"A forgotten man with the Texas Rangers a year ago, Bob Brower finds himself competing for a starting job with the Yankees in 1989. The departure of Claudell Washington opens a spot in the lineup, one which Brower hopes to fill. He comes to the Yankees hungry for an opportunity.
Brower starts this season at age 29, with just over two years of big league experience. His time is now, and Brower is so determined he spent his winter break improving his game playing winter ball in the Dominican Republic.
Not known for his power, Brower is more of a versatile outfielder. He can hit for average, steal a base and drive in a few runs. Brower has the credentials to help a club in a lot of ways, even if he isn't a starter, which is why he is hoping to become a valuable addition to the Yankees."
-The New York Yankees Official 1989 Yearbook
"Bob was acquired by the Yankees from the Texas Rangers on December 5, 1988 in exchange for shortstop Bobby Meacham. He played in only 82 games for the Rangers in 1988 and batted .224 (45-for-201) with a home run and 11 RBIs. He did have 10 stolen bases in 15 attempts. He underwent arthroscopic surgery before the start of the 1988 season, on January 6 to repair torn cartilage in his right shoulder. He was ready by spring training but began the regular season on the 15-day disabled list, having been placed on the DL on March 28 with a pulled right calf muscle.
Brower was activated on April 27 and made his first appearance that day as a designated hitter against Minnesota. He had a four-game hitting streak from May 3-7, his longest hitting streak of the year, batting .500 (6-for-12) in that span, including a 3-for-5 game on May 6 against the Yankees. That streak was broken when he was forced to leave the game of May 10 after the second inning with tightness in his right calf, having gone 0-for-1. In his first game back on May 14, Brower went 2-for-4 to raise his overall season average to .375 (9-for-24) after nine games, his high point of the year.
That three-hit game on May 6 was one of nine multiple-hit games in 1988, including four three-hit games, the other three coming on June 3 at Chicago, June 21 against Seattle on June 28 at Seattle. Bob had four multiple-hit games in an eight-game stretch from June 21 through July 3, batting .370 (10-for-27) in that span.
In the final game of that stretch, on July 3 against Baltimore, Bob hit his only home run of the season, a grand slam off Don Aase. It was his second career grand slam. In that game he also matched his career high with six RBIs (accounting for more than half of his 11 RBIs for the season) and it was the Ranger team high for 1988.
Bob finished the season by batting .091 (2-for-22) in his last 14 games to lower his average from .240 on September 5 to his final .224 mark.
He twice had two stolen bases in a game, on July 8 at Baltimore and on September 4 at Toronto. He was successful in six of his last seven stolen base attempts.
For the year, he started 15 games in left field, 26 games in center field, one in right field and six games as the designated hitter.
Brower signed a contract for the 1989 season.
In 1987, his first full major league season, Brower placed second on the Rangers in sacrifice hits (9), fourth in stolen bases (15) and tied for fifth in home runs (14), the latter being his professional career high. He started a total of 80 games in the outfield, including 25 of the last 31 contests beginning on September 2. He was bothered at times by a jammed right wrist and a sore right shoulder.
Bob had a good start, batting .282 (11-for-39) in 16 games, but batted just .210 (13-for-62) in 38 contests over the next two months. He finished strong, batting .324 (25-for-77) in his last 26 games; included in that stretch was a career-high six-game hitting streak from September 6-11 when he batted .455 (10-for-22).
He had 22 multi-hit games in '87, with a career high of four hits on July 26 at Cleveland. His 14 home runs broke his previous pro high of 13 in 1986 at Oklahoma City.
Brower hit the first inside-the-park grand slam in Ranger history off Eric Plunk of the A's on June 21 (second game) at Oakland. He was the first American Leaguer to accomplish that feat since Minnesota's Tom Brunansky, also a rookie, on July 19, 1982. Brower also hit a two-run homer off Dennis Lamp in that game to give him a career high six RBIs, and the two homers and six RBIs both were one shy of the Texas single-game club records.
He had one other two-homer game, July 26 at Cleveland. He homered to lead off the Texas half of the first inning four times, including his first major league home run on April 28 off the Yankees' Dennis Rasmussen. In addition to his six-RBI game, Brower had four RBIs once and three in a game twice. He singled home the winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning on August 5 against Boston.
Brower was signed by the Rangers as a free agent on July 1, 1982 by scout Joe Branzell after an outstanding career at Duke University where he graduated in 1982. He started 1983 at Burlington and had six hits on June 7 against Beloit, the only six-hit game in professional baseball that year. Bob was promoted to Tulsa on June 13. At Tulsa in 1984 he was second in the Texas League in steals (54) and was fourth in triples (9).
In 1985 Bob led the American Association in triples and tied for fourth in games (133). He hit for the cycle against Buffalo on May 27, including the game-winning triple in the 11th inning.
While playing for Oklahoma City in 1986, Bob was selected as the American Association 'Star of Stars' by the Howe News Bureau and as the Rangers overall Minor League Player of the Year. He led the A.A. in runs (130), at-bats (550) and walks (94), was tied for the top spot in games (140) and hits (158), tied for second in total bases (236) and was third in steals (53). His run total was an Oklahoma City club record and the highest in the American Association since 1953. Bob was also selected to the league's All-Star team and led the AA in putouts (366) and chances (382).
He was recalled by Texas on September 1 and made his big league debut that night at Boston, scoring the winning run. He doubled off Minnesota's Bill Latham on September 13 for his first major league hit. Brower had an outstanding winter ball season at La Romana in the Dominican Republic, winning the league's MVP award while batting .316 with four homers and a league high 37 RBIs.
He went to Duke on a football scholarship. He lettered four times in baseball and three times in football. In 1981 Bob led the nation in triples and was a first team All-Atlantic Coast Conference selection. He gained 130 yards rushing against North Carolina in 1979 to earn ACC 'Offensive Back of the Week' honors. In 1981 he caught 12 passes against Virginia, one shy of the school record. Bob also played a summer in the Alaskan Baseball League.
Bob played baseball, basketball, football and ran track at James Madison High School in Vienna, Virginia where he graduated in 1978. He earned all-regional honors in all four sports in his senior year. He participated in Little League, Babe Ruth League and Clark Griffith League programs.
Bob's hobbies are hunting, fishing and music."
-1989 New York Yankees Information Guide
Led American Association in bases on balls received with 94 in 1986.
Led American Association outfielders in total chances with 382 in 1986.
-1989 New York Yankees Information Guide
Wednesday, March 15, 2017
Wednesday, March 8, 2017
1989 Profile: Charles Hudson
"A man for all reasons is the best way to describe Charles Hudson's first two years in Pinstripes. His versatility can be a saving grace to a staff. Since coming over from the Phillies, this veteran of over five major league seasons has shown brilliance as both a starter and reliever, as well as inconsistency.
Much of his trouble last year could be explained by his being frequently shuttled between the rotation and the bullpen, leading to tendinitis in his right shoulder which put him on the disabled list for over a month. The injury may have hampered his numbers but not his confidence. 'I love to start and I can also pitch in relief,' Hudson explains. 'All I need is the opportunity, and I know I'll be successful.'
Hudson can do a lot of things for the Yankees, but in order to be healthy and more effective in 1989, he needs a more defined role with the club. Whatever that may be, Hudson will be up for the challenge."
-The New York Yankees Official 1989 Yearbook
"Hudson made 28 appearances, including 12 starts, for the Yankees in 1988. He finished with a record of 6-6 with two saves and a 4.49 ERA. His .235 batting average against was the third lowest on the team.
Much of his trouble last year could be explained by his being frequently shuttled between the rotation and the bullpen, leading to tendinitis in his right shoulder which put him on the disabled list for over a month. The injury may have hampered his numbers but not his confidence. 'I love to start and I can also pitch in relief,' Hudson explains. 'All I need is the opportunity, and I know I'll be successful.'
Hudson can do a lot of things for the Yankees, but in order to be healthy and more effective in 1989, he needs a more defined role with the club. Whatever that may be, Hudson will be up for the challenge."
-The New York Yankees Official 1989 Yearbook
"Hudson made 28 appearances, including 12 starts, for the Yankees in 1988. He finished with a record of 6-6 with two saves and a 4.49 ERA. His .235 batting average against was the third lowest on the team.
In his 12 starts, Hudson was 4-4 with a 5.45 ERA (41 ER, 67.2 IP) with 24 walks, 32 strikeouts and a .247 batting average against. In 16 relief outings (including 10 games finished), he was 2-2 with two saves and a 2.79 ERA (12 ER, 38.2 IP) with 12 walks, 26 strikeouts and a .215 batting average against.
Charles retired 11 of the first 16 batters he faced as a reliever (including six out of nine with runners on base) and prevented 13 of 18 inherited runners from scoring. He started the season by appearing in seven games out of the bullpen, going 2-1 with a save and a 3.50 ERA. His seven innings of relief work on April 18 at Minnesota was the second longest stint by a Yankee reliever in 1988; he was credited with the Yankees' 18-5 win over the Twins and notched a season high five strikeouts. On April 26 against Kansas City, Charles pitched a scoreless inning in the Yankees' 5-4 win to record his first major league save in 43 relief appearances to that date.
He originally found his way into the starting rotation when Rick Rhoden was placed on the 15-day disabled list on April 29, and made six straight starts between May 3 and June 7. As a starter during that span, Hudson was 3-1 with a 3.83 ERA (17 ER, 40 IP). His only complete game of the season came on May 15 in New York against California, winning 9-2. In his June 7 start against Boston he matched his season high of five strikeouts and was credited with the Yankees' 4-3 win.
Hudson pitched at least six innings in five of those six starts and went at least seven innings in three of those starts. Overall at that point in the season he was 5-2 in 13 appearances (six starts) with a 3.72 ERA (24 ER, 58 IP).
Following those six starts he returned to the bullpen where he made five straight appearances from June 12-22, going 0-1 with a 3.86 ERA (4 ER, 9.1 IP). He recorded what would be his sixth and final win of the season on July 4th at Texas, going seven innings and allowing three hits and two runs (earned), and was the winning pitcher in the Yankees' 13-2 win. In his next outing, a relief appearance against Kansas City on July 9, Charles recorded his second save of the year in the Yankees' 5-3 win.
Charles was placed on the 15-day disabled list on July 19 with tendinitis in his right shoulder. At the time he was 6-3 with two saves and a 3.33 ERA (31 ER, 83.2 IP) in 22 games (eight starts). Transferred to the 21-day DL on July 31, he was activated on August 22. He made a start against Oakland that night and was the loser in the Yankees' 9-2 defeat, allowing five runs (all earned) on three hits and four walks in 2.2 innings pitched. His next start on August 27 at California was even shorter, lasting 1.1 inning, giving up 10 hits and nine earned runs (the most earned runs allowed by a Yankee starter in 1988) as the Angels defeated the Yankees 12-0. In a relief role on August 12 at Cleveland, Charles gave up a two-run homer to Luis Medina, the first batter he faced, before pitching 4.1 scoreless innings with four strikeouts in a no-decision. His last decision came in a start in place of Tommy John on August 17 at Boston, going 7.1 innings and allowing four hits and three runs (earned) in a 3-1 Yankee loss. In all, since his return from the DL, Charles went 0-3 in six games (four starts) with a 8.74 ERA (22 ER, 22.2 IP).
Charles signed a contract for the 1989 season.
He was acquired by the Yankees in December 1986 from the Phillies with pitcher Jeff Knox in exchange for outfielder Mike Easler and infielder Tom Barrett. He began the 1987 season strongly, going 6-0 in his first eight games with a 2.02 ERA (13 ER, 58 IP). His 6-0 start was the best by any Yankee pitcher since Tommy John began 1980 with a 7-0 record. Of those eight games (through May 15), seven were starts, with his first appearance of the year in a relief role on April 8 at Detroit. In that game, Charles pitched 4.1 innings in relief of Tommy John, retiring all 13 batters he faced with three strikeouts, and received credit for the Yankees' 6-5 win over the Tigers.
Charles signed a contract for the 1989 season.
He was acquired by the Yankees in December 1986 from the Phillies with pitcher Jeff Knox in exchange for outfielder Mike Easler and infielder Tom Barrett. He began the 1987 season strongly, going 6-0 in his first eight games with a 2.02 ERA (13 ER, 58 IP). His 6-0 start was the best by any Yankee pitcher since Tommy John began 1980 with a 7-0 record. Of those eight games (through May 15), seven were starts, with his first appearance of the year in a relief role on April 8 at Detroit. In that game, Charles pitched 4.1 innings in relief of Tommy John, retiring all 13 batters he faced with three strikeouts, and received credit for the Yankees' 6-5 win over the Tigers.
That earned Charles a start for his Yankee Stadium debut, on April 13 against Cleveland (the home opener), and he threw a complete game, allowing the Indians just three hits (all solo home runs) while recording 10 strikeouts to receive credit for the Yankees' 11-3 victory. The 10 strikeouts was his season high and matched his career strikeout high, set on October 2, 1985 at Montreal while with the Phillies. In addition, the 3-hitter matched his career low-hit game, July 20, 1983 while with the Phillies.
In his next outing on April 19 against Kansas City, also at Yankee Stadium (Game 1), Charles recorded New York's first complete game shutout of the year, blanking the Royals on seven hits, three walks and seven strikeouts, winning 5-0. It was the first nine-inning shutout of his career, having thrown a rain-shortened shutout as a Phillie in 1984, and the first complete game shutout by a Yankee at Yankee Stadium since Ed Whitson shut out Texas 6-0 on July 12, 1985. With that complete game, Charles became the first Yankee to throw back-to-back complete games since Phil Niekro did so on September 13 and 18, 1985.
When Tommy John, Pat Clements and Dave Righetti combined on a 1-0 shutout in Game 2 of that doubleheader following Charles' shutout, it marked the 14th time in their history the Yankees won a doubleheader via shutouts in both games, with the previous instance occurring on September 25, 1977 when Ron Guidry and a combined Ed Figueroa-Sparky Lyle shutout stopped the Blue Jays at Toronto. Charles threw back-to-back complete games again on May 4 at Chicago, winning 6-1, and on May 10 against Minnesota, also winning 6-1; that game also marked his third complete game in his first three Yankee Stadium starts.
