1988 New York Yankees season

The 1988 New York Yankees season was the 86th season for the Yankees. The team finished with a record of 85–76, finishing in fifth place, 3.5 games behind the Boston Red Sox. New York was managed by Lou Piniella and Billy Martin, with the latter managing the team for the fifth and final time. The Yankees played at Yankee Stadium.

1988 New York Yankees
League	American League
Division	East
Ballpark	Yankee Stadium
City	New York City
Owners	George Steinbrenner
General managers	Lou Piniella, Bob Quinn
Managers	Billy Martin, Lou Piniella
Television	WPIX (Phil Rizzuto, Bill White) SportsChannel NY (Ken Harrelson, Bobby Murcer, Mickey Mantle)
Radio	WABC (AM) (Hank Greenwald, Tommy Hutton)
← 1987 Seasons 1989 →

Offseason

• November 2, 1987: Lenn Sakata was released by the New York Yankees.^[1]
• December 11, 1987: Darren Reed, Phil Lombardi, and Steve Frey were traded by the Yankees to the New York Mets for Rafael Santana and Victor Garcia (minors).^[2]
• December 18, 1987: Rich Bordi was released by the New York Yankees.^[3]
• December 22, 1987: Steve Trout and Henry Cotto were traded by the Yankees to the Seattle Mariners for Lee Guetterman, Clay Parker, and Wade Taylor.^[4]
• January 15, 1988: John Candelaria was signed as a free agent by the Yankees.^[5]

Regular season

Opening Day starters

Season standings

• v
• t
• e

AL East

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Boston Red Sox	89	73	.549	—	53‍–‍28	36‍–‍45
Detroit Tigers	88	74	.543	1	50‍–‍31	38‍–‍43
Milwaukee Brewers	87	75	.537	2	47‍–‍34	40‍–‍41
Toronto Blue Jays	87	75	.537	2	45‍–‍36	42‍–‍39
New York Yankees	85	76	.528	3½	46‍–‍34	39‍–‍42
Cleveland Indians	78	84	.481	11	44‍–‍37	34‍–‍47
Baltimore Orioles	54	107	.335	34½	34‍–‍46	20‍–‍61

Record vs. opponents

1988 American League record v t e Sources:
Team	BAL	BOS	CAL	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	MIL	MIN	NYY	OAK	SEA	TEX	TOR
Baltimore	—	4–9	5–7	4–7	4–9	5–8	0–12	4–9	3–9	3–10	4–8	7–5	6–6	5–8
Boston	9–4	—	8–4	7–5	8–5	6–7	6–6	10–3	7–5	9–4	3–9	6–6	8–4	2–11
California	7–5	4–8	—	9–4	8–4	5–7	5–8	3–9	4–9	6–6	4–9	6–7	8–5	6–6
Chicago	7–4	5–7	4–9	—	3–9	3–9	7–6	6–6	4–9	3–9	5–8	9–4	8–5	7–5
Cleveland	9–4	5–8	4–8	9–3	—	4–9	6–6	9–4	5–7	6–7	4–8	5–7	6–6	6–7
Detroit	8–5	7–6	7–5	9–3	9–4	—	8–4	5–8	1–11	8–5	4–8	9–3	8–4	5–8
Kansas City	12–0	6–6	8–5	6–7	6–6	4–8	—	3–9	7–6	6–6	8–5	7–5	7–6	4–8
Milwaukee	9–4	3–10	9–3	6–6	4–9	8–5	9–3	—	7–5	6–7	3–9	8–4	8–4	7–6
Minnesota	9–3	5–7	9–4	9–4	7–5	11–1	6–7	5–7	—	3–9	5–8	8–5	7–6	7–5
New York	10–3	4–9	6–6	9–3	7–6	5–8	6–6	7–6	9–3	—	6–6	5–7	5–6	6–7
Oakland	8–4	9–3	9–4	8–5	8–4	8–4	5–8	9–3	8–5	6–6	—	9–4	8–5	9–3
Seattle	5–7	6–6	7–6	4–9	7–5	3–9	5–7	4–8	5–8	7–5	4–9	—	6–7	5–7
Texas	6–6	4–8	5–8	5–8	6–6	4–8	6–7	4–8	6–7	6–5	5–8	7–6	—	6–6
Toronto	8–5	11–2	6–6	5–7	7–6	8–5	8–4	6–7	5–7	7–6	3–9	7–5	6–6	—

