Curt Schilling Retires

Yankee nemesis Curt Schilling has decided to hang up is spikes after 20 years in the bigs.
With a lifetime record of 216-146, he is on the cusp of the Hall of Fame.

I heard the discussion on Mike and Mike this morning and it was considered too close to call.

While the regular season record is good, but not great, his post season is a spectacular 11-2 with a tiny 2.23 ERA and 120 strikeouts in 133 innings.

His 6 All Star selections and runner up in the Cy Young twice certainly show he was one of the best of his time, but is he one of the best of all time? I can think of at least 4 of his contemporaries right off the top of my head who I would rather have pitch a big game including Maddox, Clemens (the cheater,) Pedro Martinez, and Randy Johnson. Each of them will go in except maybe Clemens (the cheater.) Toss Glavine and Smoltz, couple it with Scilling's acerbic attitude, and he may be on the outside looking in.


Go Yankees

Mussina retires; Hall of Fame awaits?

Today, Mike Mussina made it official as he announced his retirement following an 18 year big league career. He spent the last 8 with the Yankees following 10 with the Orioles.
Over that time, he managed to win 270 games. Moose was the model of consistency, as he strung together 17 years of 11 wins or more. In fact, only in his abbreviated first season, where he appeared in only 12 games, did he manage to not hit double digits.
He only won 20 games once, but 11 times he did register 15 or more wins. He even won 19 twice and 18 3 times.
300 has long been considered the magic number for a near automatic pass to Cooperstown, but with the introduction of the 5 man rotation, that number may be tougher to reach. Mussina's most starts in a year was 36. Back in the day of the 4 man rotation, he would have easily had another 4 starts per year. So, with the 70 or so extra starts he would have had over his career, it is reasonable that he could easily have won 300 games, or at least been close enough to consider one more year.
I never thought of Moose as the top pitcher in the league, but he was also one of the best. Is that enough, for the Hall?
I believe it is.

Now, this does affect the Yankees. Mussina was their top pitcher last year, and now they have to replace him immediately. It would be nice to do it from within, but could anyone expect a rookie to step up and put up those kind of numbers?
Joba or Hughes may one day do it, but could they be counted on after coming off injuries? It looks like the Yankees need to sign a free agent pitcher just went up substantially.


Go Yankees

Greatest Yankees of all-time

With all the current attention being paid to the Yankees as this is the last year at the storied ballpark, I wanted to do my list of all-time Yankees players.

I'll do a couple positions a day for the next few days.

I'm going to limit it to just players I have seen. While I attended my first game in 1961, I really hardly remember anything except seeing Whitey Ford on the mound against the Red Sox, and that Maris or Mantle homered. Yankees won 13-2. But everything else is just a blur.

While, technically, I did see Mantle and some of the players from the glory days of the 1950's play, I hardly could say I have any true memory of them.

So, for all practical purposes, this list would just use players from the mid-1960's up until today. Players I saw and appreciated.

I'll start at catcher. The Yankees have been blessed with several great catchers in their history. Dickey and Berra, are among the best ever, both enshrined in Cooperstown. While Jorge Posada has been one of the best catchers in the AL since he broke in, and he definately fits in among some of the greatest Yankee catchers to ever put on the "Tools of Ignorance," he's not my guy. Add to that the simple fact I'm a huge fan, and he would be a shoe-in. But sorry. My guy is, was, and always will be the Captain, Thurman Munson. His .292 career average and his 113 dingers pale in comparison to Posada, but he was the heart of the Yankees, and led them to 2 World Championships (1977-78,) and an AL Championship (1976.) Munson was great at throwing out would be outbase-stealers. He didn't have the greatest arm, but his release made up for that. During his career, Carlton Fisk (HOF) and he were considered the best at their positions. Thurman deserves to be alongside Fisk in the Hall.
I can remember when rumors circulated that the Yankees were looking to make a trade for Johnny Bench (generally considered to be the best catcher ever.) When reporters asked Thurman what he thought of the deal, he said, "That's great, What position will he be playing?"

Munson was that cocky guy winning teams need.



Next is First Base. This is a little easier to call. For some reason, the Yankees, throughout history, have not been blessed with many great first sackers. Sure, Gehrig handled the job for a while, but through the 50's and 60's and much of the 70's the position had no really great players. Moose Skowron and Danny Cater were nice ballplayers, but no one ever mentions Hall of Fame and their names in the same sentence. Chris Chambliss? Again, a very good player, known for a clutch HR against KC, but just not my all-time guy.

Don Mattingly, aka Donnie Baseball, is my choice. OK, not exactly a stretch.

While his career numbers are respectable, injuries seriously hurt his chance for Cooperstown. Over 400 doubles, coupled with 200+ homers and a .307 average may have put him in the running. But he lost at least 3-4 seasons due to his relatively early retirement (age 34) and who knows how much more he would have accomplished if he hadn't missed at least 30 games in parts of 4 seasons in his prime. Keep in mind that he had some trouble even when he played, due to back problems. We could almost double all those numbers if he remained healthy.
And he was known as a great fielder, saving the infielders many errors over the years.

Two choices, both captains, get the nod.

More to come.





Go Yankees