In his next seven appearances (five starts) after his 6-0 start, however, from May 20 through July 19, Charles went 1-2 with a 7.50 ERA (20 ER, 24 IP). Included in those games was an 0-2 record and a 9.47 ERA (20 ER, 19 IP) in his five starts. As a result he was optioned to Columbus on June 20. At the time of his option, Charles was 6-2 with a 3.62 ERA.
While with the Clippers he appeared in five games (two starts), going 0-2 with a 6.07 ERA. Charles was recalled from Columbus on July 6, and in his 20 games with the Yankees through the end of the season following his recall (including four starts), he went 4-5 with a 3.59 ERA.
He threw 21 scoreless innings in six outings between August 3 and August 24, and ran the string to a career high 22.1 innings before a run was scored on August 28. Included in that span was eight shutout innings in relief of Tommy John (who was forced to leave after one inning pitched with a stomach disorder) on August 19 at Seattle, gaining credit for the win as John and Hudson combined for an 8-0, 5-hit shutout.
In his final five outings of the year (two starts, three relief appearances) he was 2-1, allowing seven earned runs in 30 innings pitched (2.10 ERA). Charles threw his second shutout of the season on September 29 against Boston, limiting the Red Sox to four hits in a 6-0 Yankee win, becoming the first Yankee pitcher to throw two complete game shutouts in Yankee Stadium [in the same season] since both Dave Righetti and Ron Guidry threw two apiece in 1983. In his next start on October 4 against Baltimore, his last one in 1987, he threw another complete game, a 4-2 loss but his sixth complete game of the year and the third time in '87 he had back-to-back complete games.
His six complete games and two shutouts led the Yankees and he was second on the club with 100 strikeouts. Charles finished with a record of 11-7 in 35 games (16 starts) and a 3.61 ERA, and his 11 wins was the third highest total on the team. His six complete games led the Yankees and was the most by a Yankee pitcher since Ron Guidry (11) and Phil Niekro (7) in 1985. He achieved single season bests in wins and complete games. Charles allowed 19 home runs, 12 of which (including the first five) were solo. As a starter he was 6-5 with a 4.12 ERA (45 ER, 98.1 IP), while as a reliever he was 5-2 with a 2.88 ERA (18 ER, 56.1 IP).
In 1981, his first pro season, Charles was 5-5 with a 3.83 ERA in 14 games with Helena. He posted a 15-5 record and a 1.85 ERA in 1982 with Peninsula of the Carolina League. He led the league in ERA, wins and shutouts, was named Carolina League Pitcher of the Year and was a Carolina League All-Star.
Charles recorded his first major league win at Pittsburgh on June 19, 1983. On July 20 against Houston, he had a no-hitter through 8.1 innings broken up by Craig Reynolds' bloop single, eventually giving up three hits, which is tied for the lowest-hit complete game of his career. He also had a career high five-game winning streak.
He beat the Dodgers 7-2 in Game Three of the '83 National League Championship Series, allowing just four hits in nine innings while becoming the first rookie to hurl a complete game in NLCS history. Charles was 0-2 with an 8.64 ERA in two starts in the '83 World Series against the Orioles. He was named to the Baseball Digest Rookie Team.
Charles posted his first career shutout on July 5, 1984 against Atlanta in a rain-shortened seven-inning game. He suffered a fractured rib on August 9 and missed 22 days of the season. He started switch-hitting in '84 and doubled off Dennis Eckersley in his first major league at-bat as a left-handed hitter on July 30.
In 1985 Charles set season highs in games (33), innings pitched (193.0) and strikeouts (122). He struck out a career high 10 batters at Montreal on October 2 and had the second longest consecutive scoreless inning streak on the Phillie staff (16.2 innings).
He started the season in the bullpen, where he was 0-2 with a 2.60 ERA, and moved into the starting rotation on May 14, replacing Jerry Koosman. Charles was 8-11, 3.85 ERA in 26 starts. He experienced six one-run losses and four two-run losses, and in his 11 losses as a starter the Phillies scored 27 runs, an average of 2.45 per game. He was the starting pitcher in the Phils' record-setting 26-7 game against the Mets on June 11 and had three hits on August 18 at Chicago.
He was used by the Phillies as a reliever in his first two games in 1986, going 1-0 with a 2.25 ERA, then made 23 straight starts. Charles was sent back to the bullpen on September 2 for the remainder of the season. As a starter in those 23 games he was 6-10 with a 5.24 ERA and gave up all 20 of his homers as a starter. The Phillies scored just 25 runs in his 10 losses, an average of 2.5 runs per game. In his 10 games as a reliever, he was 1-0 with no saves and a 3.10 ERA.
Through June 10 Charles was 4-3 with a 3.88 ERA over his first 11 games, but had a career high six-game losing streak from June 15 through July 10 with a 7.16 ERA. Over his next five starts, from July 20 through August 9, he was 3-1 with a 3.03 ERA. Charles made three more starts after that without a decision and then came out of the bullpen in his final eight appearances without a decision or a save.
In his 9-3 victory at Cincinnati on July 20, he had season highs of eight innings pitched and seven strikeouts; he also went eight innings in a 2-0 loss to Montreal on June 15. Charles' best outing came on May 31 against San Diego, hurling seven shutout innings and giving up five hits to gain credit for the Phillies' 1-0 victory. His longest outing as a reliever was three innings, on three occasions: April 7 at Cincinnati (Opening Day), September 8 at Chicago and September 17 against St. Louis. Overall in 1986 he was 7-10 with a 4.94 ERA.
Charles is a graduate of South Oak Cliff (Dallas, TX) High School where he played baseball. He was converted from shortstop to pitcher at Prairie View A & M (TX) University, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in business management. Charles pitched in the NAIA playoffs in 1980 and 1981.
His hobbies are backgammon, chess and dominoes and his favorite spectator sports are basketball and football. His favorite team growing up was the Dallas Cowboys, his favorite player was Drew Pearson and his favorite ballpark is Dodger Stadium. His favorite entertainers are Eddie Murphy, Clint Eastwood and Stevie Wonder."
-1989 New York Yankees Information Guide
In 1981, his first pro season, Charles was 5-5 with a 3.83 ERA in 14 games with Helena. He posted a 15-5 record and a 1.85 ERA in 1982 with Peninsula of the Carolina League. He led the league in ERA, wins and shutouts, was named Carolina League Pitcher of the Year and was a Carolina League All-Star.
Charles recorded his first major league win at Pittsburgh on June 19, 1983. On July 20 against Houston, he had a no-hitter through 8.1 innings broken up by Craig Reynolds' bloop single, eventually giving up three hits, which is tied for the lowest-hit complete game of his career. He also had a career high five-game winning streak.
He beat the Dodgers 7-2 in Game Three of the '83 National League Championship Series, allowing just four hits in nine innings while becoming the first rookie to hurl a complete game in NLCS history. Charles was 0-2 with an 8.64 ERA in two starts in the '83 World Series against the Orioles. He was named to the Baseball Digest Rookie Team.
Charles posted his first career shutout on July 5, 1984 against Atlanta in a rain-shortened seven-inning game. He suffered a fractured rib on August 9 and missed 22 days of the season. He started switch-hitting in '84 and doubled off Dennis Eckersley in his first major league at-bat as a left-handed hitter on July 30.
In 1985 Charles set season highs in games (33), innings pitched (193.0) and strikeouts (122). He struck out a career high 10 batters at Montreal on October 2 and had the second longest consecutive scoreless inning streak on the Phillie staff (16.2 innings).
He started the season in the bullpen, where he was 0-2 with a 2.60 ERA, and moved into the starting rotation on May 14, replacing Jerry Koosman. Charles was 8-11, 3.85 ERA in 26 starts. He experienced six one-run losses and four two-run losses, and in his 11 losses as a starter the Phillies scored 27 runs, an average of 2.45 per game. He was the starting pitcher in the Phils' record-setting 26-7 game against the Mets on June 11 and had three hits on August 18 at Chicago.
He was used by the Phillies as a reliever in his first two games in 1986, going 1-0 with a 2.25 ERA, then made 23 straight starts. Charles was sent back to the bullpen on September 2 for the remainder of the season. As a starter in those 23 games he was 6-10 with a 5.24 ERA and gave up all 20 of his homers as a starter. The Phillies scored just 25 runs in his 10 losses, an average of 2.5 runs per game. In his 10 games as a reliever, he was 1-0 with no saves and a 3.10 ERA.
Through June 10 Charles was 4-3 with a 3.88 ERA over his first 11 games, but had a career high six-game losing streak from June 15 through July 10 with a 7.16 ERA. Over his next five starts, from July 20 through August 9, he was 3-1 with a 3.03 ERA. Charles made three more starts after that without a decision and then came out of the bullpen in his final eight appearances without a decision or a save.
In his 9-3 victory at Cincinnati on July 20, he had season highs of eight innings pitched and seven strikeouts; he also went eight innings in a 2-0 loss to Montreal on June 15. Charles' best outing came on May 31 against San Diego, hurling seven shutout innings and giving up five hits to gain credit for the Phillies' 1-0 victory. His longest outing as a reliever was three innings, on three occasions: April 7 at Cincinnati (Opening Day), September 8 at Chicago and September 17 against St. Louis. Overall in 1986 he was 7-10 with a 4.94 ERA.
Charles is a graduate of South Oak Cliff (Dallas, TX) High School where he played baseball. He was converted from shortstop to pitcher at Prairie View A & M (TX) University, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in business management. Charles pitched in the NAIA playoffs in 1980 and 1981.
His hobbies are backgammon, chess and dominoes and his favorite spectator sports are basketball and football. His favorite team growing up was the Dallas Cowboys, his favorite player was Drew Pearson and his favorite ballpark is Dodger Stadium. His favorite entertainers are Eddie Murphy, Clint Eastwood and Stevie Wonder."
-1989 New York Yankees Information Guide
Wednesday, March 1, 2017
1989 Profile: Wayne Tolleson
"For some major leaguers, the off-season can be very long. After the relaxation of winter passes, players become antsy in anticipation of the new season. No Yankee could be more anxious to play ball in 1989 than Wayne Tolleson, whose 1988 effort amounted to 21 games.
It could hardly be called a season since the gutsy little infielder was disabled four times. Known as a go-getter since he first joined the Yankees in 1986, Tolly showed that same determined spirit in shaking off injury after injury.
Once regarded as the team's starting shortstop, Tolleson will be looking to help the club as a utility infielder. Having played second, third and short for more than six years in the bigs, a healthy Wayne Tolleson can be very valuable in 1989."
-The New York Yankees Official 1989 Yearbook
"Tolleson underwent arthroscopic surgery on December 9 to repair frayed rotator cuff muscles in his right shoulder. The surgery was performed by Dr. James Andrews of the Alabama Sports Medicine Clinic in Birmingham. He was placed on the 15-day disabled list on April 4 to open the 1988 season, the first of four separate stints on the DL last year.
He was assigned to Columbus on 20-day rehabilitation on April 16, transferred to the 21-day DL on May 7 and was again assigned to Columbus for 20-day rehabilitation on May 19. In six games with the Clippers, Wayne batted .185 (5-for-27) with four runs and an RBI with a stolen base and an error.
Wayne was activated from the 21-day DL on June 10 and made his 1988 debut that day against Baltimore in Yankee Stadium, going 1-for-5 in a start at second base. His double on June 12 against Baltimore was his first extra-base hit since May 27, 1987, going 79 games and 215 at-bats between extra-base hits. He was forced to leave the game on June 19 at Cleveland with a strained left hamstring and was placed on the 15-day DL on June 20.
Up to that point Tolleson had played in eight games, batting .313 (10-for-32) with three runs scored, two doubles and three RBIs while hitting safely in six of those eight games (including four multi-hit games). He was transferred to the 21-day DL on July 1 and was activated on July 14. Tolleson played in one game, July 16 against Chicago, going 0-for-3 with a run scored before straining his left hamstring again, and was placed back on the 15-day DL the following day.
He was transferred to the 21-day DL on July 25 and was activated on August 11. He played three games from August 11-13, going 0-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI, before leaving the August 13 game at Minnesota after again straining his left hamstring and was placed back on the 15-day DL for the fourth time on August 14.
Wayne was activated from the disabled list for a fourth and final time on September 11. He played in nine games following that activation, going 5-for-20 (.250) with three runs and an RBI. Wayne started the last six games of the season (four at second base and two at third). In his final game, October 2 at Detroit, he went 3-for-4 with a run scored, Wayne's first three-hit game since July 1, 1987 at Toronto.
He stole his only base of the year on September 27 at Baltimore. He finished the season with a .254 average (15-for-59) with eight runs scored, two doubles and five RBIs.
He signed a two-year contract on December 16, 1988. The contract runs through the 1990 season.
Tolleson got off to a fast start in 1987, hitting .361 (22-for-61) on April 26 after his first 18 games, and as late as May 8 was hitting .300 (27-for-90) after his 27th game. He was still hitting as high as .270 (40-for-148) on May 27 after 44 games. Wayne slumped after that, hitting just .184 (37-for-201) in 77 games for the rest of the season, and finished with a .221 batting average (77-for-349) for the year.
He hit three doubles in a five-game span from April 12-15, accounting for three of the four doubles he hit all season. Wayne hit his only home run (a solo shot) off Mike Morgan at Seattle on May 15 and had a six-game hitting streak from May 20-27, batting .364 (8-for-22) during that span with an RBI in each of the last five games of that streak.
He had just five extra-base hits all season (the homer and four doubles), with the last extra-base hit coming on May 27 followed by 204 at-bats without an extra-base hit. He had three RBIs on June 26 against Boston, matching his single-game career high; he did not, however, have an RBI after July 20, covering 53 at-bats in his final 30 games (20 games with a plate appearance). Wayne had 15 multi-hit games and had four game-winning RBIs in '87.
He was suffering from a sore right shoulder during the second half of the season and was placed on the 15-day disabled list on August 20 (retroactive to August 19) because of that injury; at that point, he was hitting .224 in 112 games. Wayne was activated from the DL on September 4 and went 1-for-10 in the nine games he played after his activation. He had only one hit in his final 27 at-bats (.037), beginning with his last at-bat on August 5. His last plate appearance came on September 11 at Toronto.
Batting right-handed, Tolleson hit .218 (24-for-110) with five RBIs, while batting left-handed he hit .222 (53-for-239) with 17 RBIs. He was successful in five out of eight stolen base attempts.
