Yes, I can be a real dick sometimes.
CC was really good with flashes of total dominance during his 11 years in pinstripes. His record was 134-88, with 1700 strikeouts and a 3.81 ERA. Swell. I'm impressed. I get it.
Maybe the number of numbers that have been retired have just soured me on the whole idea. Too. Many. Numbers. Simple as that. It's just not so special anymore. Ruth, Mantle, Berra, DiMag...no arguing those. But let's look at the full list of retired numerals.
Maris? No. Too short a stay, though momentous in '61. Rizzuto? I'm torn. No Munson. A tragic end, but no.
Like the Hall of Fame, retired numbers should be for giants of the game. Not guys who were just really good, or were Yankees for one stop along their careers.
I take away O'Neill, Posada, and sadly, Mattingly. Another sad story, not a giant.
Rivera, yes, definitely, and he and maybe (maybe) Jeter should be the lone reps from those late-'90s teams.
Petitte? Borderline. Reggie? One stop along his way, but one momentous, giant-like achievement while here.
Not Bernie. Probably Stengel, though I could be talked out of it. He worked with amazing rosters where it was hard to go wrong (shades of Torre).
Whitey? Sure. Gator? Maybe not. Ellie? Same.
At this point, to be honest, I'm not exactly sure where the bar is for this honor. The list as it stands is really confusing, at least for me.
Maybe we should just start putting letters on the uniforms. A, B, C. When we run out, just duplicate them, like AA, BB. Maybe A1, the stake sauce number, A2, and so on. When we get to V2, maybe we should skip that one.
If we put every guy whoever won a warm spot in our hearts while they were with the Yanks, then everyone there can stay, and I also nominate Rocky Colavito, Nick Swisher, Steve Hamilton, Lindey McDaniel, Fritz Peterson and Mike Kekich (as a pair), and Kevin Maas.
Okay, maybe not Maas.
Posts
10 comments:
HEY JAY EM ?
Agreed, it’s totally out of hand. This team currently has little glory to offer, so it recycles the past to boost attendance. They never will, but I’d like to see them unretire a few #’s. Maris for sure as his tenure was too short, but Billy Matin is ridiculous. Whither ARod? If Volpe put up half his numbers he’d be nominated for sainthood. Me, I’m waiting for them to retire Stanton’s number, or the first player to wear #100.
Hey, AA?
And what about Tom Tresh?
A thoughtful piece, JM. I think you're right about much of it. I feel much the same about CC. Yes, he was terrific for a while, particularly in our last championship year (the last championship season in our lifetimes).
But yes, very much like David Wells, he was unable to go when we needed him most—and after we handed him a huge contract that precluded getting all kinds of other people. I'm sorry he had alcohol problem, and I'm glad the he seems to have kicked it.
On the other hand, if you're an athlete and you can't stay in shape, can't stay sober, you're ripping off not only your employers but the fans. CC should have stopped and got help then.
I say: no retired number...
As for the others...there are all kinds of reasons why teams retire numbers. Traditionally, it has not just been the immortals (and I PROMISE to get back to my Yankees Circle of Immortals soon!) but also players—and managers, and broadcasters—who had tragic fates, or were beloved for one reason or another.
In that context, I would be a little more liberal as to the Yankees numbers I would retire. So...
1-Billy Martin. Absolutely agree with JM. He was a hugely destructive force as a Yankees manager, a malignant spirit. I try to pretend that that No. 1 out there is for Bobby Murcer, or Earl Combs, the HOF centerfielder who first wore the number. No on Martin...
Disagree about the 1990s guys.
6—Joe Torre was not the greatest field manager in the world—in fact, at times he was downright bad. BUT that wasn't what mattered with the Yankees in 1996. George had the team in a spiral of madness. ONLY Torre was able to handle him...and thus make those great years possible. I will honor him always for that.
All the others—Mariano, Paul O'Neill, Jorge Posada, Bernie Williams, Andy Pettitte—YES.
Jorge should be in the Hall. Bernie, nearly there. Andy Pettitte not only went 219-127 for us, but won 18 postseason games, including 5 World Series games. I have no problem with them being up there.
9—Roger Maris? Well, that's mainly out of guilt for how badly we treated him during the great home-run race. And then management basically ran him out of town when their doctor failed to discover his hand was broken. I have no trouble with keeping him up.
32—Elston Howard. YES. First Black Yankee. First Black AL MVP. Gold Glover, excellent hitter. One of only six players to play in 10 or more World Series. Lost a lot of at-bats and time behind the plate by having to accommodate Yogi—and never complained about it, ever. Just went out and filled in, in left field.
15—Thurman. YES. Near HOF player. Great defensive catcher, .357/.378/.496/.874 in 30 playoff/World Series games. Played through all sorts of injuries. His time cut tragically short.
49—Guidry. YES. Amazing season in 1978, and went out and gave us 6 gutsy innings in Fenway, despite pitching the playoff on short rest. Three-time 20-game winner; would have been 4-time, AND won a second Cy Young, but he volunteered to go to the bullpen when Goose got hurt in 1979. 5-2, 3.02 in the postseason—would've been 6-1, if Bob Lemon had pulled him in time in the 1981 World Series.
44—Reggie. YES. Yes, he created many of his own problems. And yes, he got all kinds of undue nonsense from the insane Martin, and also some from George. Fantastic in the playoffs; we would've ALSO won the 1981 WS, maybe, if George hadn't insisted that Lemon bench him for half that Series. Had the actual, game-clinching HR in the 1978 playoff in Fenway.
He gave us some of our best moments in those days.
And finally...Casey, 37.
YES. Won a record 10 pennants and a record-tying 7 World Series in 12 Yankee seasons. Save for one rotten bounce on one rotten field in 1960, Mantle being injured in 1955 and 1957, and the Braves cheating in 1957, he would've been 10 for 10.
This wasn't like the Joe McCarthy era, when the Yanks were just plain better than everyone else, at every position. By Casey's time, the rest of the AL had almost caught up in on-field and front-office talent—and he had a GM who didn't want to sign Black players.
Casey actually was a terrific field manager (see my next book, out in spring, 2027!). Most of his managing life, he was stuck with awful players and even worse front offices. When he wasn't, he was incredible.
Everyone else...all the immortals...yep, keep 'em. But no CC.
Post a Comment