A Day in the Life of the 1990 Yankees
"Obviously, we're in it to win it. So you know, we stayed the course." - Brian Cashman on August 1, 2023
When the Yankees' GM uttered these words right after the trade deadline, I let out an audible laugh. What else does he think is obvious? That dogs smell better after a long walk in the rain? That a trip to the DMV is a pleasant experience? That Rocky V is the best movie of the series?
The Yankees are in full-blown free fall mode after doing absolutely nothing to improve a lineup with glaring holes both before and during this season. The only folks who seem to think this is not a problem are the ones sitting in the Yankees' front office making all of the key decisions. It's a bad look.
Rather than digging into the current mess, I'd rather reminisce. The 2023 Yankees have me thinking a lot about the 1990 iteration of the team when they hit rock bottom as a franchise. That year they went 67-95 which was good for a .414 winning percentage, the lowest any Yankee team has posted since 1913. They also were conspicuously inactive when it came to improving a highly flawed team. Their major transactions leading up to the season were signing pitcher Pascual Perez - who had a very poor track record off the field - and shipping out starting catcher Don Slaught and top prospect Hal Morris in trades that returned nothing but aging and/or useless pitchers in return.
Early in the 1990 season the Yankees also dealt useful outfielder Luis Polonia for bullpen help and a washed up Claudell Washington. The cherry on top was the controversial trade of Dave Winfield that May to the California Angels in exchange for Mike Witt, a former All-Star pitcher who hadn't been even an average pitcher for three years. Wouldn't it be better to re-live that heartbreak than endure the nonsense going on in the Bronx these days? You bet it would!
Thanks to the magic of YouTube, I found what seemed like a perfectly innocent game that should give us a glimpse into what it was like to follow the Yankees in 1990. It was the middle of July so the season was already lost, and the Royals were in town. Handling the broadcast was WPIX, so Phil Rizzuto was in the booth. Here's a running commentary of what should prove to be a much more entertaining experience than watching the 2023 Yankees. Follow along here if you'd like.
Intro
A guy named George Grande opens the broadcast. I have no recollection of Mr. Grande ever calling a Yankee game, but it's OK because Rizzuto is sitting next to him and he says Tom Seaver will also be in on the coverage. The video gets a little choppy, but I'm pretty sure Rizzuto calls Alvaro Espinoza the MVP of the Yankees, and that's all you need to know about this team. They mercifully throw it down to Seaver who has Dave Righetti ready for an interview.
Apparently, Righetti saved a victory the night before and makes the point that he'd like to work more often. Not many save opportunities going around on a last place team. Seaver asks about his contract status and as a pending free agent, Rags knows he might be dealt, but would like to stick around. He'd last the season in pinstripes, but sign with the San Francisco Giants for 1991.
Before cutting to a commercial, we're shown the pitching match-up, Storm Davis (2-6, 5.30 ERA) for the Royals up against Andy Hawkins (1-7, 5.77 ERA) for the Yankees. Should be a doozy.
Top First
They show us the starting lineups, and we'll get to everybody as the game goes on. For now, just two things to note: (1) Deion Sanders is starting in center for the Yankees and Bo Jackson is in center for the Royals. With the two most prominent two-sport athletes of all time facing off against each other, maybe we'll see some fireworks, and (2) along with Sanders in the outfield, Roberto Kelly is in left with Jesse Barfield in right for the Yankees. That's a hell of a defensive outfield chock full of speed and strength.
Kevin Seitzer leads things off for the Royals. He's not yet sporting an extended earflap like he did later in his career. He lines out to Barfield in right who makes a tough play look easy. Up next is shortstop Kurt Stillwell, and all I can think of now is the annoying kid in A League of Their Own. He flies out harmlessly to Sanders in center. George Brett steps to the plate and while Hawkins had the look of a beer leaguer trying to get the game in before happy hour ends for the first two batters, he's now nibbling around the plate. Brett gets nothing to hit and draws a walk.
Next up is Bo Jackson who's swinging for the fences. During his at bat we get a good shot of Brett and Don Mattingly yucking it up at first base. Not surprising to see after watching Donnie Baseball. Hawkins offers Jackson a middle-middle meatball which Bo promptly deposits over the head of a leaping Sanders for a home run and 2-0 Royals lead. Boom goes the dynamite.
