10 Days Until Spring Training: Chris Chambliss

Yankee history has more than its share of historic and memorable home runs: Tino Martinez, Derek Jeter, and Scott Brosius in the 2001 World Series, Bucky Dent in '78, Reggie's three bombs in Game Six in '77, Roger Maris' 61st in '61, Mantle's shot off the facade, Gehrig's four in one game in '32, the Babe's disputed called shot in the World Series that same year. But perhaps no home run in Yankee history was more momentous than the one hit by Chris Chambliss on October 14, 1976.

Chambliss was selected out of UCLA by the Cleveland Indians with the first overall pick in the 1970 draft. Placed immediately into AAA, Chambliss made his Major League debut in late May 1971 and went on to win the AL Rookie of the Year. Chambliss posted good, but not great, numbers through his first three seasons. Then, less than a month into the 1974 season, he was traded to the Yankees in a blockbuster deal.

The Yankees shipped pitchers Fritz Peterson, Steve Kline, Tom Buskey, and Fred Beene to the Indians for Chambliss and pitcher Dick Tidrow. The trade was initially heavily criticized. Not only had the Yankees traded away nearly half their pitching staff, it was yet another trade with Cleveland. The Yankees were in their second year of ownership under Cleveland native George Steinbrenner, and general manager Gabe Paul formerly held the same post with the Indians. The Chambliss deal was the fourth trade the Yankees and Indians made since the end of the 1972 season.

Despite the initial reactions, the Yankees got a steal of a deal. Beene and Kline were essentially finished by the end of the '74 season, and the remainder of Buskey's and Peterson's careers were unspectacular. But in Chambliss and Tidrow the Yankees had two key pieces to three pennant winning and two World Series winning ball clubs for the remainder of the decade.

When Chambliss stepped to the plate to lead off the ninth inning of the tied fifth and final game of the 1976 ALCS, he was coming off his best season to date, and perhaps the best of his entire career. He batted .293/.323/.441 (123 OPS+) with 17 HR and a career high 96 RBI, that would earn him a fifth place finish in the MVP balloting. Facing Royals relief ace Mark Littell, Chambliss launched the first pitch over the fence in right center field, giving the Yankees their first pennant in twelve years.

By the time he reached second base the field was mobbed with celebrating fans, and the bag had already been swiped. Chambliss was forced to tag it with his hand as the thief fled the scene. By the time he reached third he had removed his batting helmet so that the revelers couldn't steal it off his head. By the time he reached home plate the throng was so thick that no one could really tell if touched the plate. Later, after the commotion died down, Yankee manager Billy Martin ensured that Chambliss returned to the field with an umpire to tag the plate. By then the plate too had been stolen, leaving Chambliss to step on a hole in the ground.

Chambliss remained the Yankee first baseman through 1979, picking up two World Series rings and Gold Glove. Following the 1979 season, with the team in need of a catcher after the death of Thurman Munson, Chambliss was traded to Toronto as part of a six player deal that saw Rick Cerone come to the Bronx as the new Yankee catcher. Cerone inherited Chambliss' number ten, and finished seventh in the 1980 MVP voting. Cerone never came close to duplicating the success of his 1980 season, but he remained with the club through the 1984 season and was the last player to wear number 10 before it was retired in honor of Phil Rizzuto in 1985.

As for Chambliss, he never played a game for Toronto as they flipped him to Atlanta a month after the trade with the Yankees. He would spend the final seven seasons of his career with the Braves, playing three of them under manager Joe Torre. Chambliss retired after the 1986 season, spent 1987 as a minor league hitting instructor for the Yankees and joined the Major League staff as hitting coach for 1988. He briefly came out of retirement in early May, striking out in a lone pinch hitting appearance for the last plate appearance of his career.

Chambliss left the Yankees following that season, managing in the minors for the Tigers and Braves, but later resurfaced as Torre's hitting coach with the Cardinals in the early nineties. When Torre took the Yankees job prior to the 1996 season, he brought Chambliss along with him. Chambliss served as the Yankees' hitting coach through 2000, picking up four more World Series rings in the process. His son Russ played in the Yankees' minor leeague system during that time. Chris spent last year as the manager of the White Sox AAA affiliate.

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For a look at another notable Yankee number ten, check out this post on Tony Kubek from when he was honored with the Ford Frick Award during Hall of Fame weekend last summer.

Padres' Coleman To Work Limited Schedule

A special Super Bowl Sunday good morning to you Fackers. Today is clearly a day for pigskin, but I'm grateful to know that we're a day closer to pitchers and catchers.

As we continue through our countdown to Spring Training, we're understandably in history mode here as we go back and brush up on some of the old time Yankees we've been profiling. Our countdown doesn't extend all the way back to number 42, so former World Series MVP Jerry Coleman doesn't get his own post, but he did make a cameo in name and in picture in Friday's Gil McDougald post.

Following his playing career, Coleman joined the Yankee broadcast team, working both TV and radio from 1963 through 1969. After spending two years calling games for the Angels, Coleman joined the San Diego Padres booth in 1972. He's been there ever since, save for spending 1980 as their manager.

Sadly, it was announced Thursday that Coleman would work an extremely limited schedule of just twenty to thirty home games this year (h/t BBTF). At 85 years old, I suppose it's only natural that Coleman's workload be reduced, but the Padres had no problem signing the spry 75 year old Dick Enberg to a multi-year deal this off-season, one that will see him call up to 120 games per year.

If Coleman's still up for working a full schedule, I'll pay his moving expenses to come back to New York. There's a couple folks in the Yankees Lowes Broadcast Booth whom I would love for him to replace.

11 Days Until Spring Training: Lefty Gomez

Yankee history is teeming with all-time great offensive forces: Ruth, Gehrig, DiMaggio, Berra, Mantle. But its history of hurlers is a little less prolific. There are several former Yankee pitchers in the Hall of Fame, most of them there primarily for what they accomplished in pinstripes. But the Yankee pitchers in the Hall of Fame lack the "inner circle" status of their offensive brethren.

The earliest Yankee pitcher in the Hall is Jack Chesbro. Poached from the Pirates when the Highlanders began play in 1903, Chesbro pitched for the club during their first six seasons of existence. He led the AL with 41 wins, 48 complete games, and 454.2 IP in 1904, but notoriously uncorked a ninth inning wild pitch on the season's final day, costing the Highlanders the back end of a double header against the Boston Pilgrims and handing the pennant to their future arch rivals by a game and a half.

