Yankees Dark Years: 1978-1996

Yankees Dark Years: 1978-1996

Yankees – The Dark Years

‘Popped up. This could be it. Munson’s got room. He’s waiting. The Yankee bench is on the field. The Yankees are the champions!’ — October 17, 1978. Dodger Stadium.

Catcher Thurman Munson recorded the final out of the 1978 Major League Baseball season, and the New York Yankees rushed onto the field as World Champions just as they’d done the season before—and twenty times before that. Everybody watched that game, the final of the 75th World Series. With a Nielsen rating of 32.8 and a share of 56, it was the most watched World Series in history at the time.

And why not? It was a cross-country battle between two powerhouse teams and a rematch of the electric 1977 World Series.

So the Yankees won their 22nd title, and Reggie Jackson cemented his status as a clutch postseason hitter (although Bucky Dent won the series MVP) with two more World Series home runs, including the “cake-topper” in Game 6 that gave New York an insurmountable 7-2 lead.

There was reason for optimism in the Bronx. The Yankees were the odds-on favorite to repeat in 1979, and a new dynasty seemed on the brink of coalescing. The Yankees were back.

And then, the wheels came off.

The Fall From Glory

Tragedy and Early Setbacks

Not all at once—the Yankees were still the Yankees, mind you. Thurman Munson, the former MVP, died in a plane crash in August of 1979, taking an emotional toll on the team. They won 89 games that year but missed the playoffs.

They won 103 games in 1980, but were swept out of the ALCS by George Brett and the Kansas City Royals.

A Strike-Shortened Return to the World Series

In the strike-interrupted 1981 MLB season, the Yankees snuck back into the World Series thanks to an ad-hoc playoff format that pitted the teams with the best records in the first half of the season against those with the best record in the second half of the season.

Despite having a losing record over the second half, the Yankees were in. (Perversely, in the National League, the Cincinnati Reds—the team with the best overall record—were left out of the playoffs.) The addition of Dave Winfield bolstered a lineup that still featured Reggie Jackson and not much else. The Yankees’ pitching staff was still strong, but the Los Angeles Dodgers got a measure of revenge for their losses in ’77 and ’78, defeating the Yankees in six games.

Eighteen Years in the Wilderness

This would be the last taste of glory for a long time. Between the 22nd title in 1978 and that elusive 23rd, 18 years would pass. A whole generation of Yankee fans would come of age never having tasted postseason glory. These were the true Yankees dark years, a stretch matched by little else in franchise history.

Near Misses and a Canceled Season

There were good teams in that stretch, of course, but the Yanks would never finish better than two games back (winning 97 games in 1985) until 1994, when they had the best record in baseball. After 113 games, however, another strike ended the season early, canceling the World Series and robbing Don Mattingly of his best chance at a title.

Years like that were the exception rather than the rule, though, and over 18 years, the Yankees had 17 managers.

A Revolving Door in the Front Office

By 1990, the rot had reached the top of the org chart. Over the previous decade, management (or perhaps “ownership”) had dealt away players like Fred McGriff, Willie McGee, Jay Buhner, and Doug Drabek. In place of these young talents, the Yankees splurged with increased frequency on high-priced free agents with what can only be called “mixed” results.

The Steinbrenner Suspension

Adding insult to injury, George Steinbrenner found himself accused of paying off gambler Howard Spira for dirt on Winfield. The infamous scandal earned The Boss a lifetime ban from the game he loved. Funny thing, though—the lifetime ban turned into a two-year suspension.

And then, almost as if they’d paid their penance, the deep funk that had descended on the Yankees began to lift.

The Dynasty Reborn

The fever finally broke on June 1, 1992. Draft day. In the months prior to the 1992 MLB draft, rumors began circulating about a sweet-hitting prospect out of the Upper Midwest. Yankee scouts wrote home about this perfect shortstop, this surefire major-league star.

The Yankees, picking sixth, waited as the teams above them made their selections: Phil Nevin, Paul Shuey, B.J. Wallace, Jeffrey Hammonds, Chad Mottola.

Then, given the chance, the Yankees never hesitated. Derek Jeter found himself drafted by the team he most wanted to play for, and just like that, “Mr. November” was born.

Less than a year earlier, on July 1, 1991, Bernie Williams made his Major League debut.

Reinforcements were on the way. The dynasty would be restored, and the long Yankees dark years would finally give way to a new golden age in the Bronx.