I am in the middle of a one of my big Sully Baseball blog post series. I want to honor each pitcher who has ever clinched a post season series.

I've already done it for the Red Sox and the Phillies.
But as I started up writing each team's entry, I realized that I should write a separate post about each player to end a post season series with a walk off hit.

Then another bizarre revelation hit me. I needed to create a whole new category.


1999 National League Championship Series
Game 6
Braves 10, Mets 9

One of the greatest post season series ever played ends with a whimper and a bases loaded walk



The 1999 NLCS was one of the wildest, most unpredictable and heart stopping playoff series I have ever seen. The Mets lost the first three to the Braves in agonizingly close games including a 1-0 bang your head against the wall Game 3. The Mets won a 15 marathon Game 5 where they were 3 outs from elimination and Robin Ventura hit his "Grand Slam Single." Then the Mets came back from a 5-0 first inning hole to send Game 6 into extras. They had a chance to be the first team to be down 3-0 to force a Game 7.

In the bottom of the 11th, Mets pitcher Kenny Rogers let up a lead off double to Gerald Williams and a sacrifice by Bret Boone put the Braves pennant on third with one out. Mets manager Bobby Valentine ordered a pair of intentional walks hoping to set up a force at home. But Rogers never found his control and walked Andruw Jones to bring in the pennant winning run.

The idea of walking in the winning run will always boggle my mind. How can a pitcher not just throw it down the heart of the plate? The worst case scenario is a walk off grand slam. But make the HITTER connect with it. Instead a series filled with come from behind rallies and starting pitchers coming out of the bullpen ended with a thud.


2003 National League Division Series
Game 4
Marlins 7, Mets 6

Pudge holds onto the ball and the Marlins eliminate the Giants



The Giants responded to their heart breaking 2002 World Series loss with a powerhouse 2003 season where they ran away with the NL West and looked like the team to beat. The Wild Card Marlins, who eliminated the Giants in 1997, didn't look to pose much of a threat. But Florida came back to win Game 2 and won Game 3 in extra innings when they were one strike from losing.

In Game 4, Dontrelle Willis and the Marlins jumped ahead to a 5-1 lead but the Giants tied the game and it remained so until the 8th. In the bottom of the 8th the Marlins took the lead, in part when Pudge Rodriguez crashed into Yorvit Torreabla at home plate, jarring the ball loose. In the 9th inning the Giants rallied and put the tying run at second base in the form of J. T. Snow. Manager Felipe Alou had run out of pinch runners, but that wouldn't be a factor, right?

Jeffrey Hammonds hit a single to left and Snow rounded third to try and tie the game. Jeff Conine threw home to Rodriguez who made the tag and held onto the ball after the collision. That was the clear difference between Torreabla and Rodriguez.

It was not only the first time a post season series ended with the tying run being thrown out at the plate but it is the only time a series ended with the losing team getting a hit.

I was in my bedroom listening to the game on the radio, putting on my tuxedo getting ready for my wedding. When the series was over, I looked at my mom who was helping me with my cuff links. We raised our eye brows, shrugged and I put my shoes on.



So there you have 5 series whose endings defy regular categories.
None were walk off hits.
None were the pitcher recording the final out.

All were agonizing for the losing team and no doubt made the winning team think "Oh boy, we got away with one."

What can I say?
If you thought Albert post Game 2 acting bush league, then he showed today that he belongs in a HIGHER league.

Seriously... I am totally speechless on his performance.
He basically said "You want a comment from my previous game? How about THIS as a comment?"

5 for 6?
6 RBI?
Putting his name along side Babe Ruth and Reggie Jackson with single game World Series dominance?

Doing this on the biggest stage may have put a year or two on his contract too.

Folks, I wasn't crazy about his style after Game 2.
But holy CRAP did he deliver substance.

Lest we forget, the Rangers scored 7 runs and Cardinals starter Kyle Lohse only retired 9 batters... and it was a Cardinals blow out.

I think Cardinal fans would take that rather than a quote.
That WAS his quote.

Save for that extra inning meltdown by the Cardinals, we'd be looking at a St. Louis sweep tomorrow.

And yeah, Allen Craig was terrific the first three games... but after tonight, if the Cardinals win is there ANY doubt who the MVP should be?

I for one was hoping Albert would avoid the press tonight too... just to let his bat do the talking.

