1991 New York Yankees season

The 1991 New York Yankees season was the 89th season for the Yankees. The team finished with a record of 71–91 finishing 20 games behind the Toronto Blue Jays. New York was managed by Stump Merrill. The Yankees played at Yankee Stadium.

1991 New York Yankees
League	American League
Division	East
Ballpark	Yankee Stadium
City	New York City
Record	71–91 (.438)
Divisional place	5th
Owners	George Steinbrenner and Robert Nederlander (managing general partner)
General managers	Gene Michael
Managers	Stump Merrill
Television	WPIX (Phil Rizzuto, Tom Seaver, Bobby Murcer) MSG (Tony Kubek, Dewayne Staats, Al Trautwig)
Radio	WABC (AM) (John Sterling, Joe Angel)
← 1990 Seasons 1992 →

Offseason

• October 5, 1990: Wayne Tolleson was released by the New York Yankees.^[1]
• November 19, 1990: Tim Leary was signed as a free agent with the New York Yankees.^[2]
• December 3, 1990: Frank Seminara was drafted by the San Diego Padres from the New York Yankees in the 1990 rule 5 draft.^[3]
• December 31, 1990: Scott Sanderson was purchased by the New York Yankees from the Oakland Athletics.^[4]
• January 13, 1991: Rick Cerone was released by the New York Yankees.^[5]
• March 19, 1991: Torey Lovullo was traded by the Detroit Tigers to the New York Yankees for Mark Leiter.^[6]

Regular season

• Steve Sax led the Yankees with a .304 batting average, 198 hits, 85 runs, and 38 doubles.
• April 11, 1991 – Roberto Kelly had 5 RBI in a game versus the Detroit Tigers.
• June 23, 1991 – Roberto Kelly had 5 hits in a game versus the eventual World Champion Minnesota Twins.

Season standings

• v
• t
• e

AL East

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Toronto Blue Jays	91	71	.562	—	46‍–‍35	45‍–‍36
Boston Red Sox	84	78	.519	7	43‍–‍38	41‍–‍40
Detroit Tigers	84	78	.519	7	49‍–‍32	35‍–‍46
Milwaukee Brewers	83	79	.512	8	43‍–‍37	40‍–‍42
New York Yankees	71	91	.438	20	39‍–‍42	32‍–‍49
Baltimore Orioles	67	95	.414	24	33‍–‍48	34‍–‍47
Cleveland Indians	57	105	.352	34	30‍–‍52	27‍–‍53

Record vs. opponents

1991 American League record v t e Sources:
Team	BAL	BOS	CAL	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	MIL	MIN	NYY	OAK	SEA	TEX	TOR
Baltimore	—	8–5	6–6	4–8	7–6	5–8	4–8	3–10	4–8	5–8	3–9	4–8	9–3	5–8
Boston	5–8	—	4–8	7–5	9–4	5–8	7–5	7–6	3–9	6–7	8–4	9–3	5–7	9–4
California	6–6	8–4	—	8–5	7–5	5–7	9–4	6–6	8–5	6–6	1–12	6–7	5–8	6–6
Chicago	8–4	5–7	5–8	—	6–6	4–8	7–6	7–5	8–5	8–4	7–6	7–6	8–5	7–5
Cleveland	6–7	4–9	5–7	6–6	—	7–6	4–8	5–8	2–10	6–7	5–7	2–10	4–8	1–12
Detroit	8–5	8–5	7–5	8–4	6–7	—	8–4	4–9	4–8	8–5	4–8	8–4	6–6	5–8
Kansas City	8–4	5–7	4–9	6–7	8–4	4–8	—	9–3	6–7	7–5	6–7	7–6	7–6	5–7
Milwaukee	10–3	6–7	6–6	5–7	8–5	9–4	3–9	—	6–6	6–7	8–4	3–9	7–5	6–7
Minnesota	8–4	9–3	5–8	5–8	10–2	8–4	7–6	6–6	—	10–2	8–5	9–4	6–7	4–8
New York	8–5	7–6	6–6	4–8	7–6	5–8	5–7	7–6	2–10	—	6–6	3–9	5–7	6–7
Oakland	9–3	4–8	12–1	6–7	7–5	8–4	7–6	4–8	5–8	6–6	—	6–7	4–9	6–6
Seattle	8–4	3–9	7–6	6–7	10–2	4–8	6–7	9–3	4–9	9–3	7–6	—	5–8	5–7
Texas	3–9	7–5	8–5	5–8	8–4	6–6	6–7	5–7	7–6	7–5	9–4	8–5	—	6–6
Toronto	8–5	4–9	6–6	5–7	12–1	8–5	7–5	7–6	8–4	7–6	6–6	7–5	6–6	—

Detailed records

American League Opponent W L WP RS RA AL East Baltimore Orioles 8 5 0.615 59 55 Boston Red Sox 7 6 0.538 55 53 Cleveland Indians 7 6 0.538 54 42 Detroit Tigers 5 8 0.385 69 77 Milwaukee Brewers 7 6 0.538 61 64 New York Yankees Toronto Blue Jays 6 7 0.462 50 57 Total 40 38 0.513 348 348 AL West California Angels 6 6 0.500 48 64 Chicago White Sox 4 8 0.333 52 77 Kansas City Royals 5 7 0.417 46 59 Minnesota Twins 2 10 0.167 46 64 Oakland Athletics 6 6 0.500 56 59 Seattle Mariners 3 9 0.250 32 43 Texas Rangers 5 7 0.417 46 63 Total 31 53 0.369 326 429 Season Total 71 91 0.438 674 777

