But that was 1988. Clark was traded to San Diego over the winter. Gary Ward, once a forgotten man, now figures prominently in the Yankee attack. The veteran of more than eight years can provide strength at the plate, and can play the outfield and first base.
'I want to win,' says Ward. 'And I'll do whatever it takes to win.'"
-The New York Yankees Official 1989 Yearbook
"Ward went through a disappointing 1988 season. His at-bats (231), hits (52), batting average (.225), home runs (4) and RBIs (24) were all career lows since he became a regular in 1981.
He was successful as a designated hitter, however, batting .429 (9-for-21) with eight runs, a homer and three RBIs in nine games. Gary also fared well as a pinch hitter, batting .294 (5-for-17) with a homer and three RBIs.
His season was a series of ups and downs. Gary got off to a good start, hitting .308 (8-for-26) in his first 12 games. He hit his first home run of the year in the final game of that span, a three-run shot off Charlie Liebrandt on May 4 at Kansas City. He then went 12-for-77 (.156) over his next 25 games, though June 22, to bring his average down to .194. Ward ended that streak the following game with a 2-for-4 performance on June 23 against Cleveland, including his second home run of the year, a two-run blast off Scott Bailes.
From that June 23 game through July 2, Ward batted .370 (10-for-27) in eight game span to lift his average to .231. He then went 1-for-29 in his next 12 games, July 4-29, to lower his average to .195. He struggled through the next month with his average around .200 before going 15-for-46 (.326) in his final 18 games to raise his average from .200 on August 27 to his final .225 mark.
On August 24 against Oakland, Gary was sent up in the ninth inning to pinch-hit for Mike Pagliarulo with the count 0-2 and singled off Greg Cadaret as the Yankees scored five runs that inning to rally from a 6-2 deficit to a 7-6 win. His third home run came on September 8 in Yankee Stadium, hitting a dramatic two-out, three-run pinch-hit home run in the bottom of the 10th inning off Willie Hernandez to give the Yankees a 7-4 win.
Ward went 44 games and 101 at-bats between his second and third homers. He hit his fourth home run of the year on September 23 against Boston, a solo shot off Bruce Hurst. In his next game, September 26 at Baltimore, he went 2-for-4 with two RBIs, and while playing left field robbed Ken Gerhart of a grand slam.
He had two three-hit games in 1988, going 3-for-5 on April 14 at Toronto and 3-for-6 on May 30 at Oakland. Gary was inserted at third base on July 10 at Kansas City, his first major league appearance at third, and made one other appearance at the hot corner on September 2 at Milwaukee. He also made 11 appearances at first base.
Ward signed a three-year contract with the Yankees on December 24, 1986. The contract extends through the 1987 season.
Ward got off to a fast start in 1987 and was hitting .301 (52-for-173) with seven home runs and 37 RBIs as late as May 30, his 46th game. At the All-Star break, covering 85 games played, he was hitting .266 (86-for-233) with 10 home runs and 61 RBIs, but after the break in his remaining 61 games he hit only .218 (45-for-206) with six home runs and 17 RBIs. Ward hit just two homers in his final 41 games, covering his last 140 at-bats, with just nine RBIs in that span.
For the month of April he batted .308 (24-for-78) in 21 games with a homer and 17 RBIs. On May 8 against Minnesota, Gary hit a three-run homer and a solo homer off the Twins' Mark Portugal, the only time in 1987 and the fourth time in his career he hit two home runs in the same game. His four RBIs in that game was his '87 single game high in that category; he also had five three-RBI games.
He hit safely in 10 of 12 games from May 6-19 (including a seven-game hitting streak in the last seven contests in that span), batting .320 (16-for-50) with three doubles, five homers and 13 RBIs (including two game-winners) in that stretch. He went 43 at-bats from July 9-26 without an RBI. On July 31 at Yankee Stadium he hit a two-run homer off Detroit's Mike Henneman with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the Yankees a dramatic come-from-behind 6-5 win.
For the season he finished with an average of .248 (131-for-529) in 146 games with 16 home runs and 78 RBIs. His homers ranked sixth best on the Yankees and his RBIs ranked fourth, and those homer and RBI figures were the fourth best single season totals in his career. Gary also ranked third on the Yankees in games (146) and at-bats (529), fourth in hits (131) and sixth in runs (65). He finished second on the club with 11 game-winning RBIs, a new career high (surpassing his previous high of nine in both 1982 and 1984). With 101 strikeouts Gary was one of two Yankees with 100 or more strikeouts in 1987 (Mike Pagliarulo led the team with 111).
Gary had 32 multiple hit games, including ten three-hit games, and three seven-game hitting streaks. Of his 16 homers, 10 were solo blasts, five were two-run circuit clouts and one was a three-run shot. Gary batted .290 (38-for-131) with runners in scoring position. He was successful in five out of six stolen base attempts.
Against right-handers he batted .226 (75-for-332) with 12 home runs and 44 RBIs, while against lefties he hit .284 (56-for-197) with four home runs and 34 RBIs. In 36 games as a designated hitter, Gary batted .287 (39-for-136) with eight home runs and 23 RBIs, ranking second among Yankee designated hitters in homers and RBIs. He was the leading pinch hitter on the Yankees, batting .667 (8-for-12) with two doubles and five RBIs (including a game-winner).
He played 15 games at first base (including 13 starts), handling 126 total chances without an error. All but one of those appearances at first came during Don Mattingly's absence from June 5-23 with a back injury.
Ward spent eight seasons in the Twins' farm system. Named to the Southern League All-Star team at Orlando in 1975, he led that league's outfielders in assists (16) in 1976 after having tied for the top spot in that category in the Midwest League in 1974 (18). He hit .263 with Toledo in 1979 and joined the Twins in September, where he hit .286 (4-for-14) in 10 games.
