Fack Youk Field Trip: Bell Centre

Bonjour Fackers. Pardon my French; I spent the weekend in Montreal for a college buddy's bachelor party. It will take quite some time for my sleep patterns, liver, bank account, and sense of dignity to recover. The file on this weekend has been permanently sealed, but I am at liberty to disclose that our waiter at the steak house Friday night looked exactly like this guy.

As I've touched upon here several times in the past, I'm a big hockey fan as is the groom to be. So Saturday night naturally entailed a trip to the Bell Centre to see the Canadiens play the Devils. It isn't nearly as historic as its predecessor, but with so many of the NHL's most fabled rinks - the Forum, the Boston Garden, Maple Leaf Gardens, Chicago Stadium - now just memories, the Bell Centre, with 24 Stanley Cup banners and 17 retired numbers filling its rafters, has to be considered hockey's foremost cathedral.

As Yankee fans, we're familiar with having our team play in a historically significant venue. We're fortunate enough that when the new Yankee Stadium opened this past year it was christened with a championship. The Bell Centre is currently in its thirteenth season as the Canadiens' home and has yet to add a new Stanley Cup banner to its collection.

Unfortunately for me, I couldn't even see those banners Saturday night. Our seats were in the third to last row of the arena, and the suspended press box blocked our view of the rafters. No cup banners, no retired numbers (including the #7 of Howie Morenz, distant relative of the Yankees' 1995 #1 pick Shea Morenz), not even the banner commemorating the Expos' retired numbers of Gary Carter, Andre Dawson, Rusty Staub, and Tim Raines.


Despite our nosebleed location, the view was still pretty good. The atmosphere was outstanding; the arena was packed and the crowd was extremely into the game; the Canadian national anthem may have been the best part of the night. Just as the Yankees do at the Stadium, the Habs are certain to remind you of their storied history, with an outstanding pre game presentation listing the names of every player in their history interspersed with highlights of the likes of Jean Beliveau, Denis Savard, and Patrick Roy. The fans were extremely friendly, especially considering most of our group were Devils fans. I think the obnoxious Jersey Shore reject in the row in front of us helped in drawing to himself whatever ire may have been directed at us otherwise.

Lastly, because I'm sure friend of the blog Jonah Keri will be curious about it, yes, there was a Youppi sighting. He's so barely discernible in the picture I took that it's not even worth posting, but he was last seen hitching a ride atop a zamboni at the end of the night.

One last hockey note: the NCAA tournament started this weekend, and like its basketball counterpart, it was not without drama and upsets. RIT, alma mater of my good friend Lutkus and my friend Matt's girlfriend Rachel, which wasn't even a Divison I program a few years ago and was one of the bottom two teams in the tournament, upset national powerhouses Denver and New Hampshire to reach the Frozen Four. Meanwhile Boston College beat Alaska Fairbanks 3-1 and then took a 9-7 barnburner over Yale to advance to their fourth Frozen Four in the last five years and ninth in the last thirteen.

Thus concludes my weekend hockey round up. Come this time next week we'll have real live baseball to discuss.

The Case For Raines

Good morning Fackers. For the most part, the backlash over last week's Hall of Fame voting results has cooled down and everyone has moved on to extracting their pound of flesh from Mark McGwire. But in running down the voting results last week, I made mention that the continued exclusion of Tim Raines and his overall poor showing in the results is the gravest injustice in the ballots. I further stated that the reasons why warranted its own post. This is that post.

Raines, like Bert Blyleven, has become something of rallying cause for the sabermetric community, as he was a tremendously valuable player, for a number of years, whose greatness isn't readily evident when measured by traditional metrics. I think this might be working against Raines. As far as we've come in our understanding of the game, there are still those amongst the voting ranks who have their heads buried in the sand, who are steadfastly against sabermetrics, the blogging community, and anything else that isn't a crusty old remnant of whenever they first cut their teeth in sports writing.

So rather than lay out a bunch of statistical analysis supporting Raines' cause - something that's been done far more eloquently by the likes of Joe Posnanski, Rob Neyer, Jonah Keri, and raines30.com - I'll try to put things in more of a general framework.

