One accolade sticks in the mind about dear, departed Clint: at least one scouting report said that he had the fastest hands he had ever seen.
The Red Menace is not the first and will not be the last to win such a compliment. I remember it being applied to a promising Yankees prospect in the 1990s, a guy who had a little trouble getting his career launched, but turned into a power-hitting infielder with seemingly unlimited potential.
The main genius in the Yanks' front office in 1995-96 couldn't see it. So he loaded up Russ Davis and a
promising young pitcher named Sterling Hitchcock, and trucked them off to Seattle, for a relief pitcher and a first baseman.
Russ Davis had a couple decent years at the plate in Seattle, and proved to be a stiff at third base. Sterling Hitchcock spent most of his career getting hit and hit hard, though he did find his way back to the Bronx to win a World Series game for us in 2001.
That relief pitcher was Jeff Nelson, and that first baseman was Tino Martinez, of course, and with them on our side hilarity ensued, as they say.
One of the pretenders in the Yanks' front office—I think it was Clyde King—decided that the young man
was just not ready. Ol' Clyde had another idea: they should send this green kid back down to Columbus, and keep his spot warm with another ancient Mariner, one Felix Fermin. All Seattle wanted in return for
Again, the resident genius at the time stepped up and begged, pleaded, and wept for George to stick with the plan. Finally, Steinbrenner relented.
That young infield prospect was one Derek Jeter, of course—shown here through the misty water-colored memories of the way we were.
Oh, and we did end up getting Felix Fermin anyway. He lasted two weeks, did not get into a game, and was released. What we gave up for him was that famous Michael Corleone offer to the Nevada senator: nothing.
Instead of that obscure relief pitcher, a guy named Mariano Rivera. You can imagine how differently we would view the 1990s if people had listened to Clyde King.
The resident genius, Gene "Stick" Michael, had a better idea. Because being a great general manager is more than reading a stats sheet, no matter how elaborate. Because it is more than listening to what other people say about someone.
Because it means being able to see and to know when you are looking at real talent, and when it's just a mirage.
Shortly after taking over as resident genius, our own dear Brain Cashman decided that the Yanks didn't need another, very promising infielder—a guy named Mike Lowell—because, hell, he had spotted our third baseman of the future, in a two-sport, can't-miss star named Drew Henson.
Mike Lowell came back to haunt us not with one but with two teams. Drew Henson...well, as a third baseman, Drew Henson was a pretty good quarterback. (Except that he wasn't.)
Look, I'm not saying that Gene Michael never made a bad trade or that Brian Cashman never made a good one. And I don't know exactly what happened with poor old Clint Frazier. Bad luck with those wall collisions, bad luck with the other injuries? Bad...whatever?
Who knows? Maybe someday the truth will emerge from behind the walls of Kremlin-on-the-Hudson, and we'll find out for sure what happened to the guy.
But the fact remains that the Yankees—yet again—failed to develop a leading prospect, failed to keep him on the field, and failed to trade him. Maybe that's all bad luck. But it's turning into the story of this franchise for the 21st century.
I just saw a fascinating article about the hitting philosophy of our new hitting coach , Dillion Lawson, who doesn't even have a Wikipedia page.
ReplyDeleteHowever, there was also an article about the dynamics of paint drying, so I read that instead.
MLB-R.I.P.
Gene Michael never gets his due for the deal that sent Ricky Henderson back to the Oakland A's . Well, we all pick our narratives, and our heroes.
ReplyDeleteI don't know exactly what Michael's role was then, but that certainly was not a good deal, Kev, no doubt about it.
ReplyDeleteBUT, as I recall, at the time Rickey's stand was roughly, "Trade me or I will blow up something"—and he said it loud and said it publicly. Hard to make a good trade with a gun pressed to your head.
Gil Hodges in the Hall, along with Orestes Minoso, Tony Oliva, Jim Kaat, Bud Fowler, Buck O'Neil.
ReplyDeleteI'm fine with all of them. But if you put Kaat in, you HAVE to put Tommy John in. They were virtually the same pitcher, statistically, in the same time—John just a little better.
Horace, I grew up in Miami, no doubt you got t an around the clock update on what Ricky wanted. Stick was the GM, with some input from ownership. I was PISSED for decades that Fergie, Kitty, and Surgery weren't in. It's Not all about "peak value".......
ReplyDeleteLove "Surgery," Kevin! I think you're right about "peak value"—and at their respective peaks, both Kaat and John were very close to being the best pitchers in their leagues. Time for TJ!
ReplyDeleteAnd yeah, Rickey was NOT happy by then. Who could blame him? The Yankees had deteriorated and he wanted to play for a contender. Hey, life is short. But as always, Rickey could not have cared less about the team he was on. There were even accusations that he was on his own version of a sit-down strike when his game suddenly plummeted in New York—then shot back up in Oakland.
Hell of a ballplayer, though!
I once had the opportunity to "bodyguard" Ricky Henderson in the late 80's at a local dinner. we had to work the Ken Kaiser event every year. We loved to do it cuz we met all those players. We got to interact with them and keep the minions away from them.
ReplyDeleteOne year I got to drive around Rickey.
He was a gold medal rated dick. Rude, crude and dismissive of everything. Could not wait to be done with him.
Probably the Yanks felt the same way in the day.
Ricky Henderson thought Ricky Henderson was the greatest player ever, and Ricky Henderson would tell you so.
ReplyDeleteTerrific offense at the top of that lineup, though. Rickey, Willie Randolph, Dave Winfield, Don Mattingly. And after that, even, guys like Don Baylor, Pags, etc.
ReplyDeleteBut as usual...not enough pitching!!!