The Yankees have clinched their playoff spot but until 1969, there was one spot and not four. They still have a chance for the division and for over 30 days since August 1, only one-half game has separated the Yankees and Rays.
In Part Four of this series, here is how the races for the AL pennant unfolded for the Yankees during the 1980s and 1990s in years that they won it and years they fell short. Initially this was going to include 2000-2009 but this was long enough already and most people know about those years, so it was skipped.
1980 – A new decade ushered in a new manager. That man was Dick Howser and his first year was a 103-win season. The Yankees reached August with a 7 ½ game lead and won four of six but saw the lead cut to 5 1/2. It was reduced even lower when the Orioles swept three at Yankee Stadium Aug. 8-10.
In the opener, the Yankees had a 2-1 lead with four outs left but Murray homered and John Lowenstein singled in two runs. The Orioles added another run on Ken Singleton’s ninth inning single and the Yankees left two on in the ninth. Game Two featured more eighth inning events for the Orioles as Singleton tripled in the go-ahead run off Tom Underwood. Goose Gossage then gave up a single to Terry Crowley and the Orioles had a 4-2 victory. In the finale, the late innings again were prominent. The Yankees took a 5-4 lead in the seventh on a Bucky Dent groundout. In the ninth, Lenn Sakata led off with a triple off Tommy John. John then retired Lee May and pinch hitter Rich Dauer but gave up a single to Rick Dempsey and lost the lead when Murray doubled.
With the lead reduced to 2 ½, the Yankees took two of three in Chicago and headed to Baltimore up by 3 ½. Steve Stone pitched a two-hitter in the opener but in Game Two, Randolph and Jackson homered off Mike Flanagan. In the third game, Oscar Gamble and Eric Soderholm homered off Dennis Martinez and Gaylord Perry pitched seven innings. The series continued with a 1-0 Orioles’ victory as the only run was in the sixth on a Crowley double. Luis Tiant took the tough loss against Scott McGregor, who pitched a six-hitter. The Orioles claimed another close victory winning again 6-5. They knocked out Guidry in the fourth and took a 6-2 lead into the eighth. In the eighth, the Yankees scored three and in the ninth they had two on but Dent was called out on strikes against Tippy Martinez as the lead went back to 2 ½ games.
The Yankees headed out West and split eight games in Anaheim, Oakland and Seattle and were one-half game in front on August 26. Those teams then visited the Bronx and the Yankees won 10 of 11 to go up by 4 ½. During that stretch, Lou Piniella was 15-for-36. The winning continued as the Yankees won 14 of 18 and went up by 5 ½ on Sept. 26. They lost three in a row (two in Detroit and one in Cleveland) and were up by 2 1/2. The Yankees clinched a tie on October 2 when Jackson hit his 40th home run off Jack Morris in a 3-2 win and then clinched it with a doubleheader split against the Tigers.
1983 – In Billy 3, the Yankees were a third-place team that won 91 games. The Yankees trailed Baltimore by just 2 ½ games going into the final two months. They lost four straight and were four out on Aug. 4. Then the Yankees won eight of 12 and were one-half game out on August 14 after Ken Griffey hit a two-run home run in a 4-1 win at Tiger Stadium. Five losses in eight games dropped the Yankees to 3 ½ games out on August 23. Despite winning 11 of 15, the Yankees headed into a series with the Orioles five games out. Graig Nettles hit a two-run home run off McGregor in the eighth inning of a 5-3 win but then the Yankees lost three straight. It started with Lowenstein hitting a grand slam batting for Gary Roenicke in the ninth off Gossage in an 8-4 loss. Mike Boddicker pitched seven sharp innings in a 3-1 loss and a ninth-inning rally fell short in a 5-3 loss as Tippy Martinez retired Rick Cerone and Roy Smalley sending the Yankees seven games out. The Yankees swept a three-game series from Milwaukee but gained no ground and were essentially finished.