Month Games Won Lost Win % RS RA April 17 6 11 0.353 79 93 May 27 14 13 0.519 111 107 June 27 13 14 0.481 123 122 July 26 13 13 0.500 109 121 August 31 12 19 0.387 137 183 September 28 9 19 0.321 85 126 October 6 4 2 0.667 30 25 Total 162 71 91 0.438 674 777 Games Won Lost Win % RS RA Home 81 39 42 0.481 356 380 Away 81 32 49 0.395 318 397 Total 162 71 91 0.438 674 777

Notable transactions

• April 1, 1991: Steve Balboni was released by the New York Yankees.^[7]
• April 5, 1991: Scott Lusader was selected off waivers by the New York Yankees from the Detroit Tigers.^[8]
• May 9, 1991: Andy Hawkins was released by the New York Yankees.^[9]
• May 17, 1991: Mike Blowers was traded by the New York Yankees to the Seattle Mariners for a player to be named later and cash. The Seattle Mariners sent Jim Blueberg (minors) (June 22, 1991) to the New York Yankees to complete the trade.^[10]
• May 25, 1991: Andy Pettite was signed by the New York Yankees as an amateur free agent.^[11]

Draft picks

• With the first overall pick in the MLB draft, the New York Yankees selected Brien Taylor. He was a left-handed pitcher from Beaufort, North Carolina who competed at East Carteret High School.^[12]

Notable draft picks

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Amateur Club
5	126	Lyle Mouton	OF	Louisiana State University
9	230	Keith Garagozzo	LHP	University of Delaware

^[12]

Roster

1991 New York Yankees
Roster
Pitchers 25 Greg Cadaret 51 Chuck Cary 60 Darrin Chapin 28 Dave Eiland 26 Steve Farr 35 Lee Guetterman 42,57 John Habyan 40 Andy Hawkins 57 Steve Howe 43 Jeff Johnson 40 Scott Kamieniecki 54 Tim Leary 50 Alan Mills 45 Rich Monteleone 34 Pascual Pérez 33 Eric Plunk 21 Scott Sanderson 41 Wade Taylor 36 Mike Witt		Catchers 53 Bob Geren 38 Matt Nokes 48 John Ramos Infielders 14 Mike Blowers 20 Álvaro Espinoza 14 Pat Kelly 12 Jim Leyritz 13,43 Torey Lovullo 23 Don Mattingly 12 Carlos Rodríguez  6 Steve Sax 18 Randy Velarde		Outfielders 29 Jesse Barfield 27 Mel Hall 36 Mike Humphreys 39 Roberto Kelly 17 Scott Lusader 31 Hensley Meulens 17 Pat Sheridan 51 Bernie Williams Other Positions 24 Kevin Maas		Manager 22 Stump Merrill Coaches 52 Mark Connor 44 Mike Ferraro 47 Marc Hill 46 Frank Howard 41 Graig Nettles 48,11 Buck Showalter (third base)

Player stats

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	Matt Nokes	135	456	122	.268	24	77
1B	Don Mattingly	152	587	169	.288	9	68
2B	Steve Sax	158	652	198	.304	10	56
3B	Pat Kelly	96	298	72	.242	3	23
SS	Álvaro Espinoza	148	480	123	.256	5	33
LF	Mel Hall	141	492	140	.285	19	80
CF	Bernie Williams	85	320	76	.238	3	34
RF	Jesse Barfield	84	284	64	.225	17	48
DH	Kevin Maas	148	500	110	.220	23	63

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
Roberto Kelly	126	486	130	.267	20	69
Hensley Meulens	96	288	64	.222	6	29
Randy Velarde	80	184	45	.245	1	15
Bob Geren	64	128	28	.219	2	12
Pat Sheridan	62	113	23	.204	4	7
Jim Leyritz	32	77	14	.182	0	4
Torey Lovullo	22	51	9	.176	0	2
Mike Humphreys	25	40	8	.200	0	3
Carlos Rodríguez	15	37	7	.189	0	2
Mike Blowers	15	35	7	.200	1	1
John Ramos	10	26	8	.308	0	3
Scott Lusader	11	7	1	.143	0	1

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
Scott Sanderson	34	208.0	16	10	3.81	130
Jeff Johnson	23	127.0	6	11	5.95	62
Wade Taylor	23	116.1	7	12	6.27	72
Pascual Pérez	14	73.2	2	4	3.18	41
Dave Eiland	18	72.2	2	5	5.33	18
Scott Kamieniecki	9	55.1	4	4	3.90	34
Chuck Cary	10	53.1	1	6	5.91	34
Andy Hawkins	4	12.2	0	2	9.95	5
Mike Witt	2	5.1	0	1	10.13	0

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
Tim Leary	28	120.2	4	10	6.49	83
Eric Plunk	43	111.2	2	5	4.76	103
Alan Mills	6	16.1	1	1	4.41	11

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
Steve Farr	60	5	5	23	2.19	60
Greg Cadaret	68	8	6	3	3.62	105
John Habyan	66	4	2	2	2.30	70
Lee Guetterman	64	3	4	6	3.68	35
Steve Howe	37	3	1	3	1.68	34
Rich Monteleone	26	3	1	0	3.64	34
Darrin Chapin	3	0	1	0	5.06	5
Álvaro Espinoza	1	0	0	0	0.00	0

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Columbus Clippers	International League	Rick Down
AA	Albany-Colonie Yankees	Eastern League	Dan Radison
A	Prince William Cannons	Carolina League	Mike Hart
A	Fort Lauderdale Yankees	Florida State League	Glenn Sherlock
A	Greensboro Hornets	South Atlantic League	Trey Hillman
A-Short Season	Oneonta Yankees	New York–Penn League	Jack Gillis
Rookie	GCL Yankees	Gulf Coast League	Ken Dominguez

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Columbus, Albany-Colonie^[13]