Jun 22
Click here to see some great old Yankees photos that Sports Illustrated is featuring on their site. (Hat tap to WasWatching.com reader “MJ” for the link.)
I’ve never seen #16 before…but, it’s a classic, nonetheless.
Jun 22
Here’s the Yankees W-L record, after their first 69 games of the year, for every season since 2000:
Year W L GB 2009 38 31 4.0 2008 36 33 6.0 2007 35 34 10.0 2006 39 30 2.0 2005 36 33 5.0 2004 44 24 -4.5 2003 40 29 -0.5 2002 43 26 1.5 2001 39 30 2.5 2000 37 32 1.0
It’s interesting that, from 2000 through 2008, New York’s average W-L mark is 39-30 – which is pretty much where the Yankees are this season after 69 games. And, only twice in the “2000’s” have the Yankees been in first place after their first 69 games of the season (2003 and 2004).
So, if the Yankees are where they are now, and that’s pretty much where they usually are after 69 games, why does it feel like things in Yankeeland are not going all that great now? Is it because a half-billion dollars worth of spending this off-season has led to higher expectations? Or, is it just because the Yankees have played so poorly in their last 12 games? What do you think?
Jun 10
Tomorrow, June 11, 2009, will be the 3,150th day since the Yankees beat the Mets to win the 2000 World Series.
Boy, eight years and seven and a half months flies when you’re having fun, huh?
So, here’s a fun exercise for today, a day advance of this 3,150 day anniversary, to try and take our Yankees minds off of the game with the Red Sox last night.
For you, what’s been your happiest moment as a Yankees fan in the last 3,149 days? Was it the Martinez or Brosius homers in the 2001 World Series? Was it the Boone homer in the 2003 ALCS? Was it the trade to get A-Rod? Was it A-Rod winning a MVP? (Heck, was it A-Rod getting busted for PEDs?) Was it Mussina finally winning 20? Was it Jeter diving into the stands after catching a pop-up? Was it the return of Roger Clemens? Was it the exit of Torre? Was it the final game at the old Yankee Stadium? Was it the opening of the new Stadium?
Me? It was probably the Boone homer. That was pure joy – especially since I saw it in person. But, sadly, that was over 2,000 days ago…which is a long time. How about you? If you had to pick your “happiest” moment since the 2000 World Series, what would it be?
Jun 02
I was just looking back at the Yankees 11th Round Pick in the June 1970 Draft – yes, I am a Yankees-fanatic, ain’t I? – and I saw that they selected Kevin Rusnak from OSU. However, the selection was voided.
This got me wondering as to what this was all about – and then I found this from the June 17, 1970 edition of the Spokane Daily Chronicle:
Is that crazy, or what? Oh, the days when everything was done with pen and paper…
May 27
[Click on thumbnail to enlarge image]
This one was an interesting look at a then 50-year old George Steinbrenner. So funny, and kinda/sorta sad, to look back at it now.
May 22
Jumping off from the Stat of the Day, I was curious as to which pitcher started off his “Yankees career” with the longest streak of 7+ inning games – since 1954. The answer can be found via the link below. I had forgotten that Ken Holtzman got off to such a hot start with the Yanks in 1976. Too bad he had an ERA of 6.75 in the nine games that followed his blazing pinstripe debut…
May 02
Seventy years ago, today, on May 2, 1939, Lou Gehrig approached his manager, Joe McCarthy, before the Yankees game in Detroit against the Tigers and said, “I’m benching myself, Joe, for the good of the team”. Thus, ending his streak of consecutive games played at 2,130. It would be nice if the Yankees made some mention of this, at the Stadium today, before or during their game.
