The biggest news of the day in the sports world is that longtime Yankee, and surefire first ballot Hall of Famer, Derek Jeter has announced that 2014 will be his last season as a professional, and he will retire at the conclusion of the season. While this was an announcement that was far from surprising, it is still significant for the fact that baseball will see one of its all-time greats leave the game in about eight months. As we always like to do, immediately Jeter's announcement brought about discussions of where Jeter ranks among the greatest Yankees to ever play the game.
The Yankees are considered by most to be one of the most polarizing franchises in all of American sports. I actually find myself in the middle of the spectrum on the Yankees, I do not have a strong opinion about them either way, as far as my love or disdain for them. I feel much more strongly about the Dallas Cowboys and Notre Dame football than I do about the Yankees. However, for the purposes of today, I will focus solely on the Yankees and what is undeniably a franchise with an unbelievably storied history. Unless Jeter does something out of this world in 2014, I think he has pretty much carved his place in Yankee lore already, and while he is not (at least in my opinion, and probably the opinion of most) the greatest player to ever play for the franchise, he is definitely near the top. What will follow is my rankings of the greatest Yankees to ever play the game.
As is often the case with some lists such as this, the top of the list is simple. The greatest Yankee to ever play the game was Babe Ruth. Not only did he completely re-write the franchise's record books, but he literally revolutionized the way that the game of baseball was played. In his early years, the home run was almost frowned upon. It was not considered "true baseball," and when he started hitting home runs in bunches, many people looked at him as if he was bad for the game. However, by the end of his career, Ruth had glorified the home run and the big "swing for the fences" mentality. His career home run record stood for decades, and he was a star both on the field and off it. When people refer to Yankee Stadium as "The House that Ruth Built," it is literally a true statement. The profits that he brought to the Yankees franchise actually was the main reason the Yankees were able to move out of the Polo Grounds and build their own stadium.
Ruth was one of the most transcendent athletes, no matter the sport, to ever play any of the games we all watch and love. What he did for the sport of baseball matches, and probably surpasses, what legends like Muhammad Ali, Michael Jordan, and Wayne Gretzky did for their respective professions. In my mind, he is not the greatest baseball player of all-time (I give that to Willie Mays), but he definitely is close to being so. However, when discussing the greatest Yankees of all-time, anyone who does not put Ruth at the top of their list is just flat-out wrong.
Ranking the greatest Yankee of all-time is easy. The problems begin after that. In my opinion, there are five players that follow Ruth who could really be ranked anywhere from #2 to #6 on this list. The debate for #2 on my list is not only about who was the second greatest Yankee to play the game, but also about who the greatest Yankee center fielder of all-time was, and it is a supremely tough decision, although I think I have to go with Mickey Mantle.
Mantle's career highlights include TWENTY All-Star Game appearances, seven World Series championships, four American League home run titles, three MVP awards, and a Triple Crown season in 1956. Mantle, like Ruth, was not only a great player on the field, but was a star off it as well. He was also involved in one of the greatest single season home run chases ever with his teammate Roger Maris in 1961 (which Maris eventually won). Mantle's all-around talents were undeniable, and the most unfortunate part of his career was the fact that he was extremely injury prone. From an almost catastrophic leg injury early in his career, to numerous nagging leg injuries throughout the duration of his career, Mantle could have actually been better than what he was, even though what he was, was legendary.
Third on my list (and by truly the thinnest of margins) is the man that Mantle replaced in center field
in 1951, Joe DiMaggio. Just like Ruth and Mantle, DiMaggio was a star both on the field an off it. However, as the focus here is on-field production, DiMaggio has an undeniably great resume. The "Yankee Clipper" was a .325 lifetime hitter, a 13-time All Star, a seven time World Series champion, three time MVP, and holds what many consider to be the most unbreakable record in all of sports, a 56 game hitting streak that he set in 1941.
What definitely hurts DiMaggio was his three year stint in the military, and while being a member of the military is surely nothing to be shameful of, it definitely did have a negative effect on his career numbers. Not only was DiMaggio a wizard at the plate, but he was an undeniably great center fielder, and choosing between he and Mantle is basically like flipping a coin. Sometimes DiMaggio wins, sometimes Mantle wins, but either way, they are both legends.
Fourth on my list (and somewhat regrettably so) is Lou Gehrig. In terms of playing ability, many would argue that Gehrig should be higher, but through no fault of his own, I have to put him behind Mantle and DiMaggio. Some of his career numbers are unbelievable. Gehrig was a .340 lifetime hitter, was a Triple Crown winner in 1934, made seven All-Star appearances, won six World Series titles, was a two-time MVP, and held a consecutive games played streak that many thought was untouchable until Cal Ripken, Jr. finally broke it decades after it had been set.
