# 1988 New York Yankees season

The 1988 New York Yankees season was the 86th season for the Yankees. The team finished with a record of 85–76, finishing in fifth place, 3.5 games behind the Boston Red Sox. New York was managed by Lou Piniella and Billy Martin, with the latter managing the team for the fifth and final time. The Yankees played at Yankee Stadium.

## Offseason

* November 2, 1987: Lenn Sakata was released by the New York Yankees.
* December 11, 1987: Darren Reed, Phil Lombardi, and Steve Frey were traded by the Yankees to the New York Mets for Rafael Santana and Victor Garcia (minors).
* December 18, 1987: Rich Bordi was released by the New York Yankees.
* December 22, 1987: Steve Trout and Henry Cotto were traded by the Yankees to the Seattle Mariners for Lee Guetterman, Clay Parker, and Wade Taylor.
* January 15, 1988: John Candelaria was signed as a free agent by the Yankees.

## Regular season
### Season standings

vteAL East :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Boston Red Sox | 89 | 73 | .549 | — | 53‍–‍28 | 36‍–‍45 |
| Detroit Tigers | 88 | 74 | .543 | 1 | 50‍–‍31 | 38‍–‍43 |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 87 | 75 | .537 | 2 | 47‍–‍34 | 40‍–‍41 |
| Toronto Blue Jays | 87 | 75 | .537 | 2 | 45‍–‍36 | 42‍–‍39 |
| New York Yankees | 85 | 76 | .528 | 3½ | 46‍–‍34 | 39‍–‍42 |
| Cleveland Indians | 78 | 84 | .481 | 11 | 44‍–‍37 | 34‍–‍47 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 54 | 107 | .335 | 34½ | 34‍–‍46 | 20‍–‍61 |

### Record vs. opponents

1988 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BAL | BOS | CAL | CWS | CLE | DET | KC | MIL | MIN | NYY | OAK | SEA | TEX | TOR |
| Baltimore | — | 4–9 | 5–7 | 4–7 | 4–9 | 5–8 | 0–12 | 4–9 | 3–9 | 3–10 | 4–8 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 5–8 |
| Boston | 9–4 | — | 8–4 | 7–5 | 8–5 | 6–7 | 6–6 | 10–3 | 7–5 | 9–4 | 3–9 | 6–6 | 8–4 | 2–11 |
| California | 7–5 | 4–8 | — | 9–4 | 8–4 | 5–7 | 5–8 | 3–9 | 4–9 | 6–6 | 4–9 | 6–7 | 8–5 | 6–6 |
| Chicago | 7–4 | 5–7 | 4–9 | — | 3–9 | 3–9 | 7–6 | 6–6 | 4–9 | 3–9 | 5–8 | 9–4 | 8–5 | 7–5 |
| Cleveland | 9–4 | 5–8 | 4–8 | 9–3 | — | 4–9 | 6–6 | 9–4 | 5–7 | 6–7 | 4–8 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 6–7 |
| Detroit | 8–5 | 7–6 | 7–5 | 9–3 | 9–4 | — | 8–4 | 5–8 | 1–11 | 8–5 | 4–8 | 9–3 | 8–4 | 5–8 |
| Kansas City | 12–0 | 6–6 | 8–5 | 6–7 | 6–6 | 4–8 | — | 3–9 | 7–6 | 6–6 | 8–5 | 7–5 | 7–6 | 4–8 |
| Milwaukee | 9–4 | 3–10 | 9–3 | 6–6 | 4–9 | 8–5 | 9–3 | — | 7–5 | 6–7 | 3–9 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 7–6 |
| Minnesota | 9–3 | 5–7 | 9–4 | 9–4 | 7–5 | 11–1 | 6–7 | 5–7 | — | 3–9 | 5–8 | 8–5 | 7–6 | 7–5 |
| New York | 10–3 | 4–9 | 6–6 | 9–3 | 7–6 | 5–8 | 6–6 | 7–6 | 9–3 | — | 6–6 | 5–7 | 5–6 | 6–7 |
| Oakland | 8–4 | 9–3 | 9–4 | 8–5 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 5–8 | 9–3 | 8–5 | 6–6 | — | 9–4 | 8–5 | 9–3 |
| Seattle | 5–7 | 6–6 | 7–6 | 4–9 | 7–5 | 3–9 | 5–7 | 4–8 | 5–8 | 7–5 | 4–9 | — | 6–7 | 5–7 |
| Texas | 6–6 | 4–8 | 5–8 | 5–8 | 6–6 | 4–8 | 6–7 | 4–8 | 6–7 | 6–5 | 5–8 | 7–6 | — | 6–6 |
| Toronto | 8–5 | 11–2 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 7–6 | 8–5 | 8–4 | 6–7 | 5–7 | 7–6 | 3–9 | 7–5 | 6–6 | — |