Apr 29
Here’s a fun list via Baseball-Reference.com. It’s Yankees, since 1954, who had 10+ games, within the team’s first 40 games of a season, where they had one or more homeruns in a game:
Year Games Link to Individual Games +-----------------+----+-----+-------------------------+ Mickey Mantle 1956 16 Ind. Games Tino Martinez 1997 13 Ind. Games Alfonso Soriano 2003 12 Ind. Games Alex Rodriguez 2007 12 Ind. Games Joe Pepitone 1969 12 Ind. Games Yogi Berra 1956 12 Ind. Games Tino Martinez 2005 11 Ind. Games Mickey Mantle 1967 11 Ind. Games Alex Rodriguez 2005 10 Ind. Games Jorge Posada 2003 10 Ind. Games Roger Maris 1960 10 Ind. Games Roger Maris 1961 10 Ind. Games Mickey Mantle 1957 10 Ind. Games Mickey Mantle 1961 10 Ind. Games Jason Giambi 2006 10 Ind. Games
I wonder if Robbie Cano can add his name to the list this season? He’s got four 1+ homer games now in the first twenty games of 2009…
Apr 18
Chien-Ming Wang has made three starts for the Yankees this season and has allowed 7+ earned runs in all three of his starts. This now gives Wang eight starts in his Yankees career where he has allowed 7+ ER in the start. Via Baseball-Reference.com’s Play Index Pitching Game Finder, here’s the list of other Yankees pitchers, since 1954, to have 8+ starts for the Yankees where they have allowed 7+ ER in the game:
Games Link to Individual Games +-----------------+-----+-------------------------+ Andy Pettitte 21 Ind. Games Orlando Hernandez 11 Ind. Games Ron Guidry 10 Ind. Games Roger Clemens 10 Ind. Games Mel Stottlemyre 9 Ind. Games Mike Mussina 9 Ind. Games Tommy John 9 Ind. Games Bob Turley 8 Ind. Games David Cone 8 Ind. Games
But, there’s a catch here: Chien-Ming Wang has made just 98 starts in his Yankees career – including today. So, this begs the question: How many Yankees pitchers, since 1954, have made 8+ starts for the Yankees where they have allowed 7+ ER in the game within the first 100 starts that they’ve made in their career? Well, besides Wang – who made the list today – it’s just one (according to B-R.com’s PI):
Games Link to Individual Games +-----------------+-----+-------------------------+ Orlando Hernandez 10 Ind. Games
No other Yankees starter, since 1954, sans Wanger and El Duque has made more than 4 starts for the team where they have allowed 7+ ER in the game within the first 100 starts that they’ve made in their career.
Apr 12
Via Baseball-Reference.com, since 1954, Yankees batters who have had 2 or more 3+ RBI games within the team’s first five games of the season:
Year Games Link to Individual Games +-----------------+----+-----+-------------------------+ Butch Wynegar 1986 2 Ind. Games Nick Swisher 2009 2 Ind. Games Bill Skowron 1962 2 Ind. Games Bill Skowron 1955 2 Ind. Games Mickey Mantle 1961 2 Ind. Games Mickey Mantle 1956 2 Ind. Games Jason Giambi 2007 2 Ind. Games Hank Bauer 1954 2 Ind. Games
The interesting thing here for Swisher is that he only started 3 of the Yankees first 5 games this season.
Apr 06
Apr 05
When was the last time the Yankees opened a season at Oriole Park at Camden Yards? It was 2002. Click here to see the boxscore from that game. Tony Batista’s slam did in the Rocket that day.
Jay Tessmer was on the Yankees Opening Day roster in 2002? That was thanks to an injury to Ramiro Mendoza. And, one week later, Tessmer was sent to Triple-A Columbus when Mendoza came off the disabled list.
It somewhat like Ramiro Pena making this Yankees Opening Day roster – thanks to the A-Rod injury.
I wonder how many guys have made Yankees Opening Day rosters, thanks to some good luck for them and bad luck for someone else, and then faded away into the land of the forgotten?
Mar 30
This evening, I was playing around with the Complete Baseball Encyclopedia, taking a look at each of the Yankees 106 seasons to date…
Mar 29
D’Angelo Jimenez, Sam Militello, Kerry Dineen, Ed Yarnall, Ruben Rivera, Dave Pagan, Mickey Klutts, Ryan Bradley, Larry Murray, Mike Griffin, Dennis Sherrill, Gil Patterson, Drew Henson, Brad Halsey, Domingo Ramos, Ray Fontenot, Hipolito Pena, Ted Wilborn, Andy McGaffigan, Otto Velez, Jerry Nielsen, Juan Bernhardt, Jason Anderson, Hensley Meulens, Ryan Bradley, Terry Whitfield, Mark Hutton, Joe Lefebvre, Mike Griffin, Vic Mata, Larry McCall, Matt Luke, Christian Parker, Dell Alston, Marshall Brant, Bobby Munoz, Mike Humphreys, Kevin Mmahat, Oscar Azocar and Randy Keisler.
