Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Bronx Zoo 90’ on Peacock, a Three-Part Documentary Look at the Worst, Most Chaotic Season in New York Yankees’ History

For most of the last thirty years, the New York Yankees have been synonymous with success; even if they don’t win it all, they’re pretty much always good. In 1990, though, that wasn’t the case: the Bronx Bombers were a dumpster fire, bad on the field and embarrassing off of it. That chaotic season–the focus of Bronx Zoo ‘90, a new three-part documentary streaming on Peacock–was miserable for fans, but helped lay the groundwork for the dynasty years to follow.

BRONX ZOO ‘90: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

The Gist: There’s a lot of moving parts when you tell the story of the 1990 New York Yankees, but they’re all moving around the late George Steinbrenner. He’s not around to tell the story, but Steinbrenner features prominently in archival footage as he crows to the media about his various grudges related to his team’s failings. That core is bolstered by a deep roster of interviewees from in and around the Yankees–reporters, announcers, coaches, former players, all who still have a lot to say about The Boss and that cursed season.

What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: There’s shades of A Season on the Brink here, but more than anything, it recalls The U, the ESPN 30 For 30 documentary that profiled the chaotic 1980s Miami Hurricanes college football teams. Those teams were a lot more successful than the 1990 Yankees, of course, but in terms of a team full of characters and legal troubles, they’re a handy comparison.

Performance Worth Watching: There’s plenty of talking heads weighing in here, including ones who really capture the essence of New York at the time, voices like veteran local news anchor Rosanna Scotto. But the most intriguing presence is that of current Yankees general manager Brian Cashman–a front office assistant in 1990–who’s more than happy to talk about the chaos that his former boss sowed at the time.

Memorable Dialogue: “He was huge. He was a giant. Unfortunately, he wasn’t the greatest person…”, Yankee executive Brian Cashman says, recalling the exploits of eccentric-at-best and extremely-criminal-at-worst Yankee outfielder Mel Hall. Putting a finer point on the matter, news anchor Rosanna Scotto recalls, “when I look back and think that Mel went to a sixteen-year-old’s prom… and that prom photo was in the Yankee Yearbook… what??? Are you kidding me? How was that acceptable?”

Sex and Skin: There’s some frank discussion of sexual improprieties, but the skin tops out at a shirtless Deion Sanders.

Our Take: In 2023, the New York Yankees had their worst season in more than three decades… and they finished 82-80. The fact that finishing with a winning record can be a generational low point illustrates what a high standard the franchise has set in recent years. Sure, they haven’t won a title since 2009, but the Yankees are almost always good, and hardly embarrassing.

The 1990 season was a different story.

It’s not just that the 1990 Yankees were bad. To be clear, they were quite bad–finishing in last place in the AL East with a record of 67-95, their most losses since 1912. That disappointment on the field was just the tip of the iceberg, though. The personalities running through the Bronx that year ranged from erratic and arrogant to outright criminal, and they nearly tore apart one of sports’ most storied franchises.

Where to start?

The team’s one real star, Dave Winfield, was traded away at the tail end of a decade-long vendetta waged by team owner George Steinbrenner (below), who would eventually be suspended from baseball for hiring a gambling addict to dig up dirt on the slugger.

The team’s marquee offseason signing, troubled pitcher Pascual Perez, blew out his arm three starts into the season.

The team’s flashiest player–two-sport star and current Colorado Buffaloes head football coach Deion Sanders–was great at drawing attention, and not terribly great at anything else on the field.

Then there’s Mel Hall, an erratic outfielder who surprised teammates by bringing live cougar cubs into the clubhouse–and probably should’ve drawn more negative attention at the time for his “relationship” with a sixteen-year-old girl. (Hall would later be sentenced to more than 40 years in prison for unrelated sex crimes against minors.)

In short: the 1990 New York Yankees were as big a disaster as any major professional sports team in recent memory. Things couldn’t have gone worse that year. And yet… 1990 helped lay the groundwork for one of the greatest dynasties in baseball, the late-’90s Yankees that won four World Series championships in five years. They drafted future Hall of Famers that year, and the suspension that Steinbrenner earned for his war on Winfield probably kept him from rashly trading any of them away before they could win pennants for the Yankees.

Bronx Zoo ‘90 is an entertaining–if often-unsettling–look at this season on the brink. It’s a lively three-episode run that clocks in around the length of a feature-length movie, and there’s more than enough drama to fill that runtime. A great number of people in and around the team participate, and the story moves along briskly. Whether you love or hate the Yankees, it’s a heck of an artifact; there’s no way a sports team could be bad in this way today.

Our Call: STREAM IT. If you love the New York Yankees, Bronx Zoo ‘90 is a reminder of how far the team came after those chaotic days. And, y’know, if you hate the Yankees? Well, it’s pretty darn entertaining to watch them be this bad. Either way, it’s certainly interesting.

Scott Hines, publisher of the widely-beloved Action Cookbook Newsletter, is an architect, blogger and proficient internet user based in Louisville, Kentucky.