Tuesday, December 1, 2009

R.I.P. Tommy Henrich (1913-2009)


A great Yankee died today. But for his three years of military service in WWII, he might have been in the HOF. He had a 96-year run:

Thomas David "Tommy" Henrich (February 20, 1913 – December 1, 2009), nicknamed "Old Reliable," was a right fielder in Major League Baseball who played his entire career for the New York Yankees from 1937 to 1950. He led the American League in triples twice and in runs once, also hitting 20 or more home runs four times. He is best remembered for his numerous exploits in the World Series; he was involved in one of the most memorable plays in Series history in 1941, was the hitting star of the 1947 Series with a .323 batting average, and hit the first walk-off home run in Series history in 1949's Game 1.


P.S. Sorry for all the Wiki-links. I copied this from another source and I'm afraid I'll lose the content if I try to edit them out.


3 comments:

el duque said...

You know who would be the new "Old Reliable?"

John Lackey.

We should sign John Lackey.

dadlak said...

Lackey was the "New Reliable" (33 starts per year for five straight seasons) until he started just 24 and 27 games in 2008 and 2009 respectively.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/l/lackejo01.shtml

Still, you were right about the Teixeira thing, so I'm sure that Cashman is taking close note of your advice.

Anonymous said...

Henrich was part of one of the all-time outfields in baseball, with Charlie Keller and Joe D. - Also, a better than average 1st baseman in '49 and '50. He caught the last out of the season against Boston's Birdie Tebbitts (foul pop-up)in '49, icing the pennant for NY. - Some moments you don't forget.