It was loud and clear tonight.
And all I could do is shut up!

In my He played in the postseason with WHAT team 25 man roster post, I found lots of pictures of well known players looking strange in different uniforms. Elston Howard as a Red Sox? Dizzy Dean as a Cub? Dwight Gooden with the Indians?

But none of those pictures are as strange as these three Yankee legends who wore the uniforms as a coach for different clubs.

They all look absurd. Which one is the strangest?

BABE RUTH - Coach for the Brooklyn Dodgers.

Ruth never got a shot to manage a team. The closest he ever got was being the first base coach for the 1938 Dodgers under manager Leo Durocher.

It was a match made in hell as Ruth felt he was the superior talent to Durocher (was there any argument there?) and HE deserved to manage the team.

Durocher felt that Ruth's head wasn't in the game and Ruth wound up leaving.

Yes, it is crazy seeing Ruth as a Dodger. But the fact that it is a black and white picture from another era makes it less anachronistic than the next two pictures. And besides, Ruth wound up playing for the Braves at the end of his career, so the idea of him wearing a strange uniform is not so foreign.


JOE DiMAGGIO - Coach for the Oakland A's

OK, this is a little absurd.

DiMaggio played in a preexpansion, pre franchise moving, black and white TV era. The A's were in Philadelphia when he retired after the 1951 World Series.

Now here he is, skipping over the Kansas City move and landing in Oakland? And unlike Ruth who played for three different teams, DiMaggio was a Yankee only icon. He took the baton from Gehrig and became the superstar of style and grace in Yankee pinstripes.

And here he is in the bright green Oakland unis for the 1968 and 1969 seasons? This was AFTER Simon and Garfunkel sang "Where have you gone Joe DiMaggio?" Well, I hope the nations lonely eyes turned to the East Bay.

But DiMaggio was a product of the Bay Area. And Charlie O. Finley wanted to bring some prestige to the A's when they arrived in Oakland. So Joe D was offered a coaching job and an executive position. And he did get to mentor a certain young slugger named Reggie Jackson.

It didn't last long and soon Joe's main profession became selling Mr. Coffee and throwing out the first pitch at Yankee Stadium.

(He probably became richer doing those two things than playing baseball.)


YOGI BERRA - Coach for the Houston Astros

This is so surreal that it almost looks like a Photoshopped picture.

It sounds like a scenario from a dream. "I had a dream that Yogi Berra was a coach... but he was in a Houston Astros uniform, back when they had the orange stripes across the belly."

I actually remember Yogi as the Astros coach. During the 1986 NLCS, I remember him in the Houston dugout and patting Billy Hatcher on the back when he hit his game tying, series extending home run in Game 6.

And even with that memory this STILL looks absurd.

Yogi has no connection to the Astros!

He is a St. Louis native so maybe the Cardinals would have made sense... but the ASTROS?

A player who so represented a traditional romantic time of baseball played for the very team whose legacy was the modern and the new era. Yogi, the hero who played in the post war Yankee dynasty, was calling a dome with fake grass and garish orange uniforms for an expansion team.

I am trying to think of some metaphor to explain how absurd that is... but I can't think of one better than Yogi Berra in a Houston Astros uniform!

He had two bitter divorces from the Yankees. One after the 1964 World Series when he was fired as the manager and replaced by former Cardinals manager Johnny Keane. Yogi found refuge with his mentor Casey Stengel and became a Mets coach and eventually a manager.

Then in 1985 when Steinbrenner fired Yogi as the Yankees manager in 1985. He joined the Houston coaching staff and never embraced the Yankees again until DiMaggio passed away in 1999.

Maybe Joe D left him a message. "Don't have the last uniform you wear be that ridiculous orange Astros uniform."

This is the story of two teammates.
One was larger than life, both physically and in his personality.

He started his career in one city and had some success there but some people questioned his focus and discipline.

He moved to another city where he relished being in the spotlight. He did endorsements, appeared in movies, and became a beloved big kid who was having more fun than anyone could imagine.

Sometimes he was out of shape and some people wondered if the game had his full attention. But nobody could doubt his production. He put up numbers that were as gigantic as his body and personality. And multiple championships followed.

He was paired with a teammate who was also great. His teammate was focused, educated and had an unmatched work ethic. He did endorsements and appearances but never seemed to embrace it. He just wanted to play, play hard and win.

