In his post yesterday about the potential batting order for 2010, Steve posted an image of a lineup card for what appears to be an All-Time Yankee team. Obviously, that team is just stacked. So stacked, in fact, that it got me thinking–what would my all time Yankee batting look like and how many runs could they score in a 162 game season?
For the first part, my team would look just like Steve’s, except I’d have Alex Rodriguez starting at third; don’t worry Nettles fans, he’d be on my bench. The rest of the bench would be rounded out by Jorge Posada (sorry, Thurman), Bernie Williams, and Don Mattingly. But, what we’re really concerned about here is the starting lineup and just how prolific it would be on offense.
Using the ever awesome Lineup Analysis tool from Baseball Musings, we can estimate how many runs this team would score by punching in each player’s OBP and SLG. Since this is an all-Yankee team, I’ll be using their Yankee numbers only.
The average lineup containing these players would score 7.385 runs per game. In a 162 game season, that means 1,197 runs. The modern record for runs scored in a season was set by the 1931 Yankees, who scored 1,067. This team would beat that tally by 130 runs. That’s disgusting. Words cannot describe the awesomeness of this lineup.
The best projected lineup would be Ruth/Gehrig/Lazzeri/DiMaggio/Mantle/Jackson/Rodriguez/Berra/Jeter, which would score 7.499 per game (1,215 per 162).
The worst projected lineup was Berra/Lazzeri/Rodriguez/Jeter/Jackson/Mantle/Gehrig/Ruth/DiMaggio and even that scored 7.004 runs per game (1,135). So even the “worst” lineup consisting of these nine guys would break the runs scored record.
This gargantuan lineup is a testament to one thing: the Yankees have had some incredible players over the years. As I said previously, we as Yankee fans have been blessed to have seen such great players don the uniform of our favorite team.
If there is one thing to sum up this lineup, it would be this: Total Domination.
Yes, the word Yankee is all caps on purpose. You see, this morning two brothers posted a guest article over at Lohud suggesting that Derek Jeter is the greatest Yankee of all time. They were soundly ripped in the comments, as most of the commenters rightly noted that Jeter really has no case for being a better player than Ruth, Gehrig, Mantle, or Dimaggio, and may come in behind Berra as well. However, their post also discussed the off-field scrutiny and issues that Jeter faces, and within that discussion I believe there is the seed for an interesting debate. The question is, although Jeter is not the greatest baseball player to ever play for the Yankees, is he the greatest Yankee? Is he the perfect embodiment of what a Yankee should be?
He is driven by an incredible will to win, appreciates the history and tradition that the pinstripes represent, and is always respectful of those around him. He rarely does anything that reflects a me-first attitude, is a philanthropist, and does not have his personal life plastered across the news. However, players such as Mariano Rivera and Lou Gehrig could likely say the same thing. What do you think? Is Jeter the greatest Yankee?
Here’s Jon Heyman (SI) on Derek Jeter:
He did well to get a $189 million contract last time, wisely following the lead of Rodriguez’s $252 million Rangers deal. But the team can’t claim to be at all unhappy with how it’s turned out, either.
They know they can’t let him go. And he surely can’t imagine himself elsewhere, either. This is a marriage that works. The guess here is that after 2010 the Yankees re-sign him for at least $60 million over three years, perhaps a little more than that.
$60 million or more over a three year period seems like an extremely large gamble, especially when you’re dealing with a player that will be 36 at the end of his current contract. However, Jeter has essentially “fixed” himself, defensively, and is still producing offensively (“still producing” is an understatement). According to Fangraphs’ value data, this year, Jeter has been worth 6.2 WAR and should be paid about $28 million for his production in a contemporary market. Therefore, assuming that he produces at a similar level in 2010, Jeter can certainly ask for $20 million per year, or more, and mean it.
However, there is no guarantee that Jeter will warrant $20 million per in 2011-2013. He’ll still be hitting in Yankee Stadium, yes, but at some point the bat speed begins to fade and the legs begin to go. The Yankees will obviously look at age as a factor in their negotiations (it would be bad business not to). For that reason, I actually think the deal will end up being less than $60 million, but it’s really up to Jeter since he holds all of the cards. After all, he is the all-time hits leader.
Here’s the video. Great moment as Jeter collects his 2,721st hit as a Yankee.
It is referred to as Baseball’s “Gettyburg Address”. The farewell speech Lou Gehrig made on July 4th, 1939 in front of 60,000 fans will be remembered as long as they play the game. In honor of its 70th anniversary, Baseball is having players read the speech in its entirety during the 7th inning stretch at all scheduled games from coast to coast. The Yankees, of course, will do the same at today’s game. Commemorative caps and jerseys will be used by all players across Baseball and sold with all proceeds going to ALS-related charities.
