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Post by kaybli on Dec 28, 2023 13:53:19 GMT -5
Pinstripe Alley is doing a top 100 Yankee series. Could be cool to read and react during the slow days of the offseason. They are on number 39: Paul O'neill.
Pinstripe Alley Top 100 Yankees: #39 Paul O’Neill
“The Warrior” was more than just an intense competition for the ‘90s dynasty; he was a helluva hitter, too.
Full Name: Paul Andrew O’Neill
Position: Right field
Born: February 25, 1963 (Columbus, OH)
Yankee Years: 1993-2001
Primary number: 21
Yankee statistics: 1,254 G, .303/.377/.492, 304 2B, 14 3B, 185 HR, 125 wRC+, 26.7 rWAR, 26.7 fWAR
Biography
Acquired in a 1992 trade, former Red and Ohio native Paul O’Neill made an irreplaceable impact in his near decade in pinstripes. He was a fiery, hard-nosed right fielder with a knack for reaching base and performing under the sport’s brightest spotlights. O’Neill was a staple in the heart of the lineup throughout one of baseball’s most dominant stretches in the form of the late 90s Bombers, and duly earned a spot in our Top 100 Yankees of all time.
Early Years
Paul O’Neill was born to Virginia and Charles “Chick” O’Neill in Columbus, Ohio in February of 1963. Chick was a former minor league pitcher, while his father also had roots in professional baseball. Paul, the youngest of six O’Neill children, was blessed in a baseball sense, given his family’s past in the game, as well as their move to a home with a sizeable yard when Paul was young, big enough to hold a makeshift baseball diamond. This field had a tree out in right field, which seemed to help O’Neill master the art of hitting the ball the other way as a lefty, something quite evident in his 17-year big league career. He even remarked that “that back yard was the best training ground for any future professional [ballplayer], and those home run derby games were especially ferocious.”
O’Neill learned the game on that field in Ohio, while rooting on the Cincinnati Reds. His father took him to his first big league game in 1970, where the Reds took on the Pirates. There, a young Paul took a liking to Pittsburgh’s right fielder, who wore number 21, Roberto Clemente. He clearly was impacted by Clemente’s abilities and presence on the field, as O’Neill wore that same number in the same position for his entire eventual Major League career.
O’Neill attended Brookhaven High School in Columbus, where he played football, basketball, and baseball, excelling particularly on the diamond. The big left-hander received college scholarship offers for both baseball and basketball but also drew the eyes of professional baseball scouts, including those of his beloved Reds. He elected to go the way of pro baseball, a decision that would prove wise, and the Reds selected him in the fourth round of the 1981 draft.
Slow Rise to Big League Stardom
As a teenager, O’Neill had a pair of fine-enough seasons between Rookie and A-ball in ‘81 and ‘82. He worked his way up to Double-A in the following two seasons, then began the 1985 season with the triple-A Denver Zephyrs. After hitting .305 in Denver, O’Neill got his first call-up to the major leagues, making his debut on September 3, 1985. As a pinch-hitter, he lined a single into right field for his first major league hit. He would appear in just five games that year, and only in three the next year, but things would get rolling in ‘87. Across 160 plate appearances, O’Neill had a 111 wRC+ and cemented himself in the starting lineup going forward.
Between 1988 and 1990, O’Neill averaged 16 homers and slashed .266/.330/.757 with a 108 wRC+. In 1989, his best season to that point, he had one of his more memorable moments as a player. With the winning run rounding third in a July game against the Phillies, O’Neill thought he had bobbled the game away on a single that rolled his way. In somewhat typical fashion, he wore his emotions on his sleeve and kicked the ball away in disgust, a move that improbably ended up saving the game.
For the World Series-winning 1990 Reds, Paulie showed off his ability to shine in October, as he OPS’d .946 in 36 plate appearances that postseason. He earned his first All-Star nod in 1991, one of the best seasons of he enjoyed, where he belted a career-high 28 homers for Cincy.
1992 was a modest-but-down season in southwest Ohio for O’Neill, who had been pressed to attempt to hit for even more power by similarly-tempered skipper Lou Piniella. It didn’t take as his homer total was cut in half, and the player/manger relationship really began to fray. Despite the security he felt with the organization as a whole, it spelled the end of his time with the Reds.
A Decade of Success in the Bronx
In November of 1992, the Yankees acquired O’Neill’s services from the Reds in return for an All-Star of their own, Roberto Kelly. Growing up a Reds fan, O’Neill wasn’t thrilled with the move, but he rather quickly adjusted, and he wrote that “Once I’d set foot inside Yankee Stadium and met with Steinbrenner and general manager Gene Michael, I could see that a whole new baseball life was out there.”
Paulie’s play on the field was no worse for the wear either, as he enjoyed perhaps his best big league season at the plate in his first year in the Bronx. He went 4-for-4 in his Bronx debut, got back over 20 homers once again, slugged over .500 for the first time, and reached a then-career-high 134 wRC+.
O’Neill’s second season in the Bronx would be one for the ages, but one ultimately riddled with what-ifs. The 1994 season was famously cut short by the player strike, but in his 103 games, O’Neill played the best baseball of his life. By the end of April, he was average sat at an astonishing .448, and didn’t drop below .400 until mid-June. The Yankees also had a league-best 70-43 record when play stopped.
O’Neill belted 21 homers in two-thirds of a season while leading the league with a .359 average, and he was elected to his second All-Star team and finished fifth in MVP voting. His remarkable year certainly made an impression on the Yankees, as they inked him to a four-year, $19-million deal, locking him into the heart of some excellent Yankee years to come.
With the strike resolved, O’Neill largely picked up where he left off, as 1995 was yet another standout season for the right fielder. He had a 135 wRC+ across 543 plate appearances, topped 20 homers for the third straight year (including three in one game during the intense September stretch run), and earned his second consecutive All-Star selection. In MLB’s first year with Wild Card teams in the mix, the Yankees made it to the dance as just that. They would take on the Mariners in the the first iteration of the Division Series, in what would become a legendary back-and-forth matchup.
In the five-game duel, O’Neill was a force to be reckoned with. We all know how the series ultimately ended, but he homered three times and slashed .333/.458/.833. This included a game-tying blast in Game 2, which came an inning after captain Don Mattingly’s iconic “hang onto the roof” homer.
1996 rolled around, and the Yankees had a chip on their shoulder, and O’Neill kept on rolling in his age-33 campaign. He swatted 19 homers and hit over .300 yet again, and enjoyed his best on-base season to date (outside of the shortened ‘94) in which he walked 15.5 percent of the time, and maintained an elite .411 OBP en route to another solid 127 wRC+ season. The Yanks of course reached the postseason once again, this time going all the way and defeating the reigning champion Braves to capture their first World Series since 1978.
Playing through injury, O’Neill was not as potent this go-around, but as seen at the end of a 1-0 nailbiter World Series Game 5 in Atlanta, he would not be deprived of an unforgettable October moment.
The calendar turned to 1997, and Paul O’Neill stayed the same. 21 homers, .324/.399/.514 slash line, 139 wRC+, and another All-Star nod; Paulie was as consistent as they come. The Yankees would lose in the ALDS, but it had nothing to do with O’Neill, as he was even better this time around. He homered twice and reached base in half of his plate appearances.
1998 was a year, as we covered in great detail, in which just about everything went right for the Yankees, and O’Neill was no exception. He once again put up his near-patented stat line, 24 homers and a 129 wRC+ in 152 games, in what was his most valuable season according to fWAR, with a figure of 5.4. He earned his fifth All-Star selection, and the Yankees won a then-record 114 games in the regular season. They swept the Rangers in the DS, and ultimately defeated Cleveland for the American League pennant. They would take on the Padres in that year’s Fall Classic, and sweep their way to their rightful spot atop the mountain. O’Neill was solid in the championship run, holding up an .806 OPS across 60 plate appearances with a homer in each of the first two series.
At 36 years old, Paulie began the 1999 season strong but fell into a deep slump in May. His average fell to .244 at one point, but he persisted through the struggles and turned things around with a strong June and July. The Bombers won another 98 games and returned to the playoffs again. In early October, however, chasing a foul pop-up, O’Neill crashed into the wall and walked away with a cracked rib that would hinder him for the rest of their run.
The Yankees swept the Rangers and beat the Red Sox in the Championship Series to return to the Classic yet again, albeit with a limited O’Neill. The rib injury was not the whole of it either, as his O’Neill’s father’s health was rapidly deteriorating. He suffered a heart attack in June, and appeared to be in decline by the time the World Series rolled around. With much on his mind, O’Neill still did his best to contribute.
