THE 20th ANNIVERSARY OF A BITTERSWEET SEASON

It is hard to believe that it has been 20 years since the most recent Yankees dynasty began its incredible ride. The 1994 season was the first season for the Yankees in recent memory when they finished first in their division after a terrible stretch of years where they struggled even to be competitive.

Buck Showalter, in the third season of his tenure as the Yankees manager, was finally realizing success with his rebuilding efforts with the Yankees. Working with GM Gene Michael, they traded for talent like Paul O'Neill and Jim Abbott the year before. They acquired veteran talent like Jimmy Key, Wade Boggs, and Steve Howe through free agency. They also recognized the value in their farm system, developing rookies like Bernie Williams, Scott Kamieniecki, and Gerald Williams.

Jimmy Key was the outstanding ace of the pitching rotation. Through 113 games, he posted a record of 17-4 with a 3.27 ERA. He came in second in the Cy Young voting, and sixth in the A.L. MVP voting. He had 18 quality starts out of 25. He was the most significant contributor to the success of this team.

Paul O’Neill, at age 31, provided the most firepower from the lineup. He led the league with a .359 batting average. He led the team in home runs (21), RBI (83), and tied for the lead in runs scored with Danny Tartabull (68). The team had five everyday players hitting .300 or better, which included Paul O’Neill, Wade Boggs (.342), Don Mattingly (.304), Luis Polonia (.311), and Mike Stanley (.300). All this helped the team come in first in the league in OPS (.836) and second in the league in runs scored (670) and batting average (.290).

It is hard to appreciate, in retrospect, how much excitement this team generated for the fans. New York Yankees baseball had fallen into major disrepute, and the fans stopped coming to the games. Through the second week of August, Yankee Stadium attendance was just less than 1.7 million. To put that in context, this year Yankee Stadium attendance passed 1.7 million in attendance on July 2. Nevertheless, this was the first time that the Yankees would finish first in the division for the first time in 14 years. It was only the second time in those 14 years that they finished with a W/L percentage above .600.

There was also heartbreak that year. In spite of their success, the season tragically ended on August 11 due to the baseball players’ union strike. Compounding the tragedy was the fact that for the first time in a long time, the Yankees were legitimate contenders. They had a division lead of 6.5 games, and were a virtual lock for the playoffs. The AL West leading Texas Rangers were 10 games below .500. Hard to believe, but true. The expected wildcard would have been the Cleveland Indians, against whom the Yankees had swept all nine games. They were 2-4 against the AL Central leading Chicago White Sox, but they had only faced the Jimmy Key once (which the Yankees won) and they drew the bottom of the rotation in both series. A World Series was within their grasp.

As I said earlier, it is hard to believe that it has been 20 years since the recent magic started. Despite the strike and the frustration, they proved to themselves and to the world that they had a strong team and they could win. They would eventually win it all in 2 years, and would start the storybook dynasty of the late 90’s. Good times.

--Ike Dimitriadis, BYB Senior Staff Writer
Twitter: @KingAgamemnon
My blog is: Shots from Murderer's Row

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THINKING BACK TO THE ROBERTO KELLY DAYS

Roberto Kelly was an interesting bridge to the rebuilding of the Yankees franchise. The late 1980’s were a strange time for the Yankees organization. The team would perennially have powerful hitting, strong starts, poor pitching, and personnel issues. Roberto Kelly was one of the rookies coming up through the system, who had the promise to help the Yankees get over the hump and back into postseason play. Personally, I liked what he brought to the team, and was unhappy to see him go. Nevertheless, while he was here, he helped a struggling team stay competitive.

In 1987, one of those aforementioned personnel issues was Rickey Henderson. Rickey would periodically claim that his hamstring was hurt, and that he could not play. Other players and even managerLou Piniella accused him of not giving 100% and overstating the injury. By 1989, Roberto Kelly had established himself as the starting center fielder and a legitimate lead-off hitter, which gave the Yankees some options. Just before the All-star break, the Yankees executed one of the worst trades in franchise history, trading Rickey Henderson to Oakland for pitchers Greg Cadaret, Eric Plunk, and outfielder Luis Polonia and Roberto Kelly held sole possession of the lead off spot as well as center field.

Over the course of five full seasons with the Yankees, he hit .278 with about 14 home runs and almost 40 stolen bases per season. He was caught only about 25% of the time, making him a constant threat to steal second and a legitimate lead off hitter. He was an above-average fielder, with good range and a decent arm. The Yankees were very trigger-happy at the time with trades, giving away rookie talent for promising but ultimately disappointing veterans whose best days were behind them. Kelly represented hope that if the Yankees could have patience with their farm system, that they could have a very strong team on the field. The fact that he survived trade negotiations through his minor league career, made it to the majors, and delivered on what the team expected was just plain amazing.

Though he spent most of his career away from the Yankees, it was nice that he was able to finish his career with the Yankees, playing 10 games in 2000 before announcing his retirement. I was sad to hear the news on November 4, 1992, when the Yankees announced that they had traded him to the Cincinnati Reds. By then it was obvious that the Yankees had to do some major renovation to build a competitive team again, though I felt they could have done it with Kelly. 

Nevertheless, his departure opened the door for two legends of the Yankees to be part of the team. The trade that sent him to the Reds brought us a young left-handed outfielder named Paul O’Neill. Moreover, the Yankees needed to make room for another rookie coming up through the system who had speed, a good bat, and played center field – Bernie Williams. It was sad to see him go, but it worked out for the Yankees in the end.

 
--Ike Dimitriadis, BYB Writer
Twitter: @KingAgamemnon
My blog is: Shots from Murderer's Row

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