1985 New York Yankees season

1985 New York Yankees
Major League affiliations
American League (since 1901)
Eastern Division (since 1969)
Location
Yankee Stadium (since 1976)
New York City (since 1903)
Other information
Owner(s)	George Steinbrenner
General manager(s)	Clyde King
Manager(s)	Yogi Berra, Billy Martin
Local television	WPIX (Phil Rizzuto, Bill White, Spencer Ross) SportsChannel NY (Mel Allen, Mickey Mantle, others from WPIX)
Local radio	WABC (AM) (Frank Messer, Phil Rizzuto, Bill White, John Gordon)
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The New York Yankees' 1985 season was the 83rd season for the Yankees. The team only played 161 games, came in second place in the American League Eastern Division with a record of 97-64, and finished 2 games behind the Toronto Blue Jays. New York was managed by Yogi Berra and Billy Martin. The Yankees played at Yankee Stadium.

Offseason

• November 5, 1984: Matt Keough was released by the Yankees.^[1]
• December 4, 1984: Ray Fontenot and Brian Dayett were traded by the Yankees to the Chicago Cubs for Ron Hassey, Porfi Altamirano, Rich Bordi, and Henry Cotto.^[2]
• December 5, 1984: Rick Cerone was traded by the Yankees to the Atlanta Braves for Brian Fisher.^[3]
• December 5, 1984: Stan Javier, Jay Howell, José Rijo, Eric Plunk, and Tim Birtsas were traded by the Yankees to the Oakland Athletics for Rickey Henderson, Bert Bradley and cash.^[4]
• December 20, 1984: Steve Kemp, Tim Foli, and cash were traded by the Yankees to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Jay Buhner, Dale Berra and Alfonso Pulido.^[5]
• December 27, 1984: Ed Whitson was signed as a free agent by the Yankees.^[6]
• February 27, 1985: Toby Harrah was traded by the Yankees to the Texas Rangers for Billy Sample and a player to be named later. The Rangers completed the deal by sending Eric Dersin (minors) to the Yankees on July 14.^[7]

Regular season

• Rickey Henderson set a new club record by stealing 80 bases in one season. The previous mark had stood since 1914.

Henderson also scored 146 runs. It was the most in the Major Leagues since Ted Williams scored 150 runs in 1949.^[8] In addition, Rickey Henderson became the first player since Lou Gehrig in 1936 to amass more runs in a season than games played.^[8]

• Don Mattingly became the first Yankee since Joe DiMaggio to have back to back 200 hit seasons.
• Mattingly's 48 doubles were the most since Lou Gehrig hit 52 in 1927.
• Mattingly was the AL MVP and RBI leader with 145. Mattingly hit for a .324 average with 35 home runs.
• Dave Winfield became the first Yankee since Yogi Berra to achieve four straight 100 RBI seasons. Berra did it from 1953 to 1956.
• On September 22, while at a hotel bar in Baltimore, Maryland, pitcher Ed Whitson broke manager Billy Martin's arm after a heated argument that spread to other parts of the hotel. Whitson's Yankee tenure was also memorable for constantly being heckled and booed during home games.
• On October 5, the Yankees entered the next-to-last game of the season against the division-leading Toronto Blue Jays trailing them by two games. However, the Jays, led by pitcher Doyle Alexander, triumphed 5-1, clinching their first division title in franchise history.

Season standings

AL East	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Toronto Blue Jays	99	62	0.615	—	54–26	45–36
New York Yankees	97	64	0.602	2	58–22	39–42
Detroit Tigers	84	77	0.522	15	44–37	40–40
Baltimore Orioles	83	78	0.516	16	45–36	38–42
Boston Red Sox	81	81	0.500	18½	43–37	38–44
Milwaukee Brewers	71	90	0.441	28	40–40	31–50
Cleveland Indians	60	102	0.370	39½	38–43	22–59

Record vs. opponents

1985 American League Records Sources:
Team	BAL	BOS	CAL	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	MIL	MIN	NYY	OAK	SEA	TEX	TOR
Baltimore	—	5–8	7–5	8–4	8–5	6–7	6–6	9–4	6–6	1–12	7–5	6–6	10–2	4–8
Boston	8–5	—	5–7	4–8–1	8–5	6–7	5–7	5–8	7–5	5–8	8–4	6–6	5–7	9–4
California	5–7	7–5	—	8–5	8–4	8–4	4–9	9–3	9–4	3–9	6–7	9–4	9–4	5–7
Chicago	4–8	8–4–1	5–8	—	10–2	6–6	5–8	5–7	6–7	6–6	8–5	9–4	10–3	3–9
Cleveland	5–8	5–8	4–8	2–10	—	5–8	2–10	7–6	4–8	6–7	3–9	6–6	7–5	4–9
Detroit	7–6	7–6	4–8	6–6	8–5	—	5–7	9–4	3–9	9–3	8–4	5–7	7–5	6–7
Kansas City	6–6	7–5	9–4	8–5	10–2	7–5	—	8–4	7–6	5–7	8–5	3–10	6–7	7–5
Milwaukee	4–9	8–5	3–9	7–5	6–7	4–9	4–8	—	9–3	7–6	3–9	4–8	8–3	4–9
Minnesota	6–6	5–7	4–9	7–6	8–4	9–3	6–7	3–9	—	3–9	8–5	6–7	8–5	4–8
New York	12–1	8–5	9–3	6–6	7–6	3–9	7–5	6–7	9–3	—	7–5	9–3	8–4	6–7
Oakland	5–7	4–8	7–6	5–8	9–3	4–8	5–8	9–3	5–8	5–7	—	8–5	6–7	5–7
Seattle	6–6	6–6	4–9	4–9	6–6	7–5	10–3	8–4	7–6	3–9	5–8	—	6–7	2–10
Texas	2–10	7–5	4–9	3–10	5–7	5–7	7–6	3–8	5–8	4–8	7–6	7–6	—	3–9
Toronto	8–4	4–9	7–5	9–3	9–4	7–6	5–7	9–4	8–4	7–6	7–5	10–2	9–3	—

