2010 New York Yankees season
The 2010 New York Yankees season was the 110th season for the New York Yankees franchise The Yankees were attempting to defend its status as American League and World Series champions, but lost in the ALCS to the Texas Rangers. The Yankees opened and closed the regular season against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park. This marked the first time since 1950 this happened. The Yankees and the Los Angeles Dodgers renewed their rivalry as the Bronx Bombers traveled west to face former Yankee icons Joe Torre and Don Mattingly, both of them current and future Dodgers managers.
The Yankees' regular season record for 2010 was 95 wins, 67 losses, 2nd place in the AL East behind Tampa Bay and good for the AL Wild Card.
Offseason
- Following the Yankees' 2009 World Series championship, Johnny Damon and Hideki Matsui departed as free agents.
- On December 8, the New York Yankees acquired center fielder Curtis Granderson from the Detroit Tigers, trading pitcher Ian Kennedy to the Arizona Diamondbacks and pitcher Phil Coke and minor league outfielder Austin Jackson to Detroit.
- On December 9, pitcher Andy Pettitte signed a $11.75 million contract for 1 year.
- On December 22, the Yankees traded outfielder Melky Cabrera, pitcher Michael Dunn, and minor league pitcher Arodys Vizcaíno to the Atlanta Braves for pitchers Javier Vázquez and Boone Logan.
- On December 23, designated hitter and first baseman Nick Johnson signed a $5.5 million contract to return to New York for 1 year, 6 years after being traded from the Yankees to the then Montreal Expos, now the Washington Nationals.
- On January 27, outfielder Randy Winn signed with the Yankees on a one-year contract worth $2 million.
- On February 16, the Yankees announced that pitcher Dustin Moseley signed a minor league contract with an invitation to spring training.
- On February 28, pitcher Chan Ho Park signed a $1.2 million, one-year deal with an additional $300,000 in incentives. To make room for Park on the 40-man roster, pitcher Edwar Ramírez was designated for assignment.
Midseason acquisitions
- On July 30, the Yankees acquired Austin Kearns from the Cleveland Indians for a player to be named later. On August 20, the player was revealed to be Zach McAllister.
- On July 31, the Yankees traded minor leaguers Mark Melancon and Jimmy Paredes to the Houston Astros for first baseman Lance Berkman.
- On July 31, the Yankees acquired Kerry Wood from the Cleveland Indians for a player to be named later or cash considerations.
Roster
Regular season
Season standings
Record vs. opponents
Season highlights
April
With the series win in Oakland clinched, the club matched the 1926 Yankees' all-time franchise record by winning each of the first five series of the season. Only one other club in team history started with as many as four series wins in a row, the 1922 Yankees. Both of those teams made it to the World Series, although they lost. During this time, the Yankees tied an April record of 12 straight error-less games, from April 7 to 22. On April 22 against the Oakland Athletics the Yankees turned a triple play for the first time since June 3, 1968.May
On May 8, Mark Teixeira hit 3 home runs against the Red Sox, becoming only the second Yankee player in history since Lou Gehrig to accomplish the feat.June
On June 11, Andy Pettitte won his 200th game as a Yankee, becoming the third player to achieve the feat. The other two players are Yankee pitching legends Red Ruffing and Whitey Ford. During the last 2 games against the Astros, Jorge Posada hit grand slams in back-to-back games becoming the third Yankee player to do so. The other two players are Baseball Hall of Fame members and Yankee legends Babe Ruth and Bill Dickey.July
became the first player in MLB history to hit a grand slam and an inside-the-park home run during back-to-back games on July 3–4.The Yankees suffered three great losses during the month of July, two of which happened during the All-Star weekend. First, on July 11, longtime Yankee Stadium public address announcer Bob Sheppard died at age 99. Then just two days later on July 13, longtime owner George Steinbrenner died at age 80. Steinbrenner was the longest tenured owner in Yankees history and among active ownership. On July 21, former Yankee manager and executive Ralph Houk died.
On July 18, the Yankees were 58-33, their best 91-game record since the 1998 season, when they were 68-23, en route to a then American League record 114 wins, and a World Series victory over the Padres in 4 games.
Against the Royals on July 22, Derek Jeter hit only the second inside-the-park home run of his career, in a 10–4 Yankee win – his first came in his rookie year. The next day, Jorge Posada drove in his 1,000th career RBI against the Royals, becoming only the 12th Yankee to join the 1,000 RBI club and became one of three Yankees catchers to reach that mark, along with Yogi Berra and Bill Dickey. Posada also became just the 5th catcher in MLB history with 1,000 RBI, 350 doubles and 250 home runs. The other four are Carlton Fisk, Iván Rodríguez, Johnny Bench and Gary Carter.
On July 25, Robinson Canó recorded his 1,000th career hit, becoming the third-quickest homegrown Yankees player – behind Derek Jeter and Don Mattingly – to reach that plateau.
August
On August 4, Alex Rodriguez hit his 600th career home run against the Toronto Blue Jays, becoming the youngest player in history to do so.On August 8, Derek Jeter passed Babe Ruth on the all-time hits list when he knocked in a second-inning single collecting his 2,874th hit. He is the first Yankee to hold the Major League lead in hits among active players since Johnny Mize in 1952, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. During the same game against the Red Sox, Alex Rodriguez recorded his 300th career stolen base, making Rodriguez the 10th player in baseball history with at least 1,500 runs scored, 2,500 hits, 200 home runs and 300 stolen bases. Rodriguez joined a select group in that category -- Jeter, Damon, Bonds, Biggio, Alomar, Rickey Henderson, Molitor, Joe Morgan and Mays—but only A-Rod, Mays and Bonds have hit as many as 600 homers to go along with the 300 steals.
Against the Kansas City Royals on August 14, Rodriguez hit 3 home runs in a game for the 4th time in his career.
On August 22, Sabathia recorded his 16th consecutive start of at least six innings allowing three earned runs or less, breaking a tie with Ron Guidry.
September and October
On September 18, CC Sabathia notched his 20th win for the first time in his career. He also became the first pitcher in 2010 to reach 20 wins.On September 24, A-Rod notched career home runs #609 and #610, putting him in sole possession of 6th place on the all-time home run list. The blasts put him one home run ahead of MLB great Sammy Sosa. Also on this date, Mark Teixeira and A-Rod, who have been teammates for 3 years, hit two home runs in a game each for the first time.
On September 28, the Yankees clinched a playoff berth for the 15th time in the last 16 seasons. However, they lost the division crown to the Tampa Bay Rays on the last day of the season after an 8-4 loss to the Red Sox, thus they were the Wild Card. Losing 17 of their last 26 games, the Yankees failed to clinch the AL East after holding the lead on Labor Day for the first time since 1944.