Cooperstown Confidential: Is it 1989 again for the Yankees?

If you follow baseball long enough, you begin to see patterns that come up again and again, that create the impression that history is repeating itself. The names are always different, but the arc of the stories is so identical as to be almost eerie.

When I look at the Yankees of the spring of 2013, I see the Yankees of 1989 all over again. The pattern is strikingly similar. The trend is disturbing if you’re a Yankees fan.

Having already lost Nick Swisher, Russell Martin, Eric Chavez and Raul Ibanez to free agency, and having failed to make a major free agent acquisition for the first time in recent memory, the 2013 Yankees were already put into a weakened state. The free agent departures left the Yankees without a legitimate starting catcher or a right-handed DH while also devastating their bench strength.

A first or second-place finish in the American League was no longer considered a certainty. Now with the springtime injuries to Mark Teixeira and Curtis Granderson, which will keep both men sidelined until the middle of May, the prognosis is looking even bleaker. Will the Yankees be relegated to a fourth-place finish? Or could it be that they will be fighting the Red Sox to stay out of last place?

The situation did not look much better in the late 1980s. During the winter that followed the 1988 season, the Yankees lost Claudell Washington, their valuable center fielder and team leader, to the Angels via free agency. In 1988, with most of his playing time coming against right-handed pitching, Washington put together one of his finest all-around seasons. He batted .308, stole 15 bases, and drove in 64 runs. In addition to better-than-average offensive numbers, he played an excellent center field, especially considering the lofty demands of Yankee Stadium.

That winter, the Yankees also made a questionable deal with the Padres, sending premier slugger Jack Clark to San Diego for a package of hard-throwing reliever Lance McCullers, borderline starter Jimmy Jones, and failed center field prospect Stan Jefferson. The Yankees felt that Clark was expendable because of the presence of Ken Phelps at DH, but most observers felt that the Yankees had failed to acquire enough talent for the man known as “The Ripper.” Critics maintained that if the Yankees had waited longer, they would have secured a much larger package for Clark.

With Washington and Clark subtracted from the lineup, and nothing of substance brought in to replace them at those positions, the outlook for the 1989 Yankees already looked dubious. They were coming off an 85-win season that placed them fifth in a powerhouse Eastern Division; given the departures of two reliable veterans, the Yankees appeared no better than a .500 team heading into the 1989 season.

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The prognosis almost immediately became worse once spring training began. Dave Winfield, the Yankees’ star right fielder and mainstay since 1981, complained of back pain in the early days of the spring. An examination of his back revealed a worst case scenario. Winfield had a ruptured disk, which needed to be repaired. He would have to undergo surgery, sidelining him for the entire season.

The loss of Winfield only compounded the decision to trade Clark, stripping the Yankees of most of their right-handed power. Of their returning players, journeyman catcher Don Slaught stood as the leading home run hitter among right-handed batters. Known as “Sluggo,” and that was because of his personality rather than his power, Slaught hit all of nine home runs in 1988. To say the least, the Yankees were now badly vulnerable to left-handed pitching.

As if the loss of Winfield was not a sufficiently major setback, the Yankees’ projected ace, John Candelaria, came down with a sore knee in the spring. Ron Guidry hurt his elbow, forcing him to the sidelines for the first two months of the season. And then newly acquired second baseman Steve Sax pulled a ribcage muscle, putting a temporary halt to his new title as the second base replacement for Willie Randolph.

The barrage of injuries continued in mid-March, when the Yankees lost another member of their starting lineup for the season. Rafael Santana came down with a bad elbow, which mandated tendon replacement surgery. As with Winfield, the injury would eliminate Santana from all competition in 1989. Santana’s season-long departure would have little impact offensively, but figured to hurt the team defensively, robbing the club of a reliable if unspectacular defender.

The Yankees now had vacancies at shortstop and in right field, along with a need for a right-handed hitting DH and a utility infielder. The Yankees also needed more pitching to buttress an aging staff. Their top returning starter, Candelaria, not only was fighting fluid in the knee but was about to turn 35, while free agent acquisitions Andy Hawkins and Dave LaPoint seemed overmatched as No. 2 and No. 3 starters, respectively. The situation appeared so uneasy that the Yankees planned to give 40-something Tommy John, a spring training invitee, a long look in Grapefruit League play.

Still, the Yankees were not ready to toss the towel on the season. Their owner, George Steinbrenner, had no patience for that. Under pressure from “The Boss,” general manager Bob Quinn began to make inquiries of other teams, particularly for outfielders. He talked to the Braves about Dale Murphy, to the Cardinals about Willie McGee, to the Blue Jays about Lloyd Moseby, and to the Indians about Oddibe McDowell.