Shortly after Game 3, Chick O’Neill passed away. A crushed Paul considered not playing Game 4, but ultimately played through the turmoil, and helped the Yanks win their third championship in four years.
O’Neill considered retirement following that season, but elected to come back after the Yanks picked up his $6.5 million option. He was by no means bad, but his 92 wRC+ marked the first and only below average offensive season of his career. He was no black hole in the lineup though, churning 18 homers and 100 RBI amidst the down year, and the Yankees went on to their third consecutive World Series. O’Neill hit .310 in the postseason en route to a fifth ring in his decorated career, as the Yankees took down the crosstown Mets in the millennium's first Fall Classic. Luis Sojo had the most famous hit of the Subway Series, but O’Neill’s 10-pitch battle with closer Armando Benitez in the ninth inning of Game 1 made the game-tying rally possible as the Bombers won the opener.
His status was up in the air again for 2001, but O’Neill ultimately returned for one more season in the Bronx. His regular season ended with injury trouble, but it was still a productive one. O’Neill oddly set a career high with 22 stole bases at 37-years-old, and became the oldest player to record a 20-homer/20-steal season.
The Yankees returned to the World Series, ultimately losing in heartbreaking fashion to the Diamondbacks, but O’Neill’s final games as a major leaguer were great ones. He homered twice and managed a 123 wRC+ in the postseason, with his health likely less than 100 percent. It’s fitting he would play his last games like this, grinding through pain, but producing just like he had for the last 17 seasons. He officially hung up the cleats after the 2001 season, but not before the Yankee Stadium crowd chanted Paulie’s nickname for the final time.
A Model of Fire, Winning, and Consistency
There is a solid argument for Paul O’Neill being the heart of that incredible Yankees run in the late ‘90s. He spent nine seasons in the Bronx, six of them with 20 homers (never less than 18), boasted a .377 OBP, had a 125 wRC+, and was a staple in the middle of those potent lineups. Even through injuries or personal loss, you knew what you were getting from O’Neil. He was as consistent as they come. You also knew you were getting someone who wouldn’t take failure sitting down:
Now a YES Network announcer, Paul O’Neill’s tremendous impact on the Yankees would not go unrecognized, as he would have his number retired in Monument Park during the 2022 season, forever cementing his place in Yankee history. He could be trusted day in and day out in the lineup, and though he shouldn’t be trusted around a water cooler, he is more than deserving of a spot in our Top 100.
Staff Rank: 37
Community Rank: 27
Stats Rank: 48
2013 Rank: 46
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Post by kaybli on Dec 28, 2023 13:58:15 GMT -5
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Post by inger on Dec 28, 2023 14:43:42 GMT -5
Probably higher on the popularity list… |
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Post by kaybli on Dec 28, 2023 14:50:42 GMT -5
Probably higher on the popularity list… Yup at the end of the article it shows him 27th on the community rank. |
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Post by kaybli on Dec 29, 2023 13:08:39 GMT -5
Pinstripe Alley Top 100 Yankees: #38 Bob ShawkeyThe first starting pitcher at Yankee Stadium earns his spot on the Top 100.
Name: James Robert “Bob” Shawkey
Position: Pitcher
Born: December 4, 1890 (Sigel, PA)
Died: December 31, 1980 (Syracuse, NY)
Yankee Years: 1915-27
Primary number: N/A
Yankee statistics: 415 G, 274 GS, 168-131, 27 SV, 164 CG (26 SHO), 2,488.2 innings, 3.12 ERA (85 ERA-), 3.52 FIP, 11.4 K%, 8.3 BB%, 29.8 fWAR, 43.4 rWAR
Biography
Traditionally, the New York Yankees as an organization are known for their offensive prowess. The team’s nickname, The Bronx Bombers, emphasizes just this, and the original Yankee Stadium was called “The House that Ruth Built” from the greatest Bomber of them all.
Very quietly, however, the Yankees have a long tradition of ace pitchers who headline the staff and find success despite pitching in the historically high-offense environments of the American League East. Gerrit Cole, the reigning AL Cy Young (48th in our ranking) currently holds the title of staff ace. Before him were Masahiro Tanaka, CC Sabathia, and Andy Pettitte at various times. Long before them, it was Ron Guidry. Long before Guidry, it was Whitey Ford.
And before them all, it was Bob Shawkey, Yankee Stadium’s OG ace.
Early Life
Raised on his family farm in western Pennsylvania alongside his three sisters, Shawkey spent his teenage years working in lumberyards, helping out around the farm. While surviving evidence does not indicate exactly how he got into baseball, we know from yearbook records that he had become quite proficient by the time he turned 20, as he spent the spring 1910 semester playing for the Slippery Rock University state team that lost only one game. The author of the yearbook described him as “notable for the number of people he can strike out in one game.”
Shawkey did not remain with them long, however, for while playing with a semi-pro traveling squad that summer, he was discovered by Pop Kelchner, a Philadelphia Athletics scout whose 86 signed players is believed to be the most in baseball history. He spent two seasons in the A’s farm — initially sent down to work on his control issues, then held down because the Baltimore Orioles (no, not that team, the International League club managed by Jack Dunn that would soon employ a very young Ruth as well) refused to let Shawkey go back to Philadelphia because they needed him for their own pennant run.
At long last, Shawkey finally made his MLB debut on July 16, 1913, as he spun seven innings of two-run ball while the A’s fell to the Chicago White Sox, 5-3.
Over the next two seasons, Shawkey established himself as a reliable starter for Connie Mack’s Athletics, as they dominated the American League with back-to-back pennants. The 22-year-old earned his first World Series ring in 1913 when the Mackmen dispatched the New York Giants in five games. Shawkey didn’t pitch in that Fall Classic, but made a losing start in 1914, when the 99-win A’s were stunned by the “Miracle” Boston Braves.
Then in 1915, everything came crashing down to Earth for Connie Mack and company. He was losing money and had to bid adieu to stars like Eddie Plank and Eddie Collins, leaving a sagging team in its place. On track for a 43-win season — then the third-fewest in Major League Baseball history, but just the beginning of a horrendous stretch of Philadelphia baseball — Mack continued to sell at midseason. Among many moves, the A’s sold Shawkey to the Yankees, where he would spend the rest of his career. Teammate Frank “Home Run” Baker would join him in due course.
To the Bronx, and then to War
After an uninspiring finish to the 1915 campaign, Shawkey broke out in a big way in 1916. Yankees manager Bill Donovan employed Shawkey as both a starter and a reliever. He started 27 games, notching 24 wins, and finished 24 more, and would be credited with a league-leading eight saves after the stat’s creation in 1969. Although it was standard operating procedure to use rested starters in relief in the early days of baseball, the extent to which Donovan called upon Shawkey out of the bullpen while using him regularly as a starter was astonishing even then.
As a jack-of-all-trades pitcher, the right-hander immediately catapulted himself into the conversation as one of the best arms in the league. Moved (almost) exclusively to the rotation in 1917, Shawkey cemented that status with a strong campaign that saw him record 13 of his team’s 71 wins.
Shawkey’s ascent, however, was halted in 1918 due to America’s entry into the Great War. Because his wife — a socialite named Marie Lakjer, aka “The Tiger Lady,” who allegedly shot her first husband in order to gain his estate — refused to claim financial dependence on him, he was unable to be granted the exemption from enlistment normally given to married men; local newspapers quoted her as saying, “I want him to go to war, the sooner the better.” Eventually, she threw Shawkey, his sister, and their dogs out of their house. Not surprisingly, he filed for divorce that June.
Eager to play for the shipyard baseball teams rather than head to Europe, Shawkey enlisted in April 1918, and he spent the first few months working as an accountant and playing baseball on the Philadelphia base. When on leave at the end of June and the beginning of July, however, Shawkey returned to the Yankees; he appeared in three games, including a complete-game shutout against the Washington Senators on the Fourth of July. Annoyed that he had gone back to his team while on leave, Navy officials transferred him to active duty, assigning him to the USS Arkansas, a battleship in the North Sea.
Even if it was meant as a punishment, Shawkey spoke highly of his time at sea. From this experience, he earned the nicknames “Sailor Bob” and “Bob the Gob.”
Opening Ruth’s House
Upon his return to civilian life in 1919, Shawkey picked up right where he left off in 1917, putting together one of the best seasons in Yankee history to that point. His numbers themselves were staggering enough — 20 wins on a ballclub that won only 80, 22 complete games, and a league-leading five saves — but it is the stories about that year that truly make it memorable. Facing his former ballclub on September 17th, he struck out 15 batters, a franchise record that would stand until Ron Guidry’s memorable 18-K performance more than half a century later.