Simply put, Tim Raines, with the exception of Rickey Henderson, is the greatest leadoff hitter of all time. He was a machine at getting on base, he was historically successful at stealing bases (both in terms of quantity and success rate), and he scored runs by the boatload. Granted, if Raines was more of a power threat he would have been a three hitter rather than a leadoff hitter. But, batting leadoff is arguably the most important position in the batting order, as it will see the most plate appearances over the course of the season. And Raines' exceptional ability to avoid making outs made him extremely valuable in that role. Furthermore, Raines was not without power. While his home run totals are pedestrian at best, he spent his prime in Olympic Stadium, a very pitcher friendly park. Even so, Raines accumulated lots of doubles and triples - not to mention all the extra bases he stole - and his slugging percentage routinely outpaced the league average.

It's also very important to consider context in which Raines accomplished all of this. Baseball in the 1980s was markedly different than the game we watch today. Cookie-cutter astroturf ballparks permeated the game - particularly in Raines' National League. Power was down - the 49 home runs hit in 1987 both by recent electee Andre Dawson and recent confessor Mark McGwire were the most in baseball between George Foster's 52 in 1977 and Albert Belle's 50 in 1995 Cecil Fielder's 51 in 1990.

The game was built upon speed. Billy Martin's Oakland A's and Whitey Herzog's St. Louis Cardinals attempted steals at will. Herzog's teams, built on speed and defense, were arguably the team of decade, raking in four division titles, three pennants, and a World Series. The style of play permeated the game and players - Raines, Rickey Henderson, Vince Coleman, Willie McGee, Ozzie Smith - ran with reckless abandon.

And that was the problem with that style of play: it was reckless. Teams placed such a premium on speed that human out machines like Alfredo Griffin, Juan Samuel, and Mookie Wilson were given thousands of wasteful plate appearances in the leadoff spot strictly because they were fast. Traces of this philosophy still remain, as Dusty Baker's Reds have spent the last two years getting abyssmal OBP from the leadoff spot just because Corey Patterson and Willie Taveras are fast. When these players did manage to reach base, many of them were caught stealing so frequently that the bushels of stolen bases they accumulated were of little to no value thanks to all the extra outs they cost their teams. But with the right personnel, with the likes of Tim Raines getting on base at a .390 clip and swiping seventy plus bases a year at a jaw dropping 87% success rate, it was a successful and exciting style of play. The problem was, with the exception of Raines' Expos and Henderson's A's and Yankees, teams didn't have the right personnel to make that style of play work.

Baseball, as a game, has changed innumerable times in its 130+ year history. Our understanding of that game has changed and evolved over that time as well. The early Hall of Fame voters were able to understand that the players of the Deadball Era helped their teams win in different ways than the sluggers of the Ruth era. We understand now that top offensive contributions made in the mid to late sixties appear paltry compared to numbers that came before and after, but are no less outstanding when considering the context of the game at the time. We are starting to understand more and more the value of positional adjustments, and how a certain level of offensive production from a player capable of fielding a premium defensive position could be offer more value than a greater level of offensive production from a less important defensive position.

All of these factors come into play when considering Raines' case. Batting leadoff may not be the glamour batting position that the three or four spots are, but it's an extremely important spot. And virtually no one was better at batting in that spot than Tim Raines. Furthermore, he did his damage in an era where the game was placing more focus on the leadoff spot than it ever had before. With any luck, the BBWAA will realize this at some point in the next twelve years.

A Look At The HoF Voting Results

Good morning Fackers. Yesterday we took a cursory look at the Hall of Fame voting results, noting Andre Dawson's election and the tantalizing near misses of Bert Blyleven and Roberto Alomar. The entire ballot spanned twenty six players who met the eligibility criteria. Here are some thoughts on those who weren't as lucky as The Hawk.

Byleven (74.2%) - He's a vitrual lock for next year after coming so close this year and seeing an 11.5% jump over last year. He has two more years of eligibility left and the next two classes aren't particularly strong.

