|
|
Post by inger on Apr 15, 2021 23:20:01 GMT -5
Some names you may have never heard of, forgot, or... just never understood their value...
|
|
|
|
Post by inger on Apr 15, 2021 23:55:15 GMT -5
My first subject will be AARON WARD. He toiled 10 seasons for the Yankees, though there were only six seasons during which he started and only 5 of those years when he played primarily as a 2B.
I’m calling him under rated at that position. Since he played from 1917-1926 in the Yankee uniform, little was expected of his bat, and he didn’t give a lot. He wasn’t totally helpless with a bat either though. His career OPS was only 85+, but he did produce one year at 101 and another at 98.
His modest career batting line in NY was .268/.331/.382. That said, in 1920 he was 7th in the AL with 11 HR. The following season his HR dropped to 5, but he upped his BA to .306. In 1923 he spiked again at 10 HR and a career high 81 RBI.
He hit a career total of 50 HR during the time when the home run hitter was start starting to become a trend in the game.
What Ward did do was play an excellent defensive game at 2B. As evidence:
His career fielding percentage at 2B was .970, while the league average for the same seasons was .963. He was in the top 5 in each of his 5 full time seasons at 2B.
4 seasons top 5 in DEF WAR
2 seasons lead league in assists
All 5 seasons in the top 5 in assists
4 seasons top 5 in DP
1 season leading the league in range factor
All 5 seasons top 5 in range factor.
There were only 8 teams in the league at that point, but Ward obviously stood out with the glove enough that he deserves more than to be forgotten.
|
|
|
|
Post by pippsheadache on Apr 16, 2021 6:51:17 GMT -5
Great thread idea Inger. Aaron Ward is a name I come across in baseball history books but never took the time to look into.
The Yanks have had their share of Aarons over the years. Three right now.
I think there will be several players who meet your criteria in the years just before The Bambino and in his early years with the team.
Is this where we get to learn about Pee Wee Wanninger?
|
|
|
|
Post by pippsheadache on Apr 16, 2021 7:07:44 GMT -5
Okay, scratch Pee Wee Wanninger. Only one year with the Yankees and it was a lousy one in 1925, their only losing season between 1919 and 1964.
Unsung perhaps, but with good reason.
|
|
|
|
Post by inger on Apr 16, 2021 8:29:18 GMT -5
Okay, scratch Pee Wee Wanninger. Only one year with the Yankees and it was a lousy one in 1925, their only losing season between 1919 and 1964. Unsung perhaps, but with good reason. Perhaps the earliest use of the phrase “Keep your Wanninger in your pants”? ... I think you’re right about the Ruth era. If anyone on any team could create a circumstance whereby his team mates became unnoticeable also-rans, it would be George Herman... |
|
|
|
Post by bearman on Apr 16, 2021 9:59:09 GMT -5
Tom Tresh would have to be at the top of my list.(My favorite baseball card is him standing with Bobby Richardson and Mickey Mantle called Bomber's Best). I believe he played 9 seasons for the Yankee's and put up some good numbers and made an All Star team or two. He was perhaps best know for his versatility playing several infield and outfield postions. A very valuable player.
|
|
|
|
Post by inger on Apr 16, 2021 10:01:59 GMT -5
Since were talking about a second baseman, some might disagree here, but I feel Billy Martin deserves mention. Once again a player with modest stats, but a wonderful glove. We all do know Martin, and history with the team as a manager, and he’s not very forgettable, but as a manager and a player he went all out to do anything he could to win.
One thing to note is that when Billy was around, the Yankees won. He had an influence on the team that seemed to just make everyone around him want to win.
Martin went away for military service in 1954. And the Yankees didn’t win the pennant? Coincidence? Perhaps...
Martin and his fighting and other antics became too much for management to deal with in 1957 and they dealt him to KC. The team continued to win without him, but some of the vets will tell you that it wasn’t the same...
|
|
|
|
Post by inger on Apr 16, 2021 10:21:16 GMT -5
Tom Tresh would have to be at the top of my list.(My favorite baseball card is him standing with Bobby Richardson and Mickey Mantle called Bomber's Best). I believe he played 9 seasons for the Yankee's and put up some good numbers and made an All Star team or two. He was perhaps best know for his versatility playing several infield and outfield postions. A very valuable player. I think a little less forgotten, but certainly under rated. His stats were weighted down by the pitcher’s era. If you look at his OPS numbers year by year and compare them to his triple slash, it’s pretty amazing. Also, to start out as a shortstop, move to CF, move back to the infield at 3B and wind up back at shortstop again was certainly quite a feat. Yes, his versatility was indeed an amazing part of his history... |
|
|
|
Post by inger on Apr 16, 2021 10:55:59 GMT -5
Earle Combes Another wonderful bio from SABR. I always wanted to know more about Ruth and Gehrig’s supporting cast. This article gives you the abilities of the player, but also the personality of the man. He wore #1, so you know in Yankees lore, that made him the lead off hitter... A good man to admire, too! sabr.org/bioproj/person/earle-combs/ |
|
|
|
Post by pippsheadache on Apr 16, 2021 11:35:29 GMT -5
Earle Combes Another wonderful bio from SABR. I always wanted to know more about Ruth and Gehrig’s supporting cast. This article gives you the abilities of the player, but also the personality of the man. He wore #1, so you know in Yankees lore, that made him the lead off hitter... A good man to admire, too! sabr.org/bioproj/person/earle-combs/I heard so much about him from people who saw him play. Mostly about how he never got enough credit because he was so overshadowed by all those other great players the Yankees had. But obviously enough people noticed to get him voted into the Hall of Fame, albeit 35 years after his career ended. We often hear about the centerfield torch being passed from DiMaggio to Mantle. But actually it started with Combes handing it over to Joe D. The Yankees had a Hall of Fame centerfielder in an unbroken line for over 40 years. No wonder they won so many rings. |