On March 19, Quinn made his move, settling on none of the above as a replacement for Winfield. It was not a right-handed hitter, but a lefty swinger with a colorful reputation. The Yankees acquired Mel Hall from the Indians for good-field, no-hit catcher Joel Skinner and minor league throw-in Turner Ward. On the surface, it seemed like a steal for the Yankees.

Hall was available in part because of an incident that had happened at the Indians’ spring training hotel only a few days earlier. It turns out that Hall had arranged for both his wife and his girlfriend to stay at the hotel where the Indians stayed. Mrs. Hall and the mistress happened to meet, realized what they had in common, and proceeded to engage in a knockdown, drag-out fight, witnessed by the wife of Indians GM Hank Peters. When the Indians’ GM learned of the “arrangement” and the public fight, he decided that it was time for Hall to go.

In addition to being colorful, Hall would bring some clutch hitting and hustle to the pinstripes. He called his glove “Lucille,” wore batting gloves in his back pockets as a way of saying “bye bye” to baseballs that he hit for home runs, and owned one of the slowest home run trots in the game. Although Hall had his limitations—he never walked much and couldn’t throw worth a damn—he hammered right-handed pitching, played the game hard, and never shied from hitting with runners in scoring position.

A Hardball Times Update
Goodbye for now.

All things considered, Hall performed decently for the Yankees in 1989. But he was no Winfield. He didn’t hit much against left-handed pitching, and was miscast in right field, where his weak arm allowed runners to go from first to third routinely. By the end of April, the Yankees would turn right field over to Jesse Barfield, acquired from the Blue Jays for lefty phenom Al Leiter. With Barfield in right, Hall would spend most of the season in left field and as a DH.

Only two days after the acquisition of Hall, Boss Steinbrenner decided to make a change in the front office, demoting Quinn in the process. Somewhat surprisingly, he hired Syd Thrift as the team’s vice president of baseball operations. Thrift essentially became the team’s de facto general manager, even though Quinn continued to hold the title officially. Now working as Thrift’s assistant, Quinn would report directly to his new boss. Only on the Yankees could the general manager actually be the assistant general manager.

An old-time wheeler dealer who loved nothing better than to make trades, Thrift promised to make immediate changes to the Yankees’ projected roster. He went to work promptly, pursuing a right-handed hitter to replace Winfield and a shortstop to take over for Santana. He would soon fill one of those positions.

Only two days after stepping into his new job, Thrift made his first trade, and the Yankees’ second of the spring. Thrift sent failed starter Charles Hudson (whom the Yankees had originally acquired from Philadelphia for Mike Easler) to the Tigers for veteran infielder Tom Brookens. The Yankees regarded the righty-swinging Brookens as a platoon partner with Mike Pagliarulo at third base, a necessity given Pags’ punchless numbers against southpaws. Brookens also figured to give the Yankees some insurance at shortstop, while backing up the newly acquired Steve Sax at second base.

Unfortunately, the Yankees’ timing in acquiring Brookens was not good. At 35 years of age, he was just about done as a major leaguer. He would put up a .606 OPS, one of the worst marks of his career, while hitting a paltry .226 in pinstripes. After the season, the Yankees would release Brookens, who played one season with the Indians before calling it a career.

Even with the additions of Brookens and Hall, the Yankees weren’t done. Only four days after the Brookens swap, Thrift sent hard-throwing minor league reliever Dana Ridenour to Seattle for ex-Yankee Steve Balboni. The deal netted the Yankees a much-needed right-handed power bat and a platoon partner for Phelps.

Playing in 110 games for the Yankees, Balboni would deliver exactly the kind of production he had put together in Seattle and Kansas City. He would reach base only 29 per cent of the time, but he would also hit 17 home runs in 300 at-bats and slug a respectable .460. He gave the Yankees at least little bit of the power they had lost with the departures of Clark and Winfield.

Having made two trades in the span of a week, Thrift could have been excused for taking a break. But that wasn’t his style. He talked to every team that had an available shortstop. One rumor had the Yankees acquiring Tom Foley, a slick-fielding middle infielder with the Expos. Another had them obtaining tiny Rafael Belliard from the Pirates. But the most repeated rumors circulated around the Braves’ young Jeff Blauser, whom the Yankees coveted.

The two teams talked throughout the spring, but the Braves wanted a lot for Blauser. At one point, they asked for a package of Roberto Kelly, who was the Yankees’ top outfield prospect, and backup infielder Randy Velarde. Rejecting that proposal, the Yankees could not satisfy Atlanta’s demands for Blauser.