Alomar (73.7%) - I'm not a big believer in drawing distinctions between a Hall of Famer and First Ballot Hall of Famer. Even so, I think Alomar's standing relative to the other men who have played his position make him worthy of first ballot induction. Obviously it will have to wait until next year. If waiting a year is Alomar's penance for the Hirschbeck spitting incident then so be it. I realize there are players in the Hall who have done worse, but waiting a year is a small price to pay for what's one of baseball's more despicable moments.

Jack Morris (52.3%) - Morris vs. Blyleven seems to be the next frontier of the old school vs. new school debate. Morris saw an 8.3% jump over last year, the second biggest gainer outside of Blyleven. He still ranks behind where Blyleven was in his 11th year of eligibility. It'll be interesting to see where this one goes in the year's to come. Does anyone remember when Morris nearly joined the '96 Yankees?

Barry Larkin (51.6%) - Larkin deserves enshrinement, but he clearly has a ways to go in the eyes of the voters. Still, it's encouraging to see him start out at 51.6%. For comparisons sake, Alan Trammell, a similar if inferior comparison, garnered just 15.7% of the vote in his first year of eligibility.

Lee Smith (47.3%) - Smith is the highest ranking former Yankee on the ballot. His continued languishing in the sub fifty percent range makes me wonder if the BBWAA is smarter than we give them credit for being. At the time of his retirement, Smith was the all-time leader in saves. He hasn't thrown a pitch in a dozen years, yet he's been passed only by Trevor Hoffman and Mariano Rivera. Normally, that's the sort of thing the writers would eat up: "This guy's the all-time saves leader, he's got to be a Hall of Famer!". Instead, Smith remains far from enshrinement, as he should. I'm just not sure it's because the writers realize the save is a relatively meaningless statistic. More likely, I think Smith serves as an example that the writer's aren't quite sure how to evaluate "closers". The relievers in the Hall - Wilhelm, Fingers, Sutter, Gossage - were "firemen", routinely accumulating 100+ IP per season. Smith accumulated 100 relief IP just twice, in his first two full seasons as a reliever. Smith was at the leading edge of the game-wide transition from firemen to closers. Dennis Eckersley is the only closer in the Hall, and Smith lacks both Eckersley's utter dominance as a closer as well as his years as a successful starter. Smith has seven more ballots for the writers to figure it out.

Edgar Martinez (36.2%) - If the voters don't know what to make of closers, then they have absolutely no idea what to do with designated hitters. The DH has been in existence for 37 seasons now, and it has evolved significantly in that time. What started as place to play the best bench player evolved as a spot to hide defensive liabilities, or to prolong the career of aging veterans, or to protect the health of those too fragile to handle the wear and tear of daily defense. While HoFers like Eddie Murray, George Brett, Rickey Henderson, Paul Molitor, Wade Boggs, Jim Rice, Dave Winfield, Carl Yastrzemski, and Dawson all spent significant time at DH, Martinez is an interesting case in that he's the first worthy candidate to have spent nearly his entire career as a DH. Offensively he has HoF numbers, and I think he's worthy of induction. I'll be interested to see how his candidacy is evaluated over the next several years.

Tim Raines (30.4%) - Far and away the gravest injustice in my opinion. Raines is worthy of his own post, and I hope to have that before the week is out.

Mark McGwire (23.7%) - After taking a slight dip in his percentage last year, McGwire's number returns to where it was in both of his first two years of eligibility - a long, long, long way from induction. Like Smith and Martinez, McGwire is an interesting test case. McGwire is probably the best pure power hitter in baseball history not named Babe Ruth (1st all time in AB/HR, 2nd all time in IsoP), but the problem is that he wasn't all that pure after all. I'm not sure yet how PED users should be judged, but McGwire's four years on the ballot don't bode well for Rafael Palmeiro next year or for Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens in 2013.

