The 1987

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one ...

season was the 85th season for the Yankees. The team finished in fourth place with a record of 89-73, finishing 9 games behind the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

. New York was managed by

Lou Piniella Louis Victor Piniella ( usually ; born August 28, 1943) is a former professional baseball player and manager. An outfielder, he played 16 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the Baltimore Orioles, Cleveland Indians, Kansas City Royals and ...

. The Yankees played at

Yankee Stadium Yankee Stadium is a baseball stadium located in the Bronx, New York City. It is the home field of the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball, and New York City FC of Major League Soccer. Opened in April 2009, the stadium replaced the orig ...

Offseason

* November 26, 1986: Doug Drabek, Brian Fisher, and Logan Easley were traded by the Yankees to the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

for

Rick Rhoden Richard Alan Rhoden (born May 16, 1953) is a professional golfer and former Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher. During his 16-year baseball career, he played for the Los Angeles Dodgers (1974–1978), the Pittsburgh Pirates (1979–1986), the Ne ...

Pat Clements Patrick Brian Clements (born February 2, 1962) is a retired professional baseball player who played eight seasons for the California Angels, Pittsburgh Pirates, New York Yankees, San Diego Padres, and Baltimore Orioles of Major League Basebal ...

and Cecilio Guante. *December 17, 1986:

Lenn Sakata Lenn Haruki Sakata (born June 8, 1954) is an American former professional baseball player who played in the Major Leagues primarily as a utility player from 1977 to 1987 and was a member of the Baltimore Orioles 1983 World Series Championship tea ...

was signed as a free agent with the New York Yankees. * December 19, 1986: Ron Romanick was traded by the California Angels with a player to be named later to the New York Yankees for a player to be named later and Butch Wynegar. * January 5, 1987:

Scott Nielsen Jeffrey Scott Nielsen (born December 18, 1958) is a retired Major League Baseball pitcher. He played during four seasons at the major league level for the New York Yankees and Chicago White Sox. He was drafted by the Seattle Mariners in the 6th ro ...

and Mike Soper (minors) were traded by the Yankees to the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...

for

Randy Velarde Randy Lee Velarde (born November 24, 1962) is an American former baseball infielder and utility player who played 16 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played the majority of his career for the New York Yankees, and also played for the C ...

and

Pete Filson William Peter Filson (born September 28, 1958) is a retired Major League Baseball pitcher. He played during seven seasons at the major league level for the Minnesota Twins, Chicago White Sox, New York Yankees, and Kansas City Royals. Playing car ...

. * January 8, 1987:

Willie Randolph William Larry Randolph (born July 6, 1954) is an American former professional baseball second baseman, coach, and manager. During an 18-year career in Major League Baseball (MLB), he played from 1975 to 1992 for six different teams, most notabl ...

was signed as a free agent by the Yankees. * February 13, 1987: Rick Cerone was signed as a free agent by the Yankees.

Regular season

The Yankees hit 10 grand slams, the most by an MLB team in 1987. Six of those were hit by

Don Mattingly Donald Arthur Mattingly (born April 20, 1961) is an American former professional baseball first baseman, coach, and manager in Major League Baseball (MLB). He is the bench coach for the Toronto Blue Jays of Major League Baseball (MLB). Nickname ...

, who set a record for most grand slam home runs in one season with six. His record was matched by

Travis Hafner Travis Lee Hafner (; born June 3, 1977) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a designated hitter and first baseman. A left-handed hitter, Hafner played for the Texas Rangers, Cleveland In ...

during the 2006 season. Mattingly's grand slams in 1987 were also the only six grand slams of his career. In addition, Mattingly had tied Dale Long's major league record by hitting home runs in eight consecutive games (record later tied again by

Ken Griffey Jr. George Kenneth Griffey Jr. (born November 21, 1969), nicknamed "Junior" and "the Kid", is an American former professional baseball outfielder who played 22 years in Major League Baseball (MLB). He spent most of his career with the Seattle M ...

