Always a frightening ballplayer. Had he played in more of a hitters' era, his numbers would have been off the charts.
Supposedly, the Yanks could've had him for Jim Bouton after the 1964 season. They passed, and Bouton blew out his arm for good in the disastrous, 1965 Opener in the Snow, in Minnesota—the same game when Elston Howard blew out HIS arm.
With a little luck, we could've had an outfield of Yaz, F. Robby, and Murcer, c. 1969, backed up by Roy White. But then as now, our luck was taking a dive...
How could we have had Yaz?
ReplyDeleteFrank Robinson was the best player in the American League during my formative years as a Yankee fan, 1966 through 1971. He sent me to bed crying more times than I can count by stealing games with his bat, his glove or on the bases. He played the game on a higher level and he played it hard. He was a tough and talented son of a bitch, and 50 years later, I've recovered enough that I can tell you it was a privilege to watch him ply his craft.
https://nypost.com/2019/02/07/hal-steinbrenner-fires-back-at-critics-yankees-arent-being-cheap/
ReplyDeleteOl' Foodstamps has been lurking here.
Yanks got to Yaz first—their scout made him an offer he was itching to take.
ReplyDeleteBut his father told him that he would be more likely to get to the majors quicker with another team. (Hard to argue with Papa Yaz on that; Yaz's first year in the show was 1961, when we had Mantle, Maris, and whatever catcher wasn't catching out there, backed up by Hector Lopez and Bob Cerv.)
Apparently the Yankees also spotted Rocky Colavito first, but the arrogance of our scout pissed him off.