### Notable transactions

* March 30, 1988: Orestes Destrade was traded by the Yankees to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Hipólito Peña.
* April 4, 1988: Rick Cerone was released by the Yankees.
* April 4, 1988: Jerry Royster was released by the New York Yankees.
* May 7, 1988: Chris Chambliss was signed as a free agent by the Yankees.
* May 10, 1988: Chris Chambliss was released by the Yankees.
* June 1, 1988: 1988 Major League Baseball Draft
** Andy Cook was drafted by the Yankees in the 11th round.
** Frank Seminara was drafted by the New York Yankees in the 12th round.
** Deion Sanders was drafted by the Yankees in the 30th round. Player signed June 22, 1988.
* July 15, 1988: Luis Aguayo was traded by the Philadelphia Phillies to the New York Yankees for Amalio Carreno.
* July 21, 1988: Jay Buhner, Rich Balabon (minors), and a player to be named later were traded by the Yankees to the Seattle Mariners for Ken Phelps. The Yankees completed the deal by sending Troy Evers (minors) to the Mariners on October 12.
* August 30, 1988: Cecilio Guante was traded by the Yankees to the Texas Rangers for Dale Mohorcic.

### Roster
## Game log
### Regular season

1988 regular season game log: 85–76 (Home: 46–34; Away: 39–42) :
April: 16–7 (Home: 9–4; Away: 7–3)
#DateTime (ET)OpponentScoreWinLossSaveTime of GameAttendanceRecordBox/ StreakGB
1April 51:10 pm EDTTwinsW 8–055,8021–0W1
2April 61:10 pm EDTTwinsW 5–332,7562–0W2
–April 7TwinsPostponed (Rain) (Makeup date: August 5)
3April 87:35 pm EDTBrewersW 6–420,9273–0W3
4April 97:36 pm EDTBrewersW 4–127,0214–0W4
5April 101:36 pm EDTBrewersW 7–636,2145–0W5
6April 111:45 pm EDT@ Blue JaysL 9–1745,1855–1L1
7April 127:36 pm EDT@ Blue JaysW 12–324,1166–1W1
8April 137:35 pm EDT@ Blue JaysW 5–124,1057–1W2
9April 1412:36 pm EDT@ Blue JaysW 7–324,5248–1W3
10April 152:35 pm EDT@ BrewersW 7–155,8879–1W4
11April 164:08 pm EDT@ BrewersL 2–924,9729–2L1
12April 172:30 pm EDT@ BrewersL 3–622,1999–3L2
13April 188:09 pm EDT@ TwinsW 18–530,44210–3W1
14April 198:05 pm EDT@ TwinsW 7–623,72411–3W2
15April 208:05 pm EDT@ TwinsW 7–6 (10)22,36912–3W3
16April 227:39 pm EDTBlue JaysL 4–6 (12)33,31412–4L1
17April 237:38 pm EDTBlue JaysL 2–324,04612–5L2
18April 241:38 pm EDTBlue JaysW 5–352,07313–5W1 :
May: 17–9 (Home: 7–4; Away: 10–5)
#DateTime (ET)OpponentScoreWinLossSaveTime of GameAttendanceRecordBox/ StreakGB :
June: 12–15 (Home: 7–6; Away: 5–9)
#DateTime (ET)OpponentScoreWinLossSaveTime of GameAttendanceRecordBox/ StreakGB :
July: 15–11 (Home: 8–5; Away: 7–6)
#DateTime (ET)OpponentScoreWinLossSaveTime of GameAttendanceRecordBox/ StreakGB :
August: 9–20 (Home: 6–11; Away: 3–9)
#DateTime (ET)OpponentScoreWinLossSaveTime of GameAttendanceRecordBox/ StreakGB :
September: 16–12 (Home: 9–4; Away: 7–8)
#DateTime (ET)OpponentScoreWinLossSaveTime of GameAttendanceRecordBox/ StreakGB :
October: 0–2 (Home: 0–0; Away: 0–2)
#DateTime (ET)OpponentScoreWinLossSaveTime of GameAttendanceRecordBox/ StreakGB :
Legend:        = Win        = Loss        = Postponement Bold = Yankees team member :