In fact, there was only one batter that Shawkey struggled to shut down in 1919: Boston’s George Herman Ruth. In just one year against him, Ruth hit three of his then-record 29 home runs, including a grand slam in June and the record-breaking homer in September. Not surprisingly, Shawkey was counted among the people most thrilled to see the Red Sox opt to finance a play by selling their star hitter to New York.
With Ruth now driving in runs for him rather than driving in runs off him, Shawkey spun his second straight 20-win season in 1920, leading the league with a 2.45 ERA and 156 ERA+. His only blemish came from a weeklong suspension issued when he swung at the home plate umpire after a questionable ball four call. Arm fatigue forced him to employ a sidearm windup in 1921, leading his ERA to “balloon” to a 4.08; even so, he played a critical role eating innings for the Yankees, as they won their first pennant in team history. The Giants beat him up in the Yankees’ World Series loss to their Polo Grounds landlords, and though Shawkey pitched a hard-fought 10 innings during a 3-3 tie in Game 2 of the 1922 Fall Classic, Huggins’ team lost again.
After serving as the team’s ace for four seasons, Yankees manager Miller Huggins named him the Opening Day starter in 1923 — making him the first pitcher to start a game at Yankee Stadium. Facing the Boston Red Sox, Shawkey spun a complete-game three-hitter, striking out five while allowing just one run, on a Norm McMillan triple in the seventh. He earned the first win at the House that Ruth Built while the slugger himself went yard.
Unfortunately, 1923 would be the beginning of the end of Shawkey’s career. While he was still an above-average starter, cracks were beginning to show: he led the league with 27 home runs allowed, and his 9.5 walk percentage was the highest in his career, his 1918 war year cameo excluded. Take away his starts against the downtrodden Red Sox, in which he went 5-0 with a 1.04 ERA, and those stats look even worse.
Despite these regular season struggles, Shawkey came through when it mattered most. The Yankees won their third consecutive Junior Circuit flag but trailed those nemesis Giants 2-1 in the 1923 World Series. Huggins handed the ball to the veteran in Game 4 to prevent his Yanks from falling to the brink of elimination. Shawkey allowed 12 hits and 4 walks, but showed serious guile in tossing seven shutout innings before three runs crossed off him in the eighth with the Yanks up, 8-0. The Hugmen would win, 8-4.
Game 4 would be Shawkey’s only appearance of the series, but it kicked off a rally. The Yankees won three straight to take the World Series in six for the first of their 27 championships.
Injuries and ineffectiveness plagued Shawkey over the next three seasons, as he began to transition into more of a coaching role; as the veteran of the staff, he took an active interest in mentoring the young pitchers.
Due to this new position, Shawkey remained on the staff through the end of the 1927 season, in which he almost exclusively served as a reliever out of the ‘pen. After notching his second World Series title in New York, he was released by the organization, never to play again.
The Coaching Carousel
After retiring, Shawkey joined the coaching staff of the Montreal Royals, an International League team, for the 1928 season. Following the season, he joined Ty Cobb and other players on a trip to Japan, where they played on local collegiate teams as the sport took root across the Pacific. Upon his return, he donned the pinstripes once more, taking a job as the team’s pitching coach.
At the end of the 1929 season, disaster struck, as Huggins died suddenly; while Art Fletcher took over to finish out the string, Shawkey took over as manager in 1930. The erstwhile pitcher led the team to an 86-68 third-place finish. Despite support for their former teammate within the clubhouse (outside of Ruth, who wanted the job), Yankees brass opted to take advantage of Joe McCarthy’s sudden availability and hired the former Cubs manager. In hindsight, it’s hard to argue against the decision, since McCarthy led the team to seven championships, but still, it was a bit disrespectful for a man who was, at the time, one of the few Yankees legends. The man himself certainly felt slighted.
After leaving the Bronx, Shawkey took on managerial duties with Jersey City Skeeters and Newark Bears, a pair of Yankees affiliates, as well as the Scranton Miners; in time, he would manage Johnny Allen, George Selkirk and Spud Chandler, as well as his future son-in-law Jimmy Hitchcock. Following the 1935 season, he left the professional dugout permanently, although he did stay in baseball. As he traveled for his other business ventures — which included owning a Canadian gold mine so large that it required its own post office and building radios for General Electric during World War II — he served as a minor league instructor, and from 1952 to 1956, he coached the Dartmouth baseball team.
Retirement, Death, and Legacy
After retiring, Shawkey settled down with his fourth and final wife upstate in Syracuse, where he would live until passing away on New Year’s Eve in 1990. Despite the ignoble end to his brief Major League managerial career, he would sometimes return to Yankee Stadium. In addition to Old-Timers’ Day ceremonies here and there, he made sure to attend important events such as Lou Gehrig’s farewell and Ruth’s final appearance at the Stadium. Shawkey capped off Yankee Stadium’s 50th anniversary by throwing out the ceremonial first pitch at the celebration in 1973, where he and former teammate Whitey Witt greeted the Babe’s widow, Claire, with a kiss on the cheek.
Shawkey also re-opened Yankee Stadium following the two-year renovation by throwing out the first pitch in 1976. It was an appropriate honor for the man who had helped open the original ballpark all those years ago.
In many ways, Sailor Bob gets lost among a sea of Yankees greats. A quintessential member of the unofficial Hall of Very Good, he ultimately had neither the numbers nor the star power to net him enshrinement in either Cooperstown or Monument Park. Still, he was a key member of the New York teams that began to establish the Yankees as, well, the Yankees, and he ranks near the top of the franchise charts in wins (168, 6th), pitcher rWAR (43.4, tied for 6th with Lefty Gomez), shutouts (26, 8th), and strikeouts (1,163, 10th). His place on the Top 100 Yankees is more than well-deserved, and his popularity with the fanbase is nowhere near where it should be.
Staff rank: 38
Community rank: 50
Stats rank: 32
2013 rank: 32
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Post by inger on Dec 29, 2023 13:24:45 GMT -5
Pinstripe Alley Top 100 Yankees: #38 Bob ShawkeyThe first starting pitcher at Yankee Stadium earns his spot on the Top 100.
Name: James Robert “Bob” Shawkey
Position: Pitcher
Born: December 4, 1890 (Sigel, PA)
Died: December 31, 1980 (Syracuse, NY)
Yankee Years: 1915-27
Primary number: N/A
Yankee statistics: 415 G, 274 GS, 168-131, 27 SV, 164 CG (26 SHO), 2,488.2 innings, 3.12 ERA (85 ERA-), 3.52 FIP, 11.4 K%, 8.3 BB%, 29.8 fWAR, 43.4 rWAR
Biography
Traditionally, the New York Yankees as an organization are known for their offensive prowess. The team’s nickname, The Bronx Bombers, emphasizes just this, and the original Yankee Stadium was called “The House that Ruth Built” from the greatest Bomber of them all.
Very quietly, however, the Yankees have a long tradition of ace pitchers who headline the staff and find success despite pitching in the historically high-offense environments of the American League East. Gerrit Cole, the reigning AL Cy Young (48th in our ranking) currently holds the title of staff ace. Before him were Masahiro Tanaka, CC Sabathia, and Andy Pettitte at various times. Long before them, it was Ron Guidry. Long before Guidry, it was Whitey Ford.
And before them all, it was Bob Shawkey, Yankee Stadium’s OG ace.
Early Life
Raised on his family farm in western Pennsylvania alongside his three sisters, Shawkey spent his teenage years working in lumberyards, helping out around the farm. While surviving evidence does not indicate exactly how he got into baseball, we know from yearbook records that he had become quite proficient by the time he turned 20, as he spent the spring 1910 semester playing for the Slippery Rock University state team that lost only one game. The author of the yearbook described him as “notable for the number of people he can strike out in one game.”
Shawkey did not remain with them long, however, for while playing with a semi-pro traveling squad that summer, he was discovered by Pop Kelchner, a Philadelphia Athletics scout whose 86 signed players is believed to be the most in baseball history. He spent two seasons in the A’s farm — initially sent down to work on his control issues, then held down because the Baltimore Orioles (no, not that team, the International League club managed by Jack Dunn that would soon employ a very young Ruth as well) refused to let Shawkey go back to Philadelphia because they needed him for their own pennant run.
At long last, Shawkey finally made his MLB debut on July 16, 1913, as he spun seven innings of two-run ball while the A’s fell to the Chicago White Sox, 5-3.
Over the next two seasons, Shawkey established himself as a reliable starter for Connie Mack’s Athletics, as they dominated the American League with back-to-back pennants. The 22-year-old earned his first World Series ring in 1913 when the Mackmen dispatched the New York Giants in five games. Shawkey didn’t pitch in that Fall Classic, but made a losing start in 1914, when the 99-win A’s were stunned by the “Miracle” Boston Braves.
