"Left the Dodgers as a free agent and signed a three-year, $4 million deal with the Yankees. Sax has finally evolved into a steady second baseman, having overcome the erratic play that characterized the early years of his career. He committed just 14 errors in 1988, played in a career high 160 games, was fourth in the NL with 175 hits and his total of 42 stolen bases was seven short of his career high. Sax had eight hits and three RBI against the Mets in the NLCS and batted .300 against Oakland in the World Series.
Born in Sacramento, CA, he was the Dodgers' ninth selection in June 1978 draft. Sax finished second to the Expos' Tim Raines in the NL batting race in 1986. A mainstay for the Dodgers at second base since 1982, he will replace Yankee fixture Willie Randolph in 1989."
-Tom Pedulla, The Complete Handbook of Baseball, 1989 Edition
"Leaving the [team you have always played for] might be a difficult thing unless, of course, you are joining the winningest organization in the history of the game. That's exactly what Steve Sax did when he left the Los Angeles Dodgers to sign with the New York Yankees as a free agent last winter.
While difficult to let go of the popular Willie Randolph, making Sax their new second baseman has several advantages for the Yankees. At age 29, Sax already brings over seven years of big league experience to the Bronx. An excellent contact hitter, he's an ideal number two man in the lineup behind Rickey Henderson. He hits for average, and his 42 stolen bases last year shows how he stirs things up offensively. In the field, his defense has improved greatly. Most importantly, he played 160 games in 1988, while the Yankees struggled with six different second basemen.
'The Yankees,' Sax says, 'treated me as someone they greatly respected, which makes me want to be here and help this team win a championship.'"
-The New York Yankees Official 1989 Yearbook
"Steve homered in the 1988 season opener at San Francisco, yet on April 15 was hitting only .150 through his first 10 games. From April 16 through April 30, he hit in 10 straight (the first of three season-long 10-game hitting streaks), going 11-for-39 (.282), raising his overall batting average to .215 by the end of April. From April 16 through May 10, Steve hit safely in 17 of 18 games, going 24-for-69 (.348) and raised his overall batting average to .284.
He swiped three bases against Pittsburgh on May 4, and from May 2 to May 10 hit in seven straight, going 14-for-26 (.538) with a double, a triple, two homers and eight RBIs; from May 2 through May 15 Steve hit in 11 of 12 games, going 20-for-48 (.417) with three doubles, a triple, two homers and 10 RBIs.
He homered twice off Shane Rawley at Philadelphia on May 26, his first career two-homer game, going 3-for-5 with a double and four RBIs. Steve's four RBIs that day were his single-game high for the season. For May, Steve hit .321 with four home runs and 16 RBIs, and overall through May was hitting .277.
From May 26 through June 9, Steve hit safely in 12 of 13 games, going 25-for-60 (.417) with 10 runs, four doubles, a triple, two home runs and nine RBIs. He had his second 10-game hitting streak of the year from May 30-June 9, going 17-for-44 (.386). He recorded a career high five hits on June 3 against Cincinnati, also matching the National League's game high for 1988.
Steve played in his 1,000th career game on June 22 against Atlanta. He hit safely in 12 of the last 16 games in June to finish that month with an overall batting average of .287.
He was red hot in July, hitting safely in 25 of 29 games, including his third 10-game hitting streak from July 14-21, going 17-for-46 (.370). In the first game of a July 26 doubleheader at San Francisco, Steve went 4-for-5 with two runs, a double, a triple and two RBIs- at the conclusion of that game his batting average reached .310, his 1988 season high. In four games from July 23-26, he went 11-for-16 (.668). For July Steve hit .341 (43-for-126) with 12 runs, five doubles, two triples and eight RBIs, and overall for the season was hitting .303 at the end of the month.
August was as cold a month for Steve as July was hot. From August 2 through August 11 he went 8-for-37 (.216) in nine games, and in the final 20 games of August went 15-for-74 (.203) to hit .219 (25-for-114) for August with just one extra-base hit (a double on August 21 against Montreal) and 11 RBIs. Steve's overall batting average dropped from .303 to .285 due to his August performance.