He may not have been the larger than life physical specimen that his teammate was, but he never broke down, played day in and day out and put up amazing numbers on his own.

Eventually the two teammates became estranged and no longer talked to each other.
The big fellow moved on. Free from the large shadow, the more focused teammate had his best years.

No longer the sidekick, he became the MVP and led his storied team to multiple titles on his own with a brand new cast of characters.

Meanwhile the larger than life guy was a broken down shell of himself, playing out the string in Boston when he called it quits. But when he retired he was a champion in two different cities, put up amazing numbers and was the most fun to watch player of his generation.

Who was I talking about?
Shaq and Kobe?
Or Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig.

With Shaq's retirement, there was an insane conversation on 710 ESPN in Los Angeles of whether or not Shaq underachieved. (As if being in the top 5 of scoring, winning 3 Finals MVPs and leading 3 different franchises to the NBA Finals and winning the NBA MVP is the resume of a slacker.)

But people who criticize Shaq based on his weight and based on his being kind of a goofball are missing the joy that was Shaq and probably would have trashed Ruth for all of HIS off field antics.

They were both big kids who LOVED being who they were.

They were big, positive and fun. And backed it up with winning and piling up championships.

There is something to be said about being substantive on the field (or court) and being a big crowd pleaser as well. Yes we love to have players who are all business and eat, breathe and defecate their sport.

But having a showman who can back up the bravado is so much fun. They were not the equivalent of, say, Brian Bosworth who had the brash self promotion but couldn't translate it onto the field.

They were the epitome of "It isn't bragging if you can back it up."

And lest we forget, these are fun GAMES and Shaq and the Babe were having FUN playing games. And I know it was fun to watch Shaq, even when he was a Laker.

If the more serious player is more of your style, then you are probably a Kobe lover... or would have preferred Gehrig.

Kobe was raised all over the world, speaks different languages and has a singular purpose... winning basketball games.

Likewise Gehrig was Ivy League educated and refused to take himself out of a game.

But their contrasting styles to Shaq and the Babe were also aesthetically pleasing. Two very different kind of superstars, both physically and in personality.

For Laker fans I am sure it was fun to see Shaq and Kobe together.
No doubt it was fun for Yankee fans to see Ruth and Gehrig together.

And let's be thankful that both kinds of superstars can exist.

Ruth and Gehrig patched up their differences when Lou was dying.
Let's hope it doesn't come to that with Shaq and Kobe.

I have written a blog post that is basically a love letter to Laker and Yankee greatness.

If you will excuse me, I am going to throw up.

Yup, Tiger Woods apologized in public and all the world stopped to listen.

I loved the CNN caption. They felt the need to put the subtitle "Pro Golfer."

Is that for the 2 people on the planet Earth who have never heard of Tiger Woods?

I think it was written by a sarcastic news producer at CNN... as if to say "Yes, we are stopping all reporting in the world to tell you a golfer cheated on his wife."

Now I am sure he meant it when he said he was sorry.
And if you thought his wife was p*ssed at him, you should have seen his mom.

I found it refreshing that he didn't try to blame the media or make him a victim. Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds and Mark McGwire should take note.

And of course the nanosecond he wins a golf tournament, all will be forgotten. Don't believe me? look how quickly A-Rod went from womanizing steroid using albatross to beloved World Champion.

But Tiger didn't owe me an apology. I'm not a big golf fan, but I love watching him play. The only apology he owes ME is if he doesn't ever play again and golf goes back to being populated by a bunch of fat white Craig Stadler looking guys.

Now of course he owes his wife an apology.

He owes his kids an apology.

He owes the person whose tree he hit an apology.

And he owes his sponsors an apology. Seriously, Buick and Gilette and all of the other companies that poured tens of millions of dollars into his available balance weren't paying for a golfer. They were paying for an image... an image of coolness and someone who can never be rattled.

Although I find the whole endorsement thing to be a bit silly. If I am weighing the pros and cons of buying a car, I'm not going to think "How did Tiger do in the U. S. Open?"

But I did think that Tiger picked the wrong decade to be the dominating sports figure of his era.

Let's just for a moment, imagine a baseball player who is damn good.

No, better than that. Like Tiger Woods, becomes larger than the sport, smashing the record books in more ways than seems possible.

He is the highest paid player, the biggest star and does the most endorsements.