He played 119 games at shortstop and had a fielding percentage of .970, committing only 15 errors in 498 chances, and was eighth in fielding among American League shortstops playing 100 or more games. Tolleson went 21 games, June 8-30, without committing an error. He made three appearances at third base, including one start on July 1 at Toronto.
In 1986 Tolleson was acquired by the Yankees from the White Sox on July 29 along with Ron Kittle and Joel Skinner in exchange for Ron Hassey, Carlos Martinez and a player to be named later (catcher Bill Lindsey).
In 81 games with the Sox before the trade, he was hitting .250 (65-for-260) with three home runs and 29 RBIs. After going hitless in his first game of the year, he put together a 10-game hitting streak from April 9-19, including two hits apiece in each of the last five games of that streak, batting .395 (15-for-38) in that span with nine RBIs. Tolleson matched his single-game career high with three RBIs on April 14 at Detroit. He hit his first home run of the season on April 29 against Baltimore off Scott McGregor and victimized McGregor again on May 12 at Baltimore for his second homer. He put together another 10-game hitting streak from May 7-17, batting .385 (15-for-39), and hit his third and final homer of the season on June 1 at Toronto off Jimmy Key.
Wayne slumped in June, hitting only .172 (10-for-58) in the month. He hit .224 (32-for-143) lefty and .282 (33-for-117) righty with Chicago. He started 70 games with the White Sox, 60 at third base and 10 at shortstop.
He hit safely in his first nine games as a Yankee, from July 30-August 7, batting .485 (16-for-33) in that span. Wayne tied his single-game career high with four hits (4-for-5) on August 2 at Cleveland and scored three runs the following game, August 3 at Cleveland, notching his first and only game-winning RBI as a Yankee in '86. Through August 23, after 22 games as a Yankee, he was hitting .338 (27-for-80). Over his next 17 games, from August 24 through September 11, he hit just .143 (8-for-56), dropping his average to .257, his low as a Yankee.
From that point, beginning on September 12, he hit safely in 16 of his final 21 games, batting .329 (26-for-79) in that span with eight runs, four doubles and eight RBIs to finish with a .284 (61-for-215) average as a Yankee in 60 games. In those games he hit .283 (36-for-127) lefty and .284 (25-for-88) righty.
Wayne tied his single-game career high with four hits (4-for-4) on September 13 at Boston, and in the following game, September 14 at Boston, he collected three RBIs. He had 19 multiple hit games, including his two four-hit contests.
Overall in his combined total of 141 games, he hit .265 (126-for-475) with three homers and 43 RBIs. He batted .252 (68-for-270) lefty and .283 (58-for-205) righty. With the Yankees, he stole four bases in eight attempts, and for the year was 17-for-27 in stolen base attempts. After joining the Yankees, he played in all but one of the club's remaining 61 games and started 59 times, including 53 starts at shortstop, five at third base and one at second base.
Wayne committed eight errors in 81 games with the White Sox and six errors in 60 games with the Yankees. He went 17 straight games, from August 5 through August 24, without an error and committed just two errors in 35 games from August 5 through September 13. For the season Wayne's overall fielding percentage was .971; with the White Sox it was .960 and with the Yankees, it was .979.
In 72 games at third base for Chicago and New York, his fielding percentage was .954. In 74 games at shortstop with those two clubs, his fielding percentage was .981, ranking him fourth among American League shortstops with 10 or more games. Tolleson was the sixth Yankee to start a game at shortstop in 1986.
Tolleson hit .269 at Asheville in his first season of pro ball in 1978, and in 1979 batted .234 for Tulsa in his first year in the AA Texas League. In 1980 he was second in the Texas League with 46 steals (his pro career high) and was named to the league's all-star team. Wayne became a switch-hitter that year.
He hit .261 in 107 games at Wichita in 1981 and made his major league debut in September. Wayne had a fine spring training in 1982 and opened the season with the Rangers. He played sparingly and was optioned to Denver on April 26, then was recalled by Texas on July 23 and went 0-for-23 in his first 12 games.
Wayne started the 1983 season as a utility infielder but became the starting second baseman in late April when a knee injury sidelined Mike Richardt. He was hitting .288 through July 24 but batted just .211 in his last 53 games. He had a nine-game hitting streak. Wayne recorded his first major league triple and his first major league home run in the same game - June 11 at Minnesota. He was second on the club with 33 steals and was successful on all eight of his third base steal attempts.
He started the 1984 season well, hitting .297 (22-for-74) in his first 21 games through April 28, but batted just .189 over his final 97 games and slipped to .132 in his last 30 contests, beginning on July 22. Wayne led the Rangers with 22 steals and had two thefts in a game four times. He was successful on 84.6 of his 26 steal attempts, the second best ratio in the AL (20 or more attempts) behind Willie Wilson's 90.3 percent. He also had a .979 fielding percentage (10 errors in 477 total chances) in 109 games at second base.
In his final season with the Rangers in 1985, Wayne topped all Texas regulars with his .313 batting average, the first .300-plus season of his professional career. After hitting .213 in 1984, his 100-point batting average improvement was the most in the major leagues. He finished fifth in the American League among all hitters with 200 or more official trips to the plate.
Wayne hit .333 from the left side in 231 at-bats. He hit .354 at Arlington Stadium and .262 on the road. His best month was April (.385) and his worst month was September/October (.250). Wayne had a 10-game hitting streak, August 30 through September 10, and also had a nine-game streak in late May and early June.
Six of his 18 RBIs were game winners. He tied the Texas club record with two triples in one game, August 11 against Baltimore.
Tolleson appeared in 123 games, 81 at shortstop, 29 at second base and 12 at third base. He was obtained by the White Sox along with Dave Schmidt from the Texas Rangers in November 1985 in exchange for Scott Fletcher, Edwin Correa and Jose Mota.
Born, raised and still residing in Spartanburg, South Carolina, he starred in basketball and football at Spartanburg High and was a prep teammate of NFL quarterback Steve Fuller. Tolleson played baseball and football for four seasons at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, North Carolina. He was named All-America as a wide receiver and led the NCAA in pass receptions as a senior, graduating from Western Carolina in 1978."
-1989 New York Yankees Information Guide
It could hardly be called a season since the gutsy little infielder was disabled four times. Known as a go-getter since he first joined the Yankees in 1986, Tolly showed that same determined spirit in shaking off injury after injury.
Once regarded as the team's starting shortstop, Tolleson will be looking to help the club as a utility infielder. Having played second, third and short for more than six years in the bigs, a healthy Wayne Tolleson can be very valuable in 1989."
-The New York Yankees Official 1989 Yearbook
"Tolleson underwent arthroscopic surgery on December 9 to repair frayed rotator cuff muscles in his right shoulder. The surgery was performed by Dr. James Andrews of the Alabama Sports Medicine Clinic in Birmingham. He was placed on the 15-day disabled list on April 4 to open the 1988 season, the first of four separate stints on the DL last year.
He was assigned to Columbus on 20-day rehabilitation on April 16, transferred to the 21-day DL on May 7 and was again assigned to Columbus for 20-day rehabilitation on May 19. In six games with the Clippers, Wayne batted .185 (5-for-27) with four runs and an RBI with a stolen base and an error.
Wayne was activated from the 21-day DL on June 10 and made his 1988 debut that day against Baltimore in Yankee Stadium, going 1-for-5 in a start at second base. His double on June 12 against Baltimore was his first extra-base hit since May 27, 1987, going 79 games and 215 at-bats between extra-base hits. He was forced to leave the game on June 19 at Cleveland with a strained left hamstring and was placed on the 15-day DL on June 20.
Up to that point Tolleson had played in eight games, batting .313 (10-for-32) with three runs scored, two doubles and three RBIs while hitting safely in six of those eight games (including four multi-hit games). He was transferred to the 21-day DL on July 1 and was activated on July 14. Tolleson played in one game, July 16 against Chicago, going 0-for-3 with a run scored before straining his left hamstring again, and was placed back on the 15-day DL the following day.
He was transferred to the 21-day DL on July 25 and was activated on August 11. He played three games from August 11-13, going 0-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI, before leaving the August 13 game at Minnesota after again straining his left hamstring and was placed back on the 15-day DL for the fourth time on August 14.
Wayne was activated from the disabled list for a fourth and final time on September 11. He played in nine games following that activation, going 5-for-20 (.250) with three runs and an RBI. Wayne started the last six games of the season (four at second base and two at third). In his final game, October 2 at Detroit, he went 3-for-4 with a run scored, Wayne's first three-hit game since July 1, 1987 at Toronto.
He stole his only base of the year on September 27 at Baltimore. He finished the season with a .254 average (15-for-59) with eight runs scored, two doubles and five RBIs.
He signed a two-year contract on December 16, 1988. The contract runs through the 1990 season.
Tolleson got off to a fast start in 1987, hitting .361 (22-for-61) on April 26 after his first 18 games, and as late as May 8 was hitting .300 (27-for-90) after his 27th game. He was still hitting as high as .270 (40-for-148) on May 27 after 44 games. Wayne slumped after that, hitting just .184 (37-for-201) in 77 games for the rest of the season, and finished with a .221 batting average (77-for-349) for the year.
He hit three doubles in a five-game span from April 12-15, accounting for three of the four doubles he hit all season. Wayne hit his only home run (a solo shot) off Mike Morgan at Seattle on May 15 and had a six-game hitting streak from May 20-27, batting .364 (8-for-22) during that span with an RBI in each of the last five games of that streak.
He had just five extra-base hits all season (the homer and four doubles), with the last extra-base hit coming on May 27 followed by 204 at-bats without an extra-base hit. He had three RBIs on June 26 against Boston, matching his single-game career high; he did not, however, have an RBI after July 20, covering 53 at-bats in his final 30 games (20 games with a plate appearance). Wayne had 15 multi-hit games and had four game-winning RBIs in '87.
He was suffering from a sore right shoulder during the second half of the season and was placed on the 15-day disabled list on August 20 (retroactive to August 19) because of that injury; at that point, he was hitting .224 in 112 games. Wayne was activated from the DL on September 4 and went 1-for-10 in the nine games he played after his activation. He had only one hit in his final 27 at-bats (.037), beginning with his last at-bat on August 5. His last plate appearance came on September 11 at Toronto.
Batting right-handed, Tolleson hit .218 (24-for-110) with five RBIs, while batting left-handed he hit .222 (53-for-239) with 17 RBIs. He was successful in five out of eight stolen base attempts.
He played 119 games at shortstop and had a fielding percentage of .970, committing only 15 errors in 498 chances, and was eighth in fielding among American League shortstops playing 100 or more games. Tolleson went 21 games, June 8-30, without committing an error. He made three appearances at third base, including one start on July 1 at Toronto.
In 1986 Tolleson was acquired by the Yankees from the White Sox on July 29 along with Ron Kittle and Joel Skinner in exchange for Ron Hassey, Carlos Martinez and a player to be named later (catcher Bill Lindsey).
In 81 games with the Sox before the trade, he was hitting .250 (65-for-260) with three home runs and 29 RBIs. After going hitless in his first game of the year, he put together a 10-game hitting streak from April 9-19, including two hits apiece in each of the last five games of that streak, batting .395 (15-for-38) in that span with nine RBIs. Tolleson matched his single-game career high with three RBIs on April 14 at Detroit. He hit his first home run of the season on April 29 against Baltimore off Scott McGregor and victimized McGregor again on May 12 at Baltimore for his second homer. He put together another 10-game hitting streak from May 7-17, batting .385 (15-for-39), and hit his third and final homer of the season on June 1 at Toronto off Jimmy Key.
Wayne slumped in June, hitting only .172 (10-for-58) in the month. He hit .224 (32-for-143) lefty and .282 (33-for-117) righty with Chicago. He started 70 games with the White Sox, 60 at third base and 10 at shortstop.
He hit safely in his first nine games as a Yankee, from July 30-August 7, batting .485 (16-for-33) in that span. Wayne tied his single-game career high with four hits (4-for-5) on August 2 at Cleveland and scored three runs the following game, August 3 at Cleveland, notching his first and only game-winning RBI as a Yankee in '86. Through August 23, after 22 games as a Yankee, he was hitting .338 (27-for-80). Over his next 17 games, from August 24 through September 11, he hit just .143 (8-for-56), dropping his average to .257, his low as a Yankee.
From that point, beginning on September 12, he hit safely in 16 of his final 21 games, batting .329 (26-for-79) in that span with eight runs, four doubles and eight RBIs to finish with a .284 (61-for-215) average as a Yankee in 60 games. In those games he hit .283 (36-for-127) lefty and .284 (25-for-88) righty.
Wayne tied his single-game career high with four hits (4-for-4) on September 13 at Boston, and in the following game, September 14 at Boston, he collected three RBIs. He had 19 multiple hit games, including his two four-hit contests.
Overall in his combined total of 141 games, he hit .265 (126-for-475) with three homers and 43 RBIs. He batted .252 (68-for-270) lefty and .283 (58-for-205) righty. With the Yankees, he stole four bases in eight attempts, and for the year was 17-for-27 in stolen base attempts. After joining the Yankees, he played in all but one of the club's remaining 61 games and started 59 times, including 53 starts at shortstop, five at third base and one at second base.
Wayne committed eight errors in 81 games with the White Sox and six errors in 60 games with the Yankees. He went 17 straight games, from August 5 through August 24, without an error and committed just two errors in 35 games from August 5 through September 13. For the season Wayne's overall fielding percentage was .971; with the White Sox it was .960 and with the Yankees, it was .979.
In 72 games at third base for Chicago and New York, his fielding percentage was .954. In 74 games at shortstop with those two clubs, his fielding percentage was .981, ranking him fourth among American League shortstops with 10 or more games. Tolleson was the sixth Yankee to start a game at shortstop in 1986.
Tolleson hit .269 at Asheville in his first season of pro ball in 1978, and in 1979 batted .234 for Tulsa in his first year in the AA Texas League. In 1980 he was second in the Texas League with 46 steals (his pro career high) and was named to the league's all-star team. Wayne became a switch-hitter that year.
He hit .261 in 107 games at Wichita in 1981 and made his major league debut in September. Wayne had a fine spring training in 1982 and opened the season with the Rangers. He played sparingly and was optioned to Denver on April 26, then was recalled by Texas on July 23 and went 0-for-23 in his first 12 games.
