Yankees Fathers and Sons [Part 2]

Still killing time on a Monday off day. Here's the exciting conclusion of Yankees Fathers and Sons"

Jesse Barfield: A Yankee OFer from 1989-1992, he's the father Josh Barfield, who after a decent rookie campaign with the Padres in 2006, was traded to the Indians and has really fallen off the map.

Danny Tartabull: A Yankee from 1992-1995, his father Jose was an outfielder from 1961-1970.

Cecil Fielder: Big Daddy was with the Yanks in 1996 and 97. His son is one the game's top sluggers but lamentably the two aren't on speaking terms. Stories abound about a young Prince jacking BP HRs in Tiger Stadium as a youngster. A relative of mine ran into father and son Fielder in a Florida grocery store when Prince wasn't yet a teenager. He said the kid was huge.

Ruben Amaro: Amaro Sr was with the Yanks from 1966-68. Ruben Jr had a mediocre Big League career and is now the General Manager of the Philadelphia Phillies.

Jose Cruz: Cruz Sr ended his career with the 1988 Yankees. His son Jose Jr played in the Majors through last season.

John Mayberry: Mayberry ended his career with the Yankees in 1982. His son John Jr made his Big League debut against the Yankees earlier this year and hit his first Major League HR.

Matt Keough: A pitcher on the 1983 Yankees, his father played from 1956-66

Joe Niekro: The late knuckleballer was with the Yankees in 1985, 86, and 87, briefly as a teammate of his Hall of Fame brother Phil. His son Lance was a firstbaseman with the Giants from 2003-07. After washing out, he tried to reinvent himself a knuckleballer like his father and uncle before him.

Dave Parrish: Parrish was the Yankees first round pick in 2000. He never appeared in a Major League game, but was called up briefly a few years ago when Jorge Posada broke his nose breaking up a double play. He is the son of former Big League catcher Lance Parrish.

Dick Schofield: The Senior Schofield played 25 games for 1966 Yankees as part of a 19 year Big League career. His son Dick Jr played from 1983-96. He is also the grandfather of Jayson Werth, whose step-father Dennis Werth played for the Yanks from 1979-81.

Joel Skinner: Light hitting back-up catcher from 1986-1988, his father Bob was an outfielder for 12 years, predominantly with the Pirates.

Roy Smalley: A Yankee from 1982-84, his father Roy Sr had an 11 year career. His is also the nephew of former manager Gene Mauch.

Steve Trout: Steve had a brief and disastrous stint as a Yankee in 1987. His father Dizzy had a good 15 year career as a pitcher.

Gary Ward: A Yankee from 1987-89, his son Daryle played in the Bigs through last year and has been one of the NL's top pinch hitters.

Stan Javier: Javier made his Major League debut as a 20 year-old with the 1984 Yankees. He was included in the Rickey Henderson deal following the season and carved out a nice 17 year career. His father Juliam was a Major League second baseman in the sixties and early seventies.

Anyone got anymore? Leave them in the comments.

Countdown To Opening Day: #45

For much of the 90's the number 45 was penciled into the Yankees' DH slot.

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Danilo Tartabull Mora originally came up as shortstop with the Royals. He only played 24 games in The Bigs at SS, and was quickly transitioned to a RF/DH. He had solid numbers with the Royals but nothing too impressive, especially for a corner OF/DH. Coming off a the best season of his career in 1991 (171OPS+), Tartabull became one of the five highest paid players in baseball when he signed a five year $25.5M deal with the Yankees.

He put up decent numbers when he was healthy, but Danny was plagued by injuries during his tenure, averaging only 122 games during the three full seasons he spent the Bronx before being traded to Oakland in 1995. He suffered from sprained wrists, pulled hamstrings, back spasms and bruised kidneys. Sound similar to another free agent acquisition to bear the #45? The Curse of Danny Tartabull(c) You heard it here first.

After he was traded to the A's for Ruben Sierra, Tartabull lashed out a George Steinbrenner for the comments The Boss has been making all season about him. Danny said:

If s a zoo there. No, I take that back; it's a joke. The sad part is that the only reason for that is the owner. He wants to be the center of attention so bad he just destroys that team. If s so hard for those guys to win because of that man. To win the division, you have to be twice as good as anyone else just to overcome all of the crap that goes on. The guys won't say it on the record, but they're just miserable there.

Some of that was probably warranted, but here's the kicker:

That team's going to be a disaster next year. You'll see. No one's going to want to play there.

See, you just change "disaster" to "dynasty" and "No one" to "Everyone" and that sentence makes perfect sense!

In one of the most fitting ends to a career possible, he retired seven games into the 1997 season after fouling a ball of his toe.



The Yanks acquired the ironically-named Cecil Fielder in 1996 by trading Ruben Sierra and Matt Drews to the Tigers. Fielder hit 13 HRs in 53 games to round out the regular season. On the way to the World Series, Big C hit .307 with 3HRs and 10RBIs. A portly chap, Fielder was almost exclusively a DH, appearing in only 17 games in the field in his two years with the Yankees, all at first base. Bill James once called Cecil, "a fat guy that hit a few home runs for a while."

In 1990 & 91, his first two full seasons as a pro, Fielder hit 51 then 44 HRs and finished second in the MVP voting to Rickey Henderson then Cal Ripken. His 1990 season was the first 50+HR in the American League since Mantle and Maris went at it in 1961. Big Daddy finished his career with 319 round-trippers and a line of .255/.345/.482.



Fielder left after the 1997 season and the Yankees acquired Charles Theodore "Chili" Davis to try and fill his shoes. Chili got his nickname from a bad haircut he cut when he was 12, growing up in Kingston, Jamaica. He injured his ankle in Spring Training in '98 and after playing in the first two games of the season, appeared in only 33 more coming down the stretch. He saw 27 ABs that postseason and drove in 7 runs.

He exclusively DH'ed during his time with the Yanks and wasn't particularly strong offensively, but is remembered fondly by most Yankee fans because his two years in the Bronx coincided with two World Series victories. When he retired, he had the third highest career HR total (350) as a switch hitter, behind only Mickey Mantle and Eddie Murray.