Designated hitter Gerald Perry grounds out weakly to Steve Sax at second base on a very close play, but not before Rizzuto gets in a jab about home run celebrations. Jackson's mild arm bump with a teammate wouldn't even register on today's radar.
Bottom First
Grande pulls no punches on Storm Davis who had signed for big money with Kansas City only to be a major disappointment. Leadoff hitter Deion Sanders hits a weak fly to Bo Jackson in center for the first out of the inning. Steve Sax then hits a chopper to the hole between third and short which is gloved by Stillwell but doesn't even warrant a throw. Rizzuto refers to it as a Baltimore chop, and of course it wasn't. Man, I miss the Scooter.
Don Mattingly steps up with one on and one out and his numbers look atrocious. This is the year that his back injuries came to a tipping point, limiting his playing time and sapping him of most of his power. Despite this, he ropes a bullet down the first base line which is handled easily by Brett, who ate hits like that for breakfast as a third baseman earlier in his career. The double play ball ends the inning and as Mattingly strolls back to the dugout he's clearly hampered by a sore back.
Top Second
Coming back from commercial, WPIX cameras capture a sign in the stadium that a fan created of Bart Simpson wishing Rizzuto a happy 50th wedding anniversary, because it's 1990. Phil admits to not understanding The Simpsons, then launches into a story of bringing the whole family down to Florida. Classic Phil. Meanwhile, Jim Eisenreich grounds to Sax at second for the first out. That brings up Pat Tabler, a former Yankee farmhand, which inspires Rizzuto to marvel at how many former Yankee minor leaguers are on other major league rosters right now. Tabler rolls one over to Jim Leyritz at third base for another easy out.
At this point, Grande and Rizzuto mention Hawkins' now infamous no-hitter loss, which had occured just a couple weeks prior to this game. They even flash a copy of the Scooter's scorecard from the game, which looks worse than chicken scratch. Mike Macfarlane grounds to Espinoza at short to end the inning, but I'm sure we haven't heard the last about the Andy Hawkins no-hitter just yet.
Bottom Second
Recent acquisition Matt Nokes leads it off and the broadcasters note how well he's hit since coming to New York, which I distinctly remember as a kid. Right on cue, he lines a double to right field. That sets up Jim Leyritz who looks odd for two reasons: (1) He's wearing number 12, not the 13 he would wear for the bulk of his Yankee career, and (2) he looks remarkably trim. I only ever think of Leyritz as a chubby, balding rockstar in the clutch, and not the person I'm looking at right now. He draws a walk.
Jesse Barfield now has a golden opportunity to get the Yankees on the board, but he bounces a ball to third and narrowly avoids a double play to set up first and third with one out for none other than phenom Kevin Maas. He lines the first pitch he sees to right for an RBI single and his legend continues. I'm sure we'll here a lot more about him as the game goes on.
In another first and third situation, MVP Alvaro Espinoza is looking to bunt. He gets one down the first base line, but Barfield at third base must have missed a sign because Brett throws him out easily at home. Rizzuto jumps all over Barfield, as well he should. This is what bad teams do - I'm looking at you, 2023 Yankees. Roberto Kelly pops out to first to end the inning with the Yankees trailing 2-1.
Top Third
Bill Pecota leads it off and I can't see him and not think of the PECOTA projection system. He drills a ball to left field for another home run and a 3-1 Royals lead. Thanks, Bill. Seitzer then grounds one to short which Espinoza makes a solid play on and Rizzuto is smitten. Man does he love him some Alvaro. Next up is Stillwell who smokes a low liner to third base which Leyritz makes an impressive diving stop on. No way he makes that play in 1996. Two away.
Hawkins again wants no part of Brett and walks him. He'd be wise to take the same approach with Bo Jackson. Andy Hawkins, alas, is not wise. He serves up the same meatball to Jackson he did in the first inning and Jackson deposits it deep into the right field bleachers with minimal effort. 5-1 Royals.
Gerald Perry strikes out looking to end the inning, but Bo Jackson has already been worth the price of admission. Let's see if Deion can hold up his end of the bargain.
