Sunday, July 2, 2017

The Curse Of The Yankees Captains?



Kid Elberfeld served as the Yankees captain in 1906 and kept the title until the 1909 season was over with the Highlanders. Kid was nicknamed The Tabasco Kid because of his fiery temper and actions both verbally and physically on the field with the umpires. One time while in the minor leagues Kid threw a ball of mud into an umpires open mouth and later in the Major Leagues he assaulted an umpire physically and had to be removed by the police. This was not a stat that was kept up with back in the early 1900's but most historians say that Elberfeld was thrown out of more games than anyone else in his era. Elberfeld managed the Highlanders in 1908 and finished with the worst record in the league with a 27-71 record. 






Hal Chase was considered to be the first official Yankees/Highlanders captain when he was named the captain in 1910 and kept the title until 1912. Hal was considered to be the best defensive first baseman in all of baseball and even drew rave reviews from the likes of Babe Ruth and Walter Johnson during his playing career for his glove. Hal's legacy is extremely tainted though with rumors of him betting on baseball games and suspicion in throwing baseball games and purposely losing. This kind of stuff is why we will never see guys like Pete Rose and Shoeless Joe Jackson in the MLB Hall of Fame but somehow Hal not only got away with it but is still a member of the hall.


Frank Chance was only the Yankees captain for one season, the 1913 season, and it did not exactly go as planned. The Cubs released him and negotiated to get him on the Yankees after multiple surgeries to remove blood clots in his brain that were caused by being hit in the head by pitches in the 1912 season. The Yankees signed him to a three year deal in 1913 and never played more than 12 games in a single season for the Yankees. The Yankees spent much of the 1913 season in last place but a late season push, including a win in the next to the last game, had the Yankees finish 7th in that season. Not exactly as planned for Frank and the Yankees.


Lou Gehrig was named the Yankees captain in 1935 and would remain the captain until he retired in the 1939 season due to a disease which is commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease. Lou retired at the young age of 36 so who would know how much more revered he would be had he been able to see the latter years of his 30's in baseball. The Iron Horse played in 2,130 consecutive games which was not surpassed until Cal Ripken Jr. passed it in 1995, a mere 56 years later. Gehrig finished with great stats in his career but was absolutely decimated by ALS. Lou would retire from baseball in the 1939 season at the age of 36 stating that he was "The Luckiest Man On The Face Of The Earth" and would die only two years later in 1941 at the age of 38.



Thurman Munson was named the Yankees captain in 1976 and kept the title until 1979. The Yankees would lose the World Series to the Cincinnati Reds in 1976 but would win back to back World Series in 1977 and 1978 behind the bat of Reggie Jackson. The Yankees would not make an appearance in the 1979 World Series with the Pittsburgh Pirates beating the Baltimore Orioles but what else happened in 1979 would hurt the Yankees and Munson more. Munson owned his own plane and was taking flying lessons because he got so homesick and wanted to be able to go to Cleveland to his family whenever he wanted. Thurman was practicing taking off and crashed his plane on August 2, 1979 and died.

Don Mattingly was named the Yankees captain in 1991 and would keep the title until he retired after the 1995 season. The Yankees were generally a terrible team when Don Mattingly was on the team only making the playoffs once in his tenure in 1995. A strike shortened 1994 season would have probably seen the Yankees in the playoffs as well but we will never know but the greed of the MLB Players Association is a discussion for another day. Mattingly injured his back in 1987 though and was never the same after that season and would prematurely end his career after allegedly horse playing with teammate Bob Shirley.


Derek Jeter has five World Series rings,a Rookie of the Year award, 13 All Star Game appearances, a World Series MVP award, has gotten an MVP vote in 12 seasons and finished as high as 2nd place in 2006, has five each of Gold Gloves and Silver Slugger awards, and would have earned $261,159,364 in his baseball career before any kind of endorsements and such by the end of the 2014 season. On top of all of that Derek Jeter has a pretty impressive spread of women to boast about as well, seen HERE on the Yankees Wives & Girlfriends section of the site, so yeah who am I kidding? What curse? Hannah Davis is a gift and a curse.

