 The strike was the harbinger of the 1995 season for the Yankees . Although the Red Sox jumped out to a fast start and finished the season in first place , the Yankees were not serious contenders for the division title . With the Yankees clinching the inaugural American League Wild Card on the last day of the season , the Yankees and Red Sox reached the post @-@ season in the same season for the first time . Before the postseason began , Mattingly contemplated about the first @-@ ever playoff series in the rivalry , saying , " That would be pretty cool . It wouldn 't hurt the rivalry any . There 'd be a few deaths ... just kidding " . Both teams lost in separate ALDS series , with the Red Sox being swept by the Cleveland Indians and the Yankees losing in five games to the Seattle Mariners . For the Yankees , the loss led to another post @-@ strike fallout : both Showalter and general manager Gene Michael were fired as a result of the loss . Similarly , the firing of Michael as Yankees manager and the loss in the 1981 World Series were fallouts from the strike that year . In fact , the 1981 strike was <unk> to the Yankees ' demise and downfall of the 1980s and 1990s and the strike in 1994 was part of that demise . 
