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Bronx Zoo 90’s Crime, Chaos and Baseball
Season One Episode One Recap “Cougars in the Clubhouse”
As a fan who grew up in the 80’s and 90’s I saw the best and worst of the New York Yankees. Because of this, they slowly became my favorite team in the late 1990’s. I became hooked on the legacy, the dynasty, the way they went about doing things, and just pure class. All I had to base any of this on was the on-field product and what I read in the papers. Little did I know about the literal zoo including cougars that surrounded this team in 1990.
Now, thanks in part to the Peacock Mini Series “Bronx Zoo 90’s Crime, Chaos and Baseball “, I get to learn what really happened on and off the field! Here is a summary of episode one of Season One. Enjoy, as I bet you will be every bit as hooked as I was after only 5 minutes.
Dave Winfield and George Steinbrenner had a public rivalry played out in the media.
Dave Winfield couldn’t stand his boss, and Steinbrenner didn’t care much for Winfield either. The two hated each other and took every chance they could in the media, to knock one another. The grudge began in the 1981 World Series in which Winfield’s lackluster play was a major reason the Yankees lost to the LA Dodgers in 6 games.
Winfield went 1 for 22 in the series and was a total disaster. Steinbrenner never let it go and the tension did nothing but build over the years until the Yankees finally found a trade partner for Winfield in California by the second month of the season.
It was a Mets town in the 1990
Crazy to think with how dominant the Yankees once again became starting in 1996, but the city of New York was actually considered a “Mets Town” in 1990, based on how well the Mets did in the late 1980’s. I guess looking back on it, with the disaster the Yankees were at the time, this actually makes sense. It wouldn’t last.
George Steinbrenner was hesitant to resign Don Mattingly heading into the 1990 season.
Speaking of crazy, this seems downright looney. Hard to believe, but George Steinbrenner didn’t want to resign Don Mattingly to a long-term contract with the team. Mattingly, WAS the New York Yankees by the time 1990 rolled around and was one of the few reasons for fans to come see the team. Mattingly had spent his first 7 seasons there as a Yankee, hitting 300 or better in all but one of the when he hit 283 as a rookie in 91 games.
Again, Mattingly was everything the New York Yankees symbolized, clean cut and hardworking. Donnie Baseball went as far as to threaten to leave for Boston and play with his cousin Mike Greenwell. Making things stranger was the big money signings of journeymen pitchers Andy Hawkins and Dave Lapoint who had already seen better days.
Mattingly would eventually resign for 3 more years at 19 million total, and then promptly go on to have his worst year in his career at that point. He hit a paltry 256 with only 5 homeruns and 42 RBA in 102 games which was a career low in each category.
Snake bit before the season could even begin
From a record high snowstorm on Thanksgiving, to top name free agents such as Pitcher Pascual Perez not showing up for Spring Training, combined with the death of Billy Martin, it was a snake bitten offseason heading into 1990 for the Yankees. That combined with a Luis Polonia sex scandal, resulting in him leaving for the Toronto Blue Jays, only to return to New York for 11 games late in the season, before leaving again for California, made for one of the more unsettling and bizarre off seasons that you can have.
Deon Sanders had work ethic issues even back then.
I’ll be honest, I’m not shocked here. Years before he refused to tackle in the NFL, he refused to run out ground ball outs in the major leagues. When confronted about it, from legendary Chicago White Sox catcher Carleton Fisk, “Prime Time” decided to play the race card saying, “slavery is over” and the near riot ensued. Deon Sanders was and is still an idiot.
Their big free agent signing Pascual Perez was a drug addict.
Perez was signed by New York after going only 9-13 in Montreal the year before. He was given a king’s ransom to sign with the Yankees, and then didn’t show up to spring training. Part of the problem was his liking of the bottle and cocaine as well. He even served a brief spell in jail because of it.
Making matters worse, after he finally arrived in New York with zero offseason training of any kind other than cocaine binges, Steinbrenner thought it would be a good idea to have him throw a bullpen session in front of assembled media. He looked good, but it only took 3 starts for him to blow out his arm and be lost for the season, after going 1-2.
He came back in 1991 for New York, started 14 games, and then was out of baseball forever.
Up next on episode two, the circus brought on by Mel Hall.
This will include stories about cougars in the clubhouse, his sex scandal of dating15 year olds and just the non-stop mess that Hall brought on.
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