Then in 1915, everything came crashing down to Earth for Connie Mack and company. He was losing money and had to bid adieu to stars like Eddie Plank and Eddie Collins, leaving a sagging team in its place. On track for a 43-win season — then the third-fewest in Major League Baseball history, but just the beginning of a horrendous stretch of Philadelphia baseball — Mack continued to sell at midseason. Among many moves, the A’s sold Shawkey to the Yankees, where he would spend the rest of his career. Teammate Frank “Home Run” Baker would join him in due course.
To the Bronx, and then to War
After an uninspiring finish to the 1915 campaign, Shawkey broke out in a big way in 1916. Yankees manager Bill Donovan employed Shawkey as both a starter and a reliever. He started 27 games, notching 24 wins, and finished 24 more, and would be credited with a league-leading eight saves after the stat’s creation in 1969. Although it was standard operating procedure to use rested starters in relief in the early days of baseball, the extent to which Donovan called upon Shawkey out of the bullpen while using him regularly as a starter was astonishing even then.
As a jack-of-all-trades pitcher, the right-hander immediately catapulted himself into the conversation as one of the best arms in the league. Moved (almost) exclusively to the rotation in 1917, Shawkey cemented that status with a strong campaign that saw him record 13 of his team’s 71 wins.
Shawkey’s ascent, however, was halted in 1918 due to America’s entry into the Great War. Because his wife — a socialite named Marie Lakjer, aka “The Tiger Lady,” who allegedly shot her first husband in order to gain his estate — refused to claim financial dependence on him, he was unable to be granted the exemption from enlistment normally given to married men; local newspapers quoted her as saying, “I want him to go to war, the sooner the better.” Eventually, she threw Shawkey, his sister, and their dogs out of their house. Not surprisingly, he filed for divorce that June.
Eager to play for the shipyard baseball teams rather than head to Europe, Shawkey enlisted in April 1918, and he spent the first few months working as an accountant and playing baseball on the Philadelphia base. When on leave at the end of June and the beginning of July, however, Shawkey returned to the Yankees; he appeared in three games, including a complete-game shutout against the Washington Senators on the Fourth of July. Annoyed that he had gone back to his team while on leave, Navy officials transferred him to active duty, assigning him to the USS Arkansas, a battleship in the North Sea.
Even if it was meant as a punishment, Shawkey spoke highly of his time at sea. From this experience, he earned the nicknames “Sailor Bob” and “Bob the Gob.”
Opening Ruth’s House
Upon his return to civilian life in 1919, Shawkey picked up right where he left off in 1917, putting together one of the best seasons in Yankee history to that point. His numbers themselves were staggering enough — 20 wins on a ballclub that won only 80, 22 complete games, and a league-leading five saves — but it is the stories about that year that truly make it memorable. Facing his former ballclub on September 17th, he struck out 15 batters, a franchise record that would stand until Ron Guidry’s memorable 18-K performance more than half a century later.
In fact, there was only one batter that Shawkey struggled to shut down in 1919: Boston’s George Herman Ruth. In just one year against him, Ruth hit three of his then-record 29 home runs, including a grand slam in June and the record-breaking homer in September. Not surprisingly, Shawkey was counted among the people most thrilled to see the Red Sox opt to finance a play by selling their star hitter to New York.
With Ruth now driving in runs for him rather than driving in runs off him, Shawkey spun his second straight 20-win season in 1920, leading the league with a 2.45 ERA and 156 ERA+. His only blemish came from a weeklong suspension issued when he swung at the home plate umpire after a questionable ball four call. Arm fatigue forced him to employ a sidearm windup in 1921, leading his ERA to “balloon” to a 4.08; even so, he played a critical role eating innings for the Yankees, as they won their first pennant in team history. The Giants beat him up in the Yankees’ World Series loss to their Polo Grounds landlords, and though Shawkey pitched a hard-fought 10 innings during a 3-3 tie in Game 2 of the 1922 Fall Classic, Huggins’ team lost again.
After serving as the team’s ace for four seasons, Yankees manager Miller Huggins named him the Opening Day starter in 1923 — making him the first pitcher to start a game at Yankee Stadium. Facing the Boston Red Sox, Shawkey spun a complete-game three-hitter, striking out five while allowing just one run, on a Norm McMillan triple in the seventh. He earned the first win at the House that Ruth Built while the slugger himself went yard.
Unfortunately, 1923 would be the beginning of the end of Shawkey’s career. While he was still an above-average starter, cracks were beginning to show: he led the league with 27 home runs allowed, and his 9.5 walk percentage was the highest in his career, his 1918 war year cameo excluded. Take away his starts against the downtrodden Red Sox, in which he went 5-0 with a 1.04 ERA, and those stats look even worse.
Despite these regular season struggles, Shawkey came through when it mattered most. The Yankees won their third consecutive Junior Circuit flag but trailed those nemesis Giants 2-1 in the 1923 World Series. Huggins handed the ball to the veteran in Game 4 to prevent his Yanks from falling to the brink of elimination. Shawkey allowed 12 hits and 4 walks, but showed serious guile in tossing seven shutout innings before three runs crossed off him in the eighth with the Yanks up, 8-0. The Hugmen would win, 8-4.
Game 4 would be Shawkey’s only appearance of the series, but it kicked off a rally. The Yankees won three straight to take the World Series in six for the first of their 27 championships.
Injuries and ineffectiveness plagued Shawkey over the next three seasons, as he began to transition into more of a coaching role; as the veteran of the staff, he took an active interest in mentoring the young pitchers.
Due to this new position, Shawkey remained on the staff through the end of the 1927 season, in which he almost exclusively served as a reliever out of the ‘pen. After notching his second World Series title in New York, he was released by the organization, never to play again.
The Coaching Carousel
After retiring, Shawkey joined the coaching staff of the Montreal Royals, an International League team, for the 1928 season. Following the season, he joined Ty Cobb and other players on a trip to Japan, where they played on local collegiate teams as the sport took root across the Pacific. Upon his return, he donned the pinstripes once more, taking a job as the team’s pitching coach.
At the end of the 1929 season, disaster struck, as Huggins died suddenly; while Art Fletcher took over to finish out the string, Shawkey took over as manager in 1930. The erstwhile pitcher led the team to an 86-68 third-place finish. Despite support for their former teammate within the clubhouse (outside of Ruth, who wanted the job), Yankees brass opted to take advantage of Joe McCarthy’s sudden availability and hired the former Cubs manager. In hindsight, it’s hard to argue against the decision, since McCarthy led the team to seven championships, but still, it was a bit disrespectful for a man who was, at the time, one of the few Yankees legends. The man himself certainly felt slighted.
After leaving the Bronx, Shawkey took on managerial duties with Jersey City Skeeters and Newark Bears, a pair of Yankees affiliates, as well as the Scranton Miners; in time, he would manage Johnny Allen, George Selkirk and Spud Chandler, as well as his future son-in-law Jimmy Hitchcock. Following the 1935 season, he left the professional dugout permanently, although he did stay in baseball. As he traveled for his other business ventures — which included owning a Canadian gold mine so large that it required its own post office and building radios for General Electric during World War II — he served as a minor league instructor, and from 1952 to 1956, he coached the Dartmouth baseball team.
Retirement, Death, and Legacy
After retiring, Shawkey settled down with his fourth and final wife upstate in Syracuse, where he would live until passing away on New Year’s Eve in 1990. Despite the ignoble end to his brief Major League managerial career, he would sometimes return to Yankee Stadium. In addition to Old-Timers’ Day ceremonies here and there, he made sure to attend important events such as Lou Gehrig’s farewell and Ruth’s final appearance at the Stadium. Shawkey capped off Yankee Stadium’s 50th anniversary by throwing out the ceremonial first pitch at the celebration in 1973, where he and former teammate Whitey Witt greeted the Babe’s widow, Claire, with a kiss on the cheek.
Shawkey also re-opened Yankee Stadium following the two-year renovation by throwing out the first pitch in 1976. It was an appropriate honor for the man who had helped open the original ballpark all those years ago.
In many ways, Sailor Bob gets lost among a sea of Yankees greats. A quintessential member of the unofficial Hall of Very Good, he ultimately had neither the numbers nor the star power to net him enshrinement in either Cooperstown or Monument Park. Still, he was a key member of the New York teams that began to establish the Yankees as, well, the Yankees, and he ranks near the top of the franchise charts in wins (168, 6th), pitcher rWAR (43.4, tied for 6th with Lefty Gomez), shutouts (26, 8th), and strikeouts (1,163, 10th). His place on the Top 100 Yankees is more than well-deserved, and his popularity with the fanbase is nowhere near where it should be.