, of Seattle in 1993), as well as stroking an extra base hit in ten consecutive games. Mattingly had a record 10 home runs during this streak (Long & Griffey had eight of them). In June 1987, it was reported that Mattingly injured his back during some clubhouse horseplay with pitcher

Bob Shirley Robert Charles Shirley (born June 25, 1954) is a former professional baseball pitcher. He played all or parts of 11 seasons in Major League Baseball, from 1977 to 1987, for the San Diego Padres, St. Louis Cardinals, Cincinnati Reds, New York Yanke ...

though both denied this. Nevertheless, he finished with a .327 batting average, 30 home runs, and 115 RBIs, his fourth straight year with at least 110 RBIs. On July 13, 1987, George Steinbrenner told manager Lou Piniella that the acquisition of Steve Trout would win the Yankees the pennant. Trout never won a game for the Yankees, going 0–4 in 14 games.

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Notable transactions

* April 10, 1987:

Rich Bordi Richard Albert Bordi (born April 18, 1959) is a former Major League Baseball relief pitcher who played from to . He played for the Oakland Athletics, Seattle Mariners, Chicago Cubs, New York Yankees and Baltimore Orioles. Bordi threw and batt ...

was signed as a free agent by the Yankees. * May 15, 1987: Rafael Quirico was signed as an amateur free agent by the Yankees. * June 10, 1987: Keith Hughes and

Shane Turner Shane Lee Turner (born January 8, 1963) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in parts of three seasons in the Major League Baseball (MLB) for three different teams. Career Turner attended Garey High School in Pomona CA ...

were traded by the Yankees to the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

for Mike Easler. * June 22, 1987: Alan Mills was sent by the California Angels to the New York Yankees to complete an earlier deal made on December 19, 1986. * July 13, 1987:

Bob Tewksbury Robert Alan Tewksbury (born November 30, 1960) is an American former Major League Baseball pitcher and current Mental Skills Coordinator for the Chicago Cubs. He played professionally for the New York Yankees, Chicago Cubs, St. Louis Cardinals ...

Rich Scheid Richard Paul Scheid (born February 3, 1965) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played for the Houston Astros (1992) and Florida Marlins (1994–1995) of Major League Baseball (MLB). Scheid attended Seton Hall University, whe ...

, and

Dean Wilkins Dean Mark Wilkins (born 12 July 1962) is an English football coach and former professional player. He was most recently the assistant manager of League Two club Stevenage. Managerial career Wilkins assumed the position of caretaker manager at ...

were traded by the Yankees to the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is locate ...

for

Steve Trout Steven Russell Trout (born July 30, 1957) is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played Major League Baseball (MLB) during the 1980s. He is the son of former MLB pitcher Dizzy Trout. He had the nickname " Rainbow". Career Chic ...

. * August 26, 1987: Dennis Rasmussen was traded by the Yankees to the

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line w ...

Reds for

Bill Gullickson William Lee Gullickson (born February 20, 1959) is an American former Major League Baseball pitcher who played professionally in Canada, the U.S. and Japan, during an 18-year professional career, of which 14 seasons were spent in MLB. MLB career ...

. * August 26, 1987:

Ken Patterson Kenneth Brian Patterson (born July 8, 1964), is an American former professional baseball player who pitched in Major League Baseball from 1988-1994. He taught private lessons in the Central Texas area from 1998-2004 before beginning his coaching ...

and a player to be named later were traded by the Yankees to the

for

Jerry Royster Jeron Kennis Royster (born October 18, 1952) is an American former Major League Baseball player and coach. He was a third baseman for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Atlanta Braves, San Diego Padres, Chicago White Sox, and the New York Yankees. He was ...

and Mike Soper (minors). The New York Yankees completed the deal by sending Jeff Pries (minors) to the White Sox on September 19. * September 17, 1987: Sherman Obando was signed as an amateur free agent by the Yankees.

Roster

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''

Other batters

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

Pitching

Starting pitchers

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

Other pitchers

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

Relief pitchers

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

Awards and records

, American League record, Most Grand Slams in one season (6) * Don Mattingly,

Silver Slugger Award The Silver Slugger Award has been awarded annually since 1980 to the best offensive player at each position in both the American League and the National League, as determined by the coaches and managers of Major League Baseball. These voters ...

Farm system

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Columbus, Fort LauderdaleJohnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., ''The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball'', 2nd and 3rd editions. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997 and 2007

References

External links

1987 New York Yankees at Baseball Reference1987 New York Yankees
at ''Baseball Almanac'' {{New York Yankees New York Yankees seasons

1980s in the Bronx