The History Of The Yankees Captains

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

Four Yankees captains have been elected into the Hall of Fame, and obviously it will be five when Derek Jeter is eligible, including Clark Griffith, Frank Chance, Babe Ruth, and Lou Gehrig. It is really amazing to think that players like Yogi Berra, Mickey Mantle, Joe DiMaggio, Whitey Ford, Phil Rizzuto, or Catfsh Hunter to name a few have never been named a Yankees captain. It is also interesting to point out that Babe Ruth has only been a captain for a single season in 1922. George Steinbrenner kind of watered down the whole prestige behind being the Yankees captain, in my opinion, when he handed the honor out six times in his tenure as Yankees owner but Derek Jeter did his best to make the best of the situation and bring the prestige back to the most honored spot in all of baseball, the captain of the New York Yankees.

The Bullpen Implosion...

Credit:  Shanna Lockwood-USA TODAY Sports
Astros 7, Yankees 6…

It was very disappointing to lose a game because of Dellin Betances, who looked like the new Tyler Clippard, and Aroldis Chapman.  I defended Betances during his arbitration loss last off-season but he pretty much looked like a $3 million (if that) pitcher on Saturday.  Of course, the Yankees didn’t exactly intend to pay $86 million for their ace closer to give up the game-winning hit either.  The two combined to allow four runs in the eighth as the Astros erased a 6-3 deficit.  It was the 15th blown save by the bullpen in 79 games.

After the game, Betances said “The reason we lost is because I had bad command.  I walked three guys.  That’s not going to help.  I have to be able to challenge guys.  For whatever reason, my stuff just hasn’t been as sharp.  I just have to continue to work and I know I’ll find it.”  Hopefully sooner rather than later.  It’s been tough this season when one pitcher followed by another continues to go through periods of complete and total ineffectiveness.  

This game should have been about the positive debut of Clint Frazier.  Frazier became the first Yankee in 100 years to debut with a double and a home run.  

Credit:  Bob Levey-Getty Images
Jordan Montgomery started the game, pitching very strongly.  He got into trouble in the fifth when Marwin Gonzalez opened with a walk and Yuli Gurriel homered to give the Astros a 2-0 lead.  

The Yankees came right back in the top of the sixth (reminiscent of the day before).  Clint Frazier opened the inning with his first Major League hit, a double to left.  It was touching to watch his mom, Kim, wiping her eyes.  Brett Gardner singled to move Frazier to third.  It ended the day for Astros starter Francis Marte who had really held the Yankees in check to that point.  Facing reliever Will Harris, Jacoby Ellsbury walked and the bases were loaded.  Gary Sanchez singled to right, scoring Frazier (his first run scored…blah, blah, blah).  While Sanchez missed the opportunity for a grand slam, Didi Gregorius did not.  On an 0-1 count, he lifted the Harris pitch just over the right center field wall.  Very rapidly, the 0-2 deficit had turned into a 5-2 lead.  The Yankees subsequently had Ronald Torreyes at third following a single, steal and ground out that advanced him to just 90 feet away.  But in one of the great surprises of the game (not really), Chris Carter struck out to end the inning.  Carter was 0-for-3, with the one strikeout.  

The Astros scored another run in the bottom of the 6th when Carlos Correa homered off Montgomery with one out.  Evan Gattis followed with a double, and Montgomery headed for the showers.  Chad Green, the lone bullpen star, retired the next two batters by strikeout.  I have to compliment Green.  He was done a very fine job in his current role as he has transitioned from being a starter to a long reliever.  

Clint Frazier led off the top of the 7th with his home run, off reliever Tony Sipp, to increase the Yankees’ lead to 6-3.  It was funny how he was met with silence in the Yankees dugout before they erupted with the congratulatory high five’s.  From there, it was up to the Yankees bullpen to finish the job.  Green effectively finished the bottom of the 7th with a double play grounder and strikeout, but then we moved to the forgettable 8th inning.  Dellin Betances, channeling the bad versions of Masahiro Tanaka and Tyler Clippard, entered the game in relief of Green.  It started well enough with a strike out of the talented George Springer, but then Betances walked All-Star second baseman Jose Altuve. With Carlos Correa at bat, Altuve stole second, then third, and scored when Correa ground out to second.   Okay, the Yankees still had a 6-4 lead so there was still hope.  Evan Gattis stepped up and made it 6-5 with a shot to left.  By this point, I was screaming for Manager Joe Girardi to pull Betances but he wasn’t listening.  Betances walked Carlos Beltran on four pitches (Aargh!).  Josh Reddick entered the game as a pinch runner for Beltran and advanced to second when first baseman Chris Carter failed to handle a pick-off attempt.  Reddick stole third.  After walking Marwin Gonzalez, Girardi finally signaled for Aroldis Chapman.  Yuli Gurriel came to the plate for a showdown between Cuban countrymen.  Despite throwing 100 mph pitches, Gurriel won the battle when he doubled on a 3-2 count, scoring Reddick and Gonzalez with the go-ahead runs.  