Waite Hoyt and Herb Pennock led the pitching staff through the 1920s, as the team won their first pennants and World Series titles. But both were acquired from other organizations, as was Red Ruffing, a Hall of Famer himself, who joined the club in 1930. For the next thirteen years Ruffing would team the Yankees first homegrown ace to lead the team to seven pennants and six World Series championships.

Vernon Louis Gomez was adorned with the same nickname virtually every southpaw pitcher answered to in that era: "Lefty". Purchased from the San Francisco Seals of the Pacific Coast League in 1929, Gomez followed Tony Lazzeri from the same talent-rich northern California pipeline that the Yankees would later use to acquire Frank Crosetti, Joe DiMaggio, Gil McDougald, and Billy Martin. Gomez was of Mexican descent, but he was fortunate to be fair skinned enough to play in the Majors in the years before integration.

He made his Major League debut early in the 1930 season but also spent part of the year at the Yankees' AA affiliate in St. Paul. His Major League line wasn't pretty, just 2-5 with 5.55 ERA over 60 innings, most of them coming in relief. Gomez rebounded in a big way for his sophomore campaign, becoming the staff ace and leading the club in IP, wins, strikeouts, and ERA. His ERA slipped slightly below league average the following year, but he still led the club in wins and ERA, and finished fifth in MVP voting as the Yankees won their first World Series in four years. In post season play for the first time in his career, Gomez went the distance in Game Two of the Series, allowing just ten baserunners and a lone earned run on the way to a sweep of the Cubs.

Lefty turned in another solid campaign in 1933, again leading the Yankees in wins and ERA, falling just a third of an inning shy of tying Ruffing for the club lead, and leading the AL in strikeouts for the first of three times in his career. He followed that with the best season he would ever have. He led the American League in wins, winning percentage, ERA, ERA+, complete games, shutouts, strikeouts, and WHIP, earning him a third place finish in the MVP voting.

Gomez' record slipped below .500 in 1935, but his peripheral numbers were still excellent as he and Ruffing again fronted the pitching staff. The two would combine to carry the staff to an unprecedented four straight World Series titles from 1936-1939. Gomez went 64-38 (.627) over that stretch, with a 138 ERA+. He led the league in wins, ERA, and strikeouts in '37, marking the second pitching Triple Crown of his career. He also led the League in shutouts in '37 and '38. He won five World Series games over that run, leaving him with 6-0 record and 2,86 ERA in seven starts in the Fall Classic.

Gomez began to fade a bit towards the end of that historic run, falling just under 200 IP for the first time in his career in 1939. He was limited to just nine games in 1940, but rebounded pitch on pennant winners in 1941 and '42. He didn't see any action in those World Series, and was sold to the Braves in early 1943. Gomez never appeared for them, landed in Washington for one last start, and called it a career.

At the time of his retirement, Gomez was likely the best pitcher the Yankees ever had. A seven time All-Star, Gomez got the start in the first three All-Star games in history, five overall, and earned three wins in the Mid-Summer Classic. He had three top ten MVP finishes in the days before the Cy Young Award, and retired second to Ruffing on the Yankees all time wins, innings, strikeouts, games started, complete games, and shutout lists. His ERA+ of 125 bettered Ruffing (119) and still ranks ninth on the team's all-time leaderboard.

Always a quick thinker and quipster during his playing career, Gomez became a favorite on the off-season banquet circuit after his retirement. He remained in the Yankees organization as a manager, skippering the AA Binghamton squad in the late forties. Whitey Ford would go on to replace Gomez and Ruffing as the best pitcher in franchise history. Both Gomez and Ford were honored with plaques in Monument Park in August 1987. Ruffing would join them there in 2004. Gomez was unanimously elected to the Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee in 1972, five years after Ruffing and two years before Ford.

11 Days Until Spring Training: Buck Showalter

When Buck Showalter was growing up in the 1960's in small town called Century on the panhandle of Florida, Little League games drew a crowd. The town had a beautiful, well-lit baseball field, so on countless summer nights hundreds of townspeople would gather to watch the kids play. Considering Buck's childhood home bordered on the field, perhaps it isn't much of a surprise that he took a liking to the game at a very young age. It also helped that, in addition to being the principal of the local high school, his father was also coach of its baseball team.

Buck took his smooth and level left handed swing to college at Mississippi State and was named an All-American in 1977. He batted .459 that year, splitting his time on defense between first base and the outfield. Despite having little to no power, he was drafted by the Yankees in the 5th round that year and assigned to A-ball in Fort Lauderdale.

As his college pedigree predicted, Showalter had the ability to hit for average and that skill carried him steadily through the Yankees' minor league ranks. Buck slapped his way to a .324 average at AA Nashville and led the Southern League in hits during the 1980 season which earned him a call up to AAA in 1981.

Unfortunately, Buck hit the wall in Columbus. He spent all of '82 back in Nashville, led the Southern League in hits for the second time and earned himself one final shot at AAA in 1983 where he struggled against superior pitching once again. Even if he had figured out International League pitching, Showalter's path to the Bronx would have been blocked by Don Mattingly.

He was briefly converted to a pitcher himself in an effort to salvage his playing career but it seemed as though Buck's life in baseball wasn't meant to take place on the field.

Having always displayed a natural baseball acumen, Showalter moving right into coaching after his playing career was over. He started off with the Yankees' New York Penn League team in Oneonta in 1985 and led the squad to a 106-41 record in his two years at the helm. That earned him a promotion to Fort Lauderdale where he presided over two consecutive winning squads.

His continuted success earned him a promotion to the Albany Colonie Yankees (AA) in 1989. It was that season in Albany that really jump-started his managerial career. His team went 97-46, he won Baseball America's Minor League Manager of the Year and was given the position of third base coach for the Yanks in 1990. Showalter replaced Stump Merrill as manager of the Big League club in 1992.

After going 76-86 in '92, Showalter guided the Yankees to a second place finish in 1993 with 88 wins. When the strike stopped the 1994 season, their winning percentage was even better (.619) and they were on pace to win over 100 games. Showalter was named AL Manager of the Year but they would have to wait a bit longer to break the Yanks' long playoff drought.