One of the major differences between Gehrig and the first three players on my list is the personal lives of the four men. While Ruth, Mantle, and DiMaggio were constantly in the news, Gehrig was only in the news for his play on the field. In comparison to those three, Gehrig was extremely reclusive, and although he did play with Ruth, and in many cases was considered Ruth's closest companion, they led extremely different personal lifestyles.
What hurts Gehrig here the most, and like I said, it is through no fault of his own, is how his career came to such a sudden and screeching halt. Despite his legendary toughness and ability to play through pain, Gehrig was eventually felled by a disease that was almost completely unknown to the world until he contracted it. ALS, or as it has come to be commonly referred to, "Lou Gehrig's Disease," ate away at Gehrig's body and cut his career short at the age of 36. While a 36 year old baseball player is surely in the twilight of his career, there is no doubt that Gehrig would have at least been able to churn out a few more solid seasons if not for the onset of the disease that would eventually kill him. As I said, it is through no fault of his own, but because of his unfortunate circumstances, I have to put Gehrig fourth on my list of all-time greatest Yankees.
After those top four is where Derek Jeter legitimately comes into consideration. There are many numbers that would justify Jeter being fifth on this list, but I just cannot put him there. Instead, I have to put Yogi Berra one spot ahead of him. Younger generations most likely know Berra more for his off-field successes rather than what he did on the field. However, what Berra did on the field was in many ways unsurpassed. Many would consider Berra to be the best catcher to ever play the game (although in my opinion he is a close second behind Johnny Bench), but one thing there is absolutely no denying is the fact that Yogi Berra was a winner, and a winner that the baseball world has never seen. Berra won ten World Series championships as a player with the Yankees, as well as three additional championships as a coach, giving him a total of 13 championship rings, which is more than Bill Russell, who is considered by most to be the greatest winner in all of sports.
What people do not seem to remember about Berra though, is how great of a player he was on the field. He was an 18-time All Star, and a three time MVP. His hitting and defensive ability were extremely underrated, and a testament to that fact is that he actually played in the outfield near the end of his career, which is an enormous difference from playing catcher.
As is the case with most of the players on this list, his off-field accomplishments sure did help him in terms of fame, as it seemed like everything he touched turned to gold. We all know "Yogi" as the lovable jokester of the Yankees, but what he did on the field, in my opinion, warrants him being labeled as the fifth greatest Yankee of all time.
So, with that history lesson, I have to finally slot Derek Jeter in here as my sixth greatest Yankee of all-time. Was Jeter the greatest Yankee hitter to ever play the game? No. Was he the greatest Yankee defensive player to ever play the game? No. Was he the greatest winner in the history of the franchise? No. Was he the iron horse of consistency? No. Ruth was the greatest hitter, DiMaggio was the greatest fielder (although Jeter is the greatest infielder), Berra was the greatest winner, and Gehrig was the iron horse. However, what makes Jeter so great is the fact that he was so solid across the board. He didn't hit for the highest average in the history of the franchise, but he is still the Yankees all-time hits leader. He came nowhere close to being the all-time home run leader of the franchise, but he still hit his fair share of home runs. He was not the slickest fielder in the history of the franchise, but what he did at shortstop can only be matched by a select few. He didn't set the record for consecutive games played, but until the very end of his career, Jeter was a mainstay at the top of the Yankees lineup. He even wasn't the most publicized player off the field in Yankees history, but his accomplishments in that category are not too shabby as well.
What we do know about Derek Jeter, is that he is, without question, one of the greatest players to ever put on the uniform of the greatest franchise in the history of American sports. The Yankees are running out of single digit numbers to give away to team members because its greats have all worn single number jerseys (Martin, #1, Ruth, #3, Gehrig, #4, DiMaggio, #5, Mantle, #7, Berra, #8, Maris, #9, and soon, Jeter, #2). However, Jeter is surely deserving of being in the class of all those men, and decades from now, it will be impossible to mention Yankee greats without including Jeter's name in the conversation. While his farewell season is not likely to be his finest season, at least we will all now know that we have 162 more games to see one of the greatest players to ever don a uniform before the game loses a surefire first ballot Hall of Famer.
Daily Nets Update: The final game before the All Star break is just underway in Chicago. A win would mean a tie for fifth in the conference going into the break. The way the team has been playing, I think there is a legitimate chance the Nets can break into the top four in the East by the end of the season.
Daily Rangers Update: The Olympic tournament has just gotten underway, and the United States got off to a flying start with a 7-1 win over Slovakia. Henrik Lundqvist and Sweden got a win in their first game as well. The U.S. gets Russia next on Saturday, and that should be an extremely interesting game between two of the better teams in the world.
Daily Diamondbacks Update: Obviously, as Spring Training is only just beginning, the expectations are extremely high from Boston to Houston. There are a lot of things I like about Arizona right now, but there are also a few concerns I have. The season is only just in its infancy though, so it is still far too early to make any realistic predictions. Either way, I can't wait to start watching some Diamondbacks baseball.
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