Staff rank: 38
Community rank: 50
Stats rank: 32
2013 rank: 32
To easily cast aside in Yankee lore! Nice post!… |
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Post by kaybli on Dec 30, 2023 23:52:52 GMT -5
Pinstripe Alley Top 100 Yankees: #37 Tommy HenrichNicknamed “Old Reliable,” Tommy Henrich never wavered as a key supporting piece during multiple Yankees dynasties.
Full Name: Thomas David Henrich
Position: Right field
Born: February 20, 1913 (Massillon, OH)
Died: December 1, 2009 (Beavercreek, OH)
Yankee Years: 1937-50
Primary number: 15
Yankee statistics: 1,284 G, .282/.382/.491, 269 2B, 73 3B, 183 HR, 131 wRC+, 39.5 rWAR, 38.6 fWAR
Biography
To many, baseball is a game of attrition. A season is played over many months and consists of 162 games, games that are made up of hundreds of pitches and dozens of plate appearances. The grind exacts a toll on every player who picks up a bat, and to record a successful career as a major league baseball player is to weather
In that context, there are few weightier honors the game can bestow on a player than the nickname “Old Reliable.” That is what they called Tommy Henrich, a man who produced as reliably as anyone as a member of eight pennant-winning Yankees clubs. Those teams were stacked with legends, from Lou Gehrig and Joe DiMaggio to Joe Gordon and Spud Chandler, but producing in the background the whole time as those legends came and went was Henrich.
Early Years
Thomas Henrich was born in Massillon, Ohio, a small city 50 miles south of Cleveland, to Edward and Mary Elizabeth Henrich. Massillon was not an auspicious place to be born if your goal was to become a major leaguer. It was a football town through and through; during the New Deal era, the Works Progress Administration program helped facilitate the construction of the Paul Brown Tiger Stadium, the home of the Massillon Tiger Football team with a capacity of nearly 17,000.
St. John’s Catholic High School, from which Henrich graduated in 1933, didn’t even have a baseball team, so Henrich spent most of his childhood playing softball. This led to Henrich claiming his birth year was 1916, three years later than his actual birth year, to compensate for his lack of experience. After graduation, Henrich played semipro ball in Ohio, where he caught the eye of a Detroit Tigers scout. Henrich turned down the Tigers’ advances, but eventually signed with Cleveland in November 1933.
Henrich excelled in Cleveland’s minor league system, showing little ill effect of having played softball for so much of his life. He hit .325 in his first year as a pro, and hit .337 in 1935. By 1936, he looked like one of the best players in the minors, hitting .346/.411/.560 with 15 homers and 100 RBI across 157 games.
Understandably, Henrich expected a shot at making the big league club in 1937, but was instead told to report to the Milwaukee Brewers of the American Association, a team that wasn’t even an affiliate of Cleveland’s. With his status unclear, Henrich wrote to commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis, who ruled in favor of Henrich, making the 23-year-old the first true free agent in MLB history.
In April of 1937, the Yankees signed Henrich, whose favorite ballplayer growing up was Babe Ruth, to a contract that included a $25,000 bonus. Henrich, the Ohio kid, was off to the Big Apple.
Henrich told Arthur Daley, a New York Times journalist, of his time checking into his hotel when he first arrived in Manhattan:
The bellhop took my bag and discovered who I was before we even reached the room. ‘So you’re the new Yankee outfielder,’ he said, sneering at me. ‘How can you break in ahead of—let’s see, who we’ve got—Joe DiMaggio, Jake Powell, Myril Hoag, George Selkirk, and Roy Johnson? Did you ever see them guys hit?’ ‘Not yet,’ I said bravely, ‘but they never saw me hit either.’
Getting the call to the Bronx
Henrich was initially assigned to the Yankees’ top minor league affiliate, but within days, manager Joe McCarthy called for Henrich. He debuted on May 11th at age-24, batting seventh and starting in left field. He doubled in the seventh off of White Sox righty Monty Stratton, but the Yankees lost 7-2. The defending champion Yankees were in an early slump, losing five of six to fall to 9-8 on the season.
But Henrich’s promotion coincided exactly with the Yankees’ resurgence. New York led the American League by the end of May and never let go of first place, storming to a 102-52 record and the pennant.
Henrich dealt with a knee injury over the summer and never became a full-time player, with a 22-year-old DiMaggio patrolling center, and veterans Selkirk and Hoag still at the top of the pecking order in the corners. When on the field, though, Henrich immediately fit in. The rookie shook off a midseason slump to turn in a stellar stretch run, hitting .363 from July onward. He finished 1937 with a .972 OPS, totaling 2.0 rWAR despite appearing in just 67 games.
Henrich didn’t appear in the 1937 World Series, which the Yankees won in five games over the New York Giants. Of course, he wouldn’t have to wait long for another chance to play in a Fall Classic, as Henrich cemented himself as a key supporting cog on a star-laden 1938 Yankees team. Though he was overshadowed by a declining Gehrig, an ascendant DiMaggio, and a dominant rotation led by Red Ruffing and Lefty Gomez, Henrich was, well, reliable. Typically hitting third between Red Rolfe and DiMaggio, Henrich swatted 22 homers and 24 doubles in 131 games, slashing .270/.391/.490.
The Yankees ran away with the AL again and faced the Chicago Cubs in the World Series. Now an established player, Henrich got his first shot in the playoffs and didn’t disappoint, hitting a double in Game 1 and a home run in the deciding Game 4. The Yankees swept the Cubs for their third straight title.
Henrich continued to produce over the next two seasons, though continued knee problems ate into his playing time. He hit .291/.388/.480 across 1939 and 1940, but appeared in just 90 and 99 games in those two seasons respectively. The Yankees won the ‘39 World Series, but Henrich sat on the sidelines, and New York’s dynasty was finally slowed in 1940 with a third-place finish in the American League.
Breakout cut short by war
After missing the final weeks of the 1940 season, Henrich started fresh in 1941, batting third and starting in right on Opening Day. He’d go on to have his finest season yet, smashing 31 homers and 27 doubles with a .277/.377/.519. He earned down-ballot MVP votes for the first time in his career, and played a crucial role in the Yankees’ World Series victory over the Dodgers. With the series tied 1-1, and Game 3 tied 0-0, Henrich singled and scored what was ultimately the winning run in the Yankees’ 2-1 win.
Then, with the Yankees down to their final strike trailing 4-3 in Game 4, Henrich swung over a curveball from Hugh Casey for strike three. But catcher Mickey Owen dropped the ball, and Henrich alertly took off for first:
Yankees/Dodgers World Series
After a DiMaggio single, Charlie Keller doubled both runners home as the Yankees went on to win. Even while striking out, Henrich proved his baseball smarts to make himself essential to the rally. He would also provide a solo homer in a 3-1 Yankees victory in Game 5 that delivered the Yankees another title.
Henrich didn’t miss a beat in 1942, earning the first All-Star nod of his career, but his breakout would be cut short by World War II. In August 1942, Henrich joined the US Coast Guard, and was stationed in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan for the rest of the war. He returned to the Yankees ahead of the 1946 season upon the completion of his Coast Guard duty.
Continued excellence post-war
Henrich lost the end of his age-29 season and the entirety of his age-30 to age-32 seasons due to military service, just as he had earned All-Star recognition for the first time. Yet the three-year break hardly even registered as a blip for Henrich, whose dependable production continued upon his return to New York.
Henrich was perhaps just a little slow during his first season back, with his wRC+ falling to 115 in 1946. Still, Henrich was steady as ever in right field and also started showing his versatility, making 40 starts at first base. He played 150 games on the year, totaling 3.6 rWAR.
He fully hit his stride starting with the 1947 season, posting a 135 wRC+ and hitting 16 homers with 98 RBI, making his second All-Star team. Healthy and able to participate in the World Series for the first time in six years, Henrich didn’t waste the opportunity as the Yankees advanced to face the Dodgers. He had one of his finest Fall Classics, hitting .323 with a homer and five RBI as the Yankees prevailed in seven games.
No longer was Henrich in the background as Yankees greats took the headlines; Henrich was as valued and venerated as most any player. He finished among the Yankees’ top three players by rWAR every year from 1947 to 1949. He made four consecutive All-Star teams and was renowned by his contemporaries for his all-around skill, and his decency. Casey Stengel, speaking to The New Yorker for a profile on Henrich, said in 1949:
He’s a fine judge of a fly ball. He fields grounders like an infielder. He never makes a wrong throw, and if he comes back to the hotel at 3 in the morning when we’re on the road and says he’s been sitting up with a sick friend, he’s been sitting up with a sick friend.