Now let's also imagine that he has such a drinking problem that he had to have a clause in his contract that he would knock off the booze.

Imagine that he fought with management and managers. Imagine that he was suspended to start one season and his hard drinking and bad eating lifestyle caused him to miss much of another.

Imagine that player throwing dirt and an umpire and climbing into the stands to confront a fan.

Imagine if that player was caught stealing in the bottom of the 9th of a 1 run Game 7 of the World Series... and that bone headed decision ended the series.

Imagine if that player ran around with women (and frequented brothels) while he had a wife and child living in another town.

And eventually that woman he was married to died in a fire.

Can you imagine the scrutiny a player like that would have endured?

Yet a player like that DID exist.

That would be Babe Ruth...

He'd have be considered bad for the game today.

He'd have people wringing their hands that kids want to emulate him.

He etched his name into the record books as a hitter and a pitcher... and today he'd also set unbreakable records in number of press conferences where he breaks down.

Remember how people treated Robbie Alomar spitting at John Herschbeck as if it were the end of civilization?

Or Ron Artest's going into the stands in Auburn Hills being an event tantamount to the Hindenberg disaster?

Or Michael Irvin's partying? Or Wade Boggs' affair? All earth shattering. Well Ruth did it all... and to this day remains a figure that towers over the sport.

He represents a supposedly more innocent time... a time when reporters kept quiet when you returned from a brothel smelling like booze.

Is it better now where anyone with a camera phone and a Twitter account can bring someone down?

Was it better then when myths were created and some unpleasantness suppressed?

I am not sure. But I DO know it is better now that our star athletes can't endorse tobacco anymore.

Let’s continue the Home Grown vs. Acquired Team match up with obsession #2 of Red Sox fans (or sometimes obsession #1, let’s face it)… THE NEW YORK YANKEES.

Click Here to review the rules.

Their history has been filled with home grown heroes whose names are among the most famous in the game… however the Yankees have had their share of big names picked up from other teams. One such trade kinda sorta haunted the Red Sox for 86 years!

Going through this it is amazing how deep some of the positions are (no room for home grown catchers Jorge Posada nor Hall of Famer Bill Dickey) and how shallow some of the pools are

(the fact that Butch Wynager was even considered is amazing!)

Well let’s list the big Yankee names…
Gehrig! Berra! DiMaggio! Mantle! Ruth! Ford! Wilcy Moore!

Wilcy Who?

Read on…

THE ALL TIME HOME GROWN YANKEE TEAM

STARTING CATCHER
YOGI BERRA

The Yankees have had their share of brilliant home grown catchers, but how could there be any doubt here? Yogi is undoubtedly the most beloved living icon of baseball today. Beyond the Yogisms and his lovable qualities (and winning a decade plus staredown with George Steinbrenner) let’s not forget he was a three time AL MVP, won 10 rings, managed both the Yankees and the Mets to the World Series and was my grandpa’s favorite player.

(Most underrated Yogi-ism "Always go to other people's funerals, otherwise they won't come to yours.")




STARTING FIRST BASEMAN
LOU GEHRIG

Cal Ripken’s streak died because he needed a day off (and got help from the grounds crew when he found Kevin Costner in bed with his wife.)

Lou Gehrig’s streak died because he was DYING!

And had the class to say he felt lucky. Face it, if any of you gave that speech you’d say “What the F--- did I do to deserve this?”

In many ways was equal to Ruth as a hitter. Certainly Pride of the Yankees was better than any movie made about the Bambino. (I wonder if his mom really gave him hitting instructions towards the end of his career.)



STARTING SECOND BASEMAN
TONY LAZZERI

The second best Italian slugger the Yankees ever plucked from San Francisco. Also had an underratedly terrific nickname: Poosh Em Up. It’s incredible that in a lineup that featured Ruth and Gehrig that he still managed to drive in 100 runs a season. Who was on base?

Oh by the way, played his entire career with epilepsy. Not too shabby.



STARTING SHORTSTOP
DEREK JETER

Chris DeLuca, writer of the brilliant What Sucks, sums it up best when he says “He is a 4 time World Champion, a World Series MVP, a future Hall of Famer, a multi millionaire and had Mariah Carey back when that meant something!”

When he took the microphone after the Yankees last game at the Stadium and gave the impromptu speech, you just knew that he gets it. He knows that he will be one of those Yankees like Whitey and Yogi that will always get standing ovations and he’ll have a monument some day.

