New York Yankees - The Clinton Years (1990-1999)

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1990

1993

1997

Decade

1991

1994

1998

114

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Championships

Top New York Players of the Nineties

1994 - First place when season ended (strike)

1995 - Wild Card (Lost to Seattle)

Pitchers:

1996 - World Champs (Beat Braves)

Andy Pettitte (21.72) - 51

1997 - Wild Card (Lost to Cleveland)

Mariano Rivera (15.15) - 42

1998 - World Champs (Beat San Diego)

Jimmy Key (13.54) - 34

1999 - World Champs (Beat Braves)

David Cone (21.25) - 31

John Wetteland (4.07) - 23

BallPark:

David Wells (9.08) - 22

Yankee Stadium

Steve Farr (5.68) - 21

Melido Perez (8.02) - 20

Team Name:

Scott Sanderson (3.87) - 19

Yankees

Scott Kamieniecki (6.78) - 17

El Duque Hernandez (7.83) - 15

Owner:

Jim Abbott (3.44) - 13

George Steinbrenner

Bob Wickman (4.45) - 13

Jack McDowell (4.04) - 11

General Managers:

Hidecki Irabu (3.67) - 10

Harding Peterson (1990)

Tim Leary (0.52) - 10

Gene Michael (1991-1995)

Dave Righetti (0.32) - 9

Bob Watson (1996-1997)

Roger Clemens (2.86) - 7

Brian Cashman (1998-1999)

Doc Gooden (3.86) - 7

Ramiro Mendoza (6.46) - 7

Managers:

Steve Howe (3.99) - 7

Bucky Dent (1990)

Jeff Nelson (4.1) - 3

Stump Merrill (1990-1991)

John Habyan (4.28) - 3

Buck Showalter (1992-1995)

Mike Stanton (2.82) - 2

Joe Torre (1996-1999)

Pascual Perez (2.87) - 0

Eric Milton (0) - 0

Hall of Famers:

Mariano Rivera

Catchers:

Wade Boggs

Mike Stanley (12.79) - 28

Derek Jeter

Joe Girardi (1.58) - 19

Tim Raines

Jim Leyritz (5.19) - 17

Roger Clemens (Pending)

Matt Nokes (4.46) - 13

Jorge Posada (4.31) - 13

Rookie of the Year:

Derek Jeter (1990)

First Basemen:

Tino Martinez (12.61) - 37

MVP:

Don Mattingly (9.03) - 33

None

Cecil Fielder (0.96) - 5

No Hitters:

Second Basemen:

Jim Abbott (1993)

Chuck Knoblach (6.27) - 15

Doc Gooden (1996)

Steve Sax (5.57) - 13

David Wells (1998 - Perfect Game)

Pat Kelly (4.72) - 11

David Cone (1999 - Perfect Game)

ShortStop:

Cy Young

Derek Jeter (23.44) - 39

None

Randy Velarde (10.04) - 19

Mike Gallego (8.31) - 15

Notable Events:

Alvaro Espinoza (2.11) - 12

Cristian Guzman (0) - 0

1990 - Reallity is stranger than fiction when it comes to the Yankees. First of all,

you can't convince me that Baseball Commissioner Faye Vincent wan't a

Third Base:

Yankee fan. Faye gave Yankee fans the greatest gift ever when he suspended

Wade Boggs (18.28) - 30

George Steinbrenner from baseball for life in 1990. George had gone completely

Scott Brosius (6.53) - 14

off the rails by this point having hired some sleazebag to try to dig up dirt on

Dave Winfield so that George could void Winfield's contract.

Outfield:

And it wasn't like Winfield had been playing badly, just the opposite, in fact.

Bernie Williams (34.67) - 95

Winfield was a true superstar. His mal treatment by George sealed the deal

Paul O'Neill (24.88) - 60

for no top quality FA's coming to New York.

Roberto Kelly (9.7) - 40

Anyway, George was gone from the Yankees for three years followed by

Danny Tartabull (7.94) - 15

keeping an extremely low profile for another three lest he be banished again.

Chad Curtis (4.23) - 14

In that six year stretch, George made the Yankees Great Again

Jesse Barfield (5.81) - 14

(albeit by not being there).

Mel Hall (1.69) - 12

Luis Polonia (1.24) - 9

1990 - Harding Peterson is the Yankees GM and he presides

Tim Raines (3.29) - 7

over the following:

Darryl Strawberry (2.85) - 7

□ Signs all time great reliever Mariano Rivera as an IFA -

Ruben Sierra (1.02) - 4

Mariano is a rookie in 1995 at age 25

□ Selects lefty Andy Pettitte in the 22nd round of the draft -

Notable Events:

Andy is a rookie in 1995 at age 23

□ Selects catcher Jorge Posada in the 24th round of the draft -

1994 - New York is in first place when the season ends prematurely due to a strike.

Jorge is rookie in 1995 at age 23

There is no post season.

That's three of the core four that will carry the Yankees for over fifteen years

starting in 1995.

1995 - The Yankees end a fourteen year drought and make the playoffs as a

wild card. New York, led by manager Buck Showalter, are beaten in an

Gene Michael takes over as GM in 1991 and stays thru 1995

exciting ALDS with Seattle.

and he presides over the following:

Things are starting to percolate in New York

□ 1991 - Bernie Williams, 21, is a rookie. He was signed as an IFA in 1985

(this was Clyde King in '85).