Wayne started the 1983 season as a utility infielder but became the starting second baseman in late April when a knee injury sidelined Mike Richardt. He was hitting .288 through July 24 but batted just .211 in his last 53 games. He had a nine-game hitting streak. Wayne recorded his first major league triple and his first major league home run in the same game - June 11 at Minnesota. He was second on the club with 33 steals and was successful on all eight of his third base steal attempts.
He started the 1984 season well, hitting .297 (22-for-74) in his first 21 games through April 28, but batted just .189 over his final 97 games and slipped to .132 in his last 30 contests, beginning on July 22. Wayne led the Rangers with 22 steals and had two thefts in a game four times. He was successful on 84.6 of his 26 steal attempts, the second best ratio in the AL (20 or more attempts) behind Willie Wilson's 90.3 percent. He also had a .979 fielding percentage (10 errors in 477 total chances) in 109 games at second base.
In his final season with the Rangers in 1985, Wayne topped all Texas regulars with his .313 batting average, the first .300-plus season of his professional career. After hitting .213 in 1984, his 100-point batting average improvement was the most in the major leagues. He finished fifth in the American League among all hitters with 200 or more official trips to the plate.
Wayne hit .333 from the left side in 231 at-bats. He hit .354 at Arlington Stadium and .262 on the road. His best month was April (.385) and his worst month was September/October (.250). Wayne had a 10-game hitting streak, August 30 through September 10, and also had a nine-game streak in late May and early June.
Six of his 18 RBIs were game winners. He tied the Texas club record with two triples in one game, August 11 against Baltimore.
Tolleson appeared in 123 games, 81 at shortstop, 29 at second base and 12 at third base. He was obtained by the White Sox along with Dave Schmidt from the Texas Rangers in November 1985 in exchange for Scott Fletcher, Edwin Correa and Jose Mota.
Born, raised and still residing in Spartanburg, South Carolina, he starred in basketball and football at Spartanburg High and was a prep teammate of NFL quarterback Steve Fuller. Tolleson played baseball and football for four seasons at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, North Carolina. He was named All-America as a wide receiver and led the NCAA in pass receptions as a senior, graduating from Western Carolina in 1978."
-1989 New York Yankees Information Guide
Thursday, February 23, 2017
1989 Profile: Andy Hawkins
"Signed to a three-year, $3.6 million deal as a free agent last winter, this former Padre is expected to anchor the Yankee rotation. Hawkins bounced back from a dreadful 3-10 mark in 1987 to post double figures in victories for the third time in his career last season. He showed no signs of the shoulder problems that ruined 1987.
Born in Waco, Texas, the Padres made him the fifth player taken overall in the June 1978 draft. Hawkins came into his own during the 1984 postseason, when he posted a 0.57 ERA, then reeled off a club record 11 consecutive wins at the start of 1985. Not overpowering despite his size, he has learned to pitch more aggressively since the days former manager Dick Williams labeled him 'a pussycat.'"
-Tom Pedulla, The Complete Handbook of Baseball, 1989 Edition
"Talk about pressure! Andy Hawkins left the safe confines of San Diego, where he pitched six-plus carefree years to join the pitching staff of the New York Yankees in 1989. Much will be expected of this 29-year-old right-hander, who won 18 games for the Padres in 1985 and 14 last year. Hawkins is not only in the starting rotation, he's already slated as the No. 1 starter.
An ex-teammate of former Yankee Ed Whitson, who fled to the Padres, Hawkins knows the pressure involved with the position and is ready for the challenge. 'Being the anchor of the staff is something I've always looked forward to, and it's a great opportunity to get that chance in New York,' Hawkins added.
Andy showed what he can do in the clutch by posting a 0.75 ERA for the Padres during the 1984 World Series, and now he wants to continue that success with the Yankees this October."
-The New York Yankees Official 1989 Yearbook
Andy had the single best day of his career on April 24 at San Diego, tossing a 1-hitter against Houston and winning 3-0, with the only hit being a single by Bill Doran to lead off the seventh inning. His other shutout came on May 31 at Philadelphia, tossing a 4-hitter in the Padres' 8-0 win.
After starting the season with a loss, Andy posted wins in each of his next three decisions, covering four starts from April 12-29 (including his 1-hitter), going 3-0 with a 3.25 ERA (10 ER, 27.2 IP). He had another three-game winning streak, covering three starts from June 20-July 1, going 3-0 with a 0.76 ERA (2 ER, 23.2 IP) in that span. The third game of that stretch, July 1 against St. Louis, was a 3-hit complete game, with Hawkins winning 5-1. At the All-Star break, he was 8-7 with a 3.12 ERA (41 ER, 118.1 IP) in 18 starts.
In his first start after the break, on July 14 at St. Louis, Hawkins pitched his fourth complete game, winning 3-1. He lost three of his next four decisions, covering six starts from July 19-August 15, going 1-3 with a 4.60 ERA (23 ER, 45 IP), but won his next four starts, August 21-September 7, his longest winning streak of the year, going 4-0 with a 1.91 ERA (6 ER, 28.1 IP).
He finished the season by pitching ten shutout innings on September 28 against Los Angeles, allowing just four hits, but receiving a no-decision in the Padres' 16-inning, 2-1 win as Orel Hershiser also pitched ten scoreless innings to set the major league record of 59 consecutive scoreless innings pitched.
Hawkins pitched six innings or more in 26 of his 33 starts and pitched seven innings in 16 of those starts. He had a high of five walks on August 31 at New York and a high of six strikeouts three times (April 17 against San Francisco, May 15 against Montreal, September 28 against Los Angeles). Overall in his six-plus years with the Padres, he was 60-58 with a 3.84 ERA.
The 1984 season saw Andy split his time between the starting rotation and the bullpen, with 22 of his 36 outings coming as a starter, including his first 14. He was a sub-.500 pitcher (8-9) during the regular season, but in the postseason allowed only one earned run and four hits in 15.2 innings pitched for a 0.57 ERA, making three appearances in both the NLCS and the World Series.
Andy held the Cubs hitless for 3.2 innings of relief work, then followed that with 12 innings of four-hit ball against Detroit. He was the winning pitcher in San Diego's only World Series triumph, going 5.1 innings and allowing only one hit in Game 2 on October 10 in San Diego.
He led the Padres with a career-best 18 wins in 1985, including a season-opening 11-0 mark. Hawkins became the first National League pitcher to open a season with that many wins since Roy Face was 17-0 in 1959, and the first pitcher in the majors to start with so many wins since Ron Guidry was 13-0 to begin 1978. He shattered the Padres record for consecutive wins by a starter (Tim Lollar's 5-0 mark in 1982) and also surpassed Butch Metzger's 10-0 ledger as a reliever at the outset of 1976. Of Hawkins' 11 wins, 10 came in as many starts to open the campaign.
Hawkins was named National League Pitcher of the Month for May, going 6-0 with a 2.72 ERA. He had his streak broken at Dodger Stadium on June 19 in a 5-1 loss. It marked one of only two road losses all season, as Hawkins won eight of ten away from home.
He missed two starts at mid-season due to a circulatory problem in his index finger. Both of his shutouts came on the road in August, 6-0 at Atlanta and 3-0 at Montreal.
The 18 victories were the most by a San Diego pitcher since Gaylord Perry won 21 in 1978. He surpassed his three-year big league total of 15 wins entering the '85 season.
His best stretch of 1986 came from June 3-16 when he was 2-0 in four outings (5 ER, 22.2 IP). After compiling a 9-8 record through August 19, Andy went nine consecutive outings (eight starts) without a decision. Finally, on the last day of the season, he won at Cincinnati to finish at 10-8.
Andy never won or lost more than two games in a row in '86. He led the staff in starts (35), innings (209.1) and strikeouts (117).
In 1987 he was plagued with an injured shoulder throughout most of the season, missing nearly two months of action. Hawkins started the year by dropping five straight decisions before finally beating the Phillies 6-5 on May 17 in Philadelphia. He won his next start on May 22 against Montreal, but would win only one other game all season, on June 13 at San Francisco; only once did he go beyond six innings after May 22. Late in June he was forced to miss a couple days between starts due to some tenderness in his shoulder, then made only three starts in July.
Hawkins was placed on the 15-day disabled list on July 29 after being diagnosed with tendinitis in his right shoulder. He was activated on September 1 but did not see any action until a two-inning relief stint on September 15. He managed only five appearances (one start) after returning to the active roster.
Signed as a first round choice in the June 1978 draft, Hawkins was the fifth player taken overall in the draft, behind Bob Horner, Lloyd Moseby, Hubie Brooks and Mike Morgan. He compiled a record of 8-3 with a 2.12 ERA in 14 starts (along with five complete games) in his first pro season, at Walla Walla in the Northwest League.
In 1979 Hawkins had the only sub-.500 minor league season of his career, going 8-13 with a 5.60 ERA with Reno. He made 27 starts, with seven complete games. 1980 was his second straight year in Reno and he improved his California League numbers from the '79 season. Used exclusively as a starter, he was 13-10 with a 4.26 ERA with 10 complete games in 26 starts.
Andy pitched for Amarillo (AA) in 1981 and led the Texas League in starts (27) and complete games (14). Already established as a durable pitcher, the complete game total gave him 36 complete games in only four pro seasons. Andy started 1982 in AAA with Hawaii. He was 9-7 with a 2.17 ERA while starting for the Islanders, with 10 complete games and a Pacific Coast League leading six shutouts in 16 starts.
He was recalled by the Padres on July 15 and made his major league debut two days later against Montreal. He got his first big league win on July 23 in his next outing, a 7-hit 11-4 win over the Mets in San Diego.
Andy opened the 1983 season with AAA Las Vegas but was recalled by San Diego less than a month later. On May 20 he tossed his first career shutout, besting the Phillies and Steve Carlton 5-0 with a 5-hitter. Andy was sent back to the Stars in late June where he remained until late August.
Upon his return to San Diego, he tossed a 4-hitter in an 8-2 win over the Reds. He closed out the season with a 4-1 triumph over Los Angeles in which he set a career high with ten strikeouts.
Andy has spent a couple seasons as co-chairman of the San Diego March of Dimes Walk America. He enjoys hunting, fishing and watching the Dallas Cowboys."
-1989 New York Yankees Information Guide
Born in Waco, Texas, the Padres made him the fifth player taken overall in the June 1978 draft. Hawkins came into his own during the 1984 postseason, when he posted a 0.57 ERA, then reeled off a club record 11 consecutive wins at the start of 1985. Not overpowering despite his size, he has learned to pitch more aggressively since the days former manager Dick Williams labeled him 'a pussycat.'"
-Tom Pedulla, The Complete Handbook of Baseball, 1989 Edition
"Talk about pressure! Andy Hawkins left the safe confines of San Diego, where he pitched six-plus carefree years to join the pitching staff of the New York Yankees in 1989. Much will be expected of this 29-year-old right-hander, who won 18 games for the Padres in 1985 and 14 last year. Hawkins is not only in the starting rotation, he's already slated as the No. 1 starter.
An ex-teammate of former Yankee Ed Whitson, who fled to the Padres, Hawkins knows the pressure involved with the position and is ready for the challenge. 'Being the anchor of the staff is something I've always looked forward to, and it's a great opportunity to get that chance in New York,' Hawkins added.
Andy showed what he can do in the clutch by posting a 0.75 ERA for the Padres during the 1984 World Series, and now he wants to continue that success with the Yankees this October."
-The New York Yankees Official 1989 Yearbook
"Hawkins was signed by the Yankees as a free agent to a three-year contract on December 8, 1988 after spending his previous six-plus seasons in the major leagues as a member of the San Diego Padres.
In 1988, Hawkins posted a record of 14-11 with a 3.35 ERA in 33 games (all starts). He had four complete games (two shutouts) and had 76 walks and 91 strikeouts [and a 1.25 WHIP] in 217.2 innings pitched. His 14 wins tied for the second highest total on the Padres and was the second highest single-season total of his career, and his 217.2 IP was the second highest figure on the team.Andy had the single best day of his career on April 24 at San Diego, tossing a 1-hitter against Houston and winning 3-0, with the only hit being a single by Bill Doran to lead off the seventh inning. His other shutout came on May 31 at Philadelphia, tossing a 4-hitter in the Padres' 8-0 win.
After starting the season with a loss, Andy posted wins in each of his next three decisions, covering four starts from April 12-29 (including his 1-hitter), going 3-0 with a 3.25 ERA (10 ER, 27.2 IP). He had another three-game winning streak, covering three starts from June 20-July 1, going 3-0 with a 0.76 ERA (2 ER, 23.2 IP) in that span. The third game of that stretch, July 1 against St. Louis, was a 3-hit complete game, with Hawkins winning 5-1. At the All-Star break, he was 8-7 with a 3.12 ERA (41 ER, 118.1 IP) in 18 starts.
In his first start after the break, on July 14 at St. Louis, Hawkins pitched his fourth complete game, winning 3-1. He lost three of his next four decisions, covering six starts from July 19-August 15, going 1-3 with a 4.60 ERA (23 ER, 45 IP), but won his next four starts, August 21-September 7, his longest winning streak of the year, going 4-0 with a 1.91 ERA (6 ER, 28.1 IP).
He finished the season by pitching ten shutout innings on September 28 against Los Angeles, allowing just four hits, but receiving a no-decision in the Padres' 16-inning, 2-1 win as Orel Hershiser also pitched ten scoreless innings to set the major league record of 59 consecutive scoreless innings pitched.
Hawkins pitched six innings or more in 26 of his 33 starts and pitched seven innings in 16 of those starts. He had a high of five walks on August 31 at New York and a high of six strikeouts three times (April 17 against San Francisco, May 15 against Montreal, September 28 against Los Angeles). Overall in his six-plus years with the Padres, he was 60-58 with a 3.84 ERA.
The 1984 season saw Andy split his time between the starting rotation and the bullpen, with 22 of his 36 outings coming as a starter, including his first 14. He was a sub-.500 pitcher (8-9) during the regular season, but in the postseason allowed only one earned run and four hits in 15.2 innings pitched for a 0.57 ERA, making three appearances in both the NLCS and the World Series.
Andy held the Cubs hitless for 3.2 innings of relief work, then followed that with 12 innings of four-hit ball against Detroit. He was the winning pitcher in San Diego's only World Series triumph, going 5.1 innings and allowing only one hit in Game 2 on October 10 in San Diego.
