The 1990 New York Yankees season was the 88th season for the Yankees. The team finished in seventh place in the American League East with a record of 67–95, finishing 21 games behind the Boston Red Sox. It was the Yankees' first last-place finish since 1966 (and their first last-place in the division era), their most losses in a season since 1912 (a record which still stands), and their most recent last-place finish to date. New York was managed by Stump Merrill and Bucky Dent. The Yankees played at Yankee Stadium.

The Yankees left SportsChannel NY at the end of the 1988 season, and were beginning their 2nd season of their cable and satellite broadcasts to the cable-only MSG Network.

The team was profiled in depth in a docuseries on Peacock called the 'Bronx Zoo ‘90: Crime, Chaos and Baseball', which was released in May 2024.

Offseason

Notable transactions October 1989: Dickie Noles was released by the Yankees.Dickie Noles page at Baseball Reference October 4, 1989: Steve Kiefer was released by the Yankees.Steve Kiefer page at Baseball Reference November 20, 1989: Rafael Santana was released by the Yankees.Rafael Santana page at Baseball Reference November 21, 1989: Pascual Pérez was signed as a free agent by the Yankees.Pascual Pérez page at Baseball Reference December 12, 1989: Hal Morris and Rodney Imes (minors) were traded by the Yankees to the Cincinnati Reds for Tim Leary and Van Snider.Tim Leary page at Baseball Reference December 20, 1989: Rick Cerone was signed as a free agent by the Yankees.Rick Cerone page at Baseball Reference February 17, 1990: Mariano Rivera was signed as an amateur free agent by the Yankees.Mariano Rivera page at Baseball Reference March 13, 1990: Orlando Miller was traded by the Yankees to the Houston Astros for Dave Silvestri and a player to be named later. The Astros completed the deal by sending Daven Bond (minors) to the Yankees on June 11.Dave Silvestri page at Baseball Reference

Death of Billy Martin

Multi-time former Yankees manager Billy Martin was working as a special consultant to Yankees owner George Steinbrenner when he was killed in a one-car crash in Binghamton, New York, on Christmas Day (December 25) in 1989. Martin had been drinking heavily with his friend, William Reedy, who was driving a pickup truck at the time of the accident. When Martin was killed, the media reported that he was a passenger in Reedy's pickup. However, Peter Golenbock, in his book Wild, High, and Tight: The Life and Death of Billy Martin, makes the case that Martin was the driver and that his wife and Reedy covered up the truth. According to the HBO TV series Autopsy,Autopsy: Billy Martin forensic pathologist Dr. Michael Baden performed the autopsy on Martin and investigated the accident scene, including the pick-up truck in which Martin died. The autopsy revealed that Martin's impact injuries were all on the right side, and that hair and other DNA found on the right side of the shattered windshield belonged to Martin, who was not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the accident. The conclusion of the autopsy study was that Reedy drove the pick-up.

Billy Martin was eulogized by Cardinal John Joseph O'Connor at St. Patrick's Cathedral, New York, before his funeral at Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Hawthorne, New York. His grave is located about 150 feet from the grave of Babe Ruth. The following epitaph by Billy Martin himself appears on the headstone: I may not have been the greatest Yankee to put on the uniform but I was the proudest. Former President of the United States Richard Nixon attended Martin's funeral. The Yankees started the season with a small number 1 on their left sleeves.

Regular season June 6, 1990: Yankees manager Bucky Dent was fired before a game against the Red Sox at Fenway Park. George Steinbrenner was severely criticized for firing Dent, his 18th managerial change in 18 years, because he did it in Boston, where Dent had his greatest moment as a player. However, Bill Pennington called the firing of Dent "merciless." But Yankees television analyst Tony Kubek blasted at Steinbrenner for the firing in a harsh, angry way. At the beginning of the broadcast of the game on MSG Network, he said to Yankees television play-by-play announcer Dewayne Staats, "George Steinbrenner...mishandled this. You don't take a Bucky Dent (at) the site of one of the greatest home runs in Yankee history and fire him and make it a media circus for the Boston Red Sox." He then stared defiantly on camera and said to Steinbrenner, "You don't do it by telephone, either, George. You do it face to face, eyeball to eyeball...If you really are a winner, you should not have handled this like a loser." He then said, angrily, "George, you're a bully and a coward." He then said that "What all this does, it just wrecks George Steinbrenner's credibility with his players, with the front office and in baseball more than it already is–if that's possible. It was just mishandled." The firing of Dent shook New York to its core and the Yankees flagship radio station then, WABC, which also criticized the firing, ran editorials demanding that Steinbrenner sell the team. On July 30, 1990, Commissioner Fay Vincent banned Steinbrenner from baseball for life after he paid Howard Spira, a small-time gambler, $40,000 for "dirt" after Dave Winfield sued him for failing to pay his foundation the $300,000 guaranteed in his contract. October 3, 1990: Cecil Fielder hit two home runs at Yankee Stadium to finish with 51 for the season. The 50th home run was hit off of Steve Adkins. Fielder would be the first Major Leaguer since George Foster in 1977 to hit 50 home runs in a season. It was the 18th time that a major leaguer (and the 11th time that an American League player) hit for 50 home runs in a season.

