So, just checking in with the stats:
Willie Horton, fine player, but his lifetime stats against us were a little below what they were overall.
Same with Yaz, although he hit a good number of home runs against us, as you might expect. And great as he was, I don't remember him really hurting us a lot.
Teddy Ballgame, slightly above his incredible lifetime average of .344, but even with a 1.103 OPS, it's a little below average for him, and his home run total against the Yanks is the second-lowest in the AL. Funny to think how, save for the 7 games of the 1946 Series,Williams played his entire career against just 7 teams.
Considering the natural advantage he had in the original Yankee Stadium, I'd say this indicated extreme caution by Yankees pitchers—and also skill, since his walks are not disproportionately high against us.
That leaves a shoot out, in my humble opinion, between Rickey Henderson ("Rickey don't need no 'i.e.' in his name") and Manny.
Manny has the edge on pure hitting stats, performing better against us than he did against the rest of the league. Rickey also was above average against us, but not by as much.
However—for all the games he played against us, I don't really remember Manny hurting us much. He was also a poor fielder, as opposed to Rickey, who has some incredible number of lifetime putouts, behind only Barry Bonds in left.
Rickey was a force of nature, an incredible all-around player, for all of his orneriness. Also, unlike Manny, he was NOT a juicer.
I have to go with Rickey.
I REMEMBER JIM RICE WAS ALWAYS IN LEFT FIELD AGAINST US.
ReplyDeleteHE ABSOLUTELY WAS MURDER ON US.
HOW CAN ANYONE FORGET?
I WILL ELIMINATE MANNY WHO WOULD GET THE WIN IN THIS CATEGORY, BECAUSE OF THE DRUGS.
TO ME, THIS ONE IS SIMPLE TOO.
IT'S JIM RICE.
HE MUST BE ON THE BALLOT.
We haven't yet had an all-time opponent who also was a Yankee.
ReplyDeleteIn the most important at-bat of his life, Yaz popped up.
ReplyDeleteRice? I had to look up to find that he was the AL MVP in 78 and I don't even remember him being a factor. I think he was more vilified in Boston than in New York. He's a weak second to me. Only three other players have hit into as many DPs in history, and Yaz is one of them.
But Manny? Drugs or no, seeing him at the plate scared the living shit out of me for years. That son-of-a-bitch could hit.
@All caps Anon...I agree with Jim Rice...36 HRs .330 BA 129 RHIs vs. Yanks
ReplyDeleteG GS PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS TB GDP HBP SH SF IBB ROE BAbip tOPS
170 167 714 643 93 212 36 9 36 129 6 2 57 109 .330 .387 .582 .968 374 22 7 0 7 7 7 .349 126
Wow—that's pretty impressive. And then there's the fact that Williams' stats are so impressive they make the case for him anyway.
ReplyDeleteIs it possible to ad Jim Ed to the ballot? Or start a write-in campaign?
Ted Williams was great. Greater than all of them. I don't know how well he fielded against us, though.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteI really want the world to know about this great man who brought back happiness into my life again after my husband left me and the kids 3 years ago for another women online when i contacted Dr Believe he cast a love spell for me within 48 hours my ex husband start calling me and begging for forgiveness for everything that have happened between us. I was so happy to have my family back together with love again here is the email of Dr Believe via believelovespelltemple@gmail.com a man with the great powers you can also call him or add him on Whats-app: +2348156148821
God bless you
I am very grateful for your help in my marriage.