He led the Padres with a career-best 18 wins in 1985, including a season-opening 11-0 mark. Hawkins became the first National League pitcher to open a season with that many wins since Roy Face was 17-0 in 1959, and the first pitcher in the majors to start with so many wins since Ron Guidry was 13-0 to begin 1978. He shattered the Padres record for consecutive wins by a starter (Tim Lollar's 5-0 mark in 1982) and also surpassed Butch Metzger's 10-0 ledger as a reliever at the outset of 1976. Of Hawkins' 11 wins, 10 came in as many starts to open the campaign.
Hawkins was named National League Pitcher of the Month for May, going 6-0 with a 2.72 ERA. He had his streak broken at Dodger Stadium on June 19 in a 5-1 loss. It marked one of only two road losses all season, as Hawkins won eight of ten away from home.
He missed two starts at mid-season due to a circulatory problem in his index finger. Both of his shutouts came on the road in August, 6-0 at Atlanta and 3-0 at Montreal.
The 18 victories were the most by a San Diego pitcher since Gaylord Perry won 21 in 1978. He surpassed his three-year big league total of 15 wins entering the '85 season.
His best stretch of 1986 came from June 3-16 when he was 2-0 in four outings (5 ER, 22.2 IP). After compiling a 9-8 record through August 19, Andy went nine consecutive outings (eight starts) without a decision. Finally, on the last day of the season, he won at Cincinnati to finish at 10-8.
Andy never won or lost more than two games in a row in '86. He led the staff in starts (35), innings (209.1) and strikeouts (117).
In 1987 he was plagued with an injured shoulder throughout most of the season, missing nearly two months of action. Hawkins started the year by dropping five straight decisions before finally beating the Phillies 6-5 on May 17 in Philadelphia. He won his next start on May 22 against Montreal, but would win only one other game all season, on June 13 at San Francisco; only once did he go beyond six innings after May 22. Late in June he was forced to miss a couple days between starts due to some tenderness in his shoulder, then made only three starts in July.
Hawkins was placed on the 15-day disabled list on July 29 after being diagnosed with tendinitis in his right shoulder. He was activated on September 1 but did not see any action until a two-inning relief stint on September 15. He managed only five appearances (one start) after returning to the active roster.
Signed as a first round choice in the June 1978 draft, Hawkins was the fifth player taken overall in the draft, behind Bob Horner, Lloyd Moseby, Hubie Brooks and Mike Morgan. He compiled a record of 8-3 with a 2.12 ERA in 14 starts (along with five complete games) in his first pro season, at Walla Walla in the Northwest League.
In 1979 Hawkins had the only sub-.500 minor league season of his career, going 8-13 with a 5.60 ERA with Reno. He made 27 starts, with seven complete games. 1980 was his second straight year in Reno and he improved his California League numbers from the '79 season. Used exclusively as a starter, he was 13-10 with a 4.26 ERA with 10 complete games in 26 starts.
Andy pitched for Amarillo (AA) in 1981 and led the Texas League in starts (27) and complete games (14). Already established as a durable pitcher, the complete game total gave him 36 complete games in only four pro seasons. Andy started 1982 in AAA with Hawaii. He was 9-7 with a 2.17 ERA while starting for the Islanders, with 10 complete games and a Pacific Coast League leading six shutouts in 16 starts.
He was recalled by the Padres on July 15 and made his major league debut two days later against Montreal. He got his first big league win on July 23 in his next outing, a 7-hit 11-4 win over the Mets in San Diego.
Andy opened the 1983 season with AAA Las Vegas but was recalled by San Diego less than a month later. On May 20 he tossed his first career shutout, besting the Phillies and Steve Carlton 5-0 with a 5-hitter. Andy was sent back to the Stars in late June where he remained until late August.
Upon his return to San Diego, he tossed a 4-hitter in an 8-2 win over the Reds. He closed out the season with a 4-1 triumph over Los Angeles in which he set a career high with ten strikeouts.
Andy has spent a couple seasons as co-chairman of the San Diego March of Dimes Walk America. He enjoys hunting, fishing and watching the Dallas Cowboys."
-1989 New York Yankees Information Guide
Wednesday, February 15, 2017
1989 Profile: Rickey Henderson
"While his attitude and work habits are frequently questioned, his results cannot be. Henderson won the American League stolen base crown for the eighth time in nine major league seasons with 93, breaking his own club mark by six.
He ranks fourth on the all-time stolen base list with 794 and stands as the Yankees' all-time leader with 301 steals. This left fielder scored 100-plus runs for the seventh time in nine seasons.
Henderson led off the July 21 game against Kansas City with a home run, tying Bobby Bonds major league mark of 35 homers leading off games. He reached base safely leading off a game 15 consecutive times from July 18 to August 3.
Born in Chicago, Henderson was acquired from Oakland with Bert Bradley for Jay Howell, Jose Rijo, Eric Plunk, Tim Birtsas and Stan Javier following the 1984 season. He wears No. 24 because he idolizes Willie Mays. Oakland's fourth round pick in the June 1976 draft, Henderson owns the major league record for steals in a season with 130 in 1982."
-Tom Pedulla, The Complete Handbook of Baseball, 1989 Edition
"Though Rickey Henderson had a power outage in 1988, he was still Mr. Excitement. Look for him to continue to be the spark in 1989.
While his power statistics- homers and RBIs- were down from his first three years in New York, he continued to do what he does best, and that's run. Last year the Man of Steal became the Yankees' all-time base stealer, and set a new team single-season high with 93. Only a string of nagging injuries late in the year kept his numbers from being even higher. And the best news of all is that at age 30, Henderson says he's still getting better. This a dangerous thought for opponents, who know only too well that as Rickey goes so go the Yankees.
Not wanting to be known as just a base stealer, Rickey has established himself as the premier leadoff man in the game, a weapon who can beat you in so many ways. Pitch him close he'll take you deep, put him on base we all know what he can do.
'I want to make it to the World Series,' says Henderson, 'and this is the team I want to do it with.' One-man act or a versatile weapon, Rickey Henderson is the Yankee catalyst."
-The New York Yankees Official 1989 Yearbook
"Rickey opened the 1988 season hitting safely in his first 10 games, going 19-for-42 (.452) with six doubles, three home runs and 11 RBIs. He also hit safely in 17 of his first 18 games, April 5-24, going 31-for-75 (.413), but went 2-for-20 to close out the month at .362 with three home runs and 14 RBIs. From April 29 through May 10 Rickey swiped at least one base in nine of ten games, a total of 17 stolen bases.
He began May by hitting safely in eight of that month's first nine games, going 13-for-35 (.371) to pull his overall batting average back up to .364 on May 11, but that was the last date his BA was .360 or better. His only home run in May came on May 3 at Chicago. Rickey was unable to play between May 14 and May 20 due to a sore ring finger and went 11 games without a steal, May 11-27. He went 13-for-54 (.241) in his last 13 games in May, lowering his overall batting average to .317 with four home runs and 22 RBIs through May 31.
Henderson began June well, going 9-for-25 (.360) in his first eight games, hitting safely in seven, and raising his season average to .322, but was forced from the game of June 8 in the fourth inning with a sprained right ankle and missed the next five games with that injury. He appeared in just six of New York's remaining 15 games that month, going 4-for-17 and lowering his average to .316 by June 30. He left the game of June 18 with a sore right leg, left the game of June 22 with a bruised toe on his left foot and suffered a sore left ankle on June 27 in the sixth inning sliding home.
He began July slowly, going 6-for-24 (.250) in his first six games with his overall average dropping to .309 through July 8. From July 9 through July 28, however, Rickey hit safely in 15 of 16 games, going 24-for-65 (.369) with 16 runs, six doubles and a home run, pulling his overall batting average back up to .322. He finished July batting .320 with six home runs and 33 RBIs.
The first half of August saw Rickey on fire, going 21-for-49 (.429), hitting safely in nine of his first 12 games and having more than one hit in eight of those nine games. That streak pushed his average up to .334 on August 17, his highest point through the remainder of '88, but from August 18-31 Rickey went 9-for-60 (.150), lowering his batting average through August to .309; moreover, from August 25-September 6 he went 3-for-47, dropping his season average to .298- under .300 for the first time all year.
On August 24 against Oakland, Henderson's single with two out in the bottom of the ninth inning won the game. His average reached a season low of .294 on September 15, but from September 16 through the end of the year, however, he went 24-for-61 (.393) with seven doubles, bringing his final season batting average back over .300 to .305.
The Yankees went 10-for-11 in the 21 games Henderson missed in 1988. He went 4-for-13 (.308) in three games as a designated hitter, with a run and two RBIs, and walked in his only pinch-hitting appearance, on August 21 against Seattle.
Rickey went 37-for-120 (.308) leading off games in 1988. In the 59 games he reached base safely in the first inning, the Yankees went 40-19 (.679 winning percentage). His first inning totals were 38-for-123 (.309) with 41 runs scored (New York batted around in the first inning three times). From July 18 through August 3 Rickey reached safely leading off in 15 straight games, scoring a run in 11 of those 15 games.
He now has 35 career leadoff home runs, tied with Bobby Bonds for the major league record. His 35th came on July 21 at Kansas City off Mark Gubicza. His first leadoff homer in 1987, on April 14 off Cleveland's Phil Niekro in New York, broke the American League record of 28 set by Eddie Yost. The nine leadoff home runs Henderson hit in 1986 are also an American League record.
Henderson scored 100+ runs for the seventh time in his career and made his seventh straight and eighth overall All-Star appearance. His second inning single on June 5 at Baltimore was his 500th hit as a Yankee; his fifth inning run scored on July 17 against Chicago was the 1,000th of his career; and his third inning RBI on September 13 at Cleveland was the 500th of his career.
For the 1988 season his .305 batting average was 13th in the AL, 15th in the majors; his 118 runs scored were third in the AL and third in the majors; his 82 walks were seventh in the AL, 13th in the majors; and his .394 on-base percentage was fifth in the AL, sixth in the majors.
Rickey's .312 road batting average was ninth in the American League. On April 11 at Toronto he went 5-for-5 with four runs scored- the five hits matched his career high for one game. He was one of only nine AL players to have five hits in one game in 1988.
With 794 career stolen bases Henderson is the leader among active players and ranks fourth on the all-time list (Lou Brock, 938; Billy Hamilton, 937; Ty Cobb, 892- only Brock and Cobb played in he modern era). He led the majors with 93 steals in 1988, the eighth time in nine seasons since 1980 that he led the AL. His 93 is the fifth highest single season total in American League history and 13th highest in major league history (after 1900).
Rickey also set a new Yankee single season stolen base record, breaking his own record of 87 set in 1986. His record breaking 88th stolen base came on September 25 against Boston. His stolen base in the 11th inning on June 4 at Baltimore was his 249th as a Yankee, breaking the former Yankee career record set by Hal Chase from 1905-13.
In 1988 he was successful on 93 of 106 stolen base attempts (88%). Of his 13 times caught stealing, only six were by catchers: Ernie Whitt, Tim Laudner, Mike MacFarlane (twice), Bob Boone and Rich Gedman. Rickey was successful on 44 of his last 46 stolen base attempts (96%), and from August 11-September 25 was successful on 28 straight attempts. He was successful on 29 of his 31 attempts to steal third base (94%) and was successful on his last 26 attempts to steal third.
He had ten games of at least three stolen bases, including four stolen bases (tied for the 1988 AL high for one game) three times: April 11 at Toronto, May 7 at Texas and August 11 against Toronto. Rickey has 14 career games of four stolen bases (five times with the Yankees), his career high for one game. With his four steals on August 11 and three on August 12 at Minnesota, he tied the AL record for most steals in consecutive games.
He currently has 187 times caught stealing for his career, and in 1988 improved his career stolen base rate from 80% to 81% (794-for-981). He has stolen home four times, all as a member of the Oakland A's: April 20, 1980 against California; July 19, 1980 against Cleveland; June 8, 1982 at Chicago; and July 26, 1982 at California.
Rickey signed a five-year contract with the Yankees on December 8, 1984. The contract extends through the 1989 season.
Rickey suffered through an injury-plagued 1987 season, appearing in just 95 games- his fewest since playing 89 in his rookie season on 1979.
He got off to a great start, going 32-for-79 (.405) with 25 runs, six homers and 12 RBIs from April 6 through May 3, hitting safely in 18 of 21 games. Rickey hit six homers from April 14 through April 26 (29 at-bats, nine games) and five homers from April 22 through April 26 (14 at-bats, five games), and had his only two-homer game of the season on April 24 at Cleveland. While unable to maintain a .400 clip, he began a season long 11-game hitting streak on May 6, lasting through May 18, going 15-for-45 (.333) with 16 runs. From that point though June 4, he went for 8-for-38 (.211), his overall average falling from .356 to .324.
He suffered his first injury of the year on June 4 at Milwaukee, leaving the game with a pulled right hamstring. Rickey was hitting .324 with 10 home runs and 18 RBIs in 45 games and had been successful in 23 of 26 stolen base attempts. The hamstring pull was severe enough to land him on the 15-day disabled list, where he remained from June 5 until June 29, missing 22 games (with the Yankees going 13-9). Rickey was again placed on the 15-day DL on August 1 (retroactive to July 26) with an injured right hamstring, hitting .250 (22-for-88) in 22 games between disabled list stints, his average falling to .298.
Rickey was reinstated from the DL a second time on September 1, having missed 33 games (the Yankees going 16-17). Overall in his two DL stays, New York went 29-26 in the 55 games he missed. Following his second return he went 25-for-99 (.253) with six home runs, 12 RBIs and 15 stolen bases in his final 27 games.
Rickey played in 50 games total after suffering his first hamstring injury on June 4, going 47-for-188 (.250) with 35 runs, seven doubles, a triple, seven homers, 19 RBIs and and 18 stolen bases. The Yankees, at the point of the first injury, were in first place at 33-20, a .623 winning percentage, and went 56-53, a .514 winning percentage, through the remainder of '87, finishing fourth in the AL East.
He appeared as a designated hitter in 24 games, going 25-for-98 (.255) with 18 runs, five homers and nine RBIs, and was 0-for-2 as a pinch hitter. Of his 17 home runs, 13 were solo and four were two-run shots.
He was successful in 41 of 49 stolen base attempts (84%) in 1987 and was 9-for-9 stealing third, but had his string of leading the AL in stolen bases snapped at seven straight years by Seattle's Harold Reynolds. Henderson's AL record of consecutive seasons with 50+ stolen bases ended at seven years.