In 1948, Henrich set a career high with a 145 wRC+, with 25 homers and 100 RBI. He ran another career-high wRC+ in 1949 with a 149 figure, to go with 24 homers and 85 RBI. From ‘47 to ‘49, Henrich’s combined wRC+ tied for sixth among all qualified players. His 15.0 fWAR was fifth among outfielders, just behind his teammate DiMaggio. While he was never a true contender for an MVP award, gone were the days when Henrich would only pick up a stray down-ballot vote. He finished sixth in AL MVP voting in both 1948 and 1949, leading the league in runs scored in the former year.
In 1949, Henrich would burnish his reputation for reliability in the clutch. With the Yankees tied with the rival Red Sox on the final day of the regular season and needing a win to grab the AL pennant, Henrich homered in the first inning and drove in two in a 5-3 win. Just three days later, Henrich came through again in Game 1 of the World Series. Facing the Dodgers, neither team could solve the other’s starter. Allie Reynolds tossed nine shutout frames, but Don Newcombe blanked the Yankees through eight with 11 strikeouts. Henrich led off the bottom of the ninth, and sent an offering from Newcombe deep into the right-field seats at Yankee Stadium:
Henrich’s home run was the first walk-off homer in the history of the World Series. It was the fourth and final time Henrich would go deep in a Fall Classic. Henrich scored twice in the Yankees’ series-clinching Game 5 win, the last World Series game in a career packed with clutch postseason highlights.
Retirement from baseball
Henrich appeared to be at the top of his game in 1949, but time finally caught up to him in 1950. Though his knee had held up in the previous few years, Henrich broke down and succumbed to various injuries which limited him to a part-time role. Of course, Old Reliable still produced when able, posting a robust 131 wRC+ in 178 plate appearances for the 1950 Yankees. New York won their second straight World Series, on their way to five in a row, though Henrich didn’t appear in the four-game sweep of the Phillies.
After an injury-riddled year, Henrich hung up his spikes. He spent 1951 as a member of the Yankees coaching staff, but departed after just one season; he also published a book that year, The Way to Better Baseball. Henrich coached for the Giants and Tigers from 1957 to 1959, though neither term lasted long. He seemed more content to stay on the sidelines, and speak of his times playing alongside many of baseball’s greatest players.
It’s easy to wonder what Henrich’s career would have looked like had he not lost nearly three and a half prime seasons to World War II. Had Henrich played his typical consistent brand of baseball through those years, he likely would have approached the Yankee franchise top ten in WAR, and perhaps even could have generated a fringe Hall of Fame case. But if Henrich was bitter about the lost opportunities, he did not show it.
Henrich would become a fixture at Yankees Old-Timers’ Days, and the club presented him with the Pride of the Yankees Award in 1987. In the ‘90s, he wrote a second book, Five O’Clock Lightning: Ruth, Gehrig, DiMaggio, Mantle and the Glory Years of the NY Yankees, written along with Bill Gilbert.
Henrich lived his final years in his home state, and passed away at the age of 96 in December 2009, survived by his five children. He was more than just one of the last links to the iconic DiMaggio-led Yankees teams — he was an outstanding outfielder who was a deserving fan favorite for decades.
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Post by vtfan on Dec 31, 2023 8:10:18 GMT -5
Probably higher on the popularity list… Yup at the end of the article it shows him 27th on the community rank. He was my favorite Yankee once. His loud politics in Ohio and his bragging that he reads a minimum if any books along with his rather inane TV banter with Kay have since turned me off liking him as a person, not to mention as a color announcer for YES TV games. (Hire Jeff Nelson to replace him, please!) Sorry if that offends some around here, but if does, it means you're happy, so I'm happy for you.
On another no doubt controversial note, I couldn't believe that Pinstripes ranked Gardner #48. He belongs on the bubble for 100-101 of best Yankees at best, that is, unless loyalty-to-the-team counts a lot more than it should. (For instance, I never thought Billy Martin deserved a plaque in YS.) As for Gardner again, let me say that I liked him when he first came up, and that I thought Melky Cabrera, his then OF competitor, showed himself to be rather rude to him. I stopped liking Gardner in his last four or so years when I felt Cashman was using him as an alibi not to promote any minor-league prospect or trade for a more power-hitting OF to replace his .260ish BA (the one exception might have been Fowler, but we know what happened to him rather unfairly). I discount his 28 HR stat during the year of the funny ball. He had pluck and energy and was a good defensive player, granted, but that was it, at least as I see it. No doubt he'll be a hit with the fans on Old Timers Day events, and that's the Yankee honor he deserves.
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Post by inger on Dec 31, 2023 10:16:42 GMT -5
Yup at the end of the article it shows him 27th on the community rank. He was my favorite Yankee once. His loud politics in Ohio and his bragging that he reads a minimum if any books along with his rather inane TV banter with Kay have since turned me off liking him as a person, not to mention as a color announcer for YES TV games. (Hire Jeff Nelson to replace him, please!) Sorry if that offends some around here, but if does, it means you're happy, so I'm happy for you.
On another no doubt controversial note, I couldn't believe that Pinstripes ranked Gardner #48. He belongs on the bubble for 100-101 of best Yankees at best, that is, unless loyalty-to-the-team counts a lot more than it should. (For instance, I never thought Billy Martin deserved a plaque in YS.) As for Gardner again, let me say that I liked him when he first came up, and that I thought Melky Cabrera, his then OF competitor, showed himself to be rather rude to him. I stopped liking Gardner in his last four or so years when I felt Cashman was using him as an alibi not to promote any minor-league prospect or trade for a more power-hitting OF to replace his .260ish BA (the one exception might have been Fowler, but we know what happened to him rather unfairly). I discount his 28 HR stat during the year of the funny ball. He had pluck and energy and was a good defensive player, granted, but that was it, at least as I see it. No doubt he'll be a hit with the fans on Old Timers Day events, and that's the Yankee honor he deserves.
l I can hear the boos cascading down in your direction, but we’re all welcome to our own opinions. O’Neill to me is anything but inane. I was a big fan of Gardner, but his ranking seems rather questionable to me, too… |
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Post by fwclipper51 on Dec 31, 2023 15:26:13 GMT -5
Pinstripe Alley Top 100 Yankees: #38 Bob ShawkeyThe first starting pitcher at Yankee Stadium earns his spot on the Top 100.
Name: James Robert “Bob” Shawkey
Position: Pitcher
Born: December 4, 1890 (Sigel, PA)
Died: December 31, 1980 (Syracuse, NY)
Yankee Years: 1915-27
Primary number: N/A
Yankee statistics: 415 G, 274 GS, 168-131, 27 SV, 164 CG (26 SHO), 2,488.2 innings, 3.12 ERA (85 ERA-), 3.52 FIP, 11.4 K%, 8.3 BB%, 29.8 fWAR, 43.4 rWAR
Biography
Traditionally, the New York Yankees as an organization are known for their offensive prowess. The team’s nickname, The Bronx Bombers, emphasizes just this, and the original Yankee Stadium was called “The House that Ruth Built” from the greatest Bomber of them all.
Very quietly, however, the Yankees have a long tradition of ace pitchers who headline the staff and find success despite pitching in the historically high-offense environments of the American League East. Gerrit Cole, the reigning AL Cy Young (48th in our ranking) currently holds the title of staff ace. Before him were Masahiro Tanaka, CC Sabathia, and Andy Pettitte at various times. Long before them, it was Ron Guidry. Long before Guidry, it was Whitey Ford.
And before them all, it was Bob Shawkey, Yankee Stadium’s OG ace.
Early Life
Raised on his family farm in western Pennsylvania alongside his three sisters, Shawkey spent his teenage years working in lumberyards, helping out around the farm. While surviving evidence does not indicate exactly how he got into baseball, we know from yearbook records that he had become quite proficient by the time he turned 20, as he spent the spring 1910 semester playing for the Slippery Rock University state team that lost only one game. The author of the yearbook described him as “notable for the number of people he can strike out in one game.”
Shawkey did not remain with them long, however, for while playing with a semi-pro traveling squad that summer, he was discovered by Pop Kelchner, a Philadelphia Athletics scout whose 86 signed players is believed to be the most in baseball history. He spent two seasons in the A’s farm — initially sent down to work on his control issues, then held down because the Baltimore Orioles (no, not that team, the International League club managed by Jack Dunn that would soon employ a very young Ruth as well) refused to let Shawkey go back to Philadelphia because they needed him for their own pennant run.
At long last, Shawkey finally made his MLB debut on July 16, 1913, as he spun seven innings of two-run ball while the A’s fell to the Chicago White Sox, 5-3.