Bottom Third
Neon Deion does it!...almost. He drives the second pitch he sees to deep center that initially gets Jackson off-balance. But Bo runs backwards at full speed for about 15 feet to make the play, bewildering Rizzuto. It's remarkable how unnatural Jackson looks as a baseball player and how little that matters. He looks like he doesn't ever practice playing the game, but is still singlehandedly beating the Yankees because he's simply the most freakish athlete in the world.
Sax singles to right to serve as another one-out baserunner for Mattingly. Donnie bounces one through the right side for a base hit and messes with his pal George Brett who's holding him on at first for some reason. Suddenly, the Yankees are one swing away from potentially tying this game as Matt Nokes comes up. Instead, he taps a ball to short for an easy inning-ending double play. Again, this is what bad teams do.
Top Fourth
Tom Seaver replaces Rizzuto in the booth and immediately starts dropping pearls of wisdom about pitching. He describes Hawkins as someone who tries to push the ball over the plate. That is, he doesn't get his body behind his pitches or get on top of the ball enough to fool hitters. As he's saying this, I notice that Hawkins is pitching to the extreme first base side of the rubber. So much so that it doens't even look like he's pushing off the rubber. And yeah, his pitches have nothing on them. Seaver then offers a brilliantly simple description of pitching. Essentially, there are three things a pitcher can control: veolcity, movement and location. If you can get a handle on two of the three, you'll probably be effective. I'd never thought of pitching quite like that, but I will from now on.
Meanwhile, Hawkins gets Eisenreich to fly out and Tabler to ground out. After a walk to Macfarlane, he strikes out Bill Pecota swinging to end the inning.
Bottom Fourth
We open the bottom of the fourth with tonight's trivia question: What hitter holds the major league record for most strikeouts in a single World Series? My guess is Reggie Jackson, probably with the A's in the early 70's.
Jim Leyritz draws a leadoff walk and I notice another difference between this version and his older self. He was doing his trademark bat flip after most pitches, but not every single pitch like he would later. He gets thrown out on a fielder's choice off the bat of Barfield which brings up Kevin Maas. The phenom strikes out and looks completely overmatched. Espinoza grounds out weakly and that'll do it for the Yankees in the fourth.
Top Fifth
Kevin Seitzer pounds a liner to right field to give the Royals a leadoff baserunner. Stillwell flies out to left, but things could get ugly quick. George Brett steps up with one on and one out. He ropes one down the first base line that takes a strange hop off the lip of the grass and ends up bouncing off a fan's hand for a ground rule double. Stump Merrill comes out to have a few words with Hawkins. My word is Stump Merrill short. With a nickname like Stump, this makes a lot of sense. However, this was totally lost on me as a kid, so I'm just realizing this now.
Whatever Merrill said to Hawkins didn't work. Instead of serving up another middle-middle meatball to Bo Jackson, this time he throws a breaking ball that didn't break enough. Jackson - again looking like he only recently started swinging a baseball bat - muscles it over the right field wall for his third home run of the evening. Merrill comes out to give Hawkins the hook two batters too late. It's now 8-1 Royals.
Lefty Greg Cadaret relieves Hawkins and he gets Gerald Perry out on a pop-up, then Eisenreich grounds out to end the inning.
Bottom Fifth
The production crew plays a clip of Roberto Kelly expressing his lukewarm reception to being moved down to ninth in the order from the leadoff spot while he crushes a pitch off the left field wall for a leadoff double. We then miss most of the next play due to a replay of Kelly's double, but Deion Sanders legs out an infield hit. If the Yankees are going to get back into this game, the time is now.
Steve Sax takes a mighty swing at the first pitch he sees and it goes to the same spot that Kelly hit his double, just a bit higher and a bit longer. The second baseman's second homer of the year makes it an 8-4 game. Up comes Donnie Baseball who actually bluffs a bunt on the first pitch he sees. His back must really be hurting. He records the first out of the inning on a grounder to second.
Matt Nokes hits a soft fly ball to left which looks like trouble for a second, but Eisenreich settles under it nicely. Leyritz follows with a well hit ball to the gap in right-center that Pat Tabler makes a solid play on. Side retired.