1985 – This year began as the continuation of Yogi 2, but when the Yankees lost 10 of 16 to start Yogi Berra was replaced and Billy 4 began. The latest installment of the Billy Martin managerial saga had the Yankees 55-44 and 7 ½ games behind Toronto going into the final two months. Three losses in four games, including Tom Seaver’s 300th victory on Aug. 4 made the deficit 9 ½ but then the wins starting coming more often.
A 7-3 win over the White Sox triggered a 17-2 run. During those three weeks, Don Mattingly earned that AL MVP. He drove in 19 and batted .361 (30-for-83) while hitting eight home runs and doing it all from the second spot in the lineup. That tear brought the Yankees back in the race and just three games out at 73-49.
Three losses in four games dropped two games in the standings but then they became hot again by winning 11 straight. The streak started with a 10-4 victory over the Angels as Ron Hassey drove in four runs. The next night it was Mattingly’s turn to shine as he homered twice and the Yankees overcame a 3-0 deficit and won 5-3. Labor Day brought a thriller as the Yankees raced to a 7-0 lead and beat the Mariners 8-7. Dave Winfield drove in four and Mattingly had the go-ahead single in the seventh after Seattle scored three in the sixth for a one-run game. Dan Pasqua hit a two-run home run in a five-run first in win number four and Dave Righetti left the bases loaded by getting Perconte again in the eighth. Win five featured Mattingly’s 26th home run, 6 2/3 innings from Rich Bordi and a shaky ninth but Bob Shirley retired Alvin Davis on a 643 double play to end it. That made the deficit 2 ½ games.
After sweeping four from Oakland, it was on to Milwaukee. The Yankees scored five in the 10th of a 9-4 win and then won a 13-10 slugfest as Rickey Henderson, Griffey, Mattingly and Hassey drove in three runs apiece. The streak ended with a 4-3 loss as Righetti gave up a single to Cecil Cooper in the ninth but the deficit was 2 ½ heading into the Toronto series.
The Yankees opened it by scoring six in the seventh, overcoming a 4-1 deficit for a 7-5 victory. A 3-2 loss started an eight-game losing streak that dropped the Yankees 6 ½ out with 15 to play. They won eight of nine and were four games out before heading to Toronto three games out. Then they were two out after Butch Wynegar hit a two-run, two-out home run off Tom Henke in the ninth. Elimination came the next afternoon when Doyle Alexander fired a five-hitter without a strikeout or walk.
1986 – This was the year of the Mets and Piniella 1 in the Bronx. The Yankees headed into August 56-46 and four games behind the Red Sox. Losing six of 11 dropped the Yankees to six games out on Aug. 10. A four-game winning streak restored it to four games but 13 losses in 20 games through Sept. 7 saw the deficit slip to 10 ½ games and that was all she wrote for this team. The reason for only falling by five games was a meaningless four-game sweep at Boston to close the season.
1987 – Piniella was back and things were going decently for a while. When Gary Ward’s two-run home run off Mike Henneman with one out in the ninth gave the Yankees a 6-5 win, they were 63-40 and 2 ½ up on Toronto and three up on Detroit. The next day August arrived and Dennis Rasmussen struggled through 4 1/3 innings of a 10-5 loss and the Yankees lost 10 of their first 13 games that month, dropping three games out. After winning the first two games of the West Coast trip, the Yankees lost four of the final six and returned four games out. Despite winning six of eight at home, the Yankees were now five out with 26 to play. They fell eight games out by losing six of nine leading into a four-game series with Toronto and they split that falling 8 ½ behind Detroit with 13 left.
1988 – Billy V started the year but he was fired in June and it was Lou Two. Piniella took over on June 23 and the Yankees were 40-28 2 ½ games behind the Tigers, who walked off with three straight wins to end Billy V.