How many of these do you remember?
Mar 28
Look at the 1980 and 2002 Yankees. Man, those teams were stacked. Both won 103 games in those seasons. Yet, both got their rear kicked in the post-season.
When you think of these teams, what do you think of more, the 103 wins or their October nightmare? If you’re a Yankees fan, it’s probably the latter.
When you look back at high-win/no-ring teams like the 1953 Brooklyn Dodgers, 1954 Cleveland Indians and 1969 Baltimore Orioles, because the post-season format was different, you can at least say that they got to play in a World Series. But, then there are teams like the 1993 Atlanta Braves or the 2001 Seattle Mariners…who had big win total seasons and then got bounced in the playoffs…like the 1980 and 2002 Yanks…
…well…they do cast a shadow but they don’t hold up to the light, do they?
Looking at that 2002 Yankees team, and seeing how many of the players on that team played in New York from 2002 through 2007 (Mike Mussina, Jason Giambi, Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada, and Mariano Rivera) and then looking at the other players who were there for most of that time albeit not all of it (Scott Proctor, Hideki Matsui, Bernie Williams, Andy Phillips, and Alex Rodriguez), I wonder who will be the last one out of this gang of post-season sufferers to play for the Yankees?
Mussina, Giambi, Proctor, Williams and Phillips are gone. Matsui should be gone after this year. Rivera and Posada are getting older. That leaves Jeter and A-Rod. Which one will be the last one standing in New York? Right now, contractually, Rodriguez has the longer life – as his current deal runs through 2017.
Yikes, for Alex’s sake, if he lasts that long in Yankeeland, let’s hope all those seasons are not ring-less. If they are, wouldn’t that be something? Imagine the Yankees going 17 years without a World Championship and A-Rod being on the team for 14 of those 17 years? That’s not exactly something that a ballplayer would want on his resume.
Mar 14
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 R H E Royals 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 4 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 14 1 Yankees 0 2 2 1 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 9 26 2
Now, this is one that I would love to see on Yankees Classics.
August 27, 1972 – second game of a double-header at the original Yankee Stadium. Here’s the boxscore.
Not exactly Sparky Lyle’s best day as a Yankee. Then again, Lyle did pitch in the first game that day and got the win.
Actually, August 27, 1972 was a special day in the Bronx. The Yankees won that first game that afternoon in the bottom of the 9th, 7-6, scoring two runs in the 8th to tie and one run in the 9th to win. And, that second game…well…what a game!
The Yanks were winning, 6-1, after seven. The Royals scored four in the 8th and three in the 9th to go ahead, 8-6. New York rallied in the 9th – including a two-out, pinch-hit, single from Thurman Munson to knot the score at eight.
And, it stayed that way until the sixteenth inning when Celerino Sanchez, Jerry Kenney, and Stick Michael reached base – and then Horace Clarke provided the walk-off sac-fly to win it for the Yankees.
I didn’t go to my first Yankees game until the next year in August 1973. And, that one was a great game too.
But, man…oh, man…those lucky Yankees fans who were at the ballpark on August 27, 1972. They had themselves about 8 hours of one heckuva time at the Stadium. If you were one of the some-25,000 that were there…hey…tell us about it!
Mar 02
Joe Sheehan likes the Yankees bullpen -
Other than re-signing 2008 trade acquisition Damaso Marte to a three-year, $12 million deal, the Yankees made the statement, however implicit, that they are committed to their homegrown relievers in 2009. One of the bright spots in the team’s first October-free season since 1994 was the emergence of hurlers such as Edwar Ramirez and Jose Veras, who combined to strike out 126 men in 113 innings with a 3.74 ERA. By the end of the season, Phil Coke and David Robertson were making contributions in low-leverage situations. Add in free-talent pickups like Brian Bruney and Alfredo Aceves, and the Yankees have more than enough effective relievers to go around, whether you’ve heard of them or not.