In the strike-shorted 1995 season, Showalter led the Yankees to their first postseason in 13 years. Although they lost to the Mariners in 5 games, it was clear that the organization was healthier that it had ever been. They had plenty of young talent on the team with much more waiting in the wings in the minors. However, this wasn't enough for George Steinbrenner. The Boss demanded that he fire two of his coaches after losing to the Mariners, but Showalter refused. Instead, he got the axe himself.

It didn't take long for Buck to land on his feet. He was quickly snatched up by the expansion Arizona Diamondbacks two years before they were scheduled to play a game. He was active in the construction of their roster and eventually served as their first manager. He led them to a 100 win season in 1999 and left after an 85 win campaign in 2000, just before the D-Backs unseated the Yanks in the 2001 World Series.

His last managerial tenure came in Texas from 2003-2006. He was 10 games under .500 during that stretch and was eventually replaced by Ron Washington. Since then, he has served as a senior advisor for the Indians and an analyst for ESPN.

Much of Showalter's success was attributable to a strong work ethic which, along with he stern demeanor, he was said to have inherited from his father. He worked so much that according to legend, he found himself inside a grocery store for the first time in 5 years during the 1994 strike.

Due to some unfortunate timing, Showalter never really got the credit he deserved for the role he played in turning the Yankees around. Had Steinbrenner not demanded that he unload two coaches after leading the team to the playoffs for the first time in over a decade, Buck could very easily have been at the helm of the late 90's dynasty. He ducked out of Arizona just a bit too early as well.

Showalter has begun to make appearances at Old Timer's Day and was included in the video montage during the last game at the Old Yankee Stadium. Perhaps Buck will never receive the adulation that many contributors to the Yankees dynasty do, but fans who watched the team closely during the early 90's or understand the club's history know how much he meant to the franchise.

More On Yankee Numbers

A special Saturday good morning Fackers. After today we'll have just ten days left in our Countdown to Spring Training, meaning we'll be sixty percent of the way through the countdown that started back when there were twenty five days to go.

We'll have today's posts a little later on. But as we start off this morning I wanted to give a big tip of the hat to the awesome yankeenumbers.com. The site is a comprehensive source on the history of Yankee numbers, for players, coaches, and managers alike. It's a cool place to go to kill some time when you're bored and it's been a great resource for Jay and me as we go through the countdown.

One of the interesting things to note in looking through the site is that when uniform numbers were first introduced that weren't really utilized in the ways we're accustomed to now. These days, a player's number is part of his identity. For the bigger names in the game, their numbers can become synonymous with their names. But when the Yankees first introduced permanent numbers in 1929, they served a different purposes.

In the days when the game was brought to the public almost exclusively through print, in the infancy of radio, and long before the existence of TV, cable, internet, Extra Innings, and MLB.tv, the fans in the park knew far less about who was whom on the field, particularly for the visiting team. Adding numbers to the uniforms helped in identifying the players. As well all know, the Yankees issued their numbers based on the batting order: Earle Combs was number one, Mark Koenig two, Babe Ruth three, Lou Gehrig four and so on. While this worked well for the regulars, it was a bit more nebulous for pitchers and reserves.

As such, the concept of a number "belonging" to a player hadn't yet been established. If the batting order changed from year to year, or if players worked their way from the bench to the starting line up, the players' numbers changed. Later on, when players went off to World War II, in their absence their numbers were issued to new players. With the exception of the unique and tragic circumstances surrounding Lou Gehrig, the Yankees didn't retire anyone's number until Babe Ruth in 1948.

Thus, uniform numbers were very fungible until the 1950s. Top players like Tony Lazzeri and Herb Pennock switched numbers multiple times in the early thirties. Established veterans like Charlie Keller, Tommy Henrich, and several others wore multiple numbers over the course of their careers, compounded by their numbers being reissued during their service in the second World War. As a result, when we look at candidates for posts for a given day in the countdown, we often several deserving candidates, but find it difficult in some cases to determine which number best represents a given player.

Even the legends aren't immune to this. The great DiMaggio saw his number five reissued during his military service. Players like DiMaggio, Bill Dickey, Yogi Berra, Whitey Ford, Billy Martin, and Mickey Mantle all broke in wearing one number, only to be immortalized in Monument Park wearing another. Eight different players wore Babe Ruth's number three between his release after the 1934 season and his number retirement in 1948.

One interesting thing I came across in researching the Gil McDougald post is that while he held number 12 for the entirety of his career, from 1951 through 1960, a player by the name of Woodie Held is also listed as wearing number 12 in 1957. At no point was McDougald out for more than a few games in '57, and he wasn't sent down at any point. So how could two players have had the same number? Checking Held's gamelog, he appeared in just one game before getting traded to Kansas City. The game was on May 8th, and while Held pinch hit in the ninth, McDougald played the whole game. Could two Yankees have worn the same number in the same game? I don't know, but these are the mysteries one can find when poking around yankeenumbers.com

Lackey And Vazquez

Even before John Lackey signed with the Red Sox for a deal nearly identical to the 5 year, $82.5M one that the Yankees gave A.J. Burnett a year prior, many saw the two as being very similar. Both pitchers are right handed, oft-injured about six and a half feet tall and around 30 years old with intimidating on-the-mound demeanors. Today, however, I wanted to compare Lackey to Javer Vazquez given their parallel entrance to the Yankees vs. Red Sox rivalry and their disparate reputations in regards to handling pressure.

Lackey has been in the league since 2002 and has averaged 188 innings per season since then. Over that same time period, Vazquez has averaged 215. Lackey's ERA is about a quarter of a run lower over stretch, but that's essentially erased by having to fill in those extra 27 innings a year with a replacement level pitcher.

In general, when John Lackey is healthy, he's a better pitcher than Javy Vazquez. But he's also the Red Sox highest paid player ($18M this year) and is expected to contribute to the top of their rotation. The Yankees are paying Vazquez only about 2/3 as much and hoping that he slots in as their number four.

But what about their reputations under pressure? The idea for that comparison between the two comes from fellow LoHud pinch hitter and editor at the Harvard Crimson, Yair Rosenberg. On Sunday, Yair dropped me an email with the following suggestion/request:

I think the more productive comparison for AL East purposes would not be to Pettitte or Glavine, but to Lackey, whose reputation is that of a big game pitcher, and who is essentially the corresponding addition to this year's Red Sox as Vasquez is to the Yankees. It would be really interesting to see if the stats bear out Lackey's clutch rep - and might go a long way towards predicting the key factors in the coming Yankees-Red Sox race. I'd love to see a post on that.