Top Sixth
Trivia answer time! Should have known it would be a Royal. It's Willie Wilson in 1980 who struck out 12 times against the Phillies in the Fall Classic. The record must be astronomically higher now, so let's look it up: Cody Bellinger struck out 17 times against the Astros in 2017 for the record. I was definitely thinking 20 or more, oh well.
I'm noticing that Cadaret pitches angry, putting his body behind each pitch, attacking hitters aggressively, and even snapping his glove with attitude when the catcher throws the ball back. Basically, he's the opposite of Andy Hawkins. Tabler grounds out, Macfarlane flies out and Pecota dribbles one to Sax to end the Royal sixth. Even Cadaret's moustache looks like he means business.
Bottom Sixth
Taking the mound for Kansas City is Mel Stottlemyre, Jr. making his major league debut. In a quick interview clip before the inning starts, he confirms that it obviously means a lot to him to make his debut at Yankee Stadium given his dad's history. Apparently, he had quite the journey to the majors as Grande and Seaver describe all of the surgeries he's endured as a minor leaguer.
Just like his dad, he keeps the ball low in the strike zone and gets Barfield to ground to third before issuing a walk to Maas. That brings up the Yankee MVP with a chance to inch the Yankees closer. Espinoza drills one to the left field corner for a double to put runners on second and third with one out. Rizzuto the Wise! Kelly grounds to short for a productive out that makes it an 8-5 game.
Deion Sanders again has a chance to make a dent in this game like his counterpart in center field. Neon Deion does it...for real this time. He hits a line drive to shallow center that Bo Jackson almost makes an impossible play on as he dives all out to catch it on the fly. As he hits the grass the ball flies past him and Deion is off to the races. Tabler plays the ball off the wall in center and a decent relay seems to have a chance to get Sanders who's been gunning for home since Jackson dove. The relay ends up about 10 feet up the third base line and squeaks past Macfarlane as he awkwardly collides with Sanders who was airborne as he crossed home plate without touching it. Sanders scrambles back to touch the plate while Macfarlane clumsily misplays the back-up throw. Deion touches the plate to complete an inside-the-park home run. It's now 8-7 Royals.
Bo and Deion have been worth double the price of admission, but this is the end of the line for Bo. He injured himself on the fruitless dive to stop Deion's liner and has to come out of the game. Unfortunately, we won't see an attempt at four home runs for Jackson tonight. Steve Sax flies out to center field for the third out. Who replaced Bo in center? None other than Willie Wilson. That's baseball, Suzyn.
Top Seventh
Kevin Seitzer leads off the inning with a shot to center field that even a sprinting Deion Sanders can't catch up to. It's a leadoff double and the Royals have an insurance run in scoring position with no outs. Stillwell flies out to Barfield in right on the first pitch he sees and gives the right fielder a chance to show off his cannon to hold Seitzer at second. It works.
George Brett is up next and I feel a bit better about the Yankees' chances this time around because Andy Hawkins isn't pitching anymore. Brett proves to be a tough out even against Cadaret and he draws a walk, but not before Rizzuto tries to give a shout out to Tom Seaver's mother-in-law, who happens to be a big Yankee fan. But he screws it up royally and starts the shout out all over again. Did I mention I miss Phil Rizzuto?
Willie Wilson squirts a dribbler up the middle which plates two runs thanks to a wild pitch early on in his at-bat which advanced Seitzer to third and Brett to second. 10-7 Royals. Gerald Perry then lines one to short which Espinoza makes a nice diving stab on. Rizzuto is elated. Next Eisenreich hits a sharp grounder to first where Mattingly makes a typical slick snag and steps on first to end the inning.
Bottom Seventh
The Royals bring Steve Farr in to relieve Stottlemyre, Jr. and he looks way more jacked than he would as a Yankee a few years later. Mattingly leads it off and grounds to third for an easy out. George Brett's put-outs at first are looking more and more non-chalant as the night goes on. He must miss the hot corner.
Nokes singles to right and as Jim Leyritz comes to the plate, Seaver offers up an Irish brogue for some reason. It's awful. They mention that the starters for tomorrow's game will be Chuck Cary and Tom Gordon. Ah yes, Gordon was a failed starter with the Royals before becoming an effective reliever. Leyritz pulls a weak ground ball to third for an inning-ending double play. After showing signs of life last inning, it's not looking good for the Bombers.
