"Barfield [hit] 23 home runs, marking the fifth time he has clouted more than 20 homers, but he is not as feared a hitter as he once was. He struck out a career-high 150 times. His effort resulted in a career high 87 walks, but he still gets himself out far too often. His greatest value is in right field where his strong, accurate arm enabled him to lead the majors with 20 assists.
Acquired from the Blue Jays on April 30 for Al Leiter, Barfield hit .240 with 18 homers and 56 RBIs as a Yankee. He was paid $1.3 million in 1989 on a long-term contract he had signed with Toronto, who drafted him in the ninth round in 1977. He signed a three-year, $5.4-million pact with the Yanks last fall.
Barfield was born in Joliet, Illinois."
-Tom Pedulla, The Complete Handbook of Baseball, 1990 Edition
"Taking the place of Dave Winfield is an almost impossible task. Nonetheless, that was asked of Jesse Barfield last year. He responded tremendously, with timely hits and by leading major league outfielders with 20 assists.
This year, he is given a much easier job than trying to replace Winfield. The 1990 Yankees have teamed two of the best all-around players in the same outfield. Since coming here from Toronto in 1989, the 30-year-old outfielder has been everything the Yankees expected. Like Winfield, he has tremendous range in the field and can get an ovation simply for his cannon-like throwing arm. At the plate he possesses excellent power, keeping the opposition on its toes.
'It wasn't the right situation for me in Toronto,' Jesse says. 'I really like being here. I know we can win, and I want to be a part of that.'"
-The New York Yankees Official 1990 Yearbook
"Barfield was acquired by the Yankees from the Toronto Blue Jays on April 30, 1989 in exchange for pitcher Al Leiter. At the time of the trade, he was hitting .200 (16-for-80) with nine of those hits being for extra bases (4 2B, 5 HR). He also had 11 RBIs and four assists as a Blue Jay.
He started the season by hitting in five straight games (6-for-20, .300) with two home runs. He dropped his average to .217 over the next nine games, going 6-for-38 (.158) with four of those hits coming on April 10 against the Yankees in New York. To his credit, Barfield had a two-assist game against the Royals on April 15. He played in seven more games for the Jays before being traded, going 4-for-22 (.182).
Jesse played in Pinstripes for the first time on May 2 in New York in right field against the Royals, singling in four at-bats off Mark Gubicza. Following that game, he went 0-for-19 over a seven-game stretch until May 8, then hit in three straight with two home runs. On May 9, Jesse hit his first home run as a Yankee, off Texas' Charlie Hough. He struck out in seven games (10 total) from May 15-28 and hit .143 (4-for-28) in that span. He also missed four games when he suffered a mild concussion running into the fence at Oakland on May 17.
On June 4, Jesse recorded the first of his two two-homer games in Milwaukee. He hit in a season best seven straight games from June 11 (second game) through June 17, going 10-for-26 and raising his average from .210 to .246. He also reached base in 23 straight games from June 3-29, going 27-for-82 (.329) with 19 walks, raising his average from .154 to .245. For the month of June, he hit .300 with three home runs and 12 RBIs, the average being Jesse's highest for any one month.
Jesse started out July hitting in six straight (7-for-22) and 13 of 15 games (16-for-48), raising his average from .239 to a season best .261 on July 19. On July 6 against Detroit, the Yankees allowed a run in the top of the 11th inning; Jesse homered off Mike Henneman to lead off the bottom of the inning. The Yankees won when Steve Sax hit a sacrifice fly later that inning. On July 9 at Boston, Jesse had his 17th career two-homer game and drove in all five runs.
At the break he was hitting .247 with nine homers and 29 RBIs as a Yankee. On July 14 against the Royals in game 2 of a twin bill, with the Yankees trailing 7-6 entering the last of the ninth, Jesse hit a three-run homer off Steve Farr for a 9-6 win. From July 16-19, he reached base eight straight times against Kansas City, then drew a base on balls in his first plate appearance in Chicago, reaching base nine straight times (2 1B, 1 HR, 4 BB, 2 IBB) before being stopped. From July 19-28 was 6-for-30 with 16 strikeouts, fanning seven straight times from July 20-22. In July, Barfield hit .291 with six home runs and 15 RBIs.
