Albany-Colonie Yankees

From BR Bullpen

Location: Albany, NY
League: Eastern League
Affiliate: New York Yankees 1985-1994
Ballpark: Heritage Park
Famous Alumni: Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Bernie Williams, Andy Pettitte, Jorge Posada, Doug Drabek, Deion Sanders

In 1985 the former Albany-Colonie A's switched affiliations to the New York Yankees. The Eastern League team became known as the Albany-Colonie Yankees. Their first season as the Albany Yankees they broke the league attendance record, which had stood for 56 years. With Brad Arnsberg winning Pitcher of the Year honors, Orestes Destrade clubbing 23 homers and good pitching from Doug Drabek and Scott Patterson, the club drew 324,003. The old record had been 317,249 by the 1939 Scranton Red Sox. Perhaps the funniest moment of the 1985 season was when Albany PA announcer Jay Silverman was physically removed from the press box by team owner Ben Bernard for announcing "Touch em all, Ellis Burks", after the visiting player hit a home run against the Yankees. The team won titles in '88, '89 and '91. The 1989 team featured Bernie Williams and several pitchers who had big years but did not amount to much in the majors, the most recognizable being Scott Kamieniecki. Managed by Buck Showalter, they won 70 of their first 90 games that season, took the pennant by 19 games then won 7 of 8 in the playoffs.

They were replaced in 1995 by the Norwich Navigators

[edit] Year-by-Year Record

Year	Record	Finish	Manager	Playoffs
1985	82-57	1st	Barry Foote	Lost in 1st round
1986	65-74	6th	Jim Saul
1987	64-75	5th	Tommy Jones
1988	72-66	4th	Tommy Jones (25-24) / Stump Merrill (47-42)	League Champs
1989	92-48	1st	Buck Showalter	League Champs
1990	79-60	1st	Rick Down (24-21) / Dan Radison (55-39)	Lost in 1st round
1991	76-64	3rd	Dan Radison	League Champs
1992	71-68	4th	Dan Radison	Lost in 1st round
1993	70-68	4th	Mike Hart (36-35) / Bill Evers (34-33)	Lost in 1st round
1994	71-70	5th	Bill Evers