R.I.P. George Frazier

1993 Profile: Kevin Maas

"The power seduces. Awesome power. The kind that produces home runs that pull you out of your seat.

And that swing. Sweet swing. That Yankee Stadium stroke.

Don't forget that physique. And the clean-cut good looks. And that pleasant demeanor.

Kevin Maas has it all to be a superstar, a Yankee in the tradition of Mantle, Maris, Murcer and Mattingly. The first five M's.

After a brilliant 1990- hitting his first 10 major league home runs quicker than any player in history and then 21 homers in just 254 at-bats- it all declined.

He hit 23 homers in 1991, but that was in 500 at-bats. Two more homers in 246 more at-bats. He also struck out 128 times.

Last year was worse. Reduced to part-time duty, Maas hit only 11 homers in 286 at-bats and knocked 25 runs, down 58 from 1991.

'It all happened so fast,' Maas says. 'In a three-monrth period, I went from Triple-A player not many people knew about to a national figure in terms of being a left-handed power hitter with the New York Yankees.'

He's still young. Just 28. And it's hard to give up on that power. Awesome power. And that swing. A Yankee Stadium swing."

-The New York Yankees Official 1993 Yearbook

"1992 was a season that started out promising. Maas hit .344 with two homers and seven RBIs in April. His first home run was a pinch-hit homer in his sixth game on April 20 against Cleveland, off Brad Arnsberg. It was his first career pinch-hit home run. He had a game-winning RBI on April 22 at Chicago, stroking a 9th inning single off Scott Radinsky. In April he appeared in 15 games making starts at first base (3) and designated hitter (5).

Kevin followed April by hitting .267 with four homers and eight RBIs in 60 at-bats in May. On May 30 at Milwaukee, he went 2-for-3 with a home run off Chris Bosio, raising his batting average over .300 (.307) for the final time in 1992.

As Kevin continued to produce, he was given more at-bats. Over 82 at-bats in June, he hit .232 with four home runs and 10 RBIs. From June 24-26 he hit homers in three consecutive games. On June 24 at Kansas City, Maas homered off Rick Reed; on June 25 at KC he hit a three-run game-winning home run in the 7th off Mark Gubicza; and on June 26 against Chicago he homered off Kirk McCaskill.

Through June 26 and 163 at-bats, Kevin was hitting .282 with 10 homers and 25 RBIs; from June 27 through the break he had just three hits in 34 at-bats, dropping his first-half numbers to a .249 average, 10 homers and 27 RBIs. He hit just .167 in July, yet hit his 11th and final homer on July 19 at California (Steve Frey), his only 1992 homer off a left-hander.

Kevin rebounded to hit .270 in August in 37 at-bats. He made his only start of the year against a left-hander on August 27 at Minnesota (David West). He hit .286 in September/October, getting four RBIs in 21 at-bats. Over his final 10 starts Maas hit .297 and had 16 hits in his final 50 at-bats (.320). He hit .247 with a home run and eight RBIs after the break.

Kevin made his 69 starts at designated hitter (54) and at first base (15) and overall played in 62 games as the DH. In 1992 he made two errors in 148 chances at first base, good for a .986 fielding percentage.In his career he has been DH in 189 games, ranking him third on the all-time Yankee list behind Don Baylor (403) and Lou Piniella (222). His 214 at-bats as DH last year ranked 11th in the American League. Maas hit .368 (7-for-19) with a home run as a pinch hitter, posting the highest batting average in the league with 19-plus pinch at-bats.

He reached safely in 49 of his 69 starts (71%); he hit .211 at home and .278 on the road; he hit .280 in night games and .165 in day games; he hit .185 against left-handers and .285 against right-handers; and he hit .304 on turf. He was 23-for-83 when leading off an inning and had 17 multi-hit games.

Maas drove home nine of 18 runners from third base with less than two out and was 1-for-5 with three RBIs with the bases loaded. 13 of his 35 RBIs came with two out and 12 of his RBIs came from the 7th inning on.

He hit 11 home runs in 1992 and now has 55 in 1,040 major league at-bats, or one every 19 at-bats. He hit his first 10 home runs in 163 at-bats (1:16 AB) and his last homer in 123 at-bats. When Kevin hit homers in three consecutive games in June, it marked the first time in his career he accomplished the feat. In 1992 he hit one homer against a left-hander and 10 against righties; he hit seven home runs at home, four on the road; four in day games, seven in night games; and eight were solo, two were two-run homers and one was a three-run homer.