Rickey was successful in his first 23 stolen base attempts of '87; coupled with his final eight attempts of '86 he had 31 consecutive attempts without being caught, just one shy of the AL record of 32 (previously set by Kansas City's Willie Wilson in 1980 and Seattle's Julio Cruz in 1980-81). The string was broken on May 18 at Oakland by pitcher Curt Young. Rickey was caught stealing six times by catchers in '87: Boston's John Marzano (twice); Oakland's Terry Steinbach; Seattle's Scott Bradley; Toronto's Charlie Moore; and Milwaukee's B.J. Surhoff.
He did not steal a base for 18 straight games, May 18 through July 4, the longest such stretch of his career; his previous long was 11 games, April 8-22, 1987; his longest before '87 was 10 straight games from September 4-24, 1982.
Henderson had three games of at least three stolen bases, including four stolen bases on May 3 at Minnesota, tying the Yankee single game record and matching his personal single game high. He recorded his 700th stolen base on September 29 against Boston, becoming the youngest player (28) to reach that plateau (Billy Hamilton was the youngest to reach 700 prior to Henderson- he was 30 in 1896).
His overall offensive production in 1986 was down slightly from his first season as a Yankee, yet he set personal career highs with 28 home runs, 31 doubles, 608 at-bats and 74 RBIs. His total of 130 runs led the majors for the second consecutive year, the third time in his career. He was the first player to lead the American League in runs scored in consecutive seasons since Mickey Mantle in 1960-61 (Mantle and Roger Maris tied with 132 runs in 1961). He was the first player to lead the majors in runs scored in consecutive seasons since Pete Rose from 1974-76. His 89 walks placed seventh in the AL, while he tied for seventh with 64 extra-base hits. He led Yankee outfielders with a .986 fielding percentage, as well as in games, 146; putouts, 426; errors, six; and total chances, 436.
Off to a slow start, Rickey had just one hit (1-for-19 in his first six games), then hit in 10 straight from April 15-25, going 16-for-45 (.356), raising his overall average to .266. He ended April hitting .263. Rickey scored a team high four runs against Texas on May 3 and swiped a club high three bases on May 6 at Chicago, also matching the league high for '86. He hit in 11 straight, May 16-28, going 15-for-41 (.366) with three home runs and seven RBIs (all homers lead off a game for the Yankees).
Rickey failed to hit safely in just six of 28 games played in June, going 38-for-116 (.328), raising his overall average from .265 to .288. On June 11 at Detroit he started the first game of his career in which he did not bat leadoff (he batted third). He recorded four RBIs on June 27 against Toronto, reaching his career high for the fifth time. His batting average peaked at .289 on June 28.
He went 20-for-86 (.233) in July, lowering his overall average to .276. He was ejected from a game on July 30 at Milwaukee in the eighth inning for arguing a called third strike. Rickey failed to hit in 16 of 28 games in August, going 22-for-110 (.200), lowering his overall average to .260.
On August 11 Rickey recorded his 20th home run, achieving 20+ homers and 50+ stolen bases for a second straight year. On August 28, he tied the AL record he set in 1985 by hitting his seventh leadoff home run, and on August 29 he homered off Seattle's Mark Langston for his third career two-homer game- all with the Yankees. Rickey broke his personal single season home run mark hitting his 25th on September 11 at Toronto off John Cerutti, and broke his own AL leadoff homer record hitting his eighth on September 20 at Detroit off Frank Tanana- Rickey finished with nine (the major league record is 11, set by Bobby Bonds in 1973). He went 28-for-100 (.280) in September and October, raising his overall batting average to .263.
He appeared as a designated hitter in five games, going 2-for-18 (.111), and was 0-for-3 as a pinch hitter. 40 of the 113 runs driven in by Don Mattingly were scored by Rickey Henderson.
He led the American League in stolen bases for the seventh consecutive season- only Luis Aparicio led the AL more years (nine), both total and consecutively (1956-64). Rickey broke his own AL record for most consecutive years with 50+ stolen bases, with seven. He was 87-for-105 in stolen base attempts in '86 and was successful in 14 of his 18 attempts stealing third.
Henderson swiped his 600th career base on May 18 against Seattle, becoming the youngest of the 15 players to reach that plateau. He set a new Yankees single season stolen base record with 87, breaking the club mark of 80 he set in 1985; he stole his 81st base on September 15 against Baltimore in New York.
He began the 1985 season on the 15-day disabled list with a sprained left ankle suffered in an exhibition game against Boston on March 17; he was activated on April 22, missing 10 games. His .314 batting average was fourth in the AL, and he led the AL with 146 runs scored - the most runs by a Yankee since Joe DiMaggio scored 151 in 1937. His 99 walks were fourth in the AL and most by a Yankee since Willie Randolph led the league with 119 in 1980, and his .419 on-base percentage, also fourth in the AL, was a career high. His .516 slugging percentage, seventh in the AL, was also a career high. Rickey was the first player in AL history to hit 20+ homers and steal 50+ bases in the same season. He scored at least one run in 101 of the 143 games he played.
Rickey had his first career five-hit game on June 17 at Baltimore (he matched the league high), and his first career two-homer games on June 21 at Detroit and on July 30 at Cleveland. He scored four runs in a game for the second and third times in his career on July 10 against Kansas City and September 25 against Detroit (also equaling the league high). He had two 11-game hitting streaks: April 29-May 12, going 18-for-44 (.409), and August 5-21, going 17-for-46 (.370). He also had a 10-game hit streak from September 18-29, going 14-for-38 (.368).
He was American League Player of the Month for June: in 27 games he went 47-for-113 (.416 BA) with 31 runs, four doubles, two triples, six homers, 17 RBIs and 22 stolen bases- he failed to get a hit in just four of the 27 games. His season batting average peaked at .361 on July 10. He was hitting .357 at the All-Star break (July 13) with 77 runs, 11 homers, 37 RBIs and 41 stolen bases. After the All-Star break, Rickey hit .270 with 69 runs, 13 homers, 35 RBIs and 39 stolen bases.
Rickey's 80 stolen bases in '85 led the AL for the sixth straight season. He broke Fritz Maisel's Yankee record of 74 stolen bases set in 1914, stealing his 75th base on September 25 against Detroit. He stole his 500th career base on May 10 at Kansas City, becoming the youngest player to reach that goal. Rickey moved from 31st place to 19th place on the all-time stolen base list.
He stole four bases on June 26 against Baltimore. Henderson was caught stealing only three times by catchers in 1985 (Bob Boone, Carlton Fisk and Rich Gedman) out of a total of 10 times caught stealing that season. He was also successful on 14 of 16 attempts stealing third base. Henderson set the AL record with his sixth consecutive seasons with 50+ stolen bases.
Henderson reported to Boise after the 1976 June draft, hitting .336 with 29 steals in 36 attempts. At Modesto in 1977, he led the California League with a then record 95 steals, was third with a .345 batting average and 104 walks and led the league's outfielders in total chances (313). Rickey was named to the league's All-Star team and was Modesto's MVP. He became the fourth player in professional baseball to steal seven bases in one game on May 26 at Fresno.
In 1978 with Jersey City he led the Eastern League with 81 steals, led league outfielders in double plays (4) and assists (15), and was named to the Eastern League All-Star team. In 1979, Rickey stole 44 bases in only 71 Pacific Coast League games with Ogden, finishing fourth. He immediately stepped into Oakland's starting lineup when called up on June 23 and led the A's with 33 steals.
Rickey broke Ty Cobb's American League mark of 96 stolen bases in 1980 (100 steals) and became the first AL player and third big leaguer to steal 100 bases in a season. He was second in the league with 117 walks, third in on-base percentage (.422) and fourth in runs scored (111).
In 1981 he was named to the Sporting News All-Star team and won his first Gold Glove. He led the AL in hits (135), runs (89) and steals (56), and finished third in on-base percentage (.411) and fourth in the AL batting race (.319). He hit .364 against the Yankees in the League Championship Series.
In 1982 Henderson broke Lou Brock's remarkable record of 118 stolen bases on August 27 at Milwaukee- and went on to steal a season total of 130 bases. He also led the AL in walks (116), walking five times against the Angels on April 8 (a career high), was third in on-base percentage (.399).
He went over the 100 steal mark (108) for the third time in his career in 1983- Vince Coleman is the only player ever to do it more than once. He stole 66 bases in 77 attempts after the All-Star break, winning his fourth consecutive AL title. Rickey also hit .327 after the break to wind up at .292. His .415 on-base percentage was second in the AL to Wade Boggs and his 105 runs ranked fourth. On July 3-4 at Texas, he tied the AL mark by stealing seven bases in two straight games, and on August 21 at Milwaukee became the youngest player to steal 400 career bases. In 1984, his 66 stolen bases led the American League for the fifth straight year; he was second in the AL with 113 runs and third with a .399 on-base percentage.
Henderson graduated form Oakland's Technical High School in 1976. He played baseball, basketball and football and was All-Oakland Athletic League for three years in baseball. As a senior he hit .465 and stole 30 bases; that year he played for the North team in California's annual high school all-star game at Anaheim Stadium. In football, Rickey rushed for 1,100 yards in his senior year and received a reported two dozen college scholarship offers to play football.
His hobbies include swimming and fishing and his favorite spectator sports are baseball and football. His favorite team growing up was the Oakland A's and his favorite players were Willie Mays and Reggie Jackson, and he wears 24 because of Mays. Rickey lists as his greatest influences as 'my mother and Tom Trebelhorn,' current Milwaukee Brewers manager who was Rickey's manager in his first two years of pro ball.
Rickey's favorite entertainer is Luther Vandross."
-1989 New York Yankees Information Guide
Established modern major league record for most stolen bases, season, 130 (1982).
Tied major league record for most home runs as a leadoff batter, lifetime, 35; holds American League record.
Established American League record for most home runs as a leadoff batter, season, 9 (1986).
Established American League record for most consecutive seasons, 50 or more stolen bases, 7 (1980-86).
First American League player with 20 or more home runs and 50 or more stolen bases, season (1985, 1986).
Established major league record for most times caught stealing, season, 42 (1982).
Tied American League record for most stolen bases, two consecutive games, 7 (July 3-4, 1983; August 11-12, 1988).
Led American League outfielders with 327 putouts and 341 total chances (1981).
Won Rawlings American League Gold Glove Award as outfielder (1981).
Won The Sporting News Silver Bat Award as outfielder (1981, 1985).
Named to Seagram's American League All-Star team (1981, 1985).
Named to The Sporting News American League All-Star team (1985).
Named to Associated Press All-Star team (1985).
Named to American League All-Star team (1980, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988).
Led Eastern League outfielders with four double plays and tied for league lead with 15 assists (1978).
Led California League outfielders with 20 errors (1977).
Led Northwest League outfielders with 12 errors (1976).
Led or tied for league lead in caught stealing: 26 (1980), 22 (1981), 42 (1982), 19 (1983), 18 (1986).
Led majors in 1988 with 93 stolen bases.
794 career stolen bases is most among active players.
-1989 New York Yankees Information Guide
He ranks fourth on the all-time stolen base list with 794 and stands as the Yankees' all-time leader with 301 steals. This left fielder scored 100-plus runs for the seventh time in nine seasons.
Henderson led off the July 21 game against Kansas City with a home run, tying Bobby Bonds major league mark of 35 homers leading off games. He reached base safely leading off a game 15 consecutive times from July 18 to August 3.
Born in Chicago, Henderson was acquired from Oakland with Bert Bradley for Jay Howell, Jose Rijo, Eric Plunk, Tim Birtsas and Stan Javier following the 1984 season. He wears No. 24 because he idolizes Willie Mays. Oakland's fourth round pick in the June 1976 draft, Henderson owns the major league record for steals in a season with 130 in 1982."
-Tom Pedulla, The Complete Handbook of Baseball, 1989 Edition
"Though Rickey Henderson had a power outage in 1988, he was still Mr. Excitement. Look for him to continue to be the spark in 1989.
While his power statistics- homers and RBIs- were down from his first three years in New York, he continued to do what he does best, and that's run. Last year the Man of Steal became the Yankees' all-time base stealer, and set a new team single-season high with 93. Only a string of nagging injuries late in the year kept his numbers from being even higher. And the best news of all is that at age 30, Henderson says he's still getting better. This a dangerous thought for opponents, who know only too well that as Rickey goes so go the Yankees.
Not wanting to be known as just a base stealer, Rickey has established himself as the premier leadoff man in the game, a weapon who can beat you in so many ways. Pitch him close he'll take you deep, put him on base we all know what he can do.
'I want to make it to the World Series,' says Henderson, 'and this is the team I want to do it with.' One-man act or a versatile weapon, Rickey Henderson is the Yankee catalyst."
-The New York Yankees Official 1989 Yearbook
"Rickey opened the 1988 season hitting safely in his first 10 games, going 19-for-42 (.452) with six doubles, three home runs and 11 RBIs. He also hit safely in 17 of his first 18 games, April 5-24, going 31-for-75 (.413), but went 2-for-20 to close out the month at .362 with three home runs and 14 RBIs. From April 29 through May 10 Rickey swiped at least one base in nine of ten games, a total of 17 stolen bases.
He began May by hitting safely in eight of that month's first nine games, going 13-for-35 (.371) to pull his overall batting average back up to .364 on May 11, but that was the last date his BA was .360 or better. His only home run in May came on May 3 at Chicago. Rickey was unable to play between May 14 and May 20 due to a sore ring finger and went 11 games without a steal, May 11-27. He went 13-for-54 (.241) in his last 13 games in May, lowering his overall batting average to .317 with four home runs and 22 RBIs through May 31.
Henderson began June well, going 9-for-25 (.360) in his first eight games, hitting safely in seven, and raising his season average to .322, but was forced from the game of June 8 in the fourth inning with a sprained right ankle and missed the next five games with that injury. He appeared in just six of New York's remaining 15 games that month, going 4-for-17 and lowering his average to .316 by June 30. He left the game of June 18 with a sore right leg, left the game of June 22 with a bruised toe on his left foot and suffered a sore left ankle on June 27 in the sixth inning sliding home.
He began July slowly, going 6-for-24 (.250) in his first six games with his overall average dropping to .309 through July 8. From July 9 through July 28, however, Rickey hit safely in 15 of 16 games, going 24-for-65 (.369) with 16 runs, six doubles and a home run, pulling his overall batting average back up to .322. He finished July batting .320 with six home runs and 33 RBIs.