Alan Trammell (22.4%) - This was Trammell's ninth year on the ballot and his best showing yet. He's still so far off that it's unlikely he'll ever be elected. As a shortstop, Trammell is Hall of Famer. He's comparable, if slightly inferior, to contemporaries and Hall of Famers Cal Ripken Jr, Robin Yount, and Ozzie Smith. I think the problem for Trammell is that he was overshadowed by those three for most of his career, and in the years since the likes of Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter, Nomar Garciaparra, Miguel Tejada, and Hanley Ramirez have completely changed the concept of what a shortstop could do. Had Trammell begun his career 20 or 30 years earlier he'd likely already be in Cooperstown. At this point the Veterans' Committee looks like his best bet.

Fred McGriff (21.5%) - One of the worst trades the Yankees ever made. McGriff was a great player for a long time. But as a first baseman, his numbers don't really separate him from his contemporaries. It doesn't appear that another 7 HR to get to 500 would have made the difference for him either.

Don Mattingly (16.1%) - This is the best showing for our beloved Donnie Baseball since his second year on the ballot back in 2002. But it's still well off from his career best of 28.2%. As much as we'd all like to see it, Mattingly's not going to the Hall nor should he - his career nose dived way too soon. But I hope he continues to get the requisite 5% to stay on the ballot until his 15 years run out.

Dave Parker (15.2%) - The induction of borderline guys Jim Rice and Andre Dawson in back-to-back years lends itself to slippery-slope style arguments. I don't think The Cobra was as good as either one of those guys, but he wasn't off by too much.

Dale Murphy (11.7%) - Much like Mattingly, Murphy went from amongst the best in baseball to done seemingly overnight. Murphy was a contemporary of Dawson, and like Dawson is considered and all-around class act and good guy. The two make for an interesting comparison. Dawson had a longer and better career, and voters seem to favor players who decline gradually, like Dawson, to players who fall off a cliff, like Murphy. But if you look at their primes, Murphy was arguably the better player. And if you look at their peaks, Murphy was clearly the better player.

Harold Baines (6.1%) - The last player that will still be on next year's ballot. With the arrival of Edgar Martinez, Baines is no longer the best DH eligible for enshrinement.

Andres Galarraga (4.1%) - I'm surprised he didn't get the 5% necessary to stay on the ballot. Certainly not a HoFer, but a pretty good player during a rather lengthy career. I wonder if Galarraga dropping off after one year gives any insight as to how the voters will view the Coors Field effect. It'll be interesting to keep in mind as Larry Walker becomes eligibile next year and Todd Helton no fewer than six years from now. At 43 years old and stuck on 398 career HRs, Galarraga signed a minor league deal with the Angels in 2004. He spent a month in AAA and was given a token September call up. In the 160th game of the season, Galarraga pinch hit in the ninth inning of a game the Angels led 9-0. He homered to get to 399, and celebrated waaaaay too much for a player of his stature, particularly considering he was just hanging on to pad his numbers and had just hit a meaningless home run in garbage time of a late season game. I remember seeing the highlight and thinking it was a little below him. The again, Galarraga lost a season to lymphoma during the most productive stretch of his career and had suffered a relapse earlier that same year that may have cost him additional service time, so maybe I'm just a jerk for begrudging him a little celebration.

Robin Ventura (1.3%) - The second lowest ranking former Yankee on the ballot (Todd Zeile didn't get a single vote). In 1999, Nolan Ryan received 98.79% of the vote, the second highest percentage of all time. He was six votes short of being the only unanimous selection in history. Perhaps he'll beat Ventura up again, steal his seven votes, and add them to his own total to give him 100.2% of the vote.

Michael "Mike" Jackson (0.0%) - Listed only to give me an excuse to link to this. It probably wasn't particularly funny then; now it's neither funny nor timely.

Congratulations Hawk

This could quite possibly be the final post ever at Fack Youk, as I'm afraid the furor over this afternoon's Hall of Fame voting results will cause the internet to explode some time later today.

Andre Dawson was the sole player elected by the BBWAA, being named on 420 of 539 ballots for 77.9% of the vote. He received just 15 votes more than the necessary 75%.

Even closer to that 75% cutoff were Bert Blyleven and Roberto Alomar. Unfortunately for them they were on the wrong side of 3/4, with Byleven falling an agonizing five votes shy (74.2%) and Alomar just eight votes short (73.7%). The good news for them is that no one has ever failed to be elected after gaining that much support.

