New York Yankees fans are used to winning a lot.
After all, the franchise leads MLB with 27 World Series titles and 40 pennants.
However, the organization has also lost quite a few games and series and, like every team, has some obscure pages in their history.
Not every decade, and certainly not every year, is associated with “winning” when it comes to the Yankees.
Here are some of the worst years in the Yankees’ history.
3. 1966
The 1950s and early-1960s Yankees were a machine, winning championship after championship, and making it to the World Series most of the time.
However, the mid-to-late 1960s weren’t a particularly fruitful period for the Yankees.
They had a dry spell from 1965 to 1975 in which they didn’t win the pennant.
The 1966 season was particularly woeful for the Bombers, as they finished with a 70-89 record and finished last among the 10 American League teams.
They finished 26.5 games behind first place.
The Yankees hadn’t finished last since 1912, the last year they were known as the New York Highlanders.
Things were so bad that, on September 22, only 413 people paid their ticket to the game in a stadium that could accommodate 65,000 people at the time.
Whitey Ford, Elston Howard, Mickey Mantle, and Roger Maris, among others, were on that team.
All of them were nearing the end of their careers, as the team would enter a transition period.
2. 1990
From 1982 to 1994, the Yankees didn’t make the playoffs and weren’t too competitive in the AL.
They had one of the worst seasons in franchise history in 1990.
That year, New York finished with a lousy 67-95 record (.414), again in last place (seventh).
They were 21 games behind first place, occupied by the Boston Red Sox.
The team, managed by Stump Merrill and Bucky Dent, was simply going nowhere.
The bad news started in the offseason prior to the campaign, with the news that former manager Billy Martin, who was working as a consultant to Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, died in a car crash.
Steinbrenner fired Dent by June, and the team had a -146 run differential.
Don Mattingly was on that team, as well as Dave Winfield, who was traded in May after his continued issues with Steinbrenner.
Today in MLB/NYY history:
1990
Howard Spira, who was paid $40,000 by George Steinbrenner in January to dig up dirt on outfielder Dave Winfield, is arrested by the FBI for trying to extort money from the Yankees owner. pic.twitter.com/BePMGZv9hu
— Wetzel (@Evandwetzel4) March 23, 2019
Five more years would pass until the Yankees made it to the postseason again, in 1995, although they looked excellent when play halted in 1994 due to the players’ strike.
1. 1913
From 1903 to 1912, the Yankees were known as the New York Highlanders and played their home games at the Hilltop Park.
There were some obscure years sneaked in there, including a couple of 100-loss seasons.
They changed their name to New York Yankees in 1913 and moved to the Polo Grounds, which they shared with the New York Giants until 1923.
From 1901 to 1902, the Yankees were located in Baltimore and called the Orioles! They moved to New York prior to the 1903 season and were called the Highlanders until 1912. In 1913, the team name was officially changed to the Yankees!
— Michael Frank (@YankeeMike015) October 19, 2021
In 1913, the Yankees had one of their absolute worst years in the standings, with a lousy 57-94 record and a .377 winning percentage.
They finished seventh out of eight teams in the AL, a whopping 38 games behind the top spot.
They had a -139 run differential when all was said and done.
Frank Chance was the manager.
NEXT: 3 Best Trades Made By The Yankees Since 2000