So here we go. Fighting in the red corner, we have John "Big Game" Lackey, the winning pitcher in Game 7 of the 2002 World Series and supposed consummate clutch performer as anointed by his former manager. In the blue corner is Javier "Can't Handle New York" Vazquez, the man responsible for one of the more infamous home runs in Yankee history, who was called out publicly by Ozzie Guillen for not stepping up when it counts.

There is no question as to who has the better postseason resume. Lackey was thrust into the spotlight at an early age, his team reaching the playoffs in his first season in the majors and asking him to start Game 7 of the World Series only four days after his 24th birthday. Since then, he's been back to the postseason 5 times and pitched a total of 78 innings to a 3.12 ERA.

Vazquez, on the other hand, was trapped on bad Expos teams (no offense, Jonah) for the first six years of his career, and didn't pitch during October until 2004. His performance in the postseason has been pretty dreadful (10.34 ERA), but he's only had a chance to throw 15 2/3 innings in the playoffs.

Do these reputations carry over into the regular season? Do their postseason resumes line up with how they handle pressure during games throughout the year? We know the answer to that question when it comes to Vazquez, as we have assessed his clutch reputation at length here and in other places.

That first and more in-depth inquiry into Vazquez's purported lack of clutchiferousness began with his FIP/ERA differential. Coincidentally, Lackey and Vazquez have identical 3.83 career FIPs. However, Lackey's career ERA is 3.81 while Vazquez's is 4.19. Leaving aside team defense - which would be very difficult to quantify over multiple years and teams - it's helpful to look at situational and leverage statistics when trying to explain FIP/ERA differentials.

There are some notable similarities between the Vazquez and Lackey in the chart to the right. Both pitch better with the bases empty than with runners on. They have similar tOPS+ distributions when the score of the game is within 4 runs.

Naturally, the biggest differences come in the smallest sample sizes. Lackey has done much better with the bases loaded than Vazquez and far worse when the game is out of hand.

Both Lackey's distributions are optimal and both are significant. If you could choose a situation to pitch your best in, it would be when the bases were loaded. If you had to give up runs, you would prefer to allow them when the margin of the game was greater than four runs. But there is a limit to how much these numbers can tell us. Lackey has only 141 plate appearances with the bases loaded while Vazquez has 163.

The sample sizes are larger for when the margin is greater than four (394 for Lackey, 811 for Vazquez) but those at bats are by definition less important. Lackey is obviously better in those situations, but not likely by as much as the numbers indicate.

What about the leverage index, though? While Lackey's numbers don't tell a coherent, progressive story like Vazquez's do, it's still clear that he pitches his worst in high leverage situations. Again, high leverage is based on the smallest sample size among the three levels, but each pitcher has over 1000 plate appearances to draw upon. So perhaps Lackey can't simply summon his best performances when the stakes increase.

If there was something about Lackey's internal constitution that gave him to ability to elevate his performance under pressure, wouldn't it show up in the leverage index? Shouldn't he be able to sense when the game is on the line and reach back for a little extra?

This contradiction begins to chip away not at Lackey's resume in particular but at the manufactured archetype of the "big game pitcher". It's one thing to have had good results in the postseason but it's another entirely to universally improve as the leverage increases. You can argue that the playoff results are more important, but Lackey has only faced 328 batters in postseason play. I think the regular season numbers tell us more.

While it may be convenient to label certain pitchers as big time performers and others as choke artists, they rarely fall neatly into one category or another. More correctly, there are players who have performed well in certain situations and others who have not.

As far as this season goes, it will be interesting to see who is better, Lackey or Vazquez. It's very likely that Lackey will have a lower ERA than Vazquez but based on their respective histories, Vazquez should be the better bet to throw more than 200 innings. However, perhaps this is the year that Vazquez's heroic workload over the past decade-plus catches up with him and it's also the first time in 3 years Lackey makes more than 30 starts.

Time will tell, but remember that the Yankees only need to get 2/3 the performance out of Vazquez to get as much value as the Sox do out of Lackey.

12 Days Until Spring Training: Gil McDougald

In his twelve years as Yankee manager, Casey Stengel won ten AL pennants and seven World Series. While having all time greats like Joe DiMaggio, Yogi Berra, Mickey Mantle, and White Ford at his disposal certainly helped, much of Stengel's success stemmed from his ability to coax worthwhile contributions from virtually his entire roster. Stengel was one the first managers to popularize a platoon system, and he was a master at it.

The Old Perfessor had an ever rotating cast of good players that he moved in and out of the line up around his cornerstones. First basemen like Joe Collins, Tommy Henrich, Johnny Mize, and Moose Skowron. Billy Martin, Jerry Coleman, Bobby Richardson, Tony Kubek, Bobby Brown, Billy Johnson, Billy Hunter, and Andy Carey in the infield. Gene Woodling, Hank Bauer, Cliff Mapes, Jackie Jensen, Johnny Lindell, Bob Cerv, Irv Noren, Elston Howard, Enos Slaughter, Norm Siebern, and Hector Lopez in the outfield. And a seemingly limitless cast of pitchers shuffling between the bullpen and starting, without anything resembling a regular starting rotation. But perhaps no player was a better fit in the Stengel system than Gil McDougald.

The San Francisco born McDougald signed with the Yankees in early 1948. He spent three years in the minors, hitting .340 and slugging .510 through three different levels. In Spring Training in 1951, Stengel asked the career second baseman to learn each infield position. It would be a career altering decision. Despite never having played in AAA, McDougald broke camp with the big club. Mickey Mantle was far and away the most heralded rookie on the club, but come season's end it was the .306/.396/488 (142 OPS+) batting line of McDougald that earned Rookie of the Year honors and a ninth place finish in the MVP voting. He also became the first rookie to hit a grand slam in the World Series, as the Yankees captured the third of their record five consecutive championships.

In the field, McDougald split his time between second and third base. Through 1955 he would continue to split time between the two positions, spending two seasons as the team's primary third baseman, two as the primary second baseman, and making at least seventeen appearances at his secondary position each year. Throughout, McDougald continued to produce on offense, posting OPS+ ranging from 101 to 117 during these years.