Staying out of the reliever market is a good idea for the Yankees, who have spent most of the decade trying and failing to recapture the magic that was Mike Stanton and Jeff Nelson in the seventh and eighth innings. The set-up tandem from 1997 through 2000 contributed to three division titles, four playoff appearances, and three World Championships. Joe Torre’s ability to run a bullpen was in no small part predicated on having those two pitchers around; since ‘01, Torre has never seemed quite as comfortable with his relief staff.
Actually, the Yankees bullpen in 2002 was not terrible. See this list of seasons, from 1996 through 2008, where the Yankees had guys on their team with an ERA+>=115 along with a H+BB/IP Ratio<=1.33, with at least 30 games pitched and 85% of them in relief:
Year Number Players Matching +----+--------------------------+------+---------------------------+ 2002 4 Mike Stanton / Steve Karsay / Ramiro Mendoza / Mo Rivera 2006 3 Scott Proctor / Mariano Rivera / Mike Myers 2001 3 Mariano Rivera / Ramiro Mendoza / Randy Choate 1998 3 Mariano Rivera / Graeme Lloyd / Darren Holmes 1997 3 Jeff Nelson / Mariano Rivera / Mike Stanton 2008 2 Mariano Rivera / Brian Bruney 2007 2 Mariano Rivera / Mike Myers 2005 2 Tom Gordon / Mariano Rivera 2004 2 Tom Gordon / Mariano Rivera 2003 2 Mariano Rivera / Chris Hammond 2000 2 Jeff Nelson / Mariano Rivera 1996 2 John Wetteland / Mariano Rivera 1999 1 Mariano Rivera
Me? I’m not 100% sold on the Yankees bullpen this season. I’ve already documented concerns on Bruney, Ramirez and Veras. That leaves Marte and some rookies to support Mo Rivera.
Could it work? Sure, maybe… Then again, maybe not…
Mar 02
Yeah, it’s a snowy March day in Yankeeland today. But, this is nothing.
In 1982, a snowstorm that hit New York delayed the start of the Yankees season for five days. Instead of opening against Texas on April 6th, the Yankees started the season with a doubleheader against the Chicago White Sox on April 11th. And, in 2003, six inches of snow caused the Yankees to push back their Opening Day by a day.
I went to both of those delayed openers. In 1982, I was sitting in field level seats out in right field. It was very strange to watch the game – while also being able to look to my right and see the mountains of snow that the grounds crew had piled up behind the outfield fence. In 2003, it was cold. I lost the feeling in both my feet around the 7th inning.
I plan on being at the Yankees home opener this year. Let’s hope we’re done with the snow, this year, by then…
Feb 28
On February 28, 1986, Baseball Commissioner Peter Ueberroth conditionally suspended 11 players – seven of them for a full season – for drug abuse. This all came about as a result of the Pittsburgh drug trials in 1985.
The players who were suspended for a full year were allowed to play under the condition that they donated 10 percent of their base salaries to drug-related community service, submitted to random drug testing, and contributed 100 hours of drug-related community service. Those were:
Joaquín Andújar, Oakland Athletics
Dale Berra, New York Yankees
Enos Cabell, Los Angeles Dodgers
Keith Hernandez, New York Mets
Jeffrey Leonard, San Francisco Giants
Dave Parker, Cincinnati Reds
Lonnie Smith, Kansas City Royals
The four players who were suspended for only 60 days were allowed to play if they donated 5 percent of base salaries and contributed 50 hours of drug-related community service. Those were:
Al Holland, New York Yankees
Lee Lacy, Baltimore Orioles
Lary Sorensen, Chicago Cubs
Claudell Washington, Atlanta Braves
Now, this is where it gets interesting. Rod Scurry was also a drug abuser and part of those trials in 1985. And, he played for the Yankees in 1985 and 1986. Further, on June 30, 1986, Claudell Washington was traded by the Braves (along with with Paul Zuvella) to the Yankees for Ken Griffey Sr. and Andre Robertson. Related, on July 27, 1986, the Yankees released Dale Berra.
So, for four weeks during the 1986 season, the Yankees had Al Holland, Rod Scurry, Dale Berra and Claudell Washington on their roster at the same time.
But, the Yankees had the third best overall record in the A.L. that season. Therefore, many Yankees fans were probably willing to look past the character of some of the members of the team…
Feb 23
From September 7, 1996 through September 15, 1996, the Yankees went 8 straight games where their pitchers had 8+ strikeouts in the contest.