Kevin's longest homerless drought was 80 at-bats to end the season; the longest of his career was 90 at-bats in 1991. He has at least one career home run against every American League opponent and has homered in every AL city except Boston and Chicago.

He signed a contract for the 1993 season.

In 1991 Maas showed signs that his power in 1990 was no fluke, spending his first full season in the majors.

Maas hit .231 for the month of April, hitting both of his home runs in his first 17 at-bats while starting all 17 games. He hit his first homer in his second plate appearance on April 8 off Frank Tanana at Detroit, the Yankees' first homer of 1991. On April 12 at Kansas City, he hit his first major league triple in his 264th big league at-bat.

He had his first career four-hit game on May 8 at California, pushing his batting average to .300.  

Kevin had his most productive month in May, hitting .300 with seven homers, 11 RBIs, 18 bases on balls and 20 runs scored. His home runs came in bunches, as he hit the first four in 25 at-bats and the last three in 25 at-bats. He led the AL in bases on balls as late as May 25. He hit fourth in the batting order in the club's first 31 games of the season (through May 16) and in 40 of the first 41 games.

He hit four home runs in June. Hitting .252 with 14 homers and 34 RBIs at the break, Kevin went into a career worst slump after the break; he had a streak of nine games when he went 0-for-29. For July, he hit .151 with a home run and .158 in August with four home runs.

Kevin had a season best eight-game hitting streak from September 20-27. He stole home on September 22 at Boston on the back end of a delayed double steal with Matt Nokes. Kevin was 4-for-14 with a pair of homers in October. He hit the club's last homer of the season in the last game on October 6 at the Stadium off Jeff Shaw of the Indians.

Over his final 13 games, he hit .333 (15-for-45) with four home runs and six RBIs. He hit .191 with nine homers and 29 RBIs after the break.

For the 1991 season, he hit 23 homers. Maas became the first Yankee to hit 20+ homers in his first two major league seasons since Tom Tresh (20 & 25) in 1962 and 1963. He hit nine homers off left-handers, 14 off righties; he hit eight homers at home, 15 on the road; he hit six in day games, 17 at night, and he hit 15 solo homers, four two-run homers and four three-run homers.

Kevin's longest homerless drought was 90 at-bats. In 1991, he was the only left-handed hitter to hit a home run off Cleveland's Greg Swindell. He homered in consecutive games three times and had a multi-homer game, October 6 against Cleveland, off Charles Nagy and Jeff Shaw.

He was 2-for-8 with seven RBIs with the bases loaded. Kevin ranked fourth in the American League for the ratio of fewest grounded into double plays, hitting into one every 125 at-bats. He tied Mel Hall for the club lead in two-out RBIs (27).

He played 36 games at first base and made six errors, for a .983 fielding percentage. He was the designated hitter in 109 games and his 370 DH at-bats ranked ninth in the league. 

Maas played winter ball in Venezuela, hitting .367 with two homers and 12 RBIs over 18 games. 

In 1990, Maas established his mark as having a swing built for Yankee Stadium. He finished a brilliant rookie season with a .252 batting average, 21 home runs and 41 RBIs. He was runner-up to Sandy Alomar, Jr., in the American League Rookie of the Year voting.

He started the season in Tampa on injury rehabilitation for 1989 knee surgery, then reported to Columbus on April 29. Maas was with the Clippers until he had his contract purchased by the Yankees on  June 28. At the time of his promotion he was hitting .284 with 15 doubles, 13 home runs and 38 RBIs. He had a .390 on-base percentage and a .582 slugging average.

Kevin was put into the lineup immediately, making his debut as a starter (designated hitter) on June 29 at Chicago. He went 1-for-3 getting his first major league hit, a single off Jack McDowell in the 4th inning. He hit safely in his first three games (3-for-10) and hit his first home run on July 4th at Kansas City off Bret Saberhagen. Kevin hit home runs in three consecutive games (July 23-25 at Texas) to become the first Yankee rookie to do so since Steve Whitaker from August 26-28, 1966.

He had four home runs over the final 12 games of June. He hit .270 in for the month with eight home runs and 15 RBIs.

Kevin had another productive month in August, hitting .260 with eight home runs and 15 RBIs. He went 2-for-4 on August 11 to bring his average to .282 but hit .238 over the remainder of the month.