Notable transactions

• June 3, 1985: Shane Turner was drafted by the Yankees in the 6th round of the 1985 Major League Baseball Draft.^[9]
• August 24, 1985: Jim Leyritz was signed by the Yankees as an amateur free agent.^[10]
• September 13, 1985: Bernie Williams was signed by the Yankees as an amateur free agent.^[11]
• September 15, 1985: Jim Deshaies and players to be named later were traded by the Yankees to the Houston Astros for Joe Niekro, who joined his brother Phil Niekro in the rotation. The Yankees completed the deal by sending Neder Horta (minors) to the Astros on September 24 and Dody Rather (minors) to the Astros on January 11, 1986.^[12]

Roster

1985 New York Yankees
Roster
Pitchers 26,53 Neil Allen 36 Mike Armstrong 43 Rich Bordi 50 Marty Bystrom 39 Don Cooper 41 Joe Cowley 54 Brian Fisher 49 Ron Guidry 26 John Montefusco 48 Dale Murray 31 Joe Niekro 35 Phil Niekro 45 Dennis Rasmussen 19 Dave Righetti 47 Rod Scurry 29 Bob Shirley 38 Ed Whitson		Catchers 34 Scott Bradley 52 Juan Espino 12 Ron Hassey 27 Butch Wynegar Infielders  2 Dale Berra 55 Juan Bonilla 56 Rex Hudler 23 Don Mattingly 20 Bob Meacham  6 Mike Pagliarulo 30 Willie Randolph 18 Andre Robertson 13 Keith Smith		Outfielders 46 Henry Cotto 33 Ken Griffey 24 Rickey Henderson 17 Víctor Mata 22 Omar Moreno 21 Dan Pasqua 11 Billy Sample 31 Dave Winfield Other batters 25 Don Baylor		Manager  8 Yogi Berra  1 Billy Martin Coaches 52 Mark Connor (Pitching) 42 Doug Holmquist (First Base) 48 Willie Horton (Hitting) 42 Stump Merrill (First Base) 40 Gene Michael (Third Base) 28 Bill Monbouquette (Pitching) 14 Lou Piniella (Hitting) 51 Dom Scala (Bullpen) 44 Jeff Torborg (Bullpen)

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	Butch Wynegar	102	309	69	.223	5	32
1B	Don Mattingly	159	652	211	.324	35	145
2B	Willie Randolph	143	597	137	.276	5	40
3B	Mike Pagliarulo	138	380	91	.239	19	62
SS	Bobby Meacham	156	481	105	.218	1	47
LF	Ken Griffey, Sr.	127	438	120	.274	10	69
CF	Rickey Henderson	143	547	172	.314	24	72
RF	Dave Winfield	155	633	174	.275	26	114
DH	Don Baylor	142	477	110	.231	23	91

Other batters

Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
Ron Hassey	92	267	79	.296	13	42
Billy Sample	59	139	40	.288	1	15
Keith Smith	4	0	0	.---	0	0

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Joe Cowley	30	159.2	12	6	3.95	97

Other pitchers

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Bob Shirley	48	109	5	5	2.64	55
Dennis Rasmussen	22	101.2	3	5	3.98	63

Relief pitchers

Player	G	W	L	SV	ERA	SO
Dave Righetti	74	12	7	29	2.78	92
Brian Fisher	55	4	4	14	2.38	85

Awards and honors

• Don Baylor – Roberto Clemente Award
• Ron Guidry – Gold Glove
• Rickey Henderson – American League Leader Stolen Bases (80)
• Rickey Henderson – Major League Baseball Leader Runs Scored (146)
• Rickey Henderson – Silver Slugger Award
• Don Mattingly – American League Most Valuable Player
• Don Mattingly – American League Leader RBI (145)
• Don Mattingly – Gold Glove
• Don Mattingly – Silver Slugger Award
• Dave Winfield – Silver Slugger Award
• Dave Winfield – Gold Glove

All-Star Game

• Don Mattingly, First Base
• Dave Winfield, Outfield
• Rickey Henderson, Outfield

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Columbus Clippers	International League	Doug Holmquist and Stump Merrill
AA	Albany-Colonie Yankees	Eastern League	Barry Foote
A	Fort Lauderdale Yankees	Florida State League	Bucky Dent
A-Short Season	Oneonta Yankees	New York–Penn League	Buck Showalter
Rookie	GCL Yankees	Gulf Coast League	Carlos Tosca

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Oneonta, GCL Yankees

References

1. Matt Keough page at Baseball Reference
2. Ron Hassey page at Baseball Reference
3. Rick Cerone page at Baseball Reference
4. Rickey Henderson page at Baseball Reference
5. Jay Buhner page at Baseball Reference
6. Ed Whitson page at Baseball Reference
7. Billy Sample page at Baseball Reference
8. Baseball's Top 100: The Game's Greatest Records, p.45, Kerry Banks, 2010, Greystone Books, Vancouver, BC, ISBN 978-1-55365-507-7
9. Shane Turner page at Baseball Reference
10. Jim Leyritz page at Baseball Reference
11. Bernie Williams page at Baseball Reference
12. Jim Deshaies page at Baseball Reference

• Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (1997). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (2nd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America. ISBN 978-0-9637189-8-3.

External links

• 1985 New York Yankees
• 1985 New York Yankees team page at www.baseball-almanac.com