Over the next two seasons, Shawkey established himself as a reliable starter for Connie Mack’s Athletics, as they dominated the American League with back-to-back pennants. The 22-year-old earned his first World Series ring in 1913 when the Mackmen dispatched the New York Giants in five games. Shawkey didn’t pitch in that Fall Classic, but made a losing start in 1914, when the 99-win A’s were stunned by the “Miracle” Boston Braves.
Then in 1915, everything came crashing down to Earth for Connie Mack and company. He was losing money and had to bid adieu to stars like Eddie Plank and Eddie Collins, leaving a sagging team in its place. On track for a 43-win season — then the third-fewest in Major League Baseball history, but just the beginning of a horrendous stretch of Philadelphia baseball — Mack continued to sell at midseason. Among many moves, the A’s sold Shawkey to the Yankees, where he would spend the rest of his career. Teammate Frank “Home Run” Baker would join him in due course.
To the Bronx, and then to War
After an uninspiring finish to the 1915 campaign, Shawkey broke out in a big way in 1916. Yankees manager Bill Donovan employed Shawkey as both a starter and a reliever. He started 27 games, notching 24 wins, and finished 24 more, and would be credited with a league-leading eight saves after the stat’s creation in 1969. Although it was standard operating procedure to use rested starters in relief in the early days of baseball, the extent to which Donovan called upon Shawkey out of the bullpen while using him regularly as a starter was astonishing even then.
As a jack-of-all-trades pitcher, the right-hander immediately catapulted himself into the conversation as one of the best arms in the league. Moved (almost) exclusively to the rotation in 1917, Shawkey cemented that status with a strong campaign that saw him record 13 of his team’s 71 wins.
Shawkey’s ascent, however, was halted in 1918 due to America’s entry into the Great War. Because his wife — a socialite named Marie Lakjer, aka “The Tiger Lady,” who allegedly shot her first husband in order to gain his estate — refused to claim financial dependence on him, he was unable to be granted the exemption from enlistment normally given to married men; local newspapers quoted her as saying, “I want him to go to war, the sooner the better.” Eventually, she threw Shawkey, his sister, and their dogs out of their house. Not surprisingly, he filed for divorce that June.
Eager to play for the shipyard baseball teams rather than head to Europe, Shawkey enlisted in April 1918, and he spent the first few months working as an accountant and playing baseball on the Philadelphia base. When on leave at the end of June and the beginning of July, however, Shawkey returned to the Yankees; he appeared in three games, including a complete-game shutout against the Washington Senators on the Fourth of July. Annoyed that he had gone back to his team while on leave, Navy officials transferred him to active duty, assigning him to the USS Arkansas, a battleship in the North Sea.
Even if it was meant as a punishment, Shawkey spoke highly of his time at sea. From this experience, he earned the nicknames “Sailor Bob” and “Bob the Gob.”
Opening Ruth’s House
Upon his return to civilian life in 1919, Shawkey picked up right where he left off in 1917, putting together one of the best seasons in Yankee history to that point. His numbers themselves were staggering enough — 20 wins on a ballclub that won only 80, 22 complete games, and a league-leading five saves — but it is the stories about that year that truly make it memorable. Facing his former ballclub on September 17th, he struck out 15 batters, a franchise record that would stand until Ron Guidry’s memorable 18-K performance more than half a century later.
In fact, there was only one batter that Shawkey struggled to shut down in 1919: Boston’s George Herman Ruth. In just one year against him, Ruth hit three of his then-record 29 home runs, including a grand slam in June and the record-breaking homer in September. Not surprisingly, Shawkey was counted among the people most thrilled to see the Red Sox opt to finance a play by selling their star hitter to New York.
With Ruth now driving in runs for him rather than driving in runs off him, Shawkey spun his second straight 20-win season in 1920, leading the league with a 2.45 ERA and 156 ERA+. His only blemish came from a weeklong suspension issued when he swung at the home plate umpire after a questionable ball four call. Arm fatigue forced him to employ a sidearm windup in 1921, leading his ERA to “balloon” to a 4.08; even so, he played a critical role eating innings for the Yankees, as they won their first pennant in team history. The Giants beat him up in the Yankees’ World Series loss to their Polo Grounds landlords, and though Shawkey pitched a hard-fought 10 innings during a 3-3 tie in Game 2 of the 1922 Fall Classic, Huggins’ team lost again.
After serving as the team’s ace for four seasons, Yankees manager Miller Huggins named him the Opening Day starter in 1923 — making him the first pitcher to start a game at Yankee Stadium. Facing the Boston Red Sox, Shawkey spun a complete-game three-hitter, striking out five while allowing just one run, on a Norm McMillan triple in the seventh. He earned the first win at the House that Ruth Built while the slugger himself went yard.
Unfortunately, 1923 would be the beginning of the end of Shawkey’s career. While he was still an above-average starter, cracks were beginning to show: he led the league with 27 home runs allowed, and his 9.5 walk percentage was the highest in his career, his 1918 war year cameo excluded. Take away his starts against the downtrodden Red Sox, in which he went 5-0 with a 1.04 ERA, and those stats look even worse.
Despite these regular season struggles, Shawkey came through when it mattered most. The Yankees won their third consecutive Junior Circuit flag but trailed those nemesis Giants 2-1 in the 1923 World Series. Huggins handed the ball to the veteran in Game 4 to prevent his Yanks from falling to the brink of elimination. Shawkey allowed 12 hits and 4 walks, but showed serious guile in tossing seven shutout innings before three runs crossed off him in the eighth with the Yanks up, 8-0. The Hugmen would win, 8-4.
Game 4 would be Shawkey’s only appearance of the series, but it kicked off a rally. The Yankees won three straight to take the World Series in six for the first of their 27 championships.
Injuries and ineffectiveness plagued Shawkey over the next three seasons, as he began to transition into more of a coaching role; as the veteran of the staff, he took an active interest in mentoring the young pitchers.
Due to this new position, Shawkey remained on the staff through the end of the 1927 season, in which he almost exclusively served as a reliever out of the ‘pen. After notching his second World Series title in New York, he was released by the organization, never to play again.
The Coaching Carousel
After retiring, Shawkey joined the coaching staff of the Montreal Royals, an International League team, for the 1928 season. Following the season, he joined Ty Cobb and other players on a trip to Japan, where they played on local collegiate teams as the sport took root across the Pacific. Upon his return, he donned the pinstripes once more, taking a job as the team’s pitching coach.
At the end of the 1929 season, disaster struck, as Huggins died suddenly; while Art Fletcher took over to finish out the string, Shawkey took over as manager in 1930. The erstwhile pitcher led the team to an 86-68 third-place finish. Despite support for their former teammate within the clubhouse (outside of Ruth, who wanted the job), Yankees brass opted to take advantage of Joe McCarthy’s sudden availability and hired the former Cubs manager. In hindsight, it’s hard to argue against the decision, since McCarthy led the team to seven championships, but still, it was a bit disrespectful for a man who was, at the time, one of the few Yankees legends. The man himself certainly felt slighted.
After leaving the Bronx, Shawkey took on managerial duties with Jersey City Skeeters and Newark Bears, a pair of Yankees affiliates, as well as the Scranton Miners; in time, he would manage Johnny Allen, George Selkirk and Spud Chandler, as well as his future son-in-law Jimmy Hitchcock. Following the 1935 season, he left the professional dugout permanently, although he did stay in baseball. As he traveled for his other business ventures — which included owning a Canadian gold mine so large that it required its own post office and building radios for General Electric during World War II — he served as a minor league instructor, and from 1952 to 1956, he coached the Dartmouth baseball team.
Retirement, Death, and Legacy
After retiring, Shawkey settled down with his fourth and final wife upstate in Syracuse, where he would live until passing away on New Year’s Eve in 1990. Despite the ignoble end to his brief Major League managerial career, he would sometimes return to Yankee Stadium. In addition to Old-Timers’ Day ceremonies here and there, he made sure to attend important events such as Lou Gehrig’s farewell and Ruth’s final appearance at the Stadium. Shawkey capped off Yankee Stadium’s 50th anniversary by throwing out the ceremonial first pitch at the celebration in 1973, where he and former teammate Whitey Witt greeted the Babe’s widow, Claire, with a kiss on the cheek.
Shawkey also re-opened Yankee Stadium following the two-year renovation by throwing out the first pitch in 1976. It was an appropriate honor for the man who had helped open the original ballpark all those years ago.