The Yankees never did acquire a new shortstop that spring. Instead, they turned to an internal option in career minor leaguer Alvaro Espinoza. Practically by default, Espinoza became the starting shortstop. On the surface, he did better than expected, hitting .282. But he rarely walked (14 times to be exact), compiled a terrible on-base percentage, and also committed 22 errors in the field. He was not exactly the second coming of Phil Rizzuto or Tony Kubek. Or even Bucky Dent.

Thanks to the myriad spring training changes, the ‘89 Yankees opened the season with a vastly different roster than originally projected. The selection of Tommy Johnas the Opening Day starter did not bode well. At the age of 45, John was well past his prime; for most teams he would have ranked as no better than a fifth starter.

After winning their first game, the Yankees dropped their next seven. They recovered to flirt with a .500 record under Dallas Green, but Steinbrenner was not satisfied. He told Green that he wanted to fire several of his coaches, including the highly respected Frank Howard. Green refused to accept the firings, telling the Boss that he would quit before allowing any of his coaches to take the fall. So Steinbrenner fired Green, replacing him with Dent, the onetime Yankee hero. Green did not take the news without firing back with a salvo of his own. “George Steinbrenner doesn’t know anything about baseball,” Green told the New York Daily News.

The Yankees played no better under Dent than they had under Green. In August, Thrift resigned, citing concerns about his health, which was only made worse by Steinbrenner’s interference. By season’s end, the Yankees had a record of 74-87, their worst mark since the dreadful summer of 1967.

Twenty-four years later, Balboni is now a scout for the Giants, Brookens is the bench coach for the Tigers, and Hall is in prison. Steinbrenner and Thrift have passed away, while Green is retired. Other than The Boss and perhaps Hall, none of them are particularly well remembered for what they did as Yankees.

So what does the fate of the 1989 Yankees portend for the Yankees of 2013? It’s hard to say, in part because current GM Brian Cashman is so different from Thrift and Steinbrenner. Cashman does not like to make trades; he is conservative by nature, and prefers to respond to injuries by finding answers within the organization. Cashman is far more likely to promote a prospect from Triple-A, or claim a relatively small name from the waiver wire (like a Ben Francisco or perhaps a Brennan Boesch), than he is to make a trade for this year’s version of Mel Hall and Steve Balboni. And perhaps given the lack of success of the 1989 Yankees, that is the better way to go.

Then again, who knows? With the Yankees of 2013 facing offensive vacuums at catcher, first base, left field and DH, and with the pitching staff aging at the front of the rotation and the back of the bullpen, maybe the Yankees are staring at another 74-win season this time around.


Bruce Markusen has authored seven baseball books, including biographies of Roberto Clemente, Orlando Cepeda and Ted Williams, and A Baseball Dynasty: Charlie Finley’s Swingin’ A’s, which was awarded SABR's Seymour Medal.
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87 Cards
11 years ago

Bruce, Great comparison of the ‘89 Yankees to the present Bronx crew…I spend first half of the ‘89 baseball season doing military service in place with no regular access to MLB info..Aware of the discord in the Bronx when I left during spring training, when I returned to the States in early July, I expected to hear that Billy Martin had been rehired as Yankees’ boss…the Green/Dent combo caught me by surprise…Billy had been fired 68 games into prior season 1988; replaced by Lou Piniella…Billy was always the Boss’ security blanket/firestarter…Alas, Billy spent his final year on the planet away from baseball before his final earthly loss on Christmas Day 1989 closing out the snake-bit 1989 Yankee season.

The Yankees put up 4th and 5th place finishes from 1989-1992 and a 2nd place in 1993 making space for the Jays to win four division titles and consecutive Word Series in 1992-93.

hopbitters
11 years ago

Ah, the 80s. As a Yankees fan, they were mostly good for teaching you patience.

northern rebel
11 years ago

The answer to the title of this article::

WE CAN ONLY HOPE!

Paul G.
11 years ago

At the time Espinoza looked like he was going to be really good.  Yes, he made a lot of errors but he also made a lot of spectacular plays and seemed a defensive standout.  A really good defensive shortstop that can bat 300, which he was doing for a while, would have been a find, especially compared to replacement-level Santana.  Sadly, he was not remotely that good.

Actually, there were a lot of those flash in the pan types in those Yankee years.  Kevin Maas.  Oscar Azucar.  Chuck Cary.  The fragile Pat Kelly, the Gold Glove second baseman for the next decade, or so we were told.  And then there was the prized prospect implosion that was Hensley Meulens.  There was lots of hope crushed in those years.