Notable transactions

• March 30, 1988: Orestes Destrade was traded by the Yankees to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Hipólito Peña.^[6]
• April 4, 1988: Rick Cerone was released by the Yankees.^[7]
• April 4, 1988: Jerry Royster was released by the New York Yankees.^[8]
• May 7, 1988: Chris Chambliss was signed as a free agent by the Yankees.^[9]
• May 10, 1988: Chris Chambliss was released by the Yankees.^[9]
• June 1, 1988: 1988 Major League Baseball draft
  • Andy Cook was drafted by the Yankees in the 11th round.^[10]
  • Frank Seminara was drafted by the New York Yankees in the 12th round.^[11]
  • Deion Sanders was drafted by the Yankees in the 30th round. Player signed June 22, 1988.^[12]
• July 15, 1988: Luis Aguayo was traded by the Philadelphia Phillies to the New York Yankees for Amalio Carreno.^[13]
• July 21, 1988: Jay Buhner, Rich Balabon (minors), and a player to be named later were traded by the Yankees to the Seattle Mariners for Ken Phelps. The Yankees completed the deal by sending Troy Evers (minors) to the Mariners on October 12.^[14]
• August 30, 1988: Cecilio Guante was traded by the Yankees to the Texas Rangers for Dale Mohorcic.^[15]

Roster

1988 New York Yankees
Roster
Pitchers 27 Neil Allen 45 John Candelaria 38 Pat Clements 36 Richard Dotson 52 Dave Eiland 51 Cecilio Guante 35 Lee Guetterman 49 Ron Guidry 41 Charles Hudson 25 Tommy John 28 Al Leiter 54 Dale Mohorcic 47 Scott Nielsen 46,60 Hipólito Peña 26 Rick Rhoden 19 Dave Righetti 33,40 Steve Shields 43 Tim Stoddard		Catchers 57,58 Bob Geren 12 Joel Skinner 11 Don Slaught Infielders 29 Luis Aguayo 47 Álvaro Espinoza 23 Don Mattingly 20 Bob Meacham 13 Mike Pagliarulo 21 Ken Phelps 30 Willie Randolph 17 Rafael Santana  2 Wayne Tolleson 29,46 Randy Velarde		Outfielders 54 Jay Buhner 24 Rickey Henderson 39 Roberto Kelly 62 Hal Morris 22 Gary Ward 18 Claudell Washington 31 Dave Winfield Other batters 50 Chris Chambliss 6,21,33 Jack Clark 21 José Cruz		Manager  1 Billy Martin 14 Lou Piniella Coaches 6,40 Clete Boyer 50 Chris Chambliss 55,34 Mike Ferraro 42 Art Fowler 40 Clyde King 48 Gene Michael 48 George Mitterwald 44 Jeff Torborg 42 Stan Williams

Game log

Regular season

1988 regular season game log: 85–76 (Home: 46–34; Away: 39–42)
April: 16–7 (Home: 9–4; Away: 7–3) # Date Time (ET) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/ Streak GB 1 April 5 1:10 pm EDT Twins W 8–0 55,802 1–0 W1 2 April 6 1:10 pm EDT Twins W 5–3 32,756 2–0 W2 – April 7 Twins Postponed (Rain) (Makeup date: August 5) 3 April 8 7:35 pm EDT Brewers W 6–4 20,927 3–0 W3 4 April 9 7:36 pm EDT Brewers W 4–1 27,021 4–0 W4 5 April 10 1:36 pm EDT Brewers W 7–6 36,214 5–0 W5 6 April 11 1:45 pm EDT @ Blue Jays L 9–17 45,185 5–1 L1 7 April 12 7:36 pm EDT @ Blue Jays W 12–3 24,116 6–1 W1 8 April 13 7:35 pm EDT @ Blue Jays W 5–1 24,105 7–1 W2 9 April 14 12:36 pm EDT @ Blue Jays W 7–3 24,524 8–1 W3 10 April 15 2:35 pm EDT @ Brewers W 7–1 55,887 9–1 W4 11 April 16 4:08 pm EDT @ Brewers L 2–9 24,972 9–2 L1 12 April 17 2:30 pm EDT @ Brewers L 3–6 22,199 9–3 L2 13 April 18 8:09 pm EDT @ Twins W 18–5 30,442 10–3 W1 14 April 19 8:05 pm EDT @ Twins W 7–6 23,724 11–3 W2 15 April 20 8:05 pm EDT @ Twins W 7–6 (10) 22,369 12–3 W3 16 April 22 7:39 pm EDT Blue Jays L 4–6 (12) 33,314 12–4 L1 17 April 23 7:38 pm EDT Blue Jays L 2–3 24,046 12–5 L2 18 April 24 1:38 pm EDT Blue Jays W 5–3 52,073 13–5 W1
May: 17–9 (Home: 7–4; Away: 10–5) # Date Time (ET) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/ Streak GB
June: 12–15 (Home: 7–6; Away: 5–9) # Date Time (ET) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/ Streak GB
July: 15–11 (Home: 8–5; Away: 7–6) # Date Time (ET) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/ Streak GB
August: 9–20 (Home: 6–11; Away: 3–9) # Date Time (ET) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/ Streak GB
September: 16–12 (Home: 9–4; Away: 7–8) # Date Time (ET) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/ Streak GB
October: 0–2 (Home: 0–0; Away: 0–2) # Date Time (ET) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/ Streak GB
Legend:        = Win        = Loss        = Postponement Bold = Yankees team member