In many ways, Sailor Bob gets lost among a sea of Yankees greats. A quintessential member of the unofficial Hall of Very Good, he ultimately had neither the numbers nor the star power to net him enshrinement in either Cooperstown or Monument Park. Still, he was a key member of the New York teams that began to establish the Yankees as, well, the Yankees, and he ranks near the top of the franchise charts in wins (168, 6th), pitcher rWAR (43.4, tied for 6th with Lefty Gomez), shutouts (26, 8th), and strikeouts (1,163, 10th). His place on the Top 100 Yankees is more than well-deserved, and his popularity with the fanbase is nowhere near where it should be.
Staff rank: 38
Community rank: 50
Stats rank: 32
2013 rank: 32
The two top AA minor league teams for the Yankees were the Kansas City Blues (American Association) and the Newark Bears (International League). The AA Jersey City Skeeters was independent team that never was a part of the Yankees organization, later they would join the Giants farm system, before they would move to Ottowa, Canada. Clipper |
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Post by rizzuto on Dec 31, 2023 19:18:59 GMT -5
Yup at the end of the article it shows him 27th on the community rank. He was my favorite Yankee once. His loud politics in Ohio and his bragging that he reads a minimum if any books along with his rather inane TV banter with Kay have since turned me off liking him as a person, not to mention as a color announcer for YES TV games. (Hire Jeff Nelson to replace him, please!) Sorry if that offends some around here, but if does, it means you're happy, so I'm happy for you.
On another no doubt controversial note, I couldn't believe that Pinstripes ranked Gardner #48. He belongs on the bubble for 100-101 of best Yankees at best, that is, unless loyalty-to-the-team counts a lot more than it should. (For instance, I never thought Billy Martin deserved a plaque in YS.) As for Gardner again, let me say that I liked him when he first came up, and that I thought Melky Cabrera, his then OF competitor, showed himself to be rather rude to him. I stopped liking Gardner in his last four or so years when I felt Cashman was using him as an alibi not to promote any minor-league prospect or trade for a more power-hitting OF to replace his .260ish BA (the one exception might have been Fowler, but we know what happened to him rather unfairly). I discount his 28 HR stat during the year of the funny ball. He had pluck and energy and was a good defensive player, granted, but that was it, at least as I see it. No doubt he'll be a hit with the fans on Old Timers Day events, and that's the Yankee honor he deserves.
Paul O'Neill is a favorite of mine, both as a player and in the booth. O'Neill to me is like watching a game with one of your best friends. He's got an easy sense of humor and makes others around him comfortable. The other reason I like O'Neill on the microphone is he is not afraid to criticize the home team in a fundamental way, without yelling, pounding his chest, or defining his generation as the "only" generation (see the demise of the once enjoyable ESPN for a cacophony of interruptions and seemingly where the loudest opinion wins). Brett Gardner was a very popular player on this forum; however, admittedly, I was a proponent and in the pew of The Church of Gardnerism until he stopped being a base-stealer and slapping the ball line-to-line, and began to fancy himself a home-run hitter. Once that happened, he never saw a .270 batting average again. As for Gardner listed in the top 50, that is likely due to his being around for so long - with no wars to impede his accruing stats. After all, Gardner is 13th on the Yankee list in games played between Willie Randolph and Frank Crosetti. He is also 22nd in hits between Frank Crosetti and Bobby Richardson; 15th in runs scored between Tony Lazzeri and Red Rolfe; 16th in plate appearances between my distant relative Phil Rizzuto and Alex "The Cheat" Rodriguez; 17th in at bats between Earle Combs and Wally Pipp; 20th in total bases between Paul O'Neill and Tommy Henrich; 35th in RBI between Ben Chapman and Gil McDougald/George Selkirk; 16th in base on balls between Yogi Berra and Bill Dickey; 3rd in stolen bases between Rickey Henderson and Willie Randolph; tied with Tommy Henrich for 19th in runs created between Paul O'Neill and Graig Nettles; 18th in times on base between Phil Rizzuto and Wally Pipp; 21st in extra base hits between Graig Nettles and Wally Pipp; 8th in hit by pitch, just ahead of Chuck Knoblauch and then Don Baylor; 22nd in sacrifice behind Tony Kubek; 15th in sacrifice flies between Yogi Berra and Dave Winfield/Mark Teixeira; 9th in defensive WAR between Graig Nettles and Bucky Dent; tied with Willie Randolph for offensive WAR between Earle Combs and Roy White. Having written all of that - it is difficult to for me to place Brett Gardner in the top 50 Yankee players with a OPS + of 100. There are just too many better players who happened to have served in Pinstripes for fewer years. |
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Post by azbob643 on Dec 31, 2023 19:29:32 GMT -5
He was my favorite Yankee once. His loud politics in Ohio and his bragging that he reads a minimum if any books along with his rather inane TV banter with Kay have since turned me off liking him as a person, not to mention as a color announcer for YES TV games. (Hire Jeff Nelson to replace him, please!) Sorry if that offends some around here, but if does, it means you're happy, so I'm happy for you.
On another no doubt controversial note, I couldn't believe that Pinstripes ranked Gardner #48. He belongs on the bubble for 100-101 of best Yankees at best, that is, unless loyalty-to-the-team counts a lot more than it should. (For instance, I never thought Billy Martin deserved a plaque in YS.) As for Gardner again, let me say that I liked him when he first came up, and that I thought Melky Cabrera, his then OF competitor, showed himself to be rather rude to him. I stopped liking Gardner in his last four or so years when I felt Cashman was using him as an alibi not to promote any minor-league prospect or trade for a more power-hitting OF to replace his .260ish BA (the one exception might have been Fowler, but we know what happened to him rather unfairly). I discount his 28 HR stat during the year of the funny ball. He had pluck and energy and was a good defensive player, granted, but that was it, at least as I see it. No doubt he'll be a hit with the fans on Old Timers Day events, and that's the Yankee honor he deserves.
Paul O'Neill is a favorite of mine, both as a player and in the booth. O'Neill to me is like watching a game with one of your best friends. He's got an easy sense of humor and makes others around him comfortable. The other reason I like O'Neill on the microphone is he is not afraid to criticize the home team in a fundamental way, without yelling, pounding his chest, or defining his generation as the "only" generation (see the demise of the once enjoyable ESPN for a cacophony of interruptions and seemingly where the loudest opinion wins). Yep...he's unintentionally hilarious without knowing how funny he is. Many fans complain about the banter in the booth, but I like it. And in some ways he reminds me of Kubek, another of my favorites who wasn't afraid afraid to criticize the Yanks. |
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Post by rizzuto on Dec 31, 2023 19:37:54 GMT -5
Paul O'Neill is a favorite of mine, both as a player and in the booth. O'Neill to me is like watching a game with one of your best friends. He's got an easy sense of humor and makes others around him comfortable. The other reason I like O'Neill on the microphone is he is not afraid to criticize the home team in a fundamental way, without yelling, pounding his chest, or defining his generation as the "only" generation (see the demise of the once enjoyable ESPN for a cacophony of interruptions and seemingly where the loudest opinion wins). Yep...he's unintentionally hilarious without knowing how funny he is. Many fans complain about the banter in the booth, but I like it. And in some ways he reminds me of Kubek, another of my favorites who wasn't afraid afraid to criticize the Yanks. With a last name like Rizzuto, I must uphold the right to light-hearted banter in the booth.  |
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Post by inger on Dec 31, 2023 20:07:21 GMT -5
Paul O'Neill is a favorite of mine, both as a player and in the booth. O'Neill to me is like watching a game with one of your best friends. He's got an easy sense of humor and makes others around him comfortable. The other reason I like O'Neill on the microphone is he is not afraid to criticize the home team in a fundamental way, without yelling, pounding his chest, or defining his generation as the "only" generation (see the demise of the once enjoyable ESPN for a cacophony of interruptions and seemingly where the loudest opinion wins). Yep...he's unintentionally hilarious without knowing how funny he is. Many fans complain about the banter in the booth, but I like it. And in some ways he reminds me of Kubek, another of my favorites who wasn't afraid afraid to criticize the Yanks. I think he understands his dry wit, realizing that lines sting more if they’re quick one liners. Beats the McCarver-like I, me, myself did it this way stories. Too many announcing team to me just sound like blah blah blah staccato blather and bore me to sleep… |
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Post by rizzuto on Dec 31, 2023 20:15:16 GMT -5
Yep...he's unintentionally hilarious without knowing how funny he is. Many fans complain about the banter in the booth, but I like it. And in some ways he reminds me of Kubek, another of my favorites who wasn't afraid afraid to criticize the Yanks. I think he understands his dry wit, realizing that lines sting more if they’re quick one liners. Beats the McCarver-like I, me, myself did it this way stories. Too many announcing team to me just sound like blah blah blah staccato blather and bore me to sleep… Old Utah hated O'Neill's voice. It was like fingernails on the chalk board to him. |
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