From July 29-August 3 he hit in six straight (9-for-23), including a three-run game-tying homer on August 2 against the Twins in a game the Yankees would lose in the 10th. Barfield then had a slow spell from August 8-17, going 3-for-26 and dropping his average from .258 to .246. He hit in five straight (8-for-18) from August 18-22 and ended the month by going 5-for-37, dropping his average to .248 at the end of the month.
He started out slowly in September, going 2-for-10 over the first six games. He hit in four straight (September 24-27) but was 2-for-9 over the final three games of the season.
Jesse led the majors in outfield assists with 20 in 1989. It was his third 20+ assist season, and he now has 133 career assists. His 16 assists as a Yankee were the most since Dave Winfield's 17 in 1982.
He did not register an assist as a Yankee until his 32nd game with the club, and that came from center field on June 13 at Baltimore. He then reeled off an assist in four straight games, against Texas (June 17-18) and Chicago (June 20-21). Jesse had eight assists overall in June, all in a span of 17 games, had four in July, one in August and three in September.
Of his assists, four came at second base, six at third base and six at home plate. 11 of his 16 assists (69%) came when the Yankees were either ahead or trailing by two runs or less. 12 came at Yankee Stadium and four on the road, with the four road assists all being at home with the Yankees ahead or behind by two runs or less.
With 87 walks for the season, his career best, Jesse ranked eighth in the American League and tied for 12th in the majors. He also set a career high in strikeouts (150), and his .234 batting average was his lowest as a regular. He played 150+ games for the fourth time in five years. Jesse's 23 doubles were his fifth straight season of 20+ and his 23 homers were also a fifth straight 20+ season. Of his 18 homers as a Yankee, six were hit at the Stadium. Jesse is still the Blue Jays' all-time home run leader with 179.
He signed a three-year contract in October 1989. The contract runs through the 1992 season.
Selected in 9th round of the June 1977 draft, Barfield spent the season with Utica [Class-A New York-Penn League], helping the club to a second place finish. In 1978 he spent the season at Dunedin [Class-A Florida State League] where he slumped noticeably, batting only .206. He had his best minor league season in 1979 with Kinston [Class-A Carolina League], batting .264 with 71 RBIs, more than in his two previous seasons combined.
In 1980, Barfield led Knoxville [AA Southern League] in home runs (14) and RBIs (61). He spent his second season with Knoxville in 1981 before joining the parent club in September. In his major league debut on September 3, Jesse responded with a hit, an RBI and a stolen base. He hit his first major league home run on September 6 off Chicago's Britt Burns. Jesse hit safely through his first eight games, setting a club mark for the start of a career. In total, he hit safely in 12 of his first 13 major league games.
In 1982, Jesse was Labatt's Blue Player of the Month for April while becoming the first Blue Jay to hit a pinch-hit grand slam, on April 24. He captured Toronto's BBWAA Rookie of the Year award while setting club rookie marks in home runs (18), bases on balls (42) and slugging percentage (.426).
Jesse tied for the club lead in home runs (27) in 1983, setting the club mark for home runs at Exhibition Stadium (22). He led the team in two-homer games (4) and set then career highs in homers, runs (58), triples (3) and RBIs (68). Jesse also led the club in outfield assists (16) with errorless streaks of 55 and 50 games.
He was the American League Player of the Week for the week ending September 4 on the basis of a .421 average, seven homers and 13 RBIs. Jesse raised his average 53 points over his last 53 games, including four home runs in eight at-bats, September 1-2.
He was platooned in right field in 1984, seeing action against left-handed pitchers. Jesse set then personal highs in doubles (14) and stolen bases (8) while leading the club with three four-hit games. He clouted five home runs in three games, July 1-6.
In 1985, Jesse set a personal high with a 16-game hitting streak from May 8-26. Among his six home runs in 10 games from May 10-21, he tied the then club mark with home runs in three consecutive games from May 19-21.
Jesse reached base safely in 24 consecutive games from August 3-27 and was named Labatt's Blue Player of the Month for August (.365, 2 HR, 17 RBI). He had seven consecutive hits and reached base nine straight times, August 8-9. Jesse set the American League record with extra-base hits in 11 consecutive games.