And, from September 7, 1998 through September 15, 1998, the Yankees went 8 straight games where their pitchers had 8+ strikeouts in the contest.
Those are the only two times, since 1956, where the Yankees pitchers went 8 straight games with at least 8 K’s in the game.
Maybe this will be the season where the Yankees match or better that streak?
By the way, want some more of this?
From September 2, 1996 through September 15, 1996, the Yankees went 12 straight games where their pitchers had 7+ strikeouts in the contest.
And, from June 17, 2001 through June 30, 2001, the Yankees went 12 straight games where their pitchers had 7+ strikeouts in the contest.
Those are the only two times, since 1956, where the Yankees pitchers went 12 straight games with at least 7 K’s in the game.
Here’s some trivia for you: Mo Rivera pitched in all four of these streaks in 1996, 1998 and 2001. The only other Yankees pitcher to appear in all four streaks? Ramiro Mendoza.
It’s funny, I don’t recall seeing a lot written about Ramiro Mendoza in the Torre/Verducci book. I wonder why that is? He was a very valuable part of Torre’s Yankees.
Feb 22
Here’s a fun little stat/list via the Complete Baseball Encyclopedia:
Since 1973 (when Big Stein took over the team) – Yankees players with the most seasons where they qualified for the batting title and had an OPS of .950+
Bernie Williams 4 Jason Giambi 3 Alex Rodriguez 3 Paul O'Neill 1 Derek Jeter 1 Don Mattingly 1 Jorge Posada 1 Reggie Jackson 1
Feb 21
At this very moment, the MLB Network is airing the Yankees game of August 4, 1985 as part of their All-Time Games series. Granted, that’s the day that Huckleberry, Seaver, rained on the Scooter’s parade. But, it’s so coooool to watch this one now. Rickey Henderson, Joe Cowley, Donnie Baseball, Ron Hassey, Willie Randolph, Dan Pasqua, Dave Winfield, Mike Pagliarulo, Bobby Meacham….ah, memories.
And, just the sights and sounds from a Yankees game, circa the ’80’s, being played, in the sun, at Yankee Stadium…from the crowd reactions to Eddie Layton’s tunes…right down to the ballplayers looking like human beings, and not hulks, and wearing their uniforms properly….
I’m telling ya, getting to watch this today is like having a nice, warm, friendly, blankie on a cold and rainy day. It just feels right.
I found this one by accident – as I just got back from some errands and flicked on the TV when I got in. Man, what a great surprise…
Feb 17
It’s February 17th. One this date in baseball history, two great Yankees pitcher passed away.
You can’t talk about Yankees history without talking about Red Ruffing and Lefty Gomez.
Feb 07
On February 14, 2004, Yankees G.M. Brian Cashman swung a trade to acquire Alex “A-Rod” Rodriguez from the Texas Rangers. And, on February 7, 2009, it was reported that (in spite of claims in the recent past from A-Rod that he never used, or considered using, performance-enhancing drugs) Alex Rodriguez tested positive in 2003 for having two anabolic steroids (in his system).
In a period just one week short of five years, the Yankees’ “A-Rod Story” has taken an interesting turn, huh?
On the plus side, in his Yankees career, to date, A-Rod has come to the park, just about everyday, ready to play ball. According to FanGraphs.com, from 2004 through 2008, including the post-season, Alex has hit 1,000 groundballs – how about that for a nice round number? – and I’m pretty sure that he’s run everyone of them out, hard. And, by the way, he won the league MVP award in 2005 and 2007. Geez, what’s not to like about all that?
Well, there’s been some other events during A-Rod’s Yankees career too – between the time the Yankees traded for him and today (when the news came out about his reported usage of illegal steroids). Here’s a summary of some of that stuff:
July 2004: A-Rod gets into a fight with Red Sox catcher Jason Varitek – which many claim became a season rallying event for Boston that year.
October 2004: A-Rod tries to slap the ball out of Boston’s Bronson Arroyo’s glove and is ruled out for interference during Game 6 of the ALCS.
October 2005: A-Rod bats .133 in the ALDS.
November 2005: A-Rod is cautioned by the New York Yankees that playing poker in illegal clubs could be dangerous and harmful to his image.