Top Eighth
Now pitching for the Yankees is Alan Mills. I forgot that he started his career with the Yankees before pitching for the Orioles for what seemed like 100 years. His curve is looking sharp as he induces a fly out off the bat of Tabler. Mike Macfarlane and Bill Pecota then reach base with back-to-back singles to bring up Seitzer with a chance to extend the lead. He advances the runners with a ground out to the right side while the broadcast flashes to a note on the scoreboard stating that the Red Sox have set a record by hitting into two triple plays tonight. Awesome. Stillwell hits a grounder to short to retire the side.
Bottom Eighth
Jesse Barfield leads things off and Farr strikes him out with ease. It occurs to me that the folks who made the R.B.I. baseball games for the Sega Genesis must have modelled their pitchers after Farr. The pre-pitch stance and motion is identical. Kevin Maas strikes out looking.
With the game slipping away, Stump Merrill calls upon Oscar Azocar - making his first big league appearance - to pinch hit for Alvaro Espinoza. He pokes a grounder between third and short for the first base hit of his career. Now that he's standing next to Brett, Seaver and Rizzuto start joking about how many hits Azocar needs to catch up to him, and the joke goes on for way too long. Roberto Kelly finally ends the joke that never should have started with a grounder to second. Off to the ninth we go.
Top Ninth
Mills becomes the latest Yankee pitcher to struggle with George Brett as he reaches via a single and Willie Wilson keeps the hit parade going with a single of his own. Gerald Perry hits a chopper to short for the first out of the inning. Now playing short for the Yankees is Wayne Tolleson, who with a moustache and oversized glasses looks like he could be Alvaro Espinoza's brother.
Merrill calls for an intentional walk of Jim Eisenreich to load the bases and set up a potential double play. Tabler abides with a ground ball up the middle that Sax makes a nifty play on to start the twin killing. Deion Sanders is due up at the bottom half of the inning and we'll see if he has any magic left to give us a thrilling conclusion.
Bottom Ninth
In to close it out for the Royals is Jeff Montgomery. As he warms up, it's reported that Bo Jackson partially dislocated his shoulder joint on his heroic dive in the sixth. He's day-to-day. Montgomery plunks Sanders on the leg with a curveball to ensure that we don't see any more exciting plays in this game.
With one out and one on, Steve Sax strikes out swinging in one of the worst at bats you'll ever see. That brings up the ailing Don Mattingly to try and salvage something. Just as they show a graphic that he hasn't homered in 182 at bats, he pokes a ground rule double to left field. Matt Nokes now represents the tying run at the plate for the Yankees.
Nokes gets fooled badly on a good curve from Montgomery, and the last hope in the Bronx is Jim Leyritz. With sliders this time, Montgomery makes quick work of Leyritz as he strikes out swinging, and that's all she wrote. Royals win, 10-7.
Re-cap/Aftermath
For a game featuring two pretty bad teams, this was as exciting as it gets. With the usual marquee names hurt (Mattingly) or in their twighlight (Brett), Bo and Deion were going to have to bring their A-game to make this interesting and did they ever.
In what essentially became a showdown between the two cross-over stars, Bo just made a few more plays than Deion and that was the difference in the game.
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After the 1990 baseball season, Bo Jackson dazzled on the gridiron for the Raiders but suffered a major hip injury during a playoff game against the Bengals. The Royals would release him from his baseball contract shortly thereafter, but Bo decided to focus solely on baseball after the injury anyway. Once he recovered he remained an effective part-time player with the White Sox and Angels, but retired at just 31 years old to spend more time with his family. He's still remembered as one of the greatest athletes that ever lived.
Deion Sanders would also find a new baseball team after the 1990 season. The Yankees released him in September due to concerns about his time spent playing football. He would sign on with the Atlanta Braves and get the opportunity to play in the postseason. He hit over .500 and stole 5 bases in the 1992 World Series, albeit in a losing effort. He stuck with baseball through 1995 and came back for stints in 1997 and 2001 with the Reds, but Sanders will always be better remembered as football's premiere shutdown cornerback. As a football player, he was a six-time All-Pro, two time Super Bowl champion, and Hall of Famer. But for one night in the summer of 1990, Deion and Bo gave the baseball world a show for the ages.
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