In my opinion Blyleven and Alomar are without doubt Hall of Famers, so there will assuredly be some people angry that they're out and Dawson - a borderline candidate - is the one who got in. And that says nothing about other more deserving candidates: Tim Raines, Barry Larkin, Alan Trammell, Edgar Martinez, or even Hawk's comparable contemporaries like Dale Murphy and Dave Parker.

Personally, I don't have a huge problem with Dawson getting in. He's assuredly a borderline candidate, but he had a helluva a career: MVP, Rookie of the Year, 8 time All-Star, 8 Gold Gloves, 4 Silver Sluggers, and some impressive power numbers that have him in the company of baseball's all-time greats. He also spent his best years playing in relatively obscurity in Montreal, where the concrete-like turf punished his knees to the point that he first moved from CF to RF, and then eventually to DH.

On the flip side, Dawson's career OBP is just .323, lower than the league average over the course of his career. There's no way to sugarcoat that. Whether that's enough to outweigh the positive aspects of his career is for you to decide. The writers didn't think so - not this year at least. Your mileage may vary, and probably does.

For now though, congratulations to the Hawk on his induction. We'll have more later on the rest of the ballot, and I'm sure several others elsewhere will have plenty to say about all of this.

1996 World Series: Game 3

[With the Yankees squaring off against the Braves this week, we thought it would be appropriate to take a look back at the two World Series during which they faced off in the late 90's]

Game 3 had the Series shifting south to Atlanta. Things were not looking good for the Yanks, down 0-2 and having lost the first two games on their home turf by a combined score of 16-1. It wasn't going to get any easier for Game 3, as the Braves were sending former Cy Young Award winner Tom Glavine to the hill. Glavine won 15 games in 1996 and posted what was then the second best ERA+ of his career (147). Despite entering the game with a 7-7 post-season record, Glavine had a post-season ERA of just 3.05. He pitched 8 shuout innings of one hit ball in the 1995 World Series clincher, was the reigning World Series MVP, and was 2-1 with a 1.83 ERA in the 1996 NL Playoffs.

If all that added up to feeling of impending doom surrounding the Yankees, from George Steinbrenner to the media to the to fanbase, there was at least one little corner of the team that wasn't worried: Joe Torre. As he had been all throughout his first season as Yankee manager, and as he would be for the remainder of his twelve year tenure, Torre was the picture of calm.

Following the Game Two loss, Steinbrenner made a comment to Torre essentially asking him to make it respectable and avoid a sweep. Torre countered by predicting they would win the next three, claiming that Atlanta was his town. And in a way it was. Torre had played the first three seasons of Atlanta Braves baseball, hitting .290/.356/.469, 134 OPS+ and making two All-Star teams. He returned as manager in 1982, leading the Braves to the NL West title. It was the first post-season appearance for Atlanta, and their only one until they started their remarkable run in 1991.

But it wasn't just his Atlanta track record that gave Torre confidence; he had an ace up his sleeve, literally. David Cone was taking the ball for the Yankees in Game 3. Despite missing most of 1996 following surgery to correct an aneurysm in his throwing arm, Cone was still the Yankees' ace, going 7-2 with an ERA+ of 174 in eleven starts. He had last pitched twelve days earlier, starting Game 2 of the ALCS, and easily could have started the Series opener. But Torre intentionally held Cone back until Game 3, as Torre always felt Game 3 to be a series' most critical game. And it would never be more critical than when looking at an 0-2 deficit.

Cone entered Game 3 with a career post-season line of just 3-3 with a 4.29 ERA. But he had as many World Series rings as Glavine and a reputation as a big game pitcher. He would do nothing on the night of October 22, 1996 to detract from that reputation.

The Yankees drew blood in the top of the first. Tim Raines worked a leadoff walk and moved to second on a sacrfice by Derek Jeter. A Bernie Williams single up the middle plated Raines to make it 1-0.