Reaching a number of major league records with his home run power, Maas set the MAJOR LEAGUE record for fewest at-bats (77) to reach 10 home runs- the old record was held by George Scott who hit 10 in 79 at-bats for the Red Sox in 1966. He set the MAJOR LEAGUE record for fewest at-bats (110) to reach 13 home runs- the old record was held by Sam Horn who hit 13 in 123 at-bats for Boston in 1987. He set the MAJOR LEAGUE record for fewest at-bats (133) to reach 15 home runs- the old record was held by Wally Berger who hit 15 in 135 at-bats for the Boston Braves in 1930. Maas tied the MAJOR LEAGUE record for most home runs (12) in his first 100 at-bats with Dave Hostetler, who hit 12 in his first 100 for the Texas Rangers in 1982. He finished first in the American League and second in the majors for most home runs by a rookie, behind David Justice of Atlanta who hit 28.

Maas and Mattingly started together 18 times and in those games combined to hit .331 (45-for-136) with seven homers and 22 RBIs. Maas hit .359 (23-for-64) and Mattingly hit .306 (22-for-72). For the year, Maas started 70 games (1B-53, DH-17).

The Yankees' 22nd pick in the June 1986 free agent draft, Kevin was signed by Yankee scout Bill Livesey and recommended by Yankee scout Greg Orr. He played 28 games with short-season Class A Oneonta, where he batted .356 with 10 doubles and 18 RBIs in his first professional season.

He spent the 1987 season at 'A' Ft. Lauderdale of the Florida State League where he batted .278 with 28 doubles, 11 home runs, 73 RBIs, 14 stolen bases and 108 strikeouts. He played 76 of his 116 games at first base but was named as the designated hitter on the Florida State League All-Star team. He was added to the Yankees' 40-man roster in November of 1987.

He started the season with 'A' Prince William of the Carolina League and batted .296 in 29 games with seven doubles, 12 home runs and 35 RBIs. He was promoted to AA Albany-Colonie of the Eastern League on May 13, where he finished the season.

Kevin was named to play in the mid-season Eastern League All-Star Game and was selected as the first baseman on the postseason Eastern League All-Star team. He was named Topps Minor League Player of the Month in the Eastern League for August, when he batted .243 in 31 games with 20 runs scored, six home runs and 16 RBIs (including four game-winning RBIs).

He batted .263 in 108 games at Albany with 66 runs, 14 doubles, 16 home runs and 55 RBIs. He finished third in the Eastern League in home runs and third in walks (64). Kevin's combined 28 home runs at Prince William and Albany led the Yankee farm system and he was named the 1988 Yankee Minor League Player of the Year.

Maas spent the entire 1989 season at Columbus. He hit .320 in 83 games (third best on the club) with 23 doubles, six home runs and 45 RBIs. 31 of his 93 hits (33%) went for extra bases and his .474 slugging percentage ranked second on the team. He played 43 of 83 games as an outfielder but was named to the International League All-Star team as a designated hitter.

He was on the disabled list twice in 1989: from April 18-May 1 with chicken pox, and from July 28 through the end of the season as he underwent arthroscopic surgery on August 16 to have ligaments in his right knee repaired. He injured his right knee rounding first base on July 26.

Kevin graduated from Bishop O'Dowd (CA) High School and earned a degree in mechanical engineering from the University of California at Berkeley. He was voted the 1991 'Good Guy' award by the New York Press Photographers Association."

-1993 New York Yankees Information Guide

Named to Florida State League All-Star team (designated hitter), 1987.

Named to mid-season Eastern League All-Star Game (designated hitter), 1988.

Named Eastern League Player of the Month, August 1988.

Named to postseason Eastern League All-Star Game (first baseman), 1988.

Named to International League All-Star team (designated hitter), 1989.

Set major league record for fewest at-bats to reach 10 home runs (77), 1990.

Set major league record for fewest at-bats to reach 13 home runs (110), 1990.

Set major league record for fewest at-bats to reach 15 home runs (133), 1990.

Tied major league record for most home runs in first 100 at-bats (12), 1990.

-1993 New York Yankees Information Guide

Kevin Christian Maas (1B-DH)     #24

Born January 20, 1965, in Castro Valley, California, resides in Castro Valley, California. Height: 6-3, weight: 209. Bats left, throws left.

Graduated from University of California at Berkeley.

Major league service time: 2 years, 98 days. Opening Day age: 28.

-1993 New York Yankees Information Guide