The Yankees went down weakly in the 9th against Ken Giles when pinch-hitter Aaron Judge and Clint Frazier both pooped…err, popped…out.  Brett Gardner hit a single but rounded for second before changing his mind and was erased as the game’s final out when he tried to get back to first.  The Yankees lose another one-run game, 7-6.  

Credit:  David J Phillip-AP
The Yankees (43-36) fell two games behind the Boston Red Sox with the loss.  The Red Sox easily defeated the Toronto Blue Jays, 7-1.  The Tampa Bay Rays beat the Baltimore Orioles, 10-3, so they are just two games behind the Yanks.  

If the Yankees can’t fix Betances, this free-fall is going to continue.  He is perhaps the most vital man in the pen.  The Blue Jays, getting their asses handed to them in Boston, will be playing like a wounded dog when they come to the Bronx tomorrow.  

Odds & Ends…

With the July 2nd international signing period now open, the Yankees can be players on the international market once again.  Limited for two years following their huge splash from the 2014 -15 signing period spending spree, the Yankees can now spend up to the hard cap of $4.75 for the current signing period.  As expected, the Yankees signed notable international prospects OF Everson Pereira (the fourth ranked prospect on MLB’s list of Top International Prospects), SS Ronny Rojas, and SS Roberto Chirinos. Rojas and Chirinos are ranked 11th and 16th, respectively, by MLB. River Ave Blues reported these anticipated signings in early May.  It’s weird to see players born in this century joining the Yankees.  Welcome to Pinstripes, Everson, Ronny and Roberto!  Note:  Rojas technically cannot sign until August 23rd when he turns 16.



To make room on the MLB roster for Clint Frazier, Miguel Andujar was sent to Triple A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.  He didn’t make any appearances during this short call-up, but it was simply a procedural move as Andujar was still with the team in Chicago before it departed for Houston.  He was activated for a game until the Yankees could make the move to call up Frazier.  Andujar will now return to Scranton to play third every day.  As Arnold Schwarzenegger would say, he’ll be back.

Happy Sunday!  Flush the Saturday debacle and let’s take the series with a win today before the flight to NYC!  Let’s Go Yankees!

International Free Agent Signing Period Begins Today


So it seems the international free agency signing period begins.... TODAY. Get the checkbook ready there Hal and brace yourself, the prospects are coming.

This Day in New York Yankees History 7/2: Clemens Wins 350


On this day in 2007 Roger Clemens became the eight pitcher in Major League history to win 350 games with his eight inning and two hit victory over the Minnesota Twins. Joe Torre was Clemens manager on that day and was also the catcher for Warren Spahn's 350th game making him a participant in the only two times since 1928 that a pitcher reached the historic plateau.


Also on this day in 1995 the New York Yankees celebrated what would have been Babe Ruth's 100th birthday. Mickey Mantle, a frail image of his former self, bids the fans a farewell in a recorded message on the Yankee Stadium Jumbotron. Mantle would die 22 days later after a losing battle with liver cancer but not before telling the fans that "I feel like Phil Rizzuto in Babe Ruth's uniform."


Also on this day in 1978 Louisiana Lightning Ron Guidry beat the Detroit Tigers to improve his record to 13-0. This would be the best start in the Yankees franchise history for a season.


Finally on this day in 1941 Joe DiMaggio passed Wee Willie Keeler's 1897 major league record for consecutive hit games with his 45th straight game. DiMaggio hit a three run home run off the Red Sox Dick Newsome in front of 52,832 fans.