## Player stats
### 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 | 97 | 322 | 91 | .283 | 9 | 43 |
| 1B | Don Mattingly | 144 | 599 | 186 | .311 | 18 | 88 |
| 2B | Willie Randolph | 110 | 404 | 93 | .230 | 2 | 34 |
| 3B | Mike Pagliarulo | 125 | 444 | 96 | .216 | 15 | 67 |
| SS | Rafael Santana | 148 | 480 | 115 | .240 | 4 | 38 |
| LF | Rickey Henderson | 140 | 554 | 169 | .305 | 6 | 50 |
| CF | Claudell Washington | 126 | 455 | 140 | .308 | 11 | 64 |
| RF | Dave Winfield | 149 | 559 | 180 | .322 | 25 | 107 |
| DH | Jack Clark | 150 | 496 | 120 | .242 | 27 | 93 |

#### 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 |
| Joel Skinner | 88 | 251 | 57 | .227 | 4 | 23 |
| Gary Ward | 91 | 231 | 52 | .225 | 4 | 24 |
| Luis Aguayo | 50 | 140 | 35 | .250 | 3 | 8 |
| Bob Meacham | 47 | 115 | 25 | .217 | 0 | 7 |
| Randy Velarde | 48 | 115 | 20 | .174 | 5 | 12 |
| Ken Phelps | 45 | 107 | 24 | .224 | 10 | 22 |
| José Cruz | 38 | 80 | 16 | .200 | 1 | 7 |
| Roberto Kelly | 38 | 77 | 19 | .247 | 1 | 7 |
| Jay Buhner | 25 | 69 | 13 | .188 | 3 | 13 |
| Wayne Tolleson | 21 | 59 | 15 | .254 | 0 | 5 |
| Hal Morris | 15 | 20 | 2 | .100 | 0 | 0 |
| Bob Geren | 10 | 10 | 1 | .100 | 0 | 0 |
| Álvaro Espinoza | 3 | 3 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Chris Chambliss | 1 | 1 | 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 |
| Rick Rhoden | 30 | 197.0 | 12 | 12 | 4.29 | 94 |
| Tommy John | 35 | 176.1 | 9 | 8 | 4.49 | 81 |
| Richard Dotson | 32 | 171.0 | 12 | 9 | 5.00 | 77 |
| John Candelaria | 25 | 157.0 | 13 | 7 | 3.38 | 121 |
| Al Leiter | 14 | 57.1 | 4 | 4 | 3.92 | 60 |
| Ron Guidry | 12 | 56.0 | 2 | 3 | 4.18 | 32 |
| Dave Eiland | 3 | 12.2 | 0 | 0 | 6.39 | 7 |

#### 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 |
| Charles Hudson | 28 | 106.1 | 6 | 6 | 4.49 | 58 |
| Scott Nielsen | 7 | 19.2 | 1 | 2 | 6.86 | 4 |
| Pat Clements | 6 | 8.1 | 0 | 0 | 6.48 | 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 | 60 | 5 | 4 | 25 | 3.52 | 70 |
| Cecilio Guante | 56 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 2.88 | 61 |
| Neil Allen | 41 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 3.84 | 61 |
| Steve Shields | 39 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 4.37 | 55 |
| Tim Stoddard | 28 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 6.38 | 33 |
| Lee Guetterman | 20 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4.65 | 15 |
| Hipólito Peña | 16 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3.14 | 10 |
| Dale Mohorcic | 13 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2.78 | 19 |

## Awards and records

* Rickey Henderson, Yankees Single Season Record, Stolen Bases in a Season (93 in 1988)

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Columbus Clippers | International League | Bucky Dent |
| AA | Albany-Colonie Yankees | Eastern League | Tommy Jones and Stump Merrill |
| A | Prince William Cannons | Carolina League | Wally Moon and Gene Tenace |
| A | Fort Lauderdale Yankees | Florida State League | Buck Showalter |
| A-Short Season | Oneonta Yankees | New York–Penn League | Gary Allenson |
| Rookie | GCL Yankees | Gulf Coast League | Brian Butterfield |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Albany-Colonie, Oneonta, GCL Yankees