David Cone came out guns blazing. He gave up a leadoff bloop single to Marquis Grissom, then erased him on a doubleplay from Mark Lemke. Cone then surrenedered a second single to Chipper Jones, but got out of the first with a groundout from the spokesperson for Tom Emanski's defensive drills video.

Cone pitched perfect second and third innings. By the time he issued a walk to Fred McGriff with two outs in the fourth, he had retired nine in a row. He followed the walk by catching Ryan Klesko looking to end the inning. In the fifth, he gave up a leadoff single to Javy Lopez, then erased him on a fielder's choice by Andruw Jones. After Joe Girardi caught Jones stealing, Cone K'd Jeff Blauser to end the inning.

At that point, Cone had a 2-0 lead, with the Yankees having added a run in the fourth when Williams reached on an error, moved to second on a walk to Cecil Fielder, to third on a Charlie Hayes lineout to right, and scored on a Darryl Strawberry single. Entering the bottom of the sixth, Cone had gone 5 innings scoreless innings, giving up 3 hits, a walk, striking out 3, and facing just two over the minimum. He had allowed just four balls to leave the infield, and one was a blooper and another a groundball single. The Braves couldn't touch him, but he was about to make things interesting.

Glavine led off the inning, and Cone walked him. Grissom followed with a single to move Glavine to second, but Cone caught a break when Lemke's bunt attempt became a popout to Fielder. Cone then walked Chipper Jones on five pitches to load the bases for the heart of the Braves order.

The situation was enough to bring Torre to the mound. According to The Yankee Years, Torre asked Cone repeatedly if he was OK. The game was on the line, and Torre needed to know that Cone, just five months removed from surgery, had enough left in the tank to get out of the jam. But after waiting his whole life to get to the Series, Torre wasn't about to accept the typical answer of a proud athlete. He was nose to nose with Cone, asking him if he could get the job done. Whatever Cone said to Torre, it was sufficient to convince him. And Torre's trust would be rewarded.

Cone got McGriff to popup to Jeter for the second out of the inning. Facing Klesko, Cone issued his third walk of the inning, forcing in a run and cutting the lead to one. But Lopez followed by fouling out to Girardi. It ended the threat and was the last big chance the Braves would have on the night.

Jim Leyritz pinch hit for Cone in the seventh and Mariano Rivera took the mound in the bottom of the inning. Mo retired the first two batters, when Luis Polonia, between his second and third stints as a Yankee, pinch hit for Glavine. He drew a walk, but when he tried swiping second he was gunned down by Girardi, ending the inning.

The Yanks padded their lead in the eighth. Jeter led off with a single and scored on Williams' sixth and final HR of the '96 post-season. Fielder followed with a double and pinch runner Andy Fox moved to third on a Hayes groundout. Strawberry was walked intentionally, then Luis Sojo dribbled one of his patented seeing-eye-RBI singles through the infield to make it 5-1. All three runs were charged to Greg McMichael, who failed to record an out.

Rivera got into a bit of trouble in the eighth. Grissom ledoff with a triple, then scored on a Lemke single. Mo whiffed Chipper Jones then gave way to southpaw Graeme Lloyd, who got lefties McGriff and Klesko to end the inning.

John Wetteland came on for the ninth. After the leadoff batter reached on a Jeter error, Wetteland struck out Andruw Jones and Blauser, then retired pinch hitter Terry Pendleton on a groundout to give the Yankees their first victory of the Series. Glavine had pitched masterfully, 7 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 8 K, but Cone matched him. No one quite knew it yet, but the tide of the 1996 World Series had turned.

Yankees Fathers and Sons [Part 1]

In yesterday's game preview, in honor of Father's Day, we mentioned that Robinson Cano and Nick Swisher are the two second generation Major Leaguers on the Yankee roster. It's Monday; you don't want to work; the team isn't playing too well right now, and we have an off night tonight. Let's kill some time by furthering yesterday's theme and looking at some past Yankees who were part of baseball families:

Shelley Duncan: Everyone's favorite high five/forearm bash enthusiast is pasting the ball at AAA Scranton and is the son of former Big League catcher and famous pitching coach Dave Duncan.