1956 saw McDougald take up a new spot on the diamond. At 39 years old, Phil Rizzuto just couldn't cut it as the everyday shortstop any longer, with both his offense and defense slipping below acceptable standards. As such, Stengel shifted the trusty McDougald to the most important defensive spot on the field. Gil had a remarkable season as the shortstop, playing above average defense, posting his best offensive season since his rookie year, finishing seventh in the MVP voting, and still managing to see time at second and third.

McDougald remained at shortstop in 1957, when a horrific event nearly caused him to quit the game. In Cleveland on May 7th, the Tribe sent Herb Score to the mound. Score had been outstanding through his first two years in the league, winning Rookie of the Year and leading the AL in strikeouts both seasons, and in shutouts and ERA+ in 1956. With no one out in the top of the first and Hank Bauer on first, McDougald stepped to the plate. He lined Score's offering right back up the middle, striking the pitcher square in the eye. The ball caromed on the fly to third baseman Al Smith, who threw to first to double up Bauer. Score lay on the mound in a pool of his own blood. His season was over; his promising career would never be the same. McDougald vowed to retire if Score lost sight in the eye.

Score didn't lose sight, and McDougald stayed on through the 1960 season. Tony Kubek's arrival usurped McDougald as the everyday shortstop, but he continued to be a valuable member of the roster, playing well all over the infield and producing offensively. Just 32 at the end of the 1960 season, McDougald was to be left unprotected by the Yankees for the expansion draft that would fill the rosters of the Angels and Senators.

Projected to be a top pick, McDougald instead elected to retire, in order to remain close to his large family and their New Jersey home as well as to tend to his growing maintenance business. In his ten year career, McDougald played on eight pennant winners, five World Series winners, and five All-Star teams. He posted a career 111 OPS+, had three top ten MVP finishes, and won the Rookie of the Year, while making 284 appearances at shortstop, 508 at third base, and 599 at second base.

Unfortunately, an injury suffered during his playing days began to alter McDougald's life. In 1955, while picking up a ball during batting practice, McDougald was struck above the left ear by a line drive. Diagnosed with a concussion, he was back on the field in days. But the blow had fractured McDougald's skull and damaged his inner ear. He lost hearing in his left ear after some time, and then gradually in his right as well, causing to him to resign from his post as Fordham University baseball coach in 1976. He was left deaf until a cochlear implant restored his hearing in 1994. He's spent the past 15 years as an advocate for the hearing impaired.

(Photos from LIFE photo archive)

Yet Another Joba To The Bullpen Post

Good morning Fackers. As our Spring Training countdown will remind you later on today, it's just twelve more days until pitchers and catchers report. It's been a pretty interesting off-season all things considered, but every year, the flow of transactions and real news invariably slows to a drip. That leaves us prone to rumor and conjecture, and apparently "us" includes "real journalists" as well.

Wednesday, Joel Sherman dipped into the trusty old Joba-to-the-bullpen bag to conjure up a story with a new twist, proposing that the Yankees lean on their on their one through four starters, wave the white flag on the fifth spot, and place both Chamberlain and Hughes in the pen to create a lockdown relief corps.

I was willing to just let it slide for what it was - a baseless hypothetical proposal during the dead days of the off-season - but as with any Joba-to-the-bullpen story it inevitably had legs. Even at that, I was willing to the let the usual arguments - make-up, potential, the eight inning, the succesor to Mo, etc. - play out and let the story die.

But then Dave Pinto put forth an interesting and unorthodox proposal that I thought brought something new to the table: let both pitch out of the bullpen, but utilize them much like pre-LaRussian firemen, pitching multiple innings at a time. Theoretically, not only would it allow both to pitch enough innings in 2010 to leave them well positioned for starting roles in 2011, but it would give the Yankees a highly effective bullpen while allowing them to carry fewer relief pitchers. As a result, they would conceivably be able to have a better bench, whether it be with a third catcher, another utility infielder, a pinch running specialist, etc.

Pinto's proposal intrigued me for a few reasons. Firstly, I like these type of "outside the box" ideas that challenge prevailing roster construction ideas. Secondly, I love any realistic plan that results in an eleven - or even better a ten - man pitching staff. Thirdly, it reminded me of something I proposed two years ago, as to how the Yankees should best deploy Chamberlain for the 2008 season when 40% of the rotation figured to be Hughes and Ian Kennedy and all three had fairly restrictive innings limits.

That said, interesting as Pinto's proposal is, I don't think that 2010 is the time to try it with Chamberlain. The Yankees have handled him very carefully for the past three seasons to have him in the position he is now. He's primed to enter 2010 with no restrictions, capable of being a fully vetted starting pitcher for the entirety of the season. As such, the intrigue and potential fringe benefits of Pinto's proposal aren't enough to punt on the opportunity to just let Joba pitch this year. Yes, he was frustrating to watch for much of last year, but that's typical of any 23 year old pitcher, let alone one who's had Joba's hype and expectations heaped upon him. Let's see what he can do this year before we give up on the Joba starter project.

Hughes, on the other hand, presents a difficult case. Because of the way he was used last year, he will likely have a 2010 innings limit that proves restrictive. It almost assuredly wouldn't permit him to be a starter all season long, and there's no guarantee that there's a rotation spot for him anyway. But, if the Yankees utilize him strictly as a traditional set up man again in 2010, Hughes will be ill-prepared to assume a starting role in 2011. The organization has to find a way to get Hughes an appropriate amount of innings this year, and in his case Pinto's suggestion may have some merit.

In the end, Pinto's proposal won't happen. While I would like an extra position player or two on the bench, Dave Cameron had an excellent look Tuesday as to how filling the fringe of the roster with pitchers rather than position players is probably the better move. Further, in light of the recent extensions signed by Zack Greinke, Josh Johnson, Felix Hernandez, and Justin Verlander, both Rob Abruzzese at Bronx Baseball Daily and Joe Pawlikowski at RAB note the importance of the Yankees developing Chamberlain and Hughes as top flight starters of their own. Pawlikowski further notes that it's unlikely for a contending team like the Yankees to experiment with such a non-traditional technique. And if that's not enough water thrown on the fire, a "high level source" told Baseball Prospectus' Will Carrol there's "no bleeping way" both pitchers wind up in the pen.