The Yankees won 20 of 34 under Piniella and heading into August were 60-42 and one game behind the Tigers. The month began with four straight losses in Milwaukee and against the Twins, setting an ominous tone. The Yankees lost 20 of 29 games that month due to things such as a .251 batting average and a 6.61 team ERA (352 hits, 258 2/3 innings). That month Mattingly hit .254, Jack Clark batted .185 and Mike Pagliarulo was at .215. On the mound, Rick Rhoden was 1-4 with a 5.40 ERA, Richard Dotson was 1-4 with a 5.35 ERA and Righetti had a 5.65 ERA. The month ended with the Yankees being 69-62 and 5 ½ games behind Detroit.
September started off with four losses in six games leading into a four-game series with the Tigers at the Stadium. The Yankees went into that series in fourth place, five behind the Red Sox. The opener was a 7-4 win as Gary Ward hit a two-out, three-run home run in the 10th inning off Willie Hernandez. Game Two was a 3-2 win decided on Claudell Washington’s solo home run opening the ninth off Walt Terrell. Game Three was a 9-4 win as the Yankees scored six in the seventh and knocked out Jack Morris. The finale took 18 innings and six hours. Alan Trammell tied it at 3-3 with a seventh inning home run and it stayed there until Matt Nokes scored on Torey Lovullo’s single in the 18th. After Rickey Henderson led off with a walk, Washington homered off Hernandez. The sweep moved the Yankees into a second-place tie and 3 ½ games out of first.
After taking two of three at Cleveland but losing a game in the standings, the Yankees headed to Fenway for a four-game series. They won the opener 5-3 as Paglirulo had three hits, including a solo home run off Clemens. Al Leiter struggled in Game Two, a 7-4 loss. In Game 3, Dwight Evans led off the eighth with a solo home run against Charlie Hudson and the Red Sox were 3-1 winners. The finale was a 9-4 loss as Ron Guidry allowed six runs and six hits in 1 1/3 innings as Ellis Burks hit a three-run home run in the first. That weekend dropped the deficit to 6 ½ games.
A three-game sweep of the Orioles left the Yankees 4 ½ down with the Red Sox coming in for three. The Yankees took a 9-7 lead into the ninth but blew it as Dale Mohorcic gave up singles to Jody Reed and Spike Owen that scored three. The next day Reed booted a Willie Randolph grounder in the ninth that scored the winning run but the series ended with a 6-0 loss to Clemens, who allowed five hits and struck out seven in seven innings.
1989 – This team was the first of four straight with a losing record and entered August 49-55 and 5 ½ games out. The only problem was they were a sixth-place ballclub That’s how it stayed through August 13 when they were 55-62 and also 5 ½ games out but then they lost 14 of 17, changed managers by replacing Dallas Green with Bucky Dent, were 14 out and finished. The capper to that run of poor baseball was a 19-5 loss to Oakland when Jose Canseco hit two home runs and drove in five. The rest of the game featured a 10-run fifth featuring six hits and two errors.
1993 – After three seasons of entering August a combined 32 games under .500 and 36 ½ games out of first place, the second year under Buck Showalter brought a pennant race. The Yankees were tied with the Blue Jays 19 times and this was one of them as both teams were 60-45.
That day the Blue Jays acquired Rickey Henderson for the stretch run while the day before the Yankees acquired Paul Assenmacher. After opening August with a 9-2 loss to the Brewers, the Yankees and Jays squared off for a four-game series at Yankee Stadium.
The series began with a 4-0 victory as Todd Stottlemyre bested Jim Abbott. Stottlemyre allowed eight runs in seven innings while Abbott gave up four runs and seven hits in 8 1/3 innings. The Blue Jays scored in the sixth on a Devon White home run and took a 2-0 lead into the ninth before Joe Carter hit a two-run shot.
The next night, the Blue Jays pulled out an 8-6 victory by scoring four in the eighth on singles by White, Paul Molitor and a double by Tony Fernandez. That dropped the Yankees three games back but they regained two games with 6-2 and 5-4 victories behind effective showings from Scott Kamieniecki and Jimmy Key.