December 2005: A-Rod creates a bunch of drama regarding which team he will play for in the World Baseball Classic.
September 2006: An embarrasing feature on A-Rod, where he is spoken of negatively by other Yankees, appears in Sports Illustrated.
October 2006: A-Rod bats .071 in the ALDS.
November 2006: A-Rod stands up Yogi Berra at a charity event.
February 2007: A-Rod holds a press conference where he says that he and Derek Jeter have been “lying” about having a great relationship.
May 2007: A-Rod is caught cheating on his wife with a muscular stripper.
May 2007: A-Rod yelled “Mine!” or “Ha!” (or something like that) as Blue Jays third baseman Howie Clark tried to catch a Jorge Posada pop fly with two out – causing the ball to drop in and annoying the heck out of the Toronto players.
July 2007: A-Rod’s wife wears a shirt to a game at Yankee Stadium which contains an obscene word.
October 2007: A-Rod strikes out 6 times in 15 At Bats during the ALDS.
October 2007: During the World Series, A-Rod opts out of his Yankees contract.
July 2008: A-Rod is caught having an affair with Madonna – leading to a divorce with his wife and many tabloid headlines.
July 2008: A-Rod leaves Yankee Stadium before the completion of the 2008 All-Star game – and catches some heat for not sticking around.
And, that’s just the list of A-Rod related embarrasing things that I can remember, as of this moment. There’s an excellent chance that I missed a few.
So, this all said…whaddaya say Yankees fans…when you look back at the first 1,820 days of A-Rod in pinstripes, factoring it all in, has it been worth it?
Feb 01
Anyone out there remember what happened to the Yankees on August 23, 1968 during the second game of a double-header?
Lindy McDaniel retired 21 straight Tiger batters‚ six on strikeouts – coming into the game in the 9th inning. Yet, the Yankees could not score during that time, or during the next 4 innings to follow, and the game ended in a 3-3 tie. (The Tigers under-rated John Hiller came into the game in the 8th inning and went 9 scoreless innings – which probably had a lot to do with the Yanks not getting the job done.)
Bill Robinson had chances to win the game for the Yankees in the 9th and the 11th, albeit with two outs, and failed. Ditto Dick Howser in the 13th and 15th.
The game was called after 19 innings, at 1:07 am EST (on August 24th) due to a curfew rule.
For what it’s worth, at least the Yankees won the first game of the twin-bill, 2-1, in a great game pitched by Stan Bahnsen.
Hey, for those old-time Yankees fans out there, if you were at this game, or just remember it well, tell us all about in the comments section below.
Jan 22
Here’s the story. I’m pretty sure this makes Lonny Frey the oldest living ex-Yankee.
Jan 21
John Sickels got me thinking. Who have been the biggest recent Yankees prospect failures?
Here’s some names that come to my mind:
Ruben Rivera, Brian Buchanan, Matt Drews, Shea Morenz, Ricky Ledee, D’Angelo Jimenez, Donzell McDonald, Ryan Bradley, Andy Brown, Ed Yarnall, Drew Henson, David Walling, Deivi Mendez, David Parrish, Brandon Claussen, John-Ford Griffin, Brandon Weeden, Eric Duncan, Jason Anderson, and Sean Henn…
Who would you add to this list?
Jan 20
Dig all those seats available back in 1979…
Jan 15
It’s really cold in the New York City area. No better time for a baseball fix. Here’s a highlight from the Yankees game of June 24, 1970:
Jan 10
Playing around with the Complete Baseball Encyclopedia, I was looking to run a list of Yankees starting pitchers who were great and who did it for many years in a row. So, I set the “Seasons With, Streak, Pitching” option for “Playing for the New York Yankees, most seasons in a row where RSAA >= 20 and GAMES STARTED >= 25.” Here’s the list that it generated:
Pitcher Years # Red Ruffing 1935-40 6 Whitey Ford 1962-64 3 Ron Guidry 1977-79 3 David Cone 1997-99 3 Russ Ford 1910-11 2 Bob Shawkey 1919-20 2 Carl Mays 1920-21 2 Herb Pennock 1924-25 2 Lefty Gomez 1934-35 2 Lefty Gomez 1937-38 2 Tiny Bonham 1942-43 2 Ed Lopat 1949-50 2 Whitey Ford 1955-56 2 Jimmy Key 1993-94 2 Andy Pettitte 1996-97 2 Roger Clemens 2000-01 2
Look at Red Ruffing here. Not only does he top the list – but, he blows everyone else away. This just may be another Yankees pitching record for Ruffing that no one will ever beat.