Well, that killed two more days of the off-season. Just twelve more until we can move on to real news like who's "in the best shape of his life" and who's been on fire through two dozen at bats against replacement level competition despite years worth of sucking in the Major Leauges. It's not much, but it beats speculating about Joba to the pen or where Damon will land.

*No dead horses were harmed during the writing of this post

13 Days Until Spring Training: Alex Rodriguez

A year ago today, the biggest PR problem Alex Rodriguez had was his portrayal in Joe Torre's book. At the time, The Yankee Years painted A-Rod as a preening, narcissistic phony who was universally disliked by his teammates. There wasn't much in the book that hadn't been written in the tabloids already, but it was different to hear the rumors of A-Fraud confirmed by his former manager.

It might have been unpleasant for A-Rod to deal with the negative press, but there a revelation far more detrimental to his reputation bubbling just beneath the surface. Over the next few days of 2009, Selena Roberts would confront A-Rod with the knowledge that he failed a steroid test back in 2003 and eventually report it to the world. It made what Joe Torre wrote in his book seem like a mild inconvenience.

Thankfully, A-Rod admitted his steroid use right away, but the backlash began to snowball after his interview with Peter Gammons and got even more ugly following his press conference in Tampa. He added still more fuel to the fire when he left the park during Spring Training with his disgraced cousin, was pictured kissing a mirror in a Details magazine photo shoot and was outed in the Daily News for being involved in a relationship with the madame of a whorehouse.

Those events were really just bad P.R. and weren't going to have much of an impact on his on-field production. But then came the news of his hip injury and the impending surgery which ultimately cost him the first month of the season. What was already a disastrous offseason got tangibly, inarguably, a whole lot worse. At least it seemed pretty terrible at the time.

But at a certain point when he was hiding out and rehabbing in Colorado, things started to change. The details of Selena Roberts's book began to leak and some had the potential to be very damning, but the tide began to turn. Craig from Shysterball was among the first to question the motives and level of objectivity Roberts used in writing her exposé and fairly swiftly, we all grew tired of the never ending stream of A-Rod's exploits.

Then of course he rejoined the team in a moment a movie studio would have rejected because it was too unrealistic; a three run shot on the very first pitch he saw. Although he struggled early on in his return, the back to back days off he got off in Florida seemed to turn his season around.

After his return the Yankees went 88-44 and climbed from 4.5 games behind the Red Sox to achieve the best record in baseball by 6 games. After his two day hiatus in Miami, they were 62-28. He was probably given too much credit for turning Mark Teixeira's season around, but it's hard to understate the importance of swapping replacement-level guys like Angel Berroa and Cody Ransom for one of the 5 best hitters in the game.

We heard a lot about the fact that A-Rod flew under the radar last year. In October, Joel Sherman talked about his newfound ability to blend in with the team. At the conclusion of the season, Marc Carig dubbed him the "Quietest Yankee". Even the notorious PeteAbe, who has never been too fond of the slugger, gave him credit for his ability to "blend in and stay out of the news".

Most importantly, though, A-Rod finally broke out with a monstrous playoff run. He hit a series-changing home run off of Joe Nathan in Game 2 of the ALDS along with a game-tying dinger off of Carl Pavano in Game 3.

He raked .429/.567/.952 against the Angels in the ALCS, including a crucial game-tying shot against Brain Fuentes in the 11th inning of Game 2 on an 0-2 pitch with Freddy Guzman, Brett Gardner and the struggling Robinson Cano waiting behind him.

A-Rod's line of .250/.423/.560 in the Fall Classic wasn't as gaudy as either of the previous series but he came up with huge hit after huge hit. A two run shot off of Cole Hamels in Game 3. The go-ahead double off of Brad Lidge in Game 4. He also scored two runs in the clinching Game 6.

Do you think that if you traveled back one year in time and told A-Rod that he would be outed as a steroid user, have his name splashed throughout the tabloids, have seriuos hip surgery and inadvertently grope a female police officer but would somehow come out better for it on the other side a year later, that he would have believed you? I personally still find it hard to believe now.

13 Days Until Spring Training: Mike Pagliarulo

Baseball players have long been a superstitious bunch: don't step on the foul lines, don't talk to the pitcher during a no-hitter, keep your routine, eat your chicken before every game, virtually every action Turk Wendell ever took, etc.

So given triskaidekaphobia, fear of the the number 13, it's no surprise that the Yankees had been wearing uniform numbers for more than eight full seasons when rookie Spud Chandler became the first to wear it in 1937 . Even at that, it was one of three different numbers Chandler wore that year. The next year, journeyman Lee Stine wore it, and despite appearing in only four games, he too managed to wear two different uniform numbers during that time.

It would be ten years before the number was worn again, this time by rookie outfielder Cliff Mapes. He had begun the year wearing number 3, the eighth and final Yankee to wear the number after Babe Ruth. But with the Babe being terminally ill, the Yankees retired his former number on June 18th. Only then did Mapes switch to number 13, and by 1949 he had switched to number 7, perhaps making him the only man to share uniform numbers with not one but two different Yankee legends.

The number didn't emerge again until 1970. It was worn by Curt Blefary for a season and a half, then after a two year break, by Walt "No Neck" Williams for two more. It went back into the mothballs for five years, until bit players Bobby Brown and Keith Smith wore it for two seasons each, amassing just 174 games between them. Through 57 seasons of numbered Yankee uniforms, 13 had been worn sparingly by just eight men who either couldn't get rid of the number fast enough or whom the club couldn't rid themselves of fast enough.

In mid-1984 the Yankees recalled Mike Pagliarulo from Columbus. Issued the same number Don Mattingly wore in his first two seasons, 46, Pags quickly established himself as the starting third baseman. For 1985 he switched to number 6 and slugged 19 home runs in his first full season.

The following year, Roy White rejoined the coaching staff. He had worn number 6 for the final eleven years of his playing career, as well as during his previous stint as a Yankee coach. Pags relinquished his number to White, and donned the seemingly unwanted number 13. He went on to hit 28 home runs that year, then led the team with 32 in homer happy 1987. Elbow injuries soon began to sap him of his power at the plate and his arm strength in the field, and he was traded to San Diego in mid-1989.

Pags was a fan favorite during his five years manning the hot corner for the Yankees. He was the first Yankee to wear the supposedly cursed number for any extended period, but has since been surpassed by another third baseman as the most successful Bronx Bomber to don the number. Pagliarulo was kind enough to agree to an interview with us last summer. You can revisit it here and here.

