There have been 14 players named the team captain in the Highlanders/Yankees history. Some Yankees/Highlanders players are listed as captains but the first to be officially recognized as the Yankees captain was Hal Chase in 1910. Three of the first four Yankees "captains" were not officially recognized as Yankees captains but I have included them as well with the 11 official captains in our history.
Let's take a look at the complete list now.
(P) Clark Griffith
Spent 1891-1914 as a Yankees player
Spent 1903-1905 as a Yankees captain
(SS) Kid Elberfeld
Spent 1898-1914 as a Yankees player
Spent 1906-1909 as a Yankees captain
(1B) Hal Chase #1
Spent 1905-1919 as a Yankees player
Spent 1910-1912 as a Yankees captain
(1B) Frank Chance
Spent 1898-1914 as a Yankees player
Spent 1913 as a Yankees captain
(SS) Roger Peckinpaugh #2
Spent 1910-1927 as a Yankees player
Spent 1914-1921 as a Yankees captain
(OF) Babe Ruth #3
Spent 1914-1935 as a Yankees player
Spent 1922 as a Yankees captain
(SS) Everett Scott #4
Spent 1914-1926 as a Yankees player
Spent 1922-1925 as a Yankees captain
(1B) Lou Gehrig #5
Spent 1923-1939 as a Yankees player
Spent 1935-1939 as a Yankees captain
(C) Thurman Munson #6
Spent 1969-1979 as a Yankees player
Spent 1976-1979 as a Yankees captain
(3B) Graig Nettles #7
Spent 1967-1988 as a Yankees player
Spent 1982-1984 as a Yankees captain
(2B) Willie Randolph #8
Spent 1975-1992 as a Yankees player
Spent 1986-1988 as a Yankees co-captain
(P) Ron Guidry #9
Spent 1975-1988 as a Yankees player
Spent 1986-1988 as a Yankees co-captain
(1B) Don Mattingly #10
Spent 1982-1995 as a Yankees player
Spent 1991-1995 as a Yankees captain
(SS) Derek Jeter #11
Spent 1995-2014 as a Yankees player
Spent 2003- 2014 as a Yankees captain
Fun fact: Ruth actually only spent six days of the 1922 season as captain. He was named to the position on May20th. On May 25th in a game vs. the Senators, after being thrown out at 2B trying to leg out a double, he threw dirt in the ump's face, got ejected and as he left the field a particular fan who had ragged on him all game got his goat again so he went into the stands to beat him up. He got fined and suspended by the league commissioner and stripped of his captaincy by the team owner.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure if you'd call that leading by example, but one thing's for certain: This year's team sure could use a little more of his old-school competitive spirit. Great piece, Dan. :)
Thank you and welcome to the boards, we're happy to have you.
DeleteLet me be the second to welcome you to the boards, happy to have a new voice here. Stay a while and enjoy a free expression blog! We do have fun here!
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