After losing three of four on the road, the Yankees began six-game winning streak that was highlighted by a weekend sweep of the Orioles. Years later that series still is remembered for things like Mike Gallego’s spectacular double play, Domino Jean getting stuck in traffic on the George Washington Bridge and Mattingly barely clearing the right field fence in 1-0 game. The streak ended with a 3-2 loss to Texas and following another loss, the Yankees won six of nine to reach another tie with the Jays at 75-57.
Then it started slipping a little as they dropped eight of the next 12. One win was Abbott’s no-hitter vs. the Indians but three of those losses were in Texas. The final game of that period was a 10-2 loss in Kansas City that dropped the Yankees to 79-65 and two games back.
The Yankees won the first two in Milwaukee and were 1 ½ out. The next night a 15-5 loss to the Brewers began the crushing 2-7 stretch that featured a split with the Red Sox, though it would have been three losses if time was not called on Sept. 18 when a fan ran on to the field.
After the split to the Red Sox, which ended with an 8-3 loss when Frank Tanana started instead of Abbott, the Yankees were four out. The Twins came in and Pedro Munoz hit two home runs and drove in five in a 5-4 loss. The next night the Twins scored four in the second as Munoz hit a three-run home run off Kamieniecki and drove in four runs in 5-2 loss that dropped the Yankees five out with nine remaining. Needing a sweep in Toronto, the Yankees dropped the opener 7-3 as White had four hits and Henderson hit a solo home run off Key. The Blue Jays then went up by seven with a 3-1 win as Leiter pitched six innings and allowed one hit and that was the end of the first Yankee pennant race of the 1990s.
1995 – This was the first year that the wild card was a fallback and it was a good thing because the Yankees went into August 43-42 and feeling good about acquiring David Cone from the Blue Jays.
The Yankees trailed the Red Sox by 4 ½ games and began by winning six of eight and adding Darryl Strawberry. The brief spurt ended with an 11-4 victory over the Orioles and put the Yankees 5 ½ out. They would not really be any closer as they dropped 14 of their next 18. Among those losses was a 10-9 defeat to the Indians in the first game of a doubleheader. That day they wasted three Mike Stanley home runs and allowed the Indians to score five in the ninth.
That stretch ended on August 28 with a 7-0 loss in Seattle as Randy Johnson pitched a two-hitter. It left the Yankees 15 ½ games out and 5 ½ games behind Texas in the wild card race.
Afterwards, the Yankees began heating up and did not lose consecutive games the rest of the way. They started with a 10-3 homestand that ended with them trailing Seattle by one-half game in the wild card race. Highlights of that stretch included Paul O’Neill’s three home run game against the Angels and Tony Fernandez hitting for the cycle. The Yankees eventually grabbed their first playoff berth by winning 11 of their last 12, culminating in a 6-1 win at Toronto at October 1 where Mattingly pounded the ground to express his emotion at being playoff-bound for the first time.
1996 – In the first pennant race under Joe Torre, the Yankees headed into August by acquiring Cecil Fielder from the Tigers and leading the Orioles by 10 games. The lead remained steady as it was nine games after Strawberry hit five home runs in a three-game series against the White Sox. That was August 8 and a few days later, John Wetteland was on the DL. After allowing a 10th-inning home run to Harold Baines in Chicago, he would not pitch until Sept. 7. That was part of a stretch of 12 losses in 17 games that dropped the lead to four games.
The lead fell to three games after a 5-4 stretch that was highlighted by David Cone’s return from an aneurysm in Oakland. It stayed at three as the Yankees won six of seven. The Yankees went up by five after Ruben Rivera’s game-winning single in the ninth and Wade Boggs’ four-hit night. A 10-9 loss that saw Cone give up six runs and Rivera allow three dropped it back to four games.
It stayed four games for the entire weekend, inched to 4 ½ on Sept 24 and the next day the AL East was theirs as Tino Martinez drove in five runs in a 19-2 rout of the Brewers.