Looking Back On The YankeeNets Partnership

Good morning Fackers. Mired in an abhorrent season that is on pace to be the worst in NBA history, the New Jersey Nets are less than an afterthought for most Yankee fans. They serve only as off-season filler for YES, killing time between episodes of Hot Stove and Yankees Magazine. Monday, the news broke that the Nets were close to a deal that would see them leave the Meadowlands to play the next two seasons at Newark's Prudential Center, and then presumably make their long awaited move to Brooklyn in 2012.

Moving is nothing new for the Nets. The Rock would be the seventh different arena to house the team since their inception in 1967, joining such sports meccas as the Teaneck Armory and the Rutgers Athletic Centers as courts they called home. But there is a certain irony in the Nets now reaching a deal to join the Devils in Newark, as it was the proposed construction of a Newark arena that proved to be the final straw in breaking the ambitious, if ultimately unsuccessful, YankeeNets partnership.

In the midst of their 114 victory 1998 championship season, the Yankees were approached by Cablevision, who presented an offer to purchase the club from George Steinbrenner and his partners. Cablevision owned MSG Network, which had carried Yankee games since 1989 as part of a then-record 12 year, $500 million dollar television rights contract that changed that landscape of TV deals for professional sports teams. With that agreement nearing expiration, Cablevision was looking to consolidate their position and maintain their monopoly on the rights of all seven major sports franchises in the metropolitan area. Cablevision already owned the Knicks and Rangers, the marquee basketball and hockey franchises in the area, and were looking to add the area's most valuable franchise to their portfolio.

Negotiations continued into the off-season, and just as it seemed a deal was imminent, it fell apart over the issue of how much control George Steinbrenner would exert as the Yankees managing partner from a minority ownership role. With Cablevision off the table, the Yankees turned to the Nets, and in 1999 YankeeNets was formed as a holding company, owning both franchises. The following year they added the New Jersey Devils to the fold, purchasing the club in the midst of their run to the 2000 Stanley Cup. Interestingly enough, the Devils had been owned for their entire history by Dr. John McMullen, the former Astros owner and a one-time minority owner of the Yankees who said "Nothing is so limited as being one of George's limited partners".

With three major professional franchises in their holdings, from a business standpoint YankeeNets was well positioned to leverage their collective holdings into favorable arrangements. With the Yankees TV deal with Cablevision expiring after the 2001 season, and the Nets deal expiring in 2002, the two teams could collectively negotiate for new deal, or even form a network of their own. Meanwhile, by adding the Devils to the group, the partnership contained two New Jersey based teams desiring a new arena, leaving them better positioned to work towards a new home.

As we all know by now, the first proposition came to pass. Together, the Yankees and Nets offered enough year round programming to establish their own regional sports station, and the highly successful YES Network launched in early 2002. The second issue ended up being the undoing of the partnership. Both the Nets and and Devils were in favor of building a new arena in Newark, But as individual business entities, despite success on the court and on the ice, both teams were losing money and couldn't secure enough funding to finance the project. Given the financial state of the two teams, Steinbrenner was unwilling to put up the remaining funds. This fractured the partnership, and when a resolution couldn't be reached, the dissolution of YankeeNets followed. The Devils and Nets were sold in early 2004 and YankeeNets was renamed Yankee Global Enterprises. It still serves as the holding company for both the Yankees and the YES Network.

While the partnership lasted just five years and fell short of all that seemed possible at its formation, the brief existence of YankeeNets benefited the Yankees in ways they are still enjoying today. It allowed for the formation of the highly successful YES Network, providing the Yankees with an extremely lucrative revenue stream. Though the two teams are no longer linked from a business standpoint, the continued presence of the Nets on YES provides the network with needed winter programming, allowing it to be viable year round. And if nothing else, the YankeeNets partnership prevented the Yankees from reopening sale negotiations with Cablevision. Looking back on the train wrecks that both the Knicks and Rangers have been for the past ten years, I shudder at what might have been had the Yankees falled under the Dolans umbrella. If that's not enough to get you to have a little pity on the 4-44 Nets, nothing is.

Links With Moose

We aren't going to devote a full countdown piece to Moose Skowron, but luckily someone put together a video that more or less does it for us.



Speaking of #14, we did a post on Curtis Granderson's choice to wear the number for the upcoming season the day of his press conference in New York that would have fit nicely into our series as well.

And speaking of Granderson, Alex Remington at Big League Stew takes a look at whether or not he can improve his performance against left handed pitchers this year.

Can you name the 45 players who appeared in at least one game for the New York Yankees during the 2009 season? I could only come up with 41 during the six minute allotment but Matt got 44 of them.

Joe from River Ave. Blues debunks the opt-repeated concept of replacing a player's production from one year to the next.

Our pal Tommy Bennett has a piece up at ESPN explaining why Chase Utley, because he didn't get caught stealing once in 2009, should have attempted to swipe more bags.

Larry from Wezen-ball keeps on doing what he does best - churning out interesting, original, interesting and exhaustive posts about baseball. Today's topic? Ranking the best stadium statues in the MLB.

Jonah Keri shares some of the ups and downs of writing a book and a fantastic anecdote about Babe Ruth, Moe Berg and a geisha house.

Rich Aurilia has openly campaigned for a minor league deal with the Mets and Yankees. Mike from RAB took a look at the pros and cons from the Yankees' perspective. Spolier alert: there aren't too many pros.

One thing Mike didn't mention: Luis Sojo is fresh out of a job as the Yanks High-A ball manager, so Aurilia might have some competition for that non-existent "old and completely useless" utility spot.

The Baseball-Reference blog continues their interesting series on final score differentials throughout the history of baseball, this time focusing on one run games.

If you're in a masochistic sort of a mood, NYaT lists off the worst case scenarios for Yankee position players.

If you've got some time on your hands, Callum from the Blue Jays blog Mop Up Duty has a post about his Cuban baseball experience bursting at the seams with pictures and videos. Highly recommended.

I still haven't seen Sugar and reading Bryan Smith's review of it at FanGraphs makes me want to see it more.

Star-Ledger beat writer Marc Carig started up a personal blog. Among the topics so far: former Major League switch-pitcher Greg Harris, the video game Bases Loaded and a brief phone interview that led to - or at least didn't prevent him from getting - an internship at the Washington Post.

