3–2 | 4–6 | 4–5 | 6–6 | 3–7 | 8–4 | 4–3 | 1–5 | 5–1 | 8–4 | — |

### Notable transactions

* March 21, 1994: Paul Assenmacher was traded by the Yankees to the Chicago White Sox for Brian Boehringer.
* March 29, 1994: Kevin Maas was released by the Yankees.
* May 1, 1994: Kevin Elster was signed as a free agent with the New York Yankees.
* May 5, 1994: Bob Ojeda was released by the New York Yankees.
* May 6, 1994: Jeff Reardon was released by the New York Yankees.
* June 23, 1994: Sam Horn was released by the New York Yankees.
* July 3, 1994: Greg A. Harris was signed as a free agent with the New York Yankees.
* July 13, 1994: Greg A. Harris was released by the New York Yankees.

### 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 | R | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
| C | Mike Stanley | 82 | 290 | 54 | 87 | .300 | 17 | 57 |
| 1B | Don Mattingly | 97 | 372 | 62 | 113 | .304 | 6 | 51 |
| 2B | Pat Kelly | 93 | 286 | 35 | 80 | .280 | 3 | 41 |
| SS | Mike Gallego | 89 | 306 | 39 | 73 | .239 | 6 | 41 |
| 3B | Wade Boggs | 97 | 366 | 61 | 125 | .342 | 11 | 55 |
| LF | Luis Polonia | 95 | 350 | 62 | 109 | .311 | 1 | 36 |
| CF | Bernie Williams | 108 | 408 | 80 | 118 | .289 | 12 | 57 |
| RF | Paul O'Neill | 103 | 368 | 68 | 132 | .359 | 21 | 83 |
| DH | Danny Tartabull | 104 | 399 | 68 | 102 | .256 | 19 | 67 |

#### Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
| Player | G | AB | R | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
| Randy Velarde | 77 | 280 | 47 | 78 | .279 | 9 | 34 |
| Jim Leyritz | 75 | 249 | 47 | 66 | .265 | 17 | 58 |
| Gerald Williams | 57 | 86 | 19 | 25 | .291 | 4 | 13 |
| Matt Nokes | 28 | 79 | 11 | 23 | .291 | 7 | 19 |
| Daryl Boston | 52 | 77 | 11 | 14 | .182 | 4 | 14 |
| Kevin Elster | 7 | 20 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Dave Silvestri | 12 | 18 | 3 | 2 | .111 | 1 | 2 |
| Russ Davis | 4 | 14 | 0 | 2 | .143 | 0 | 1 |
| Bob Melvin | 9 | 14 | 2 | 4 | .286 | 1 | 3 |
| Robert Eenhoorn | 3 | 4 | 1 | 2 | .500 | 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 |
| Jimmy Key | 25 | 168.0 | 17 | 4 | 3.27 | 97 |
| Jim Abbott | 24 | 160.1 | 9 | 8 | 4.55 | 90 |
| Mélido Pérez | 22 | 151.1 | 9 | 4 | 4.10 | 109 |
| Terry Mulholland | 24 | 120.2 | 6 | 7 | 6.49 | 72 |
| Scott Kamieniecki | 22 | 117.1 | 8 | 6 | 3.76 | 71 |
| Bob Ojeda | 2 | 3.0 | 0 | 0 | 24.00 | 3 |

#### 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 |
| Sterling Hitchcock | 23 | 49.1 | 4 | 1 | 4.20 | 37 |

##### 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 |
| Steve Howe | 40 | 3 | 0 | 15 | 1.80 | 18 |
| Bob Wickman | 53 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 3.09 | 56 |
| Xavier Hernandez | 31 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 5.85 | 37 |
| Paul Gibson | 30 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4.97 | 21 |
| Donn Pall | 26 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3.60 | 21 |
| Joe Ausanio | 13 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5.17 | 15 |
| Jeff Reardon | 11 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 8.38 | 4 |
| Greg A. Harris | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5.40 | 4 |
| Rob Murphy | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16.20 | 0 |
| Mark Hutton | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.91 | 1 |

## Awards and honors

* Buck Showalter – American League Manager of the Year, 1995 American League All Star Manager (In honor of best record in American League in 1994)
* Paul O'Neill – American League Batting Champion (.359)
All-Star Game
* Paul O'Neill, reserve
* Wade Boggs, third base
* Jimmy Key, pitcher

## Farm system

| 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