The first half of August saw Rickey on fire, going 21-for-49 (.429), hitting safely in nine of his first 12 games and having more than one hit in eight of those nine games. That streak pushed his average up to .334 on August 17, his highest point through the remainder of '88, but from August 18-31 Rickey went 9-for-60 (.150), lowering his batting average through August to .309; moreover, from August 25-September 6 he went 3-for-47, dropping his season average to .298- under .300 for the first time all year.
On August 24 against Oakland, Henderson's single with two out in the bottom of the ninth inning won the game. His average reached a season low of .294 on September 15, but from September 16 through the end of the year, however, he went 24-for-61 (.393) with seven doubles, bringing his final season batting average back over .300 to .305.
The Yankees went 10-for-11 in the 21 games Henderson missed in 1988. He went 4-for-13 (.308) in three games as a designated hitter, with a run and two RBIs, and walked in his only pinch-hitting appearance, on August 21 against Seattle.
Rickey went 37-for-120 (.308) leading off games in 1988. In the 59 games he reached base safely in the first inning, the Yankees went 40-19 (.679 winning percentage). His first inning totals were 38-for-123 (.309) with 41 runs scored (New York batted around in the first inning three times). From July 18 through August 3 Rickey reached safely leading off in 15 straight games, scoring a run in 11 of those 15 games.
He now has 35 career leadoff home runs, tied with Bobby Bonds for the major league record. His 35th came on July 21 at Kansas City off Mark Gubicza. His first leadoff homer in 1987, on April 14 off Cleveland's Phil Niekro in New York, broke the American League record of 28 set by Eddie Yost. The nine leadoff home runs Henderson hit in 1986 are also an American League record.
Henderson scored 100+ runs for the seventh time in his career and made his seventh straight and eighth overall All-Star appearance. His second inning single on June 5 at Baltimore was his 500th hit as a Yankee; his fifth inning run scored on July 17 against Chicago was the 1,000th of his career; and his third inning RBI on September 13 at Cleveland was the 500th of his career.
For the 1988 season his .305 batting average was 13th in the AL, 15th in the majors; his 118 runs scored were third in the AL and third in the majors; his 82 walks were seventh in the AL, 13th in the majors; and his .394 on-base percentage was fifth in the AL, sixth in the majors.
Rickey's .312 road batting average was ninth in the American League. On April 11 at Toronto he went 5-for-5 with four runs scored- the five hits matched his career high for one game. He was one of only nine AL players to have five hits in one game in 1988.
With 794 career stolen bases Henderson is the leader among active players and ranks fourth on the all-time list (Lou Brock, 938; Billy Hamilton, 937; Ty Cobb, 892- only Brock and Cobb played in he modern era). He led the majors with 93 steals in 1988, the eighth time in nine seasons since 1980 that he led the AL. His 93 is the fifth highest single season total in American League history and 13th highest in major league history (after 1900).
Rickey also set a new Yankee single season stolen base record, breaking his own record of 87 set in 1986. His record breaking 88th stolen base came on September 25 against Boston. His stolen base in the 11th inning on June 4 at Baltimore was his 249th as a Yankee, breaking the former Yankee career record set by Hal Chase from 1905-13.
In 1988 he was successful on 93 of 106 stolen base attempts (88%). Of his 13 times caught stealing, only six were by catchers: Ernie Whitt, Tim Laudner, Mike MacFarlane (twice), Bob Boone and Rich Gedman. Rickey was successful on 44 of his last 46 stolen base attempts (96%), and from August 11-September 25 was successful on 28 straight attempts. He was successful on 29 of his 31 attempts to steal third base (94%) and was successful on his last 26 attempts to steal third.
He had ten games of at least three stolen bases, including four stolen bases (tied for the 1988 AL high for one game) three times: April 11 at Toronto, May 7 at Texas and August 11 against Toronto. Rickey has 14 career games of four stolen bases (five times with the Yankees), his career high for one game. With his four steals on August 11 and three on August 12 at Minnesota, he tied the AL record for most steals in consecutive games.
He currently has 187 times caught stealing for his career, and in 1988 improved his career stolen base rate from 80% to 81% (794-for-981). He has stolen home four times, all as a member of the Oakland A's: April 20, 1980 against California; July 19, 1980 against Cleveland; June 8, 1982 at Chicago; and July 26, 1982 at California.
Rickey signed a five-year contract with the Yankees on December 8, 1984. The contract extends through the 1989 season.
Rickey suffered through an injury-plagued 1987 season, appearing in just 95 games- his fewest since playing 89 in his rookie season on 1979.
He got off to a great start, going 32-for-79 (.405) with 25 runs, six homers and 12 RBIs from April 6 through May 3, hitting safely in 18 of 21 games. Rickey hit six homers from April 14 through April 26 (29 at-bats, nine games) and five homers from April 22 through April 26 (14 at-bats, five games), and had his only two-homer game of the season on April 24 at Cleveland. While unable to maintain a .400 clip, he began a season long 11-game hitting streak on May 6, lasting through May 18, going 15-for-45 (.333) with 16 runs. From that point though June 4, he went for 8-for-38 (.211), his overall average falling from .356 to .324.
He suffered his first injury of the year on June 4 at Milwaukee, leaving the game with a pulled right hamstring. Rickey was hitting .324 with 10 home runs and 18 RBIs in 45 games and had been successful in 23 of 26 stolen base attempts. The hamstring pull was severe enough to land him on the 15-day disabled list, where he remained from June 5 until June 29, missing 22 games (with the Yankees going 13-9). Rickey was again placed on the 15-day DL on August 1 (retroactive to July 26) with an injured right hamstring, hitting .250 (22-for-88) in 22 games between disabled list stints, his average falling to .298.
Rickey was reinstated from the DL a second time on September 1, having missed 33 games (the Yankees going 16-17). Overall in his two DL stays, New York went 29-26 in the 55 games he missed. Following his second return he went 25-for-99 (.253) with six home runs, 12 RBIs and 15 stolen bases in his final 27 games.
Rickey played in 50 games total after suffering his first hamstring injury on June 4, going 47-for-188 (.250) with 35 runs, seven doubles, a triple, seven homers, 19 RBIs and and 18 stolen bases. The Yankees, at the point of the first injury, were in first place at 33-20, a .623 winning percentage, and went 56-53, a .514 winning percentage, through the remainder of '87, finishing fourth in the AL East.
He appeared as a designated hitter in 24 games, going 25-for-98 (.255) with 18 runs, five homers and nine RBIs, and was 0-for-2 as a pinch hitter. Of his 17 home runs, 13 were solo and four were two-run shots.
He was successful in 41 of 49 stolen base attempts (84%) in 1987 and was 9-for-9 stealing third, but had his string of leading the AL in stolen bases snapped at seven straight years by Seattle's Harold Reynolds. Henderson's AL record of consecutive seasons with 50+ stolen bases ended at seven years.
Rickey was successful in his first 23 stolen base attempts of '87; coupled with his final eight attempts of '86 he had 31 consecutive attempts without being caught, just one shy of the AL record of 32 (previously set by Kansas City's Willie Wilson in 1980 and Seattle's Julio Cruz in 1980-81). The string was broken on May 18 at Oakland by pitcher Curt Young. Rickey was caught stealing six times by catchers in '87: Boston's John Marzano (twice); Oakland's Terry Steinbach; Seattle's Scott Bradley; Toronto's Charlie Moore; and Milwaukee's B.J. Surhoff.
He did not steal a base for 18 straight games, May 18 through July 4, the longest such stretch of his career; his previous long was 11 games, April 8-22, 1987; his longest before '87 was 10 straight games from September 4-24, 1982.
Henderson had three games of at least three stolen bases, including four stolen bases on May 3 at Minnesota, tying the Yankee single game record and matching his personal single game high. He recorded his 700th stolen base on September 29 against Boston, becoming the youngest player (28) to reach that plateau (Billy Hamilton was the youngest to reach 700 prior to Henderson- he was 30 in 1896).
His overall offensive production in 1986 was down slightly from his first season as a Yankee, yet he set personal career highs with 28 home runs, 31 doubles, 608 at-bats and 74 RBIs. His total of 130 runs led the majors for the second consecutive year, the third time in his career. He was the first player to lead the American League in runs scored in consecutive seasons since Mickey Mantle in 1960-61 (Mantle and Roger Maris tied with 132 runs in 1961). He was the first player to lead the majors in runs scored in consecutive seasons since Pete Rose from 1974-76. His 89 walks placed seventh in the AL, while he tied for seventh with 64 extra-base hits. He led Yankee outfielders with a .986 fielding percentage, as well as in games, 146; putouts, 426; errors, six; and total chances, 436.
Off to a slow start, Rickey had just one hit (1-for-19 in his first six games), then hit in 10 straight from April 15-25, going 16-for-45 (.356), raising his overall average to .266. He ended April hitting .263. Rickey scored a team high four runs against Texas on May 3 and swiped a club high three bases on May 6 at Chicago, also matching the league high for '86. He hit in 11 straight, May 16-28, going 15-for-41 (.366) with three home runs and seven RBIs (all homers lead off a game for the Yankees).
Rickey failed to hit safely in just six of 28 games played in June, going 38-for-116 (.328), raising his overall average from .265 to .288. On June 11 at Detroit he started the first game of his career in which he did not bat leadoff (he batted third). He recorded four RBIs on June 27 against Toronto, reaching his career high for the fifth time. His batting average peaked at .289 on June 28.
He went 20-for-86 (.233) in July, lowering his overall average to .276. He was ejected from a game on July 30 at Milwaukee in the eighth inning for arguing a called third strike. Rickey failed to hit in 16 of 28 games in August, going 22-for-110 (.200), lowering his overall average to .260.
On August 11 Rickey recorded his 20th home run, achieving 20+ homers and 50+ stolen bases for a second straight year. On August 28, he tied the AL record he set in 1985 by hitting his seventh leadoff home run, and on August 29 he homered off Seattle's Mark Langston for his third career two-homer game- all with the Yankees. Rickey broke his personal single season home run mark hitting his 25th on September 11 at Toronto off John Cerutti, and broke his own AL leadoff homer record hitting his eighth on September 20 at Detroit off Frank Tanana- Rickey finished with nine (the major league record is 11, set by Bobby Bonds in 1973). He went 28-for-100 (.280) in September and October, raising his overall batting average to .263.
He appeared as a designated hitter in five games, going 2-for-18 (.111), and was 0-for-3 as a pinch hitter. 40 of the 113 runs driven in by Don Mattingly were scored by Rickey Henderson.
He led the American League in stolen bases for the seventh consecutive season- only Luis Aparicio led the AL more years (nine), both total and consecutively (1956-64). Rickey broke his own AL record for most consecutive years with 50+ stolen bases, with seven. He was 87-for-105 in stolen base attempts in '86 and was successful in 14 of his 18 attempts stealing third.
Henderson swiped his 600th career base on May 18 against Seattle, becoming the youngest of the 15 players to reach that plateau. He set a new Yankees single season stolen base record with 87, breaking the club mark of 80 he set in 1985; he stole his 81st base on September 15 against Baltimore in New York.
He began the 1985 season on the 15-day disabled list with a sprained left ankle suffered in an exhibition game against Boston on March 17; he was activated on April 22, missing 10 games. His .314 batting average was fourth in the AL, and he led the AL with 146 runs scored - the most runs by a Yankee since Joe DiMaggio scored 151 in 1937. His 99 walks were fourth in the AL and most by a Yankee since Willie Randolph led the league with 119 in 1980, and his .419 on-base percentage, also fourth in the AL, was a career high. His .516 slugging percentage, seventh in the AL, was also a career high. Rickey was the first player in AL history to hit 20+ homers and steal 50+ bases in the same season. He scored at least one run in 101 of the 143 games he played.
Rickey had his first career five-hit game on June 17 at Baltimore (he matched the league high), and his first career two-homer games on June 21 at Detroit and on July 30 at Cleveland. He scored four runs in a game for the second and third times in his career on July 10 against Kansas City and September 25 against Detroit (also equaling the league high). He had two 11-game hitting streaks: April 29-May 12, going 18-for-44 (.409), and August 5-21, going 17-for-46 (.370). He also had a 10-game hit streak from September 18-29, going 14-for-38 (.368).
He was American League Player of the Month for June: in 27 games he went 47-for-113 (.416 BA) with 31 runs, four doubles, two triples, six homers, 17 RBIs and 22 stolen bases- he failed to get a hit in just four of the 27 games. His season batting average peaked at .361 on July 10. He was hitting .357 at the All-Star break (July 13) with 77 runs, 11 homers, 37 RBIs and 41 stolen bases. After the All-Star break, Rickey hit .270 with 69 runs, 13 homers, 35 RBIs and 39 stolen bases.
Rickey's 80 stolen bases in '85 led the AL for the sixth straight season. He broke Fritz Maisel's Yankee record of 74 stolen bases set in 1914, stealing his 75th base on September 25 against Detroit. He stole his 500th career base on May 10 at Kansas City, becoming the youngest player to reach that goal. Rickey moved from 31st place to 19th place on the all-time stolen base list.
He stole four bases on June 26 against Baltimore. Henderson was caught stealing only three times by catchers in 1985 (Bob Boone, Carlton Fisk and Rich Gedman) out of a total of 10 times caught stealing that season. He was also successful on 14 of 16 attempts stealing third base. Henderson set the AL record with his sixth consecutive seasons with 50+ stolen bases.
Henderson reported to Boise after the 1976 June draft, hitting .336 with 29 steals in 36 attempts. At Modesto in 1977, he led the California League with a then record 95 steals, was third with a .345 batting average and 104 walks and led the league's outfielders in total chances (313). Rickey was named to the league's All-Star team and was Modesto's MVP. He became the fourth player in professional baseball to steal seven bases in one game on May 26 at Fresno.
In 1978 with Jersey City he led the Eastern League with 81 steals, led league outfielders in double plays (4) and assists (15), and was named to the Eastern League All-Star team. In 1979, Rickey stole 44 bases in only 71 Pacific Coast League games with Ogden, finishing fourth. He immediately stepped into Oakland's starting lineup when called up on June 23 and led the A's with 33 steals.
Rickey broke Ty Cobb's American League mark of 96 stolen bases in 1980 (100 steals) and became the first AL player and third big leaguer to steal 100 bases in a season. He was second in the league with 117 walks, third in on-base percentage (.422) and fourth in runs scored (111).
