Tartabull played for the
Seattle Mariners (1984–86),
Kansas City Royals (1987–91),
New York Yankees (1992–95),
Oakland Athletics (1995),
Chicago White Sox (1996), and
Philadelphia Phillies (1997). Originally a
shortstop, Tartabull broke into the majors for good in
1986 with the Mariners, who moved him to right field after briefly experimenting with him at
second base. He responded by
hitting .270 with 25
home runs and 96
runs batted in, but his rookie season was overshadowed by those of
Wally Joyner and
José Canseco. After the 1986 season, the Mariners traded Tartabull to Kansas City for prospects
Scott Bankhead,
Mike Kingery, and
Steve Shields. In 1987, Tartabull improved to .309/34/101. Although sometimes slowed by injuries, Tartabull had five productive seasons with
Kansas City, culminating with an
All-Star selection in
1991. That same year, Tartabull led the major leagues in slugging percentage (.593). He became a free agent after the 1991 season and signed a deal with the Yankees worth more than $5 million a year (the deal being the first piece of news on
ESPN Radio), but he never again matched his production in Kansas City. In July
1995 the Yankees traded Tartabull to the Athletics for
Rubén Sierra and
Jason Beverlin. Following his trade out of New York, Tartabull expressed his disdain for Yankees owner
George Steinbrenner, saying that getting out of New York was like having been "released from
jail". The Athletics traded him to the White Sox the following winter for
Andrew Lorraine and minor leaguer Charles Poe. He had 101 RBIs but scored 58 runs, fewer runs than all but one player in history with at least 100 RBIs. Tartabull wound down his 14-year career with the Phillies in
1997, appearing in just three games. Tartabull retired following the 1997 season with a career batting average of .273, 262 home runs, and 925 runs batted in. (When Danny's father José Tartabull was asked how his son was such a slugger while José hit only two home runs in his MLB career, the elder Tartabull said, "(Danny) gets his power from his mother.") ==Personal life==