Tom Tresh: Tresh was the AL Rookie of the Year in 1962. He was a switch hitting shortstop with power, who was eventually moved to the outfield. So of course, he faced innumerable comparisons to Mickey Mantle. A back injury ruined Tresh's career and forced him to retire at 31. But before that, he had six pretty good seasons for the Yankees, played on three pennant winners and one World Series winner. Tresh was the son of former White Sox cather Mike Tresh, and passed away last October at 70.

Bill Kunkel: Kunkel pitched for the Yankees briefly in 1963. He washed out of the majors, but began a second career as an umpire, working the AL from 1968 to 1984. Kunkel retired when his son Jeff reached the Majors with the Texas Rangers. He is the last man to both play and umpire in the Major Leagues.

Dale Berra: Everyone knows Yogi, but his son Dale also played in the Majors, including a stint with the Yankees in 1985-86, during which he briefly played with his father as his manager. Dale wasn't very good in his time as a Yankee, with perhaps his most infamous moment coming in this game when he and Bobby Meacham were both thrown out at home on the same play.

Mel Stottlemyre: The former Yankee ace and longtime pitching coach had two sons, Todd and Mel Jr. pitch in the big leagues. Mel Jr lasted only briefly, but Todd had a decent and lengthy career and is now the Diamondbacks pitching coach.

Tim Raines: The former Yankee and current Newark Bears manager is the father of Tim "Little Rock" Raines Jr. After retiring in Spring Training in 2000, Tim Raines unretired for the 2001 season. He spent the bulk of the season in Montreal, where his career had begun. After the Orioles made his son a September call-up, the Expos traded Raines to the O's for the season's final week so he could join his son. They became the second father-son combination to play as teammates.

Ken Griffey: Ken Griffeys Senior and Junior were the first father-son teammate combination and the first father and son to be active in the Majors at the same time. The two hit back-to-back HRs in this game. Griffey Sr. is best remembered as Junior's father and as a member of the Big Red Machine, but he spent 4+ fairly productive years with the Yankees from 1982-86.

Bobby Bonds: If Ken Griffey didn't sire the best ballplaying son of a former Yankee then Bobby Bonds did. Bonds came from the San Francisco Giants in exchange for Bobby Murcer in a big trade for both teams. Bonds spent only the 1975 season with the Yankees, but it was a great one, as he hit .270/.375/.512 with a career high 151 OPS+. He hit 32 HRs and had 30 SB, becoming the first Yankee to go 30/30. He was traded after the season for Ed Figueroa and Mickey Rivers, two key components of the pennant winning teams of the late 70s. Bonds became a bit of a vagabond after that, moving from team to team and traded for several future Yankees: Rich Dotson, Jerry Mumphrey, and Claudell Washington. The Yankees re-signed him in 1982, but after toiling in AAA Columbus for a month, he was released, ending his career. Bonds spent the third year of his pro career playing AA ball in Waterbury, CT, close to where I live. He always liked the city, and in his retirement he ran a celebrity golf tournament there each summer until his death in 2003.

Felipe Alou: A Yankee from 1971-73, Alou's brothers Jesus and Matty were also Big Leaguers, with Matty joining him on the 1973 team. In addition to his son Moises reaching the Bigs, Felipe was also the cousin of Jose Sosa and uncle of Mel Rojas. That's a Big League family right there.

Aaron Boone: Boone did one huge and historic thing in his time in pinstripes and was absolute horseshit for the rest of it. Perhaps more than the Alous, the Boones are a baseball family. Boone's brother Brett, father Bob, and grandfather Ray all had long Major League careers. The Boones and the Bells are the only three generation MLB families to date.

Sandy Alomar: Sandy Senior was with the Yankees in 1975 and 76 and was the on-deck batter when Chris Chambliss hit the homerun that won the 1976 AL Pennant. Given that Alomar Sr. was .245/.290/.288 career hitter, we should all be glad that Chambliss hit that HR. His sons had far better careers and Roberto will likely reach the Hall of Fame.

We'll be back with some more later on.