by Paul Semendinger
June 13, 2021
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Yes, I just invented this new statistic:
mWAR.
It’s really mW%AR, but that just looks funny.
So it’s mWAR.
This stat is “Manager’s Winning Percentage at the time of his Replacement.” (mWAR)
The following is the winning percentage of every single manager in the history of the Yankees in the season his tenure with the club came to an end. If the manager was replaced after a season, this shows the winning percentage of the manager’s final season.
Yankees Managers’ mWAR
(The Manager’s Winning Percentage at Replacement)
Clark Griffith (1908) – .429 (24-32) – in season
Kid Elberfeld (1908) – .276 (27-71)
George Stallings (1910) – .569 (78-59) – in season
Hal Chase (1911) – .500 (76-76)
Harry Wolverton (1912) – .329 (50-102)
Frank Chance (1914) – .448 (60-74) – in season
Roger Peckinpaugh (1914) – .500 (10-10)
Bill Donovan (1917) – .464 (71-82)
Miller Huggins (1929)* – .573 (82-61) – in season
Art Fletcher (1929) – .545 (6-5)
Bob Shawkey (1930) – .558 (86-68)
Joe McCarthy (1946) – .629 (22-13) – in season
Bill Dickey (1946) – .543 (57-48) – in season
Johnny Nuen (1946) – .571 (8-6)
Bucky Haris (1948) – .610 (94-60)
Casey Stengel (1960) – .630 (97-57)
Ralph Houk (1963) – .646 (104-57)
Yogi Berra (1964) – .611 (99-63)
Johnny Keane (1965) – .200 (4-16) – in season
Ralph Houk (1973) – .494 (80-82)
Bill Virdon (1975) – .510 (53-51) – in season
Billy Martin (1978) – .553 (52-42) – in season
Bob Lemon (1979) – .523 (34-31) – in season
Billy Martin (1979) – .579 (55-40)
Dick Howser (1980) – .636 (103-59)
Gene Michael (1981) – .585 (48-34) – in season
Bob Lemon (1982) – .429 (6-8) – in season
Gene Michael (1982) – .512 (44-42) – in season
Clyde King (1982) – .468 (29-33)
Billy Martin (1983) – .562 (91-71)
Yogi Berra (1985) – .375 (6-10) – in season
Billy Martin (1985) – ..628 (91-54)
Lou Piniella (1987) – .549 (89-73)
Billy Martin (1988) – .588 (40-28) – in season
Lou Piniella (1988) – .484 (45-48)
Dallas Green (1989) – .463 (56-65) – in season
Bucky Dent (1990) – .367 (18-31) – in season
Stump Merrill (1991) – .438 (71-91)
Buck Showalter (1995) – .549 (79-65)
Joe Torre (2007) – .580 (94-68)
Joe Girardi (2017) – .562 (91-71)
Aaron Boone – current winning percentage = ..516 (33-31)
* In 1929, Miller Huggins was replaced because he was ill. He eventually passed away that season.
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Quick Analysis:
The last three Yankees managers were all replaced after seasons with winning percentages higher than Aaron Boone’s is now.
The following was the record of the last three Yankees managers after 64 games in their final season:
Joe Girardi: 38-26
Joe Torre: 33-31
Buck Showalter: 29-35
The last Yankees’ manager to be replaced during the season was Bucky Dent in 1990
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Manager data from Baseball-Almanac.