Seeing this, I decided to look at who were the top pitchers in baseball from 1935-1940. Also via the Complete Baseball Encyclopedia, here’s that list:
Pitcher RSAA IP Lefty Grove 280 1296.0 Red Ruffing 176 1455.0 Tommy Bridges 159 1361.0 Bob Feller 146 1106.0 Lefty Gomez 139 1177.2 Ted Lyons 133 1096.0 Carl Hubbell 131 1416.0 Bobo Newsom 115 1688.0 Thornton Lee 113 1221.0 Johnny Allen 108 1097.0
Ruffing is second to only the great Lefty Grove here. Any time you’re talking a positive pitching achievement and you’re second only to Lefty Grove, well, that’s not too shabby. (And, seeing Lefty Gomez here, on this list, confirms my former suggestion about the greatness of the Ruffing/Gomez one-two punch from 1930 through 1942 for the Yankees.)
Now, playing around with all these numbers got me wondering even more…in terms of RSAA per 9 innings pitched, who are the best Yankees pitchers, all-time, to date? Here’s that list:
Pitcher RSAA IP RSAA/9 IP J. Chamberlain 32 124.1 2.32 Mariano Rivera 259 1023.2 2.28 John Wetteland 29 125.0 2.09 Tom Gordon 39 170.1 2.06 Goose Gossage 103 533.0 1.74 Steve Farr 29 169.0 1.54 Jeff Nelson 42 311.0 1.22 Sparky Lyle 93 745.2 1.12 Ron Davis 31 291.2 0.96 Spud Chandler 154 1485.0 0.93 Whitey Ford 321 3171.0 0.91 Lefty Gomez 242 2498.2 0.87 Bobby Shantz 44 462.0 0.86 Dave Righetti 107 1136.2 0.85 Tiny Bonham 109 1178.0 0.83 Jimmy Key 52 604.1 0.77 Russ Ford 92 1112.2 0.74 Carl Mays 88 1090.0 0.73 Mike Stanton 36 448.1 0.72 Hank Borowy 62 780.0 0.72 Ed Lopat 118 1496.2 0.71 David Cone 72 922.0 0.70 Marius Russo 53 681.0 0.70 C-Ming Wang 48 628.2 0.69 Red Ruffing 239 3168.0 0.68 Monte Pearson 61 826.0 0.66 Wilcy Moore 30 422.0 0.64 Ron Guidry 166 2392.0 0.62 Or. Hernandez 60 876.1 0.62 Joe Bush 53 783.0 0.61 Urban Shocker 61 931.1 0.59 Rudy May 55 841.2 0.59 Andy Pettitte 143 2212.0 0.58 Bob Shawkey 157 2488.2 0.57 Waite Hoyt 141 2273.0 0.56 Mike Mussina 96 1553.0 0.56 Johnny Murphy 61 989.0 0.56 Roger Clemens 67 1103.0 0.55 Steve Hamilton 29 485.1 0.54 Allie Reynolds 99 1700.0 0.52 Tom Sturdivant 29 524.0 0.50 Lindy McDaniel 30 545.0 0.50 David Wells 45 851.2 0.48 Herb Pennock 115 2189.0 0.47 Bill Bevens 31 643.0 0.43 Ramiro Mendoza 32 699.2 0.41 Vic Raschi 70 1538.0 0.41 Tommy John 59 1367.0 0.39 Joe Page 30 780.0 0.35 M.Stottlemyre 97 2662.0 0.33
Well, here, the bullpen guys top the list. That sort of makes sense – especially for the modern relief pitchers. If you’re good, hardly anyone is going to touch you up, that badly, when you’re throwing one inning and then you’re done.
It’s interesting to see Mike Mussina, David Wells, Roger Clemens, Orlando Hernandez and Andy Pettitte on this leader board. That was the Yankees 2002 starting rotation. Hey, they were pretty good, huh? Just makes it even more amazing that they (sans El Duque) got pounded by the Angels in the ALDS that season.
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