The 1987 New York Yankees 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. New York was managed by Lou Piniella. The Yankees played at Yankee Stadium.

Offseason November 26, 1986: Doug Drabek, Brian Fisher, and Logan Easley were traded by the Yankees to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Rick Rhoden, Pat Clements and Cecilio Guante.Rick Rhoden at Baseball Reference December 17, 1986: Lenn Sakata 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 and Mike Soper (minors) were traded by the Yankees to the Chicago White Sox for Randy Velarde and Pete Filson.Randy Velarde at Baseball Reference January 8, 1987: Willie Randolph was signed as a free agent by the Yankees.Willie Randolph at Baseball Reference February 13, 1987: Rick Cerone was signed as a free agent by the Yankees.Rick Cerone at Baseball Reference

Regular season

The Yankees hit 10 grand slams, the most by an MLB team in 1987. Six of those were hit by Don Mattingly, who set a record for most grand slam home runs in one season with six.Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p.232, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, His record was matched by Travis Hafner 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., 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).

MLB-record six Grand Slams in one season 1#DateAgainstPitcherVenueScore1May 14Texas RangersMike MasonYankee Stadium9–1 W2Jun 29Toronto Blue JaysJohn CeruttiExhibition Stadium15–14 W3Jul 10Chicago White SoxJoel McKeonYankee Stadium9–5 W4Jul 16Texas RangersCharlie HoughArlington Stadium12–3 W5Sep 25Baltimore OriolesJosé MesaMemorial Stadium8–4 W6Sep 29Boston Red SoxBruce HurstYankee Stadium6–0 W

In June 1987, it was reported that Mattingly injured his back during some clubhouse horseplay with pitcher Bob Shirley 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.Steinbrenner: The Last Lion of Baseball, p. 265, Bill Madden, Harper Collins Publishing, New York, 2010, Trout never won a game for the Yankees, going 0–4 in 14 games.Sports Illustrated, August 2, 2010, "The Right Thing" by Tom Verducci, p.35, Published by Time Inc.

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Notable transactions April 10, 1987: Rich Bordi was signed as a free agent by the Yankees.Rich Bordi at Baseball Reference May 15, 1987: Rafael Quirico was signed as an amateur free agent by the Yankees.Rafael Quirico at Baseball Reference June 10, 1987: Keith Hughes and Shane Turner were traded by the Yankees to the Philadelphia Phillies for Mike Easler.Shane Turner at Baseball Reference 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, Rich Scheid, and Dean Wilkins were traded by the Yankees to the Chicago Cubs for Steve Trout.Steve Trout at Baseball Reference August 26, 1987: Dennis Rasmussen was traded by the Yankees to the Cincinnati Reds for Bill Gullickson.Bill Gullickson at Baseball Reference August 26, 1987: Ken Patterson and a player to be named later were traded by the Yankees to the Chicago White Sox for Jerry Royster and Mike Soper (minors). The New York Yankees completed the deal by sending Jeff Pries (minors) to the White Sox on September 19.Jerry Royster at Baseball Reference September 17, 1987: Sherman Obando was signed as an amateur free agent by the Yankees.Sherman Obando at Baseball Reference

Roster 1987 New York Yankees Roster Pitchers Catchers

Infielders Outfielders

Other batters Manager

Coaches

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 113 284 69 .243 4 23 1B 141 569 186 .327 30 115 2B 120 449 137 .305 7 67 3B 150 522 122 .234 32 87 SS 121 349 77 .221 1 22 LF 146 529 131 .248 16 78 CF 102 312 87 .279 9 44 RF 156 575 158 .275 27 97 DH 59 159 44 .277 12 28

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 Rickey Henderson 95 358 104 .291 17 37 Dan Pasqua 113 318 74 .233 17 42 Bob Meacham 77 203 55 .271 5 21 Mike Easler 65 167 47 .281 4 21 Henry Cotto 68 149 35 .235 5 20 Joel Skinner 64 139 19 .137 3 14 Mark Salas 50 115 23 .200 3 12 Juan Bonilla 23 55 14 .255 1 3 Roberto Kelly 23 52 14 .269 1 7 Lenn Sakata 19 45 12 .267 2 4 Jerry Royster 18 42 15 .357 0 4 Paul Zuvella 14 34 6 .176 0 0 Jay Buhner 7 22 5 .227 0 1 8 22 4 .182 0 1 Orestes Destrade 9 19 5 .263 0 1 Jeff Moronko 7 11 1 .091 0 0 Phil Lombardi 5 8 1 .125 0 0 Keith Hughes 4 4 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 33 187.2 13 6 4.03 63 30 181.2 16 10 3.86 107 Dennis Rasmussen 26 146.0 9 7 4.75 89 22 117.2 5 8 3.67 96 Joe Niekro 8 50.2 3 4 3.55 30 Bill Gullickson 8 48.0 4 2 4.88 28 4 22.2 2 2 6.35 28

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 35 154.2 11 7 3.61 100 Steve Trout 14 46.1 0 4 6.60 27 Bob Tewksbury 8 33.1 1 4 6.75 12 7 22.0 1 0 3.27 10 6 19.1 1 3 5.59 14

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 8 6 31 3.51 77 Tim Stoddard 57 4 3 8 3.50 78 55 3 3 7 4.95 36 23 3 2 1 5.73 46 Rich Bordi 16 3 1 0 7.64 23 Bob Shirley 12 1 0 0 4.50 12 8 0 1 0 3.65 16 Al Holland 3 0 0 0 14.21 5 Bill Fulton 3 1 0 0 11.57 2 Rick Cerone 2 0 0 0 0.00 1

Awards and records Don Mattingly, American League record, Most Grand Slams in one season (6)Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p.259, David Nemec and Scott Latow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, Don Mattingly, Silver Slugger Award MLB-record six Grand Slams in one season 1#DateAgainstPitcherVenueScore1May 14Texas RangersMike MasonYankee Stadium9-1 W2Jun 29Toronto Blue JaysJohn CeruttiExhibition Stadium15-14 W3Jul 10Chicago White SoxJoel McKeonYankee Stadium9-5 W4Jul 16Texas RangersCharlie HoughArlington Stadium12-3 W5Sep 25Baltimore OriolesJosé MesaMemorial Stadium8-4 W6Sep 29Boston Red SoxBruce HurstYankee Stadium6-0 W

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 Reference 1987 New York Yankees at Baseball Almanac