For the 1985 season, he was third in the American League in slugging percentage (.536), ninth in doubles (34) and 12th in game-winning RBIs (12). Jesse set then club marks in extra-hits (70) and strikeouts (143) as well as then personal highs in at-bats (539), RBIs (84), hits (156), doubles (34) and home runs (27). He was the first Blue Jay to have 20 homers and 20 stolen bases in the same season. Jesse led AL with 22 outfield assists to set the club mark. He hit safely in six of seven ALCS games.
Jesse was voted as Labatt's Blue Player of the Year and Blue Jays Player of the Year by Toronto's BBWAA.
In 1986, Jesse set a personal high with six RBIs on May 17 against Cleveland. He was Labatt's Blue Player of the Month for May (.276, 9 HR, 23 RBI), then became the first Blue Jay player to reach 100-homer mark, on June 1 off Bob James of Chicago.
Jesse's 10th career two-homer game came on July 3 against Boston, followed by his first All-Star Game appearance, going 0-for-2. He was Labatt's Blue Player of the Month for September/October (.266, 10 HR).
He led American League in home runs (40) and was among the league leaders in slugging percentage (.559, 2nd), extra-base hits (77, 2nd), total bases (329, 5th), runs (107, tied for 5th), game-winning RBIs (13, tied for 7th) and doubles (35, tied for 10th). He led the club in RBIs (108, tied with George Bell), homers, strikeouts (146) and slugging, and hit six ninth-inning home runs
Barfield led all American League outfielders with 20 assists while capturing Gold Glove honors. He won the Silver Slugger Award, was voted Blue Jays Player of the Year by Toronto's BBWAA and voted to the AP Major League All-Star team. Jesse was named to the American League All-Star team which toured Japan after the 1986 season.
Moved around in the batting order for much of 1987, Jesse's average dropped from .319 to .248 from June 10-August 26. His seventh career four-hit game came on June 16 against Detroit, followed by his eighth career four-hit game on July 16 against Milwaukee. Barfield's home run against Texas on July 23 ended a drought of 22 games, and his sacrifice hit on August 14 was his first since June 24, 1984. He delivered a pinch hit against New York on September 12, his first since September 29, 1984. His third and fourth four-hit games of the year came on September 14 against Baltimore and September 26 against Detroit. He hit no home runs in his last 21 games.
Jesse placed fifth in the AL in games (159) and at-bats (590), and tied Ruben Sierra for the league lead in assists and won his second consecutive Rawlings Gold Glove Award for defensive excellence. He underwent surgery on his left knee and left wrist during the off-season.
He started the 1988 season going 0-for-11 from April 11-17, then hit his second career grand slam on April 19 off Kansas City's Bret Saberhagen. He left the May 14 game at Chicago with a swelling of the left wrist and was on the disabled list from May 16-31.
His solo homer off Walt Terrell of Detroit on June 18 snapped a drought of 17 homerless games, and his season high four RBIs at Detroit on June 19 was his first multiple RBI game since April 29. His third career grand slam came off Oakland's Rick Honeycutt on July 3. He tied a personal high with homers in three consecutive games from August 21-23.
Jesse played his 1,000th major league game on September 19, becoming the fourth player to reach the 1,000-game plateau in a Blue Jays uniform. His third grand slam of the season came on September 21 off Detroit's Paul Gibson. He tied a personal high with two stolen bases on October 1 against Baltimore.
His longest hit streak was five games, five times, and he homered in at least two consecutive games on three occasions. He was 16-for-47 (.340) with five home runs and 12 RBIs against the Tigers and 15-for-40 (.375) with two homers and 10 RBIs against the Royals. Jesse hit .209 with seven home runs and 26 RBIs through the break compared to .278 with 11 homers and 30 RBIs after the break. He led the team with 13 outfield assists.
Jesse attended Joliet Central High School (outside of Chicago) where former major leaguers Bill Gullickson, Larry Gura and Jack Perconte attended high school. His uncle played Negro league baseball.
Jesse enjoys basketball and ping-pong. His favorite team growing up was the Cubs and his favorite player was Ernie Banks."
-1990 New York Yankees Information Guide
Led American League outfielders in double plays (8), 1985.
[Led American League in home runs (40), 1986.]
Led American League outfielders in double plays (8), 1986.
Named an outfielder on The Sporting News American League Silver Slugger team, 1986.
Named an outfielder on The Sporting News American League All-Star Fielding Team, 1986.
Named an outfielder on The Sporting News American League All-Star Fielding Team, 1987.
-1990 New York Yankees Information Guide
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