It must be good to be him. No wonder all of us Red Sox fans hate him!



STARTING THIRD BASEMAN
RED ROLFE

A shockingly thin position for home grown Yankee talent, I give the spot to Rolfe over Pagliarulo. Rolfe was a 4 time All Star and got 213 hits and batted .329 for the 1939 Yankees… one of the five World Champions he played for.










STARTING LEFT FIELDER
ROY WHITE

Again, kind of surprising how few star left fielders the Yankees have developed over the years. But there is no shame in including White on this list. He was a Yankee for 14 years, being named to the All Star team during lean years in the Bronx, following the team to Queens for two years before getting a pair of rings at the end of his career. A classy guy even a Red Sox fan has to admire.




STARTING CENTER FIELDER
JOE DiMAGGIO

My Grandpa Vioni would be so happy to see I’ve included so many Italians in the starting line up.

Look, why DiMaggio?
Who else can say “I played with Lou Gehrig and married Marilyn Monroe?”
Who else can say “Hemmingway and Simon & Garfunkel wrote about me?”

That’s a cool life my friend. I hope he saved his Mr. Coffee money.




STARTING RIGHT FIELDER
MICKEY MANTLE

OK, I know I am reaching here. Mickey is and always will be in everyone’s mind a center fielder. But when he came up, DiMaggio was still in center and Stengel played Mantle in right.

And Mickey was my mom’s favorite player… if you want to make my mom angry, go right ahead.





STARTING DESIGNATED HITTER
DON MATTINGLY

OK, another reach… He only DHed 76 times out of 1785 career games. But let me say 5 things:

1) Mattingly belongs on this list.
2) I’m not about to bump Gehrig.
3) His bad luck is jaw dropping and I’m not going to dog pile on him
4) He was the only positive thing about the Yankees for a while
5) Yes mom, I know “DHed” is not a word.




THE STARTING ROTATION

WHITEY FORD

Looking at Whitey’s regular season stats, two things jump out at me.

1) He only won 20 games twice yet consistently had Ace like numbers. That should give Mike Mussina some comfort.

2) It’s amazing how often Stengel used him out of the bullpen. Can you imagine trying to get a rally going only to have Whitey Ford come out of the pen? I bet he wasn’t on a pitch count.


LEFTY GOMEZ

When Joe Dimaggio spoke at my college graduation in 1994, he told a story about Lefty Gomez basically screwing around on the mound, walking bad hitters to get to good hitters for the challenge, and being a character. He was also a Hall of Famer who gave the Yankees four 20+ win seasons and went 6-0 in 7 World Series starts, completing 4 of them. Would probably be a media darling today.




RON GUIDRY

The more you look at the stats the more you wonder if he belongs in the Hall.
He has the dominating seasons (including his mindboggling 1978 season.) He had a 20 win season as late as 1985. He has a 3-1 record with a 1.69 ERA in the World Series… It’s an intriguing argument. To think Steinbrenner almost dealt him to Toronto for Bill Singer.





MEL STOTTLEMYRE

Talk about bad luck as a player. He showed up in 1964, just as the Yankees 4 ½ decades of dominance was coming to a close. He was a consistent 20 game winner on forgettable Yankee teams only to retire in 1974… just before the going got good again. Won 5 rings as a coach for the Mets and Yankees.




SPUD CHANDLER

Only one Yankee pitcher ever won the MVP. Did you guess Guidry, Gomez, Ford, Stottlemyre, Lyle, Gossage or Clemens. You’d be wrong. It’s Chandler after going 20-4 with a 1.64 ERA for the 1943 World Champion Yankees. The only question is… what was he doing playing baseball in 1943 and not being over seas fighting facism?






THE BULLPEN

MARIANO RIVERA

Rivera had Tommy John surgery after the 1992 season and the Yankees left him unprotected in the expansion draft. Both the Rockies and the Marlins passed on him. Good job.

Some people say he is overrated. Some people are idiots.





HAL RENIFF

Before Bullpen closers were in fashion, “Porky” saved 18 games for the 1963 AL Champs and didn’t let up a run in his 4 World Series appearances.

And let’s face it, not many blogs are honoring Porky Reniff!





BOB GRIM

A 20 game winner and Rookie of the Year with the 1954 Yankees, he became a staple for Casey’s bullpen for two seasons. He went 12-8 with 19 saves for the 1957 AL Champs.