|
|
|
Post by inger on Apr 16, 2021 11:46:00 GMT -5
Earle Combes Another wonderful bio from SABR. I always wanted to know more about Ruth and Gehrig’s supporting cast. This article gives you the abilities of the player, but also the personality of the man. He wore #1, so you know in Yankees lore, that made him the lead off hitter... A good man to admire, too! sabr.org/bioproj/person/earle-combs/I heard so much about him from people who saw him play. Mostly about how he never got enough credit because he was so overshadowed by all those other great players the Yankees had. But obviously enough people noticed to get him voted into the Hall of Fame, albeit 35 years after his career ended. We often hear about the centerfield torch being passed from DiMaggio to Mantle. But actually it started with Combes handing it over to Joe D. The Yankees had a Hall of Fame centerfielder in an unbroken line for over 40 years. No wonder they won so many rings. Combes reminds me of Gardner in some ways. Both, for whatever reason reluctant to steal, both with less than ideal throwing arms. Both toiling almost unnoticed next to bigger stars but there every day to do their jobs. Gardner will never be a Hall of Famer of course. But someday someone might add him to a thread like this one. Might even be me... By the way, I think Gardner makes up for his average or less arm by making accurate throws with a quick release, and knowing where to throw the ball at all times... |
|
|
|
Post by pippsheadache on Apr 16, 2021 12:08:29 GMT -5
Tom Tresh would have to be at the top of my list.(My favorite baseball card is him standing with Bobby Richardson and Mickey Mantle called Bomber's Best). I believe he played 9 seasons for the Yankee's and put up some good numbers and made an All Star team or two. He was perhaps best know for his versatility playing several infield and outfield postions. A very valuable player. I think a little less forgotten, but certainly under rated. His stats were weighted down by the pitcher’s era. If you look at his OPS numbers year by year and compare them to his triple slash, it’s pretty amazing. Also, to start out as a shortstop, move to CF, move back to the infield at 3B and wind up back at shortstop again was certainly quite a feat. Yes, his versatility was indeed an amazing part of his history... It was high drama for Yankee fans heading into the 1962 season when rookies Tom Tresh and Phil Linz battled it out to replace Tony Kubek at SS when Kubek's National Guard unit was activated. Although later made famous by the ridiculous harmonica incident, Linz was a highly-regarded prospect at that time. Tresh of course won the battle and played excellent SS until Kubek returned in August and Tresh moved to left field. He proceeded to become Rookie of the Year in what turned out to be his best season. Still, he received MVP votes in four different seasons. He was an outstanding athlete, a switch hitter who seemed to have no problems moving around between short, LF, third base and then CF when Mantle broke his foot on that damn chainlink fence in Baltimore in 1963. How come I remember that game so vividly but can hardly recall what the Yanks did a week ago? But I digress. Tresh had two very dramatic World Series moments that I can also instantly replay in my brain. Game five, 1962 against the Giants, series tied two games each, score tied bottom of the eighth, Tresh hits one into the seats off of Jack Sanford to propel the Yanks to victory in a series they won in seven games. Then in 1964, the Yankees down 2-0 to Bob Gibson with two out and one on in the bottom of the ninth -- boom, Tresh hits it out to send the game into exta innings. You just didn't do stuff like that against Bob Gibson. Tresh got a thunderous ovation from the fans in the left field bleachers when he returned to his position. He also got one from me jumping up and down in the living room. Unfortunately that one did not have a happy ending as the insufferable Tim McCarver hit a three run shot off of doofus-looking Pete Mikkelsen to win it for St. Louis. |
|
|
|
Post by pippsheadache on Apr 16, 2021 12:14:22 GMT -5
Good take on Gardner and Combs, Inger. I think the reason neither of them went for as many stolen bases as they might have given their speed is the same -- too many big bats coming up behind them.
I think they might have had a very similar game.
|
|
|
|
Post by inger on Apr 16, 2021 12:57:58 GMT -5
Good take on Gardner and Combs, Inger. I think the reason neither of them went for as many stolen bases as they might have given their speed is the same -- too many big bats coming up behind them. I think they might have had a very similar game. Gardner is certainly no .325 hitter like Combes was, but the game is played so differently today that .325 hitters are not only few, but tend to be power hitters as well as base hit collectors... smaller parks, bigger men... I miss those Tony Gwynn-Wade Boggs-Bill Madlock types. I always though they were important cogs on their teams.. Pesky... |
|
|
|
Post by inger on Apr 17, 2021 23:30:25 GMT -5
FRITZ MAISEL Maisel is one of the unsung Yankees, for he is not under rated. He had only 5 seasons with the Yankees within the framework of his 6 year career. Including him here is a self-indulgence for me. He was the Yankees starting 3B in 1914-1915. In 1914 he stole 74**bases, setting a Yankee record* that lasted until Rickey Henderson broke it. I don’t know if I would know that or not, had it not be for Maisel’s death in 1977. You see, there was an often humorous and extremely entertaining sports columnist with the Baltimore Sun at the time that I read every Sunday. His name was Bob Maisel, and until then I had no idea that his father was a retired Yankees player. So I read a short eulogy of Fritz that day, and I never forgot about it. I was 23 years old that year. The bio below is “just” a Wiki article, since SABR hasn’t yet assigned Fritz Maisel’s bio to anyone... * Henderson broke the record three times in his four full seasons with the Yankees **Maisel batted only .239 in 1914. |
|
