Haven't We All Forgotten Something???

 

With all the excitement over the Yankees' delirious, 10-6 break out of the box, we are forgetting to honor the man who made it all possible.

This is the silver anniversary of Brian Cashman running your New York Yankees.

Yes, our own, adorable little elf is now enjoying his 25th consecutive season at the helm of the greatest sports franchise in North American history!

So, how is our favorite imp doing? Well, let's take a look. 

It's difficult to come up with anyone else who has run a major-league baseball franchise for so long without owning at least a significant part of it (Looking at you, Connie Mack, last field manager not to wear a uniform!).

But a couple of candidates do come to mind, from our very own Yankees. That is, "Cousin Edgar" Barrow and George Weiss, pictured below with Manager "Marse Joe" McCarthy, enjoying their weekly conference on hemorrhoids.

Now, it's true, many of us here—me, for instance—feel that most of Cashman's success with the Yankees was really due to the team built by the holy trinity of Stick, Bob, and Buck, and that his record has generally deteriorated the further we get from those halcyon days. 

But hey, Barrow and Weiss both inherited some pretty damned good teams themselves. 

Further complicating any comparison, Barrow's and Weiss' tenures overlapped, and it's hard to distinguish just who did what in those years. 

But let's take a shot, starting with overall record:

George Weiss, 1932-1960:    2,771-1,676  .623

Ed Barrow, 1921-1945:         2,362-1,465  .617

Brian Cashman, 1998-  :       2,223-1,565  .588

That is, on an average season, their records were:

Weiss:     96-58

Barrow:   94-59 

Cashman: 95-67

But hey, this is a "rings" town! How do these three baseball masterminds stack up when it comes to winning the World Series?

Here's what we have, when it comes to pennants and World Series wins:

Weiss:      19 pennants, 15 World Series, .789

Barrow:    14 pennants, 10 World Series, .714

Cashman:   6 pennants,   4 World Series, .667

In terms of World Series won-lost records, Cashie's teams fare a little better, albeit in fewer games:

Barrow:      47-24  .662

Cashman:   21-11  .656

Weiss:        70-38  .648

Of course, Cooperstown Cashman's teams have had to play numerous other rounds of playoffs...and here, they did not fare quite as well—as seen in series results, games won-and-lost, and pct.:

ALCS:     7-5  34-31  .523

ALDS:   11-7  43-31  .581

Others:     3-2    4-2    .667

All in all, Cashman's record against other AL teams is 21-13, 81-64, .559. Coops' combined playoff record is 25-15, 102-75, .576.  

But hey, let's not forget The Intern's 13 division titles. And how does he compare in looking at "best record in the league"? Well, let's see:

Weiss:      19

Barrow:   14

Cashman:   9

But still, Cashman has made the postseason, at least, 20 times in his 24 years as GM, or .833 pct. of the time. Would the others have done as well?

Here's where the accomplishments of the Famous Original Yankees Dynasty really get impressive.

Not only did Cousin Edgar Barrow take home 14 flags in 25 seasons, but his Yankees also finished 2nd, 6 times; 3rd, 3 times; 4th, 1 time; and...fell to 7th in 1925, the year of the Big Bellyache suffered by Babe Ruth.  In other words, his Yankees would have qualified for at least a Wild Card in 24 of 25 years, for 96 percent. 

Weiss' record, remarkably, was even better.  Besides 19 flags in 29 seasons, HIS Yankees came in 2nd, 4 times; 3rd, 5 times; and as low as 4th, just once.  Which means that the Yanks would have made the modern playoffs...every time.

That's right, kids and kittens: over the course of 40 seasons, 1921-1960, the Bombers not only took 24 pennants and 18 rings, but also finished lower than 4th exactly once—and lower than third, only twice. Yes, they would have missed the playoffs just once in those 40 years.

Take away the last two war years, and that record would undoubtedly have been even better. And don't forget, after the Yankees replaced Weiss with the immortal Roy Hamey, the team went on to take another 4 pennants and 2 World Series.

And here is where our main critique of Cashman comes into focus. It's true: the further we get from the teams other men built for him, the worse he has done.

Besides those 9 best-in-the-AL records, Coops' teams have also run up the 2nd best record in the league, 3 times; 3rd, 3 times, 4th, 4 times; 5th once; 6th once; 8th twice, and 9th once.  

What's more, every single finish below fourth-best-in-the-league came AFTER 2012, when the last of the Old Warriors were all but shot. Only 1 finish AS LOW AS 4th came before 2012. And since 2012, your New York Yankees have won exactly 1 division title, and have NEVER again finished with the best record in the American League.

Oy. 

To be sure, these three men ran teams in very different eras. Weiss was an inveterate racist, who shamed himself and his franchise by refusing to put Black or Hispanic players on the major-league club for years. And both Barrow and Weiss had the advantage of the reserve clause.

But it's hard to believe that Weiss would have been allowed to do anything that racist today—or that he COULD have, if he wanted to win. And while Coops doesn't have the reserve clause, his Yankees, in the age of TV and electronic media, make exponentially more dollars, even in real-money terms, than those of Barrow or Weiss.  

It's true, in the days of Weiss and Barrow, at least 1/4 to 1/2 of their competitors were generally owned by undercapitalized knuckleheads, who squeezed every dime. And in the time of Brian Cashman...at least 1/4 to 1/2 of his competitors have been owned by undercapitalized knuckleheads, who squeezed every dime.

Plus, for long stretches, Cashman had the advantage of working under the ONLY owner willing to spend big bucks, regardless of any attempted restraints.  

So...who IS the greatest Yankees baseball executive ever?  Keep watching the skies...