14 Days Until Spring Training: Lou Piniella

Before he even arrived in the Bronx, Lou Piniella had lived something close to a full life in baseball. He signed with the Cleveland Indians as a soon-to-be nineteen year old in June 1962. Five months later, he was drafted away by the Washington Senators, under the old first year draft system. Nearly two years later, the Senators traded him to Baltimore. That September he made his Major League debut, appearing in four games and going hitless in his only at bat. It would be a long time before Sweet Lou would see the Majors again, but not too long before he'd need his suitcase again.

After spending all of 1965 in the minors, the Orioles shipped him back to Cleveland, the organization with which he originally signed, prior to the 1966 season. He languished in their system for three more years, finally returning to the Bigs with five more hitless at bats in six September 1968 games. By the end of the season Piniella was 25 years old, had spent seven seasons in professional baseball, had changed organizations four times, and had all of seven Major League plate appearances to his credit. And he still wasn't done stamping his passport.

The Seattle Pilots selected him in the expansion draft following the '68 season. With Major League baseball adding four new teams for the 1969 season, the number of Big League jobs available had increased by twenty percent. Yet Piniella couldn't even stick with the Pilots, and on the eve of the season the Pilots flipped him to a fellow expansion club, the Kansas City Royals. Finally given a chance to play, Piniella made good on the opportunity by capturing Rookie of the Year honors. He was a regular with the Royals for five seasons, posting solid if unspectacular numbers, making an All-Star team, and leading the AL in doubles in 1972.

Following his poor 1973 season, the Yankees dealt for the 30 year old outfielder. He spent the next eleven years as a corner outfielder and designated hitter, winning five division titles, four pennants, and two World Series in the process. Though he didn't walk much, and he wasn't much a power threat, Lou could hit. He was totally dedicated to his craft as a hitter, obsessing over his stance and his swing, which produced a .295 batting average over his time in pinstripes. He also batted .305 over his 44 post-season games with the club.

While not noted for his defense, Piniella made a critical play in the 1978 AL East playoff game against the Red Sox. The Yankees clung to a one run lead in the bottom of the ninth. With one out and Rick Burleson on first, Jerry Remy came to the plate with the potent combination of Jim Rice and Carl Yastrzemski waiting behind him. The early autumn sun hung low in the late afternoon sky, bathing right field in a blinding sunlight. Facing Yankee fireman Goose Gossage, Remy lined a single to Piniella in right. Unable to pick up the ball and catch it on the fly, Piniella still managed to successfully deke Burleson, feigning that he had a bead on it. As a result, Burleson held up. By the time it was clear that the ball fell in, Burleson had to hold at second. Piniella managed to keep the tying run from reaching third with less than two outs. When Jim Rice followed by flying out to deep right, Burleson managed only to advance to third, rather than score the tying run. The rest is history.

As Piniella's career wound down, he began to function as an unofficial hitting coach for the club. When he retired two and a half months into the 1984 season, the team officially added him to the coaching staff. He spent the next year and a half learning under managers Yogi Berra and Billy Martin, and took the helm for the 1986 season. He spent the next two seasons as Yankee manager, going 179-145, finishing in second place in 1986 and fourth the following year. Even in those early years, Piniella showed flashes of the temper that has made him a highlight reel favorite over his twenty two seasons managing in the Big Leagues.

Typical of the Yankees during that time, there was a major shake up following the 1987 season. Billy Martin was brought back for a fifth and final go-round as Yankee skipper and Piniella was promoted to General Manager. As GM, Piniella managed to re-sign Dave Righetti and signed free agents Jack Clark and John Candelaria, both of whom were key contributors to the 1988 team. In attempt to bolster the pitching staff he acquired veteran Rich Dotson from the White Sox. Dotson was a disaster in New York, and came at the price of decent young outfielder Dan Pasqua, whose left handed swing was tailor made for Yankee Stadium.

Piniella was not responsible for the disastrous and infamous Jay Buhner for Ken Phelps trade executed that July. By the end of May, unhappy with his role as GM, Piniella resigned, staying on in a scouting and advisory capacity. Less than four weeks later he would be back in the dugout as Martin's self destructive behavior drove him from the job he loved for the final time. Piniella took over a team that was 40-28 and just 2.5 games out of first. They went just 45-48 the rest of the way, finishing only 3.5 games out of first but in fifth place. As was too often the case in the eighties, the Yankees just didn't have enough pitching to get it done. Piniella was let go for the second time in as many seasons.

He spent 1989 as a broadcaster during the team's first season on MSG Network, then took a job as the Cincinnati Reds manager, winning the World Series in his first season. After three years in Cincy, Piniella moved on to Seattle. In his first year he led them to their first winning season in the their seventeen year history. Two years later he led them to their first playoff berth, bouncing the Yankees in the 1995 ALDS and earning Manager of the Year honors. He captured another division title in 1997, the Wild Card berth in 2000, and led his club to a Major League record 116 victories in 2001, snagging him his second Manager of the Year award. His club was eliminated from post-season play by the Yankees in both 2000 and 2001.

After finishing his tenth season as M's manager, it was time for a change. Piniella returned to his native Tampa to manage the Devil Rays. Because he was still under contract to Seattle they were entitled to compensation. As a result the Rays shipped newly minted Yankee Randy Winn to Seattle for a minor leaguer. The nicest that can be said of Lou's tenure in TB was that they didn't finish last in 2004, the first time in franchise history that happened. Unhappy that ownership wasn't investing money in the team as they had promised him, Piniella departed after the 2005 season. He spent the next year working for FOX, then became manager of the Cubs, winning division titles in 2007 and 2008, and earning his third Manager of the Year award.

Lou Piniella has had a full life in the game, with 2010 marking his 49th year in professional baseball. Just as we saw with Gene Michael, Piniella has served the Yankees as a player, coach, manager, general manager, advisor, and announcer. Though its been more than twenty years since he was a part of the organization, his Yankee career may not be over yet. It was rumored that the Yankees chose the Cubs to play Yankee Stadium's initial exhibition games to remind Piniella of his ties to the organization. Hank Steinbrenner has said that he wants to hire Piniella as an advisor when his managerial career wraps. It shouldn't be too long before that happens as Piniella is nearly 67 and under contract only through the end of the 2010 season.