1996 - George names Joe Torre as manager replacing Buck Showalter.

□ 1992 - catcher Mike Stanley, 29, is signed as a free agent from Texas

□ 1992 - reliever Ramiro Mendoza is signed as an IFA -

1996 - The Yanks come from being down 2-0 at home to beat juggernaut Atlanta

he debuts with NY in 1996 at age 24

in the World Series. The Braves had an all-time great pitching staff,

□ 1992 - HOF shortstop Derek Jeter is picked 6th overall in the draft -

but the Yanks overcame it.

He's a rookie in '95 at age 21

Jim Leyritz was the hitting hero and Andy Pettitte the pitching hero

We must note here that Michael's biggest achievement was not trading

the young talent such as Rivera, Pettitte, Posada, Williams and Jeter

1997 - Mariano gives up a game losing home run to Sandy Alomar of the Indians

that the Yankees had amassed. There isn't a soul on earth who believes

in the ALDS. This goes to prove that Mariano was human because of all of his

that any of them would have made it to the Yankees if George had still

zillion appearances in the post season, you could count his failures on one hand

been around.

(three fingers actually). This was the first of those fingers. The others were the

□ 1993 - ace lefty Jimmy Key, 32, is signed from Toronto as a free agent

bloop single to Arizona's Luis Gonzalez and not being able to put Boston to

□ 1993 - 3B Wade Boggs, 35, is signed from Boston as a free agent

bed in the bottom of the ninth of game 4 with a 3-0 lead in the series.

□ 1993 - outfielder Paul O'Neill, 30, is acquired from the Reds for Roberto Kelly

□ 1995 - relief ace John Wetteland, 28, is acquired from Montreal in a salary

1998 - 2B Chuck Knoblauch, 29, is acquired from the Twins for four youngsters

dump trade

topped by highly valued lefty prospect Eric Milton and quality shortstop

□ 1995 - slugger Darryl Strawberry, 33, is signed as a free agent

Cristian Guzman.

□ 1995 - ace righty David Cone, 32, is picked up from Toronto for

three mediocre prospects

1998 - Cuban defector righthander Orlando Hernandez, 32, is signed off a

dinghy in Florida. Another classic George move, this one pays big dividends,

Bob Watson takes over as GM for two years -

however, as El Duque is the real deal.

George re-emerges from the shadows

□ 1996 - George hires on Joe Torre as manager amidst howls of protest

1998 - New York has one of the greatest seasons in baseball history, if not the

from Yankee fans. Everyone had fallen in love with homegrown

greatest. Only a handful of teams in major league history could match the Yankees

Buck Showalter as manager, but George began to assert himself.

regular season 114-48 record. On top of that, the Yankees went 11-2 in the post

It turns out that as good a manager as Showalter was, Torre was the absolute

season to finish out 125-50 with a World Series title.

perfect fit for the Yankees. You have to give George his due on this one

The Bronx Bombers were absolutely dominant in all phases of the game.

□ 1996 - 1B Tino Martinez & relieiver Jeff Nelson, 29,

A deep effective pitching staff and a powerful circular lineup.

are acquired from Seattle for two youngsters

□ 1996 - catcher Joe Girardi, 31, is obtained from Colorado for a prospect

1999 - More George drama. Roger Clemens, 36, is obtained from Toronto

amidst howls from Yankee fans who wanted to hold onto slugger

for David Wells, Graehme Lloyd and Homer Bush. A bad trade.

Mike Stanley as their catcher. An ex-catcher himself, Torre wanted his

But Clemens was George's kind of guy

kind of guy in that crucial position regardless.

It ends up that Torre was absolutely correct.

1999 - Second baseman Alfonso Soriano, 23, is purchased from Japan.

□ 1997 - ace lefty David Wells, 34, is signed as a free agent from Baltimore

George's fingerprints, once again, are all over this one.

□ 1997 - lefty reliever Mike Stanton, 30, is signed as a free agent from Texas

Soriano turns out to be a stud, albeit a lot older than initially advertised.

George promotes Brian Cashman, takes full control

1999 - The Yankees win their third of four world titles in a five year stretch.

1998 - George wants to trade a couple of big time prospects for Twins

This was now a dynasty greater than the Braves dynasty over in the National

second baseman Chuck Knoblauch. GM Bob Watson doesn't want to.

League East because, altho' the Braves were rackiing up the Division titles,

Watson resigns. George needs someone weak who he can control

they were laying an egg in the post season. Atlanta would only end up with

and who will not be able to take the credit from George for Yankee

one World Championship in the era, while the Yankees won the four.

success. He finds the perfect guy.

He moves a neophyte assistant GM Brian Cashman, 28, into the GM spot.

Cashman's first order of business as GM is to make the horrendous

Knoblauch deal with the Twins.

The Cashman hiring was a vanity play by George and signalled to the

world that George was back in the driver's seat.

Hiring Cashman was, of course, a very short sighted move on George's part as,

in the long run, that promotion left the organization with a lackluster baseball

man with no entrepreneurial leadership skills running the show once George

fell ill circa 2005. While spending seven years under George, Cashman

seemed to pick up all of George's bad habits, like continually trading away

prospects for marginal veterans, while never quite grasping George's

strength of using Yankee money and cache to power his way into

obtaining top players.