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Notable transactions April 29, 1990: Luis Polonia was traded by the Yankees to the California Angels for Claudell Washington and Rich Monteleone.Luis Polonia page at Baseball Reference May 11, 1990: Dave Winfield was traded by the Yankees to the California Angels in exchange for Mike Witt.Dave Winfield page at Baseball Reference June 4, 1990: Clay Parker and Lance McCullers were traded by the Yankees to the Detroit Tigers for Matt Nokes.Clay Parker page at Baseball Reference September 24, 1990: Deion Sanders was released by the Yankees.Deion Sanders page at Baseball Reference

Draft picks June 4, 1990: 1990 Major League Baseball draft Carl Everett was drafted by the Yankees in the 1st round.Baseball Draft: 1st Round of the 1990 June Draft - Baseball-Reference.com Robert Eenhoorn was drafted by the Yankees in the 2nd round of the 1990 June Draft. Player signed June 10, 1990. Sam Militello was drafted by the Yankees in the 6th round.Sam Militello page at Baseball Reference Jalal Leach was drafted by the Yankees in the 7th round. Player signed June 8, 1990. Ricky Ledée was drafted by the Yankees in the 16th round. Player signed June 5, 1990.Ricky Ledée page at Baseball Reference Andy Pettitte was drafted by the Yankees in the 22nd round, but did not sign.Andy Pettitte page at Baseball Reference Jorge Posada was drafted by the Yankees in the 24th round. Player signed May 24, 1991.Jorge Posada page at Baseball Reference Shane Spencer was drafted by the Yankees in the 28th round. Player signed June 7, 1990.Shane Spencer page at Baseball Reference

Roster 1990 New York Yankees Roster Pitchers Catchers

Infielders Outfielders

Other batters Manager

Coaches

Kevin Maas Kevin Maas set a major league record for the fewest at bats (72) to hit 10 home runs. He also set a record by hitting his first 15 home runs in the fewest at-bats. About halfway through the season a group of a dozen or so young ladies began wearing "Maas-tops" to Yankees home games and sitting in the right field stands. Whenever Maas hit a home run to right, the girls would get up, remove their tops and jump up and down until Maas finished circling the bases. However, after a few home runs the women were banned from entering Yankee Stadium.

Andy Hawkins no-hitter July 1, 1990: Yankees pitcher Andy Hawkins threw a no-hitter against the Chicago White Sox but lost the game 4–0. The following year, Major League Baseball changed the rule to require a minimum nine complete innings pitched to count as a no-hitter, and as Hawkins pitched only eight innings, as Chicago hosted and did not bat in the ninth, his no-hitter is no longer official.

Line score July 1, Comiskey Park, Chicago, Illinois Team123456789RHENew York000000000043Chicago00000004x402W: Barry Jones (10–1)  L: Andy Hawkins (1–5)  Attendance: 30,642 Time: 2:34

Batting New York YankeesABRHRBIChicago White SoxABRHRBIKelly, cf4000Johnson, cf3100Sax, 2b4000Ventura, 3b4100Mattingly, 1b4000Calderon, dh3000Balboni, dh4000Pasqua, lf4000Tolleson, pr, dh0000Gallagher, lf0000Barfield, rf4010Kittle, 1b3000Leyritz, lf3010Lyons, 1b0000Blowers, 3b3000Karkovice, c2000Geren, c3010Fletcher, 2b2000Espinoza, ss2010Sosa, rf3100NONE0000Guillen, ss2100Totals31040Totals26400

Pitching New York YankeesIPHRERBBSOHawkins, L (1–5)8.004053

Chicago White SoxIPHRERBBSOHibbard7.040004Jones W (10–1)1.000001Radinsky1.000000

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 Bob Geren 110 277 59 .213 8 31 1B Don Mattingly 102 394 101 .256 5 42 2B Steve Sax 155 615 160 .260 4 42 3B Jim Leyritz 92 303 78 .257 5 25 SS Álvaro Espinoza 150 438 98 .224 2 20 LF Oscar Azócar 65 214 53 .248 5 19 CF Roberto Kelly 162 641 183 .285 15 61 RF Jesse Barfield 153 476 117 .246 25 78 DH Steve Balboni 116 266 51 .192 17 34

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 113 360 93 .258 12 46 Kevin Maas 79 254 64 .252 21 41 Matt Nokes 92 240 57 .238 8 32 Randy Velarde 95 229 48 .210 5 19 Mike Blowers 48 144 27 .188 5 21 Rick Cerone 49 139 42 .302 2 11 Deion Sanders 57 133 21 .158 3 9 Hensley Meulens 23 83 20 .241 3 10 Claudell Washington 33 80 13 .163 0 6 Wayne Tolleson 73 74 11 .149 0 4 Dave Winfield 20 61 13 .213 2 6 Brian Dorsett 14 35 5 .143 0 0 Luis Polonia 11 22 7 .318 0 3 Jim Walewander 9 5 1 .200 0 1

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 Tim Leary 31 208.0 9 19 4.11 138 Dave LaPoint 28 157.2 7 10 4.11 67 Andy Hawkins 28 157.2 5 12 5.37 74 Chuck Cary 27 156.2 6 12 4.19 134 Mike Witt 16 96.2 5 6 4.47 60 Dave Eiland 5 30.1 2 1 3.56 16 Steve Adkins 5 24.0 1 2 6.38 14 Pascual Pérez 3 14.0 1 2 1.29 12

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 Jimmy Jones 17 50.0 1 2 6.30 25 Mark Leiter 8 26.1 1 1 6.84 21 Clay Parker 5 22.0 1 1 4.50 20

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 53 1 1 36 3.57 43 Lee Guetterman 64 11 7 2 3.19 48 Jeff Robinson 54 3 6 0 3.45 43 Greg Cadaret 54 5 4 3 4.15 80 Eric Plunk 47 6 3 0 2.72 67 Alan Mills 36 1 5 0 4.10 24 Lance McCullers 11 1 0 0 3.60 11 John Habyan 6 0 0 0 2.08 4 Rich Monteleone 5 0 1 0 6.14 8

Farm system

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: OneontaJohnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd and 3rd editions. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997 and 2007

References

1990 New York Yankees at Baseball Reference 1990 New York Yankees team page at www.baseball-almanac.com