ESPN has published some of the letters Lou wrote to his Doctor at the Mayo Clinic, courtesy of the Rip Van Winkle Foundation and collector James Ancel. But in typical ESPN fashion, they attempted to sensationalize them somewhat by claiming that Lou didn’t fully understand the extent of his illness when he gave his famous speech. I, and most people who understand the type of man Lou Gehrig was, would disagree. He was a selfless (and somewhat shy) man who always preferred to focus attention on others. Even at the moment of his speech, just 2 weeks after receiving his diagnosis and as he was saying goodbye forever to the game of Baseball he loved, he spoke mostly about his teammates, the fans, his manager(s), GM Ed Barrow, Yankee owner Jacob Ruppert, anyone but himself. He never viewed himself as a big star, but rather as one small part of a great team. So when he wrote letters to his wife that were less than honest, most historians believe he was thinking of her, and trying to spare her the ugly truth. His reporting of minor improvements or shreds of hope to his Doctor are typical of any patient with a major illness, and not an indication he was unaware of the severity of his condition. Medical professionals try to offer patients some hope while also being honest with them, all indications are Dr Horton did exactly that.
Here is the famous speech in its entirety. Make sure to catch the 7th inning stretch today, as I’m sure it will be memorable. Have a happy and safe 4th of July.
“Fans, for the past two weeks you have been reading about the bad break I got. Yet today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of this earth. I have been in ballparks for seventeen years and have never received anything but kindness and encouragement from you fans.
“Look at these grand men. Which of you wouldn’t consider it the highlight of his career just to associate with them for even one day? Sure, I’m lucky. Who wouldn’t consider it an honor to have known Jacob Ruppert? Also, the builder of baseball’s greatest empire, Ed Barrow? To have spent six years with that wonderful little fellow, Miller Huggins? Then to have spent the next nine years with that outstanding leader, that smart student of psychology, the best manager in baseball today, Joe McCarthy? Sure, I’m lucky.
“When the New York Giants, a team you would give your right arm to beat, and vice versa, sends you a gift – that’s something. When everybody down to the groundskeepers and those boys in white coats remember you with trophies – that’s something. When you have a wonderful mother-in-law who takes sides with you in squabbles with her own daughter – that’s something. When you have a father and a mother who work all their lives so you can have an education and build your body – it’s a blessing. When you have a wife who has been a tower of strength and shown more courage than you dreamed existed - that’s the finest I know.
“So I close in saying that I may have had a tough break, but I have an awful lot to live for.”
After having hip surgery, noted hip specialist Dr. Marc Philippon reported that Alex has an 85-90% chance of allowing him to play the rest of the season. While the odds are overwhelmingly in his favor, that represents a significant chance he misses major time above and beyond the May 15 return date. What would that mean for the Yanks? Could they withstand losing one of the premier sluggers in the game?
Lets take a look back to the Yankee glory days of the 1930’s (especially apt in our current economy) for some guidance.
It’s 1939. Lou Gehrig, still one of the premier players in baseball at age 36, struggles through the first 8 games of the year. We all know what happens next, but lets look at what happened to the team after losing its cleanup hitter and one of the best players in baseball.
The 1939 Yanks went on to score more than the 1938 edition, and became arguably the most dominating team to ever play the game. Their run differential was a staggering 411 runs, a record that stands to this day. So how did they do it?
It wasn’t Lou’s replacement. That was a fellow named Babe Dahlgren, a major league backup at best. He posted an OPS of .689 for the 1939 season, down from Gehrig’s .933 in 1938. It wasn’t due to any of their other star players doing anything extraordinary, DiMaggio and Bill Dickey 1939 campaigns were remarkably similar to their 1938 seasons.
Here’s how they did it. Second baseman and recent HOF inductee Joe Gordon did his part, raising his OPS to .876 from .842 the year prior. ‘Old Reliable’ Tommy Henrich was relied on a bit less, platooning with the more productive Chalie Keller, a move which also served to stregnthen the bench when either didn’t play. But the key to the 1939 Yanks was pitching depth. Manager Joe McCarthy employed . . . . . get this. . . . a SEVEN man rotation. No starter got more than 28 starts, most had around 20. Simple concept, he played the entire season like one would the playoffs, matching up pitchers against opposing teams weaknesses. The record setting Run Differential is evidence that the idea worked out pretty well.
Hmmm. Lost their cleanup hitter, Second baseman had a bounce back year, pitching depth a key factor, a Right Field platoon that improved the bench, this is getting creepy . . .
But seriously, think of how fans and sportswriters must have reacted to the loss of Lou Gehrig. Many would have been certain the Yanks could never withstand such a blow, even the mighty Yankee teams of the late 30’s. And while they might have still been a very good team, there was certainly no way they could possibly score more runs replacing Lou Gehrig with Babe Dahlgren.
But that’s the beauty of sports. It’s the theater of the unexpected.