1997 – This was a 96-win team but there was a sense that the magic from 1996 was not appearing. They spent the entire year out of first place and were six out when August arrived.
The Yankees won 10 of 14 and were 3 ½ out on August 15 as Mariano Rivera saved seven games. The next 14 games were split and on August 30 when David Wells lost to the Expos, he was in a confrontation with George Steinbrenner. That sent the Yankees back to 6 ½ out and then they were swept in three games at Veterans Stadium by the last-place Phillies as Paul O’Neill was 2-for-11 and Tino Martinez was 1-for-11. The sweep ended when Mike Stanton allowed a bases-loaded walk to Tony Barron in the bottom of the ninth.
The losing continued for the first three against the Orioles. When Scott Erickson pitched a four-hitter on Sept. 6, the Yankees were 9 ½ games out. The Yankees avoided the sweep with a 10-3 victory as O’Neill, Jorge Posada, Tim Raines and Bernie Williams hit home runs. Winning three of four the following weekend in Baltimore cut the deficit to 6 ½ but time was running out on the division and the Yankees were eliminated on Sept. 27 but had the wild card.
1998 – In their 114-win season, there was no race. The Yankees took first place for good when Martinez knocked in Chuck Knoblauch with a single in the 10th off Seattle’s Bobby Ayala. The win came after Knoblauch made an eighth-inning error leading to four Seattle runs but Raines tied it in the ninth with a leadoff home run. At the end of May, the lead was 7 ½. The last time it was in the single digits was following a 7-2 loss to the Braves on June 23. Through June, the lead was 10 games. Through July it was 15 games. Through August it swelled to 18 ½ and the Yankees won it by 22.
1999 – Following up the 114-win season, the Yankees won 98 games and while the Red Sox lurked in the background, there did not seem to much doubt the AL East belonged to the Yankees. Through July, the distance was six games and it stayed in that neighborhood as the Yankees won 19 of 29 games. During August, Bernie Williams batted .384 with seven home runs and 34 RBI. Williams batted .342 that year and to accomplish that, he batted over .300 in every month except for April when he hit .291. It was also during then when Pettitte produced his best month, which came after he was nearly traded to the Phillies. In response to nearly becoming an ex-Yankee, Petttite was 5-1 with a 1.76 ERA.
The only threat to the division was a 4-9 stretch from August 31-Sept 13 that dropped the lead to 3 1/2 games. During that stretch was a three-game sweep by the Red Sox on Sept. 10-12. The sweep started with Pedro Martinez striking out 17 in a one-hitter for a 3-1 win. The one hit was a second-inning home run by Chili Davis and after that, Martinez retired the final 19. Pettitte kept the shutout until the sixth when Mike Stanley hit a two-run home run.
The next day was a slugfest that the Red Sox won 11-10. Boston took a 5-0 lead on Hideki Irabu and nearly blew a 9-4 lead. The Yankees scored four in the seventh and were within one run when Offerman’s error on a Knoblauch grounder allowed two to score. Boston went back ahead by three in the eighth, the Yankees were within one on Tino Martinez’s two-run home run but Rod Beck stranded Paul O’Neill to nail it down.
The next day Roger Clemens failed to stop the sweep as he allowed four runs in seven-plus innings. The game was tied 1-1 through seven before it became dicey for the Yankees. Clemens gave up three straight singles and two runs before leaving with second and third and then the Yankees did not mount a threat against Derek Lowe and Beck.
A 2-1 loss to the Blue Jays with David Wells’ throwing a four-hitter kept the lead at 3 ½. The next night the Yankees scored nine in the final two innings as Williams hit a grand slam off Billy Koch and O’Neill did the same off Paul Spoljaric. Lose that game and the lead is 2 ½ as the Red Sox were 12-3 winners in Cleveland but those home runs started an 8-1 run that expanded the lead to six games and essentially sealed the deal.
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