Player stats

= Indicates team leader

Batting

Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Pos	Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
C	Don Slaught	97	322	91	.283	9	43
1B	Don Mattingly	144	599	186	.311	18	88
2B	Willie Randolph	110	404	93	.230	2	34
3B	Mike Pagliarulo	125	444	96	.216	15	67
SS	Rafael Santana	148	480	115	.240	4	38
LF	Rickey Henderson	140	554	169	.305	6	50
CF	Claudell Washington	126	455	140	.308	11	64
RF	Dave Winfield	149	559	180	.322	25	107
DH	Jack Clark	150	496	120	.242	27	93

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
Joel Skinner	88	251	57	.227	4	23
Gary Ward	91	231	52	.225	4	24
Luis Aguayo	50	140	35	.250	3	8
Bob Meacham	47	115	25	.217	0	7
Randy Velarde	48	115	20	.174	5	12
Ken Phelps	45	107	24	.224	10	22
José Cruz	38	80	16	.200	1	7
Roberto Kelly	38	77	19	.247	1	7
Jay Buhner	25	69	13	.188	3	13
Wayne Tolleson	21	59	15	.254	0	5
Hal Morris	15	20	2	.100	0	0
Bob Geren	10	10	1	.100	0	0
Álvaro Espinoza	3	3	0	.000	0	0
Chris Chambliss	1	1	0	.000	0	0

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Rick Rhoden	30	197.0	12	12	4.29	94
Tommy John	35	176.1	9	8	4.49	81
Richard Dotson	32	171.0	12	9	5.00	77
John Candelaria	25	157.0	13	7	3.38	121
Al Leiter	14	57.1	4	4	3.92	60
Ron Guidry	12	56.0	2	3	4.18	32
Dave Eiland	3	12.2	0	0	6.39	7

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Charles Hudson	28	106.1	6	6	4.49	58
Scott Nielsen	7	19.2	1	2	6.86	4
Pat Clements	6	8.1	0	0	6.48	3

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	W	L	SV	ERA	SO
Dave Righetti	60	5	4	25	3.52	70
Cecilio Guante	56	5	6	11	2.88	61
Neil Allen	41	5	3	0	3.84	61
Steve Shields	39	5	5	0	4.37	55
Tim Stoddard	28	2	2	3	6.38	33
Lee Guetterman	20	1	2	0	4.65	15
Hipólito Peña	16	1	1	0	3.14	10
Dale Mohorcic	13	2	2	1	2.78	19

Awards and records

• Rickey Henderson, Yankees Single Season Record, Stolen Bases in a Season (93 in 1988)

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Columbus Clippers	International League	Bucky Dent
AA	Albany-Colonie Yankees	Eastern League	Tommy Jones and Stump Merrill
A	Prince William Cannons	Carolina League	Wally Moon and Gene Tenace
A	Fort Lauderdale Yankees	Florida State League	Buck Showalter
A-Short Season	Oneonta Yankees	New York–Penn League	Gary Allenson
Rookie	GCL Yankees	Gulf Coast League	Brian Butterfield

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Albany-Colonie, Oneonta, GCL Yankees^[16]