RAMIRO MENDOZA

He could do everything for the Yankees… start, close, set up, be a long man. And with all due respect to El Duque Hernandez, Mendoza should have been the MVP of the 1999 ALCS. He shut down the Red Sox rallies in games 2 and 5. Torre knew it was Mendoza’s series as he let him close out the series in Fenway instead of Rivera.

Is the only living person with a Red Sox and a Yankees World Series ring.



WILCY MOORE

One of the joys of writing these lists is when you stumble across a Wilcy Moore. He was the bullpen ace of the 1927 Yankees, a team some think was the greatest ever. As a Rookie that year, he made 38 relief appearances and 12 starts, going 19-7 with 13 saves with a 2.28 ERA. In the 4 game World Series, he threw a complete game AND a save.

He lost his stuff and got kicked around the minors and the Red Sox before the Yankees unearthed him in time for the 1932 World Series. With the Yankees on the verge of sweeping the Cubs (the day after Ruth supposedly called his shot) starter Johnny Allen got rocked for 4 runs in the first, highlighted by Frank Demaree’s 3 run shot.

Moore came out of the bullpen and gave the Yankees 5 1/3 innings of 2 hit, no earned run, no walk baseball. The Yankees rallied and won the game and the series with Moore the winning pitcher.

And I am sure that is more than ANYONE reading this knew of Wilcy Moore.
You are welcome, Wilcy.


THE BENCH



RESERVE INFIELDER
PHIL RIZZUTO

Scooter was an MVP, the spark plug of the greatest era of Yankee baseball ever and the single funniest broadcaster in the history of baseball.

All of that makes him a worthy Hall of Famer in my eyes.

There are some who objected to him being in the Hall.
I say to them his acceptance speech, which was the funniest Cooperstown speech I have ever heard, made it worth it.


RESERVE INFIELDER
JOE GORDON

All due respect to Frank Crosetti, who I originally had here, this belongs to Joe Gordon.

The new Hall of Famer was the AL MVP for the 1942 AL Champs and was a slugging 20 homer 100 RBI second baseman before that was popular. Why did it take so long to get him into the hall?



RESERVE OUTFIELDER
BERNIE WILLIAMS

He has the post season heroics (Big Papi is the only other person with two walk off post season homers) and the big regular season numbers too. He has the grace and dignity of a Champion who acts like he’s been there before. And he has a guitar CD available at Amazon.




RESERVE OUTFIELDER
BOBBY MURCER

Only Don Mattingly had worse luck for a beloved ringless Yankee. At least Murcer got to play in a World Series. As beloved and classy as anyone to wear the pinstripes, he deserves a plaque on the new Monument Park wall. (How did he not have one before he died?)





RESERVE CATCHER
ELSTON HOWARD

8 years after the Dodgers broke the color barrier, the Yankees finally brought up their first black player. He was no token Pumpsie Green. He had power, could hit for average (batted .348 for the 1961 World Champs), was the 1963 AL MVP, a 12 time All Star won a pair of Gold Gloves and allowed the Yankees to seamlessly ease Yogi Berra from behind the plate into left field and finally the role of manager. With all apologies to Bill Dickey, this spot belongs to Howard.

25th MAN
THURMAN MUNSON

I have learned over the years of interacting with Yankee fans that you can get into arguments and trash talk with them and they’ll trash talk back. But don’t you dare say a bad thing about Thurman Munson. I’m serious… they’ll form a posse and burn down your house. For that reason (along with the fact that he was a great player and to me as a kid WAS the Yankees) he needs to be on the list.



So there’s the home grown team.
Jus about every major era represented and almost every member beloved (let’s get more love for Wilcy Moore.)

Now everyone accuses the Yankees of buying Championships.
Let’s review what they bought!


THE ALL TIME ACQUIRED YANKEE TEAM

STARTING CATCHER
MIKE STANLEY

Talk about bad luck for someone wanting a ring. He was part of the Yankee revival in 1993 where they fell short of the division. He was on the 1994 team that probably would have won the pennant if the strike didn’t happen. He was on the 1995 team that lost the heart breaker to Seattle. The Yankees dropped him in favor of Girardi for 1996 and he went to Boston while New York won it all. He came back to the Bronx for 1997 in time to play in the heart breaking division series against the Indians. He went back to Boston for 98, 99 and 2000… all World Series winners for the Yankees. He finished his career with the 2000 A’s, whose season ended with the Yankees beating them on their way to a World Series title… without Stanley. DAMN that is bad timing!