In 1981 he was named to the Sporting News All-Star team and won his first Gold Glove. He led the AL in hits (135), runs (89) and steals (56), and finished third in on-base percentage (.411) and fourth in the AL batting race (.319). He hit .364 against the Yankees in the League Championship Series.
In 1982 Henderson broke Lou Brock's remarkable record of 118 stolen bases on August 27 at Milwaukee- and went on to steal a season total of 130 bases. He also led the AL in walks (116), walking five times against the Angels on April 8 (a career high), was third in on-base percentage (.399).
He went over the 100 steal mark (108) for the third time in his career in 1983- Vince Coleman is the only player ever to do it more than once. He stole 66 bases in 77 attempts after the All-Star break, winning his fourth consecutive AL title. Rickey also hit .327 after the break to wind up at .292. His .415 on-base percentage was second in the AL to Wade Boggs and his 105 runs ranked fourth. On July 3-4 at Texas, he tied the AL mark by stealing seven bases in two straight games, and on August 21 at Milwaukee became the youngest player to steal 400 career bases. In 1984, his 66 stolen bases led the American League for the fifth straight year; he was second in the AL with 113 runs and third with a .399 on-base percentage.
Henderson graduated form Oakland's Technical High School in 1976. He played baseball, basketball and football and was All-Oakland Athletic League for three years in baseball. As a senior he hit .465 and stole 30 bases; that year he played for the North team in California's annual high school all-star game at Anaheim Stadium. In football, Rickey rushed for 1,100 yards in his senior year and received a reported two dozen college scholarship offers to play football.
His hobbies include swimming and fishing and his favorite spectator sports are baseball and football. His favorite team growing up was the Oakland A's and his favorite players were Willie Mays and Reggie Jackson, and he wears 24 because of Mays. Rickey lists as his greatest influences as 'my mother and Tom Trebelhorn,' current Milwaukee Brewers manager who was Rickey's manager in his first two years of pro ball.
Rickey's favorite entertainer is Luther Vandross."
-1989 New York Yankees Information Guide
Established modern major league record for most stolen bases, season, 130 (1982).
Tied major league record for most home runs as a leadoff batter, lifetime, 35; holds American League record.
Established American League record for most home runs as a leadoff batter, season, 9 (1986).
Established American League record for most consecutive seasons, 50 or more stolen bases, 7 (1980-86).
First American League player with 20 or more home runs and 50 or more stolen bases, season (1985, 1986).
Established major league record for most times caught stealing, season, 42 (1982).
Tied American League record for most stolen bases, two consecutive games, 7 (July 3-4, 1983; August 11-12, 1988).
Led American League outfielders with 327 putouts and 341 total chances (1981).
Won Rawlings American League Gold Glove Award as outfielder (1981).
Won The Sporting News Silver Bat Award as outfielder (1981, 1985).
Named to Seagram's American League All-Star team (1981, 1985).
Named to The Sporting News American League All-Star team (1985).
Named to Associated Press All-Star team (1985).
Named to American League All-Star team (1980, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988).
Led Eastern League outfielders with four double plays and tied for league lead with 15 assists (1978).
Led California League outfielders with 20 errors (1977).
Led Northwest League outfielders with 12 errors (1976).
Led or tied for league lead in caught stealing: 26 (1980), 22 (1981), 42 (1982), 19 (1983), 18 (1986).
Led majors in 1988 with 93 stolen bases.
794 career stolen bases is most among active players.
-1989 New York Yankees Information Guide
Monday, February 6, 2017
1989 Profile: Roberto Kelly
"When an opportunity comes your way you have to seize it, especially if it means a job in the major leagues. Well, for Roberto Kelly, it's deja vu time in 1989. For the second year in a row, the Yankees are looking for a new center fielder, leaving the door wide open for Kelly.
A product of the Yankees' farm system, Kelly was termed an 'untouchable prospect.' The 24-year-old native of Panama showed what he can do in only 23 games with the Yankees in 1987, and was so impressive he was named the starting center fielder for 1988 when Rickey Henderson was moved to left. His dazzling speed not only makes him a threat on the bases, but helps make him an exceptional fielder.
But on June 28 he injured his left wrist and right knee running into a center field wall, all but ending his season. With Claudell Washington going to California, after taking over the position last year, the ball bounced back to Kelly. So one year later Kelly's back where he started, with a little more experience, trying to help the Yankees as the starting center fielder."
-The New York Yankees Official 1989 Yearbook
"An injury-plagued year cut his season short. Roberto began the season on the Yankees roster but was optioned to Columbus on May 21. At the time of his option he was hitting .254 (15-for-59) with five RBIs.
Roberto had three multi-hit games in that time, including two three-hit games: on April 5 against Minnesota, when he started as the Opening Day center fielder and went 3-for-4, and on April 14 at Toronto, going 3-for-4. In that April 14 game, he was 1-for-2 in stolen base attempts, getting caught attempting to steal home.
Following his option, Roberto played 30 games with the Clippers, batting .333 (40-for-120) with three homers and 16 RBIs, and was successful on 11 of 14 stolen base attempts. He was recalled to New York on June 24, and on that day, his first game back, he hit a leadoff home run off Cleveland's Tom Candiotti at Yankee Stadium, his only home run of the year and one of the two leadoff home runs hit by the Yankees in 1988.
He hit safely in his first four games back, June 24-28, and coupled with his base hit on May 17 (his final game before his option), his five-game hitting streak from May 17-June 28 is a career high, with Roberto going 5-for-19 in those five games. In the final game of that streak, against Detroit, he was injured running against the center field wall attempting to catch a triple hit by Pat Sheridan in the 9th inning. Roberto suffered a sprained left wrist and a bruised right knee and was placed on the 15-day disabled list on June 30. He was transferred to the 30-day DL on July 25 and was activated on September 2.
Roberto made 10 appearances with the Yankees after that, all in a pinch-running or defensive replacement capacity, and did not have any plate appearances due to his sprained left wrist. He recorded a stolen base in each of three successive pinch-running appearances from September 8-11 and scored twice as a pinch runner.
Overall for the season Roberto batted .247 (19-for-77) in 38 games with a home run and seven RBIs, and was successful in five out of seven stolen base attempts- he has outstanding speed.
Roberto signed a contract for the 1989 season.
Roberto spent the first part of the 1987 season with the Columbus Clippers before being recalled to New York on July 29. At that point, he was hitting .300 (121-for-403) in 102 games with the Clippers, with 10 home runs, 54 RBIs, 48 stolen bases and six times caught stealing.
He made his major league debut with the Yankees on July 29 against Kansas City at Yankee Stadium, going 0-for-3 with a run scored and two stolen bases. His first major league hit came on July 30 off the Royals' Bud Black, a first-inning double. He went 2-for-4 with an RBI (his first major league RBI) on August 1 against Detroit. Roberto's first major league home run came on August 6 at Detroit, a three-run homer in the eighth inning off Willie Hernandez; his three RBIs in that game is his single-game high.
Roberto was optioned to Columbus on August 14 after playing 10 games with the Yankees, hitting .300 (6-for-20) with a homer, five RBIs and three stolen bases. He remained with the Clippers until the conclusion of their season, finishing with a .278 batting average (131-for-471) with 13 home runs and 62 RBIs, and was 51 of 61 in stolen base attempts. His 51 stolen bases led the International League, and he was named as the designated hitter on the postseason International League all-star team.
He was recalled to the Yankees on September 10 and had his first big league three-hit game on September 22 at Milwaukee (second game) when he also recorded his first major league game-winning RBI. In his two stints with the Yankees, Roberto combined to play in 23 games, batting .269 (14-for-52) with a home run and seven RBIs, stealing nine bases in 12 attempts and scoring 12 runs in those 23 games. He also had five walks and 15 strikeouts and had four multi-hit games.
Roberto was signed as a free agent by the Yankees (scout Fred Ferreira) on February 21, 1982. In his first pro season he hit .198 at Bradenton in 31 games, and in 1983 batted .265 in 20 games at Greensboro and .216 in 48 games in Oneonta. In 111 games with Greensboro in 1984, Roberto hit .238 (86-for-361) with 68 runs and 42 stolen bases. He batted .247 (103-for-417) in 1985 in 114 games at Ft. Lauderdale of the 'A' Florida State League, had 86 runs along with 49 stolen bases and led that circuit with 13 triples.
In 1986 Roberto batted .291 (87-for-299) in 86 games with the Albany-Colonie Yankees (AA Eastern League) with 11 doubles, two homers, 43 RBIs, 42 runs scored and 10 stolen bases. He was placed on the disabled list on July 10 due to the presence of bone chips in his right ankle and was not activated until August 23. Roberto was named to the Eastern League All-Star team but was unable to play due to his injury.
Roberto played Little League and in 1982 graduated from Instituto Jose Delores Moscote, a high school in Panama City, where he played baseball, basketball and volleyball."
-1989 New York Yankees Information Guide
A product of the Yankees' farm system, Kelly was termed an 'untouchable prospect.' The 24-year-old native of Panama showed what he can do in only 23 games with the Yankees in 1987, and was so impressive he was named the starting center fielder for 1988 when Rickey Henderson was moved to left. His dazzling speed not only makes him a threat on the bases, but helps make him an exceptional fielder.
But on June 28 he injured his left wrist and right knee running into a center field wall, all but ending his season. With Claudell Washington going to California, after taking over the position last year, the ball bounced back to Kelly. So one year later Kelly's back where he started, with a little more experience, trying to help the Yankees as the starting center fielder."
-The New York Yankees Official 1989 Yearbook
"An injury-plagued year cut his season short. Roberto began the season on the Yankees roster but was optioned to Columbus on May 21. At the time of his option he was hitting .254 (15-for-59) with five RBIs.
Roberto had three multi-hit games in that time, including two three-hit games: on April 5 against Minnesota, when he started as the Opening Day center fielder and went 3-for-4, and on April 14 at Toronto, going 3-for-4. In that April 14 game, he was 1-for-2 in stolen base attempts, getting caught attempting to steal home.
Following his option, Roberto played 30 games with the Clippers, batting .333 (40-for-120) with three homers and 16 RBIs, and was successful on 11 of 14 stolen base attempts. He was recalled to New York on June 24, and on that day, his first game back, he hit a leadoff home run off Cleveland's Tom Candiotti at Yankee Stadium, his only home run of the year and one of the two leadoff home runs hit by the Yankees in 1988.
He hit safely in his first four games back, June 24-28, and coupled with his base hit on May 17 (his final game before his option), his five-game hitting streak from May 17-June 28 is a career high, with Roberto going 5-for-19 in those five games. In the final game of that streak, against Detroit, he was injured running against the center field wall attempting to catch a triple hit by Pat Sheridan in the 9th inning. Roberto suffered a sprained left wrist and a bruised right knee and was placed on the 15-day disabled list on June 30. He was transferred to the 30-day DL on July 25 and was activated on September 2.
Roberto made 10 appearances with the Yankees after that, all in a pinch-running or defensive replacement capacity, and did not have any plate appearances due to his sprained left wrist. He recorded a stolen base in each of three successive pinch-running appearances from September 8-11 and scored twice as a pinch runner.
Overall for the season Roberto batted .247 (19-for-77) in 38 games with a home run and seven RBIs, and was successful in five out of seven stolen base attempts- he has outstanding speed.
Roberto signed a contract for the 1989 season.
Roberto spent the first part of the 1987 season with the Columbus Clippers before being recalled to New York on July 29. At that point, he was hitting .300 (121-for-403) in 102 games with the Clippers, with 10 home runs, 54 RBIs, 48 stolen bases and six times caught stealing.
He made his major league debut with the Yankees on July 29 against Kansas City at Yankee Stadium, going 0-for-3 with a run scored and two stolen bases. His first major league hit came on July 30 off the Royals' Bud Black, a first-inning double. He went 2-for-4 with an RBI (his first major league RBI) on August 1 against Detroit. Roberto's first major league home run came on August 6 at Detroit, a three-run homer in the eighth inning off Willie Hernandez; his three RBIs in that game is his single-game high.
Roberto was optioned to Columbus on August 14 after playing 10 games with the Yankees, hitting .300 (6-for-20) with a homer, five RBIs and three stolen bases. He remained with the Clippers until the conclusion of their season, finishing with a .278 batting average (131-for-471) with 13 home runs and 62 RBIs, and was 51 of 61 in stolen base attempts. His 51 stolen bases led the International League, and he was named as the designated hitter on the postseason International League all-star team.
He was recalled to the Yankees on September 10 and had his first big league three-hit game on September 22 at Milwaukee (second game) when he also recorded his first major league game-winning RBI. In his two stints with the Yankees, Roberto combined to play in 23 games, batting .269 (14-for-52) with a home run and seven RBIs, stealing nine bases in 12 attempts and scoring 12 runs in those 23 games. He also had five walks and 15 strikeouts and had four multi-hit games.
Roberto was signed as a free agent by the Yankees (scout Fred Ferreira) on February 21, 1982. In his first pro season he hit .198 at Bradenton in 31 games, and in 1983 batted .265 in 20 games at Greensboro and .216 in 48 games in Oneonta. In 111 games with Greensboro in 1984, Roberto hit .238 (86-for-361) with 68 runs and 42 stolen bases. He batted .247 (103-for-417) in 1985 in 114 games at Ft. Lauderdale of the 'A' Florida State League, had 86 runs along with 49 stolen bases and led that circuit with 13 triples.
In 1986 Roberto batted .291 (87-for-299) in 86 games with the Albany-Colonie Yankees (AA Eastern League) with 11 doubles, two homers, 43 RBIs, 42 runs scored and 10 stolen bases. He was placed on the disabled list on July 10 due to the presence of bone chips in his right ankle and was not activated until August 23. Roberto was named to the Eastern League All-Star team but was unable to play due to his injury.
Roberto played Little League and in 1982 graduated from Instituto Jose Delores Moscote, a high school in Panama City, where he played baseball, basketball and volleyball."
-1989 New York Yankees Information Guide
Tuesday, January 31, 2017
1989 Profile: Gary Ward
"Gary Ward, a right-handed batter, knew his role with the club would diminish last year when the Yankees acquired free agent Jack Clark. Being one of the best right-handed swingers in the game, Clark got his share of cuts, leaving Ward with limited playing time.
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
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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