September/October was not much better for the veteran: .232 (23-for-99) with eight runs, five doubles, no triples or homers and five RBIs. His overall batting average dipped from .285 to .277 at season's end. From August 2 through October 2 Steve hit .219 (46-for-210) with 17 runs, six doubles, no triples or homers and 16 RBIs in his final 55 games.
Steve hit .267 in the National League Championship Series, starting all seven games against the Mets. His eight hits tied for the team high, while he led the Dodgers with seven runs, five stolen bases and 30 at-bats. He hit safely in all but Game 6 and went 3-for-5 with two runs and two RBIs in the seventh and deciding game. Steve played an errorless second base.
In the World Series against Oakland, he batted .300 in five games, led the club with 20 at-bats and was second in average and hits. He hit safely in all five games and went 2-for-4 in the clinching Game 5. Steve again played an errorless second base.
For the season, Steve batted .358 (39-for-109) with runners in scoring position. He hit .303 during the day, .265 at night; hit .279 on grass, .272 on artificial turf; and hit .289 in the first half, .264 in the second. Steve was 2-for-2 as a pinch hitter, getting a hit and an RBI on May 7 at St. Louis, and a double and three RBIs (including the game-winning RBI) on June 26 at Cincinnati.
Steve led the National League with 632 at-bats (third in the majors) and with a .321 road batting average. He also led the league's second basemen with 158 games, tying Seattle's Harold Reynolds for most in the majors at second. Steve also had two additional appearances, ranking second with 160 games played overall, fifth in the majors. He placed fourth in the league with 50 multi-hit games, fourth with 175 hits and fourth with a .981 fielding percentage. Steve was the sixth-toughest batter in the league to strike out, averaging one strikeout per 12.4 at-bats, and ranked seventh with 42 stolen bases. His .277 batting average was 19th in the league. Coming into 1989, Steve ranks sixth on the all-time Los Angeles Dodger hit list with 1,218 and eighth with 575 runs.
Steve (42 SB) and new teammate Rickey Henderson (93 SB) combined to swipe 135 bases in 1988- the only American League clubs, as a team, to steal more in 1988 than a Henderson/Sax combination were Milwaukee (159) and Kansas City (137). As far as a prolific pair of base stealing teammates in 1988, only St. Louis' Vince Coleman (81) and Ozzie Smith (57) stole more bases (138).
Steve signed a three-year guaranteed contract as a free agent on November 23, 1988. The contract extends through the 1991 season.
Selected by the Los Angeles Dodgers organization in the 9th round of the free agent draft on June 6, 1978, Steve spent his first season of pro ball at Lethbridge, impressing many by hitting .328. He collected two hits in his first pro game, but the over-excited youngster was picked off both times. A one-time shortstop/third baseman, Steve was converted to the outfield and then to second base.
In 1979 at Clinton of the Midwest League, Steve hit .290 with 25 stolen bases. He earned Florida State League All-Star honors in 1980, hitting .283 with 61 RBIs and 33 stolen bases. He led FSL second basemen in fielding and putouts.
Steve was the 1981 Texas League Player of the Year, a Texas League All-Star and a Topps-National Association Class AA All-Star. After leading that league with a .346 batting average, Steve was recalled to Los Angeles on August 18 to replace the injured Davey Lopes. Steve collected his first major league hit off Chicago's Mike Griffin that day, and his first home run on August 23 off St. Louis' Bob Shirley. He hit .364 in his first eight games and finished at .277- good enough to earn a spot on the postseason roster. Steve had combined for 201 hits at San Antonio and Los Angeles. He played for Caracas (Venezuela) in the winter league.
In 1982, Steve earned the starting second base role, succeeding Lopes, and gathered National League Rookie of the Year honors- the fourth consecutive season a Dodger won the award. His 49 stolen bases ranked fifth in the league and was a Dodger rookie record, and his hit total (180) ranked seventh in the league. He missed 11 games after being hit on the right wrist at Atlanta by Rick Mahler on September 9. The only rookie named to the NL All-Star team, Steve was named to the UPI and Topps Rookie All-Star teams.