He also spent September of 1980 with the Twins and batted .463 (19-for-41) in 13 games after spending the bulk of that season in Toledo, where he hit .282. Gary hit for the cycle on September 18 at Milwaukee, the last major league rookie to accomplish that feat until Oddibe McDowell in 1985.
Gary was named AL Rookie of the Year by Baseball Digest in 1981 and was selected to their major league all-rookie team. He hit just .231 in the first half but .292 after the strike, and led the Twins with 42 runs scored.
He was selected as the Twins Player of the Year and as Most Improved Player in 1982, topping the club in games (152), at-bats (570), runs (85), hits (165), doubles (33), triples (7), homers (28) and stolen bases (13). Gary hit just .226 through June 16 before going on a .326 tear with 22 homers and 74 RBIs in his last 96 games. He was named AL Player of the Week twice, for the week of June 28-July 4 and for the week of September 6-12.
In 1983, his final season with the Twins, Gary led Minnesota in at-bats (623), hits (173) and RBIs (88) and was second in home runs (19) and doubles (34). He had three four-hit games. He topped major league outfielders with 24 assists, the most in the AL since Stan Spence had 25 for the 1944 Washington Senators. Gary appeared in the 1983 All-Star Game at Chicago's Comiskey Park and was 0-for-1 in a pinch-hitting role.
He was acquired by Texas in December 1983 in exchange for pitchers John Butcher and Mike Smithson and catcher Sam Sorce (assigned from Burlington to Orlando). In his first season with Texas he led the team with seven triples, tying the club record, and 97 runs, the third highest total in Ranger history, and was tenth in the AL in both categories. He was second on the Rangers in homers (21) and walks (55).
Gary hit just .219 with eight homers and 32 RBIs in the first 93 games of '84 through July 23 before exploding with a .373 average (95-for-255), 13 home runs and 47 RBIs over the final 62 contests to finish at .284. He was American League Player of the Month in August with a .391 average, seven homers and 24 RBIs in 28 games, and was also selected as the league's Player of the Week for August 20-26 (.480, 3 HR, 13 RBI). Gary had the fourth highest average in the American League after the All-Star Break (.343).
In 1985 he led Rangers' qualifiers with a .287 batting average, the third best mark of his career and the 21st highest figure in the AL in '85, and also led the Rangers in at-bats (593), runs (77), hits (170), triples (7) and stolen bases (26). He set a career high in steals while finishing 13th in the AL, and was tied for 11th in triples while matching the Texas team record for the second straight year. After hitting just .225 in his first 38 games, Gary batted .308 over his final 116 contests. He led Texas with 51 multiple-hit games and hit safely in 106 of his 154 games.
Gary was selected as AL Player of the Week for May 20-26 when he hit .444 (12-for-27) with two homers and eight RBIs in seven games. He hit his second career grand slam off Boston's Bruce Hurst on May 23 in Texas, the only Ranger slam in '85, and had four RBIs in a game twice. He tied the club record with three doubles on June 15 against Minnesota and matched another club record with three stolen bases on June 29 at Oakland; he was also successful on four of five steal attempts of third base. Gary was selected to play in his second All-Star Game- he lined out as a pinch hitter in the seventh inning at the Metrodome in Minnesota in a game won by the National League 6-1.
With the Rangers in 1986 he batted a career high .316, seventh best among all American League players with 250 or more at-bats. He tied for second on the club in steals (12) and was sixth in RBIs (51) despite appearing in only 105 games.
Ward began the '86 season by hitting .310 (18-for-58) over his first 16 games through April 29, then batted just .203 (15-for-74) over his next 20 contests, bringing his average down to a season low .250 on May 24. He had a nine-game hitting streak, his longest of the season, from June 3-13, batting .368 (14-for-38) with nine RBIs in that span to raise his average from .263 to .284.
Beginning on June 20, Gary batted .366 (63-for-172) in his final 49 games, including a .423 performance (41-for-97) in the first 27 games of that stretch. On August 7 at Baltimore he tied his career high with four hits (in five at-bats), including a two-run homer off Scott McGregor, and had a season high five RBIs (one shy of his single game career high), only the third time in his career he drove in five or more runs in a game.
Gary hit safely in 76 of the 103 games in which he batted officially. He had a four-hit game and nine three-hit games and had six straight hits in the games of June 21-22. Gary hit .357 (25-for-70) in July.
He notched the Rangers' second inside-the-park home run ever hit in Arlington Stadium on June 20 against Oakland. He stole home in the eight inning of the June 22 game against Chicago, the 14th steal of home in Ranger history.
Gary batted .315 (82-for-260) against right-handed pitching and and .317 (38-for-120) against left-handed pitching. In addition to his five-RBI game, he drove in four runs twice- April 22 at Toronto and June 22 against Oakland. He was successful in 12 of 20 stolen base attempts (60.0%); it was the second year in a row and third time in his career that he reached double figures in stolen bases. Gary played one game as a designated hitter, on June 11 at Minnesota, going 3-for-6.
He missed a total of 18 contests in '86, including six games from June 24-29 and nine games from July 26-August 4, because of family emergencies that forced him to leave the team on four separate occasions. He was sidelined for the season on September 5 after undergoing surgery to remove a blockage from the area of his abdomen.
Gary pitched and played shortstop at Compton High School in Los Angeles, graduating in 1972. He was signed by Twins scout Jesse Flores Jr. after being bypassed in the June 1972 free agent draft."
-1989 New York Yankees Information Guide
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