I’m very surprised that you did not mention the Ricky Henderson trade.  Like the Jack Clark trade, another exchange of an elite player for a bunch of spare parts.  It was the most notable thing of the year!  It would be the equivalent of unloading Robinson Cano for Daniel Murphy and a couple of relief pitchers.

Finally, my Mel Hall memory is the three-run homer he hit off Jeff Reardon against the Bosox at the stadium.  Meulens grounds a single – one of his few highlights – Kevin Maas hits a line drive that knocks off Reardon’s glove and goes as an infield single, and then Mel parks it in the upper deck in right for the walk-off.  It was my high point of those low years.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NYA/NYA199105270.shtml

Jim G.
11 years ago

Another great article, Bruce. Two stars you don’t mention on this team were Don Mattingly and Dave Righetti. While I’m no Yankee fan, it’s a shame that Mattingly had to waste seasons of his relatively short career on teams like these.
I didn’t remember Washington as a centerfielder at this point in his career, but he sure played there in ‘88 – more or less splitting time there and in right.
Brookens is an interesting figure. Growing up in Detroit, he was maddening to Tiger fans. He didn’t have much power, didn’t really hit for average, was good but not great defensively. And yet Sparky Anderson loved him. I remember when Sparky decided to start Brookens at 3rd in the ‘84 playoffs over blossoming rookie Howard Johnson. I couldn’t believe it. Fortunately, it all worked out. His last few years with the Tigers he became a super-sub, playing at 3rd, 2nd, short and the outfield. (Before that we really only saw him at 3rd and a little 2nd.) I think for Sparky, he was the prototype for what Tony Phillips would become a few seasons later. But in Brookens’ time with the Yankees he didn’t really perform much differently than his Detroit years. It was foolish for them to think he could contribute at shortstop. He was the kind of unspectacular blue-collar player that doesn’t often do well with the Yankees.
And for what it’s worth, despite their advanced age, I don’t think this year’s Yankee team is as near as bad as the ‘89 team.

Raf
11 years ago

Thing about that Henderson trade, was that both sides were pretty close to hammering out a deal. I think they were like $100k apart. Then again, before Rickey was traded to the A’s, the Yanks and the Giants had a deal that Rickey vetoed (for Trevor Wilson and others), I don’t remember if he had a limited NTC or if he had 10/5 rights.

Paul G.
11 years ago

CORRECTION: It is “Azocar”, not “Azucar”.

Bruce Markusen
11 years ago

Just as an aside, “Azucar” translates to “sugar” in English.

Sadly, Oscar Azocar is no longer with us.

John Fox
11 years ago

So if this year’s Yankee team is equivalent to their 1989 squad, does that mean in 7 years we will see an incarnation of the unstoppable 1996 Yankee team?

Cliff Blau
11 years ago

As a long-time Yankees fan, this article doesn’t help my mood any.

Southpaw
11 years ago

John Fox said…
“So if this year’s Yankee team is equivalent to their 1989 squad, does that mean in 7 years we will see an incarnation of the unstoppable 1996 Yankee team?”

Great minds think alike.  Target 2020.  That would be 11 yrs between WS championships—a bit off the usual pinstripe pace, but acceptable.

Bruce Markusen
11 years ago

I don’t think the Yankees are going to sink to 94 wins, like they did in 1989. Their pitching staff is too good for that. But I do see them falling into the 80-85 win range, which probably won’t put them in the postseason.

Southpaw
11 years ago

Too bad the Yanks won’t get to play the Houston “Roadkill” Astros more than ~6 times this year.

They are going to distribute 110-plus wins to the rest of the AL this year, easily.

Bruce Markusen
11 years ago

I meant to say that I don’t think the Yankees will sink to 74 wins.

bpdelia
11 years ago

Im not optimistic about 2013 but as a season ticket holder from 1977 to 1999.  Im, confident saying there is no comparison.  By 1989 the Yankees had literally nothing.  Not one start player.  Barely even any good played a bad bullpen and perhaps the worst rotation in team history.  Not even a Mel stottlemyre to ease the pain.  Nothing NOTHING in, the minors.  Jeff Johnson, chuck Cary, wade Taylor, Greg cadaret.  No Sabathia type.  Hell Phelps would have been, that teams second starter.  Of those years Roberto, Eric plunk and kameniecki are probably the only pitchers who would make the 2013 roster.  The farm systems are in different universes.  The George led front office was a disaster.  The two situations simply aren’t comparable at all.  From 1989 through 1993 there was, no, way to, realistically forsee a first place finish.  A division title thus year is unlikely but possible.  Fun stroll down memory lame though.  Thanks