1983 was a mixed bag for Steve, as he excelled offensively but suffered the first half of the season with his throwing arm. His 56 stolen bases ranked third in the NL, his 94 runs ranked fifth and he was tied for ninth with 175 hits. The starting second baseman on the National League All-Star team, Steve committed a league high 30 errors, 24 of which came prior to the All-Star break. He did not commit an error over his final 38 games.
Less successful than desired in 1984, Steve started out fast, hitting .322 in April. He suffered a sore right elbow in late May which bothered him for the remainder of '84. He was still able to lead the club in at-bats and stolen bases and was second in runs. Steve began 1985 slowly but came on strong over the final three months. He suffered a strained lower right leg on April 7 when Angels second baseman Bobby Grich fell on him during a pickoff play at second base in the final game of the Freeway Series at Anaheim. Due to that injury, Steve did not play regularly until early May. His batting average was .226 as late as July 2, but he hit .311 over his last 84 games.
Steve enjoyed the finest year of his career in 1986. He finished second in the National League batting race to Montreal's Tim Raines (.334 to .332), and his average was the highest by a Dodger since Tommy Davis hit .346 in 1962. His 210 hits matched Steve Garvey's 1975 total as the most by a Dodger since Davis' 230 in '62. His 43 doubles were the most by a Dodger since Wes Parker's Los Angeles record of 47 in 1970. Steve's 40 stolen bases ranked seventh in the league and he combined with teammate Mariano Duncan for 88 stolen bases, the most by a Dodger duo since Davey Lopes (63) and Bill Buckner (28) combined for 91 in 1976.
He was selected the Silver Bat winner for NL second basemen by major league managers and coaches. He earned National League Player Month honors for September, hitting in 25 straight from September 1 through September 27- it was the longest hitting streak in the majors and longest by a Dodger since Willie Davis hit in 25 straight in 1971. As the season came to a close, Steve hit safely in 31 of the last 32 games, with a .398 batting average for the period.
Steve also had three six-game hitting streaks, a seven, two eights, a nine and a ten. His longest hitless streak was three games, once. He had six hits in a row over two games, September 3 at Montreal and September 5 at Philadelphia. Steve's 64 multi-hit games ranked second in the NL, while his .390 on-base percentage was third and his 91 runs tied for eighth.
His 53 extra-base hits were a career high as were his six home runs. Steve hit his first career grand slam on May 7 at Chicago off Jay Baller and posted a career high five RBIs in that game. Defensively, his total of 16 errors was a career low, those coming in 815 total chances.
Steve struggled through the first month of 1987, partly due to a strained groin muscle suffered on April 14 against Houston. He had four hits and three RBI on June 18 at Houston and appeared in left field in a 16-2 loss to San Francisco on July 29. Steve recorded his 1,000th career hit on August 29 off Houston's Jeff Parrett.
Steve had a strong finish to the 1987 season. He had a team high 19-game hitting streak from September 5-27. He hit in 24 of the last 26 games and 30 of the last 34 to finish the year at .280, his season high. He also had a 13-game hitting streak (May 10-25) and an 11-game streak (August 9-21).
Steve led the Dodgers in games (157) and at-bats (610), triples (7), stolen bases (37), game-winning runs scored (14) and games started (151). He was second on the club with 84 runs and 171 hits and matched his 1986 career high of six home runs. He was a better hitter on the road and at night.
Signed by scout Ronnie King, Steve is a 1978 graduate of James Marshall High School in West Sacramento. In 1977, his junior year, he earned All-American, All-California, all-city, all-league and league MVP honors. His senior year, 1978, found him repeating as league MVP, along with All-California and all-city honors, while setting four school baseball records.
Steve plays the drums and is a Pete Rose fan, and the Bay Area prep star was a fan of Willie Mays and the San Francisco Giants while growing up. His brother Dave is a one-time Dodger farmhand who now plays in the Yankee organization."
-1989 New York Yankees Information Guide
Texas League Most Valuable Player, 1981.
National League Rookie of the Year BBWAA, 1982.
Led National League in caught stealing with 30, 1983.
The Sporting News National League All-Star team, 1986.
The Sporting News Silver Slugger team, 1986.
-1989 New York Yankees Information Guide
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