In 1973, George Steinbrenner became the managerial partner for the New York Yankees and until his passing in 2010, The Boss changed managers more than twenty times, often times with a manager he had hired and fired in previous years. The constant swapping of managers often made nationwide headlines and the stories were often fun to hear — especially if you were not a Yankees fan. Nonetheless, the legacy remained in place for the Yankees, and rest is, as they say, now history. Research by Baseball Almanac.
"When I get through managing, I'm going to open up a kindergarten." - Martin, Billy. Baseball's Greatest Managers. Frommer, Harvery. Author. Lyons Press Publishing. 1 February 2017. Page 197.
The New York Yankees Managerial SagaUnder George Steinbrenner | Yankees Managers |
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Year(s) | Yankees Manager | Won-Loss |
1973-1974 | Ralph Houk | 80-82 |
1974-1975 | Bill Virdon | 142-124 |
1975-1978 | Billy Martin | 279-192 |
1978-1978 | Dick Howser | 0-1 |
1978-1979 | Bob Lemon | 82-51 |
1979-1980 | Billy Martin | 55-40 |
1980-1980 | Dick Howser | 103-59 |
1981-1981 | Gene Michael | 48-34 |
1981-1982 | Bob Lemon | 17-22 |
1982-1982 | Gene Michael | 44-42 |
1982-1983 | Clyde King | 29-33 |
1983-1983 | Billy Martin | 91-71 |
1984-1985 | Yogi Berra | 93-85 |
1985-1986 | Billy Martin | 91-54 |
1986-1987 | Lou Piniella | 179-145 |
1988-1988 | Billy Martin | 40-28 |
1988-1989 | Lou Piniella | 45-48 |
1989-1989 | Dallas Green | 56-65 |
1989-1990 | Bucky Dent | 36-53 |
1990-1991 | Stump Merrill | 120-155 |
1992-1995 | Buck Showalter | 313-268 |
1996-2007 | Joe Torre | 1,146-753 |
2007-2017 | Joe Girardi | 910-710 |
Year(s) | Yankees Manager | Won-Loss |
Yankees Managerial Saga | Baseball Almanac |
During the George Steinbrenner era, the New York Yankees won nine American League pennants: 1976, 1977, 1978, 1981, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001; and six World Series championships: 1977, 1978, 1996, 1998, 1999 & 2000!
Several of the Yankees managers listed above were fired, then hired again by George Steinbrenner. The "record" was set by Billy Martin (5), followed by Dick Howser, Bob Lemon, Gene Michael, and Lou Piniella, who were all "released" once, hired back, and let go again at some point.
Dick Williams won the 1973 World Championship with the Oakland Athletics. Why list this here? He was signed by the Yankees following that season and the Athletics and Yankees fought about the contract throughout the entire offseason. The Yankees finally voided the contract and Williams sat out of baseball during the first part of the 1974 season.