STARTING FIRST BASEMAN
TINO MARTINEZ

To think he was vilified when he came over from Seattle. He had the audacity of NOT being Don Mattingly. When Jason Giambi came over he was vilified for having the audacity of NOT being Tino Martinez. Post season heroics, including his grand slam in the 1998 World Series and his 2 out 2 run game tying shot in game 4 of the 2001 World Series will buy you a lot of love.


STARTING SECOND BASEMAN
WILLIE RANDOLPH

It’s easy to forget he started his career in Pittsburgh and even played in the NLCS before coming to New York. It’s easy to forget he later made the All Star team as a Dodgers, played in the World Series for Oakland, nearly won a batting title in Milwaukee and finished his career with the Mets. He always seemed like a Yankee. And after the Mets sleazy dumping of him last year, Willie returned to Yankee Stadium for closing festivities with a slide into second. I don’t care that he is now a Brewers coach… he’s a true Yankee.

STARTING SHORTSTOP
BUCKY DENT

According to baseball-reference his middle name is Earl. That’s funny… I guess all of us Red Sox fans were mistaken. We thought it started with the letter F.





STARTING THIRD BASEMAN
ALEX RODRIGUEZ

It’s funny… I almost put Graig (sic) Nettles in this spot. I almost did it because A-Rod has been so vilified and Yankee fans have seemed so suspicious of him since he arrived that out of respect for Nettles, who DID walk the walk in October, I nearly benched A-Rod. The man has won 2 MVPs in a Yankees uniform. The man will probably hit his 600th homer next year. He will probably hit his 700th homer in 3 years.

He has a legit chance to be the all time leader in hits, runs and home runs.

I’m going to risk my reputation and say “He’s better than Nettles.”



STARTING LEFT FIELDER
DAVE WINFIELD

Yankee fans should love him for this domino logic.
1) Steinbrenner hated him because he wasn’t Reggie.
2) Because Steinbrenner hated him he had Howie Spira illegally investigate Winfield.
3) Steinbrenner was suspended because of the Spira connection.
4) With Steinbrenner out of the picture, Stick Michael was able to develop talent in the farm and not have to worry if they would be impulsively traded by George.
5) Stick developed Bernie Williams, Derek Jeter, Andy Pettite, Jorge Posada, Jim Leyritz and Mariano Rivera among others.
6) They became the building blocks to the dynasty so good and powerful than even Steinbrenner couldn’t break it up.

And it all goes back to Winfield.


STARTING CENTER FIELDER
MICKEY RIVERS

John Milton Rivers only played 3 ½ seasons in New York and still seems to be revered in the Bronx. His speed was so scary that Pete Rose changed his entire defensive strategy to prevent him from bunting. By the way, Leonard Armond Robinson was awesome as Mickey in The Bronx is Burning. Janine Green was even better as Mickey’s wife chewing out Steinbrenner in possibly the best scene in the miniseries.


STARTING RIGHT FIELDER
BABE RUTH

If Ruth was playing today, he’d be considered a prima donna. He’d be considered a baby. He’d be considered a T.O. type, ignoring the coaches, showing up out of shape, turning it on and off. Instead he is the single biggest figure in baseball history and along with Muhammed Ali, Joe Louis, Michael Jordan, Jim Brown and Tiger Woods, the biggest sports figure in American History.

Good thing he didn’t play today.
Safe to say that trade didn’t work out for the Red Sox.


STARTING DESIGNATED HITTER
REGGIE JACKSON

It’s not arrogance if you can back it up. There have been better players than Reggie. There have been bigger stars than Reggie. There have even been better post season performers than Reggie. But has there ever been any baseball player cooler than Reggie?

Even Reggie haters have to admit his style was awesome.

STARTING ROTATION

ALLIE REYNOLDS

The Yankees dealt Joe Gordon, a former MVP and got an actual Native American from Cleveland. What are the chances? Superchief (how about THAT for a PC nickname?) was the ace of the Yankees before Whitey Ford came about and kept contending for the MVP after Ford arrived. As with Ford, it’s amazing to see how many relief appearances he had, including 13 saves for the 1953 World Champs.