Misc. Bull$h!t

I honestly hope the wheels fall off the Sox this year. Everything went right for them. Karma is due.

How many times did you watch that replay to see if this time the ball would go out?

Just for the halibut I was checking out where Brett Gardner stands on some all-time Yankee lists as he heads into what is presumably his final season.  There are no bombshell numbers out there that would indicate he is an unrecognized immortal, but plenty of statistical information to show what we already knew just by watching him play -- he has been one solid professional with respectable rankings for a franchise where any leaderboard appearance is a genuine achievement.

I did not run through every possible statistical category, but one where he stands out most is Defensive WAR.  He is by leaps and bounds the highest-ranking Yankee OFer ever, with a career 11.8, making him twelfth among all Yankees.  He is 0.1 behind Thurman Munson to get to eleventh, and 0.6 behind Tony Kubek to tie for the Top Ten.  The next highest OFer for Defensive WAR is Rickey Henderson, who ranks 33rd at 4.1.  The only other OFers in the top 50 are Mickey Rivers, Joe DiMaggio and (?) Jesse Barfield.   The statistic is dominated by shortstops -- five of the top ten are SSs -- Phil Rizzuto, Roger Peckinpaugh, Frankie Crosetti, Bucky Dent and Tony Kubek -- and a sixth, Gil McDougald, played all over the IF, much of it at SS.

Phil Rizzuto is by a long shot the all-time Defensive WAR leader at 22.9.  Next comes Willie Randolph at 17.0.  There are NO first basemen in the top 50, which consists almost entirely of middle infielders and catchers, making me wonder what the real value of this statistic is.  Are first baseman and outfielders all within a narrow range of defensive difference-making?

Anyway, back to Brett Gardner --  he is tied for 22nd with HOFer Joe Gordon for position player WAR at 37.5.  The next guy above him is Gil McDougald at 40.7.  I wonder at this stage if he can reach that level.  BTW, Babe Ruth is first, as you might suspect, at 142.6 for his time with the Yankees.  For most important offensive categories, the Babe is in a separate universe from everybody else.  It's just ridiculous.  Number two is Lou Gehrig at 112.4 and then Mickey Mantle at 110.3, then there is a big dropoff to number four, who is Joe DiMaggio at 78.1 and then El Capitan at 72.4.

Brett is 25th all-time in games played with 1,358.  If he plays 17 games, he will pass Robby Cano for 24th.  If he plays 98 games, he will pass Earle Combs and crack the top 20. I don't think he will get any higher than that.

He is 23rd in runs scored at 790.  If he scores 31 runs, he will pass Wally Pipp and get into the top 20.  He probably won't advance any higher on that list.  As with many counting categories, he will be passing Robby Cano in this one as well.

He is 31st in hits with 1,232.  Sixty nine would move him past Dave Winfield to get to number 28, and 95 would move him ahead of Hank Bauer to number 27.  That would seem to be his limit barring some exceptional burst of youth.

He is 33rd in Total Bases at 1846, 29th in doubles at 204, 19th in triples at 61 (two more and he passes The Scooter), 23rd in walks at 561, third in stolen bases at 257 (behind Jeter and Henderson, neither of whom he will pass), and fourth in SB percentage at 81.33, behind Henderson, A-Rod and Damon.

He does not make the top 50 in the esteemed OBP category.  Where of course the Bambino reigns supreme at an insane .484, followed by Gehrig at .447 and Mantle at .421.

Here is one I would never have suspected.  Jim Leyritz, as a Yankee, had a higher OBP (.359 to .358) than Don Mattingly.  Or Dave Winfield at .356.  Proving again that you can isolate any statistic, even an important one, to make an absurd evaluation. 

My feeble attempt to be a Poor Man's Jwild.  His constantly-updated treatise on where Jorge Posada stood on assorted catcher's lists is burned into my skull.

And for sure, any analytically astute fan understands that King Leyritz was miles ahead of Mattingly and Winfield!