Game Thread: New York Yankees @ Kansas City Royals 5/18

And just like that it is game time here in Kansas City, for real this time, between the New York Yankees and the Kansas City Royals. In the first game of the three-game weekend set the Yankees will send CC Sabathia to the mound to square off with Jakob Junis for the Royals. The game will be played at 8:15 pm ET inside Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City and can be seen on WPIX Channel 11. You can also follow along with the game on MLB TV, with the MLB At-Bat app or by tuning into the Yankees radio broadcast on WFAN with the legendary duo of John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman.

Follow us on Twitter, @GreedyStripes, and “Like” us on Facebook, The Greedy Pinstripes, to keep up with us and the team all season long. Enjoy the game, knock the rust off with another victory, and go Yankees!!

ARTICLE REVISIT: Where in the World in Roy White Day at Yankee Stadium?

Every time the New York Yankees organization holds a “day” at Yankee Stadium, Derek Jeter Day being the most recent ceremony in the Bronx of course, there is also a clamoring from the fans for a day for this player or that player from the past. No player is brought up more so than Roy White and he was brought up again on the blog this past week by one of the members of the Greedy Pinstripes family, Rev LGMofield, and I have to say that I 100% absolutely and completely agree with his post. His comment was that if the Yankees can hold a Tino Martinez Day and a Paul O’Neill Day that they should be able to have a Roy White Day and Mr. Mofield couldn’t be more correct in that statement. Here’s just a few of the reasons why Mr. White has been snubbed in my opinion.

Tino Martinez played a whole seven seasons for the Yankees amassing 1,054 games and 4,244 plate appearances for the pinstripes. Tino slashed .276/.347/.484/.831 during that time with 192 home runs and 739 RBI. Tino had a 16.6 WAR while with the New York Yankees but most importantly he replaced a legend and fan favorite in Don Mattingly.

Paul O’Neill meanwhile played a whole nine seasons in the Bronx which included 1,254 games and 5,368 plate appearances. During his tenure as the Yankees right fielder O’Neill slashed .303/.377/.492/.869 with 185 home runs and 858 RBI. O’Neill had an amazing 26.6 WAR during his time with New York and quickly became one of the most beloved Yankees during the dynasty era. Remember him walking off the field in Yankee Stadium during the 2001 World Series with the Arizona Diamondbacks? Just thinking about that crowd chanting his name gives me chills and it’s been 16 years later now.

Roy White on the other hand played his entire 15- season career with the Yankees from 1965 to 1979 appearing in 1,881 games while taking 7,735 chances at the plate for the Yankees. White hit 160 home runs in an era where there wasn’t many hitting 30 home runs a season let alone more, unlike the time that both O’Neill and Martinez played, and drove in 758 RBI while slashing .271/.360/.404/.764. It’s nearly impossible, and a bit redundant in my opinion, to compare eras and the game of baseball 30 seasons later but that stat line looks an awful lot like Tino Martinez’s stat line, doesn’t it? Well until you look at WAR and see that White had a 46.7 WAR in his 15 seasons. One could argue he was more valuable than both O’Neill and Martinez combined, he just didn’t have the help behind him and beside him that the other two did.

Now I get the whole sentiment that both Martinez and O’Neill were part of the “Dynasty Years” that brought the Yankees four World Series championships and such but are the Yankees using Monument Park to honor and commemorate the player or the team? Because if it is the player then White is getting the short end of the stick here by the Yankees. White cannot help the fact that he played with the Yankees during 60’s and 70’s when the Yankees were terrible, that’s on management and ownership and namely George Steinbrenner. When White did make the postseason (1976, 1977 and 1978) he did slash .278/.387/.430/.817 reaching the World Series in all three seasons and winning two of them alongside Reggie Jackson, Thurman Munson and others.

Tino Martinez Yankees Stat Line:

Year	Age	G	PA	R	H	HR	RBI	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+
1996	28	155	671	82	174	25	117	.292	.364	.466	.830	108
1997	29	158	685	96	176	44	141	.296	.371	.577	.948	143
1998	30	142	608	92	149	28	123	.281	.355	.505	.860	124
1999	31	159	665	95	155	28	105	.263	.341	.458	.800	104
2000	32	155	632	69	147	16	91	.258	.328	.422	.749	89
2001	33	154	635	89	165	34	113	.280	.329	.501	.830	114
2005	37	131	348	43	73	17	49	.241	.328	.439	.767	104
NYY	NYY	1054	4244	566	1039	192	739	.276	.347	.484	.831	113

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table

Paul O’Neill Yankees Stat Line:

Year	Age	G	PA	R	H	HR	RBI	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+
1993	30	141	547	71	155	20	75	.311	.367	.504	.871	136
1994	31	103	443	68	132	21	83	.359	.460	.603	1.064	177
1995	32	127	543	82	138	22	96	.300	.387	.526	.913	137
1996	33	150	660	89	165	19	91	.302	.411	.474	.885	123
1997	34	149	637	89	179	21	117	.324	.399	.514	.912	137
1998	35	152	672	95	191	24	116	.317	.372	.510	.882	130
1999	36	153	675	70	170	19	110	.285	.353	.459	.812	107
2000	37	142	628	79	160	18	100	.283	.336	.424	.760	92
2001	38	137	563	77	136	21	70	.267	.330	.459	.789	105
		G	PA	R	H	HR	RBI	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+
NYY	NYY	1254	5368	720	1426	185	858	.303	.377	.492	.869	125

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table

Roy White Yankees Stat Line:

Year	Age	G	PA	R	H	2B	HR	RBI	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+
1965	21	14	47	7	14	2	0	3	.333	.404	.381	.785	126
1966	22	115	356	39	71	13	7	20	.225	.308	.345	.653	92
1967	23	70	238	22	48	8	2	18	.224	.287	.290	.577	75
1968	24	159	660	89	154	20	17	62	.267	.350	.414	.764	137
1969	25	130	542	55	130	30	7	74	.290	.392	.426	.818	133
1970	26	162	712	109	180	30	22	94	.296	.387	.473	.860	142
1971	27	147	634	86	153	22	19	84	.292	.388	.469	.857	149
1972	28	155	666	76	150	29	10	54	.270	.384	.376	.760	130
1973	29	162	723	88	157	22	18	60	.246	.329	.374	.703	102
1974	30	136	556	68	130	19	7	43	.275	.367	.393	.761	121
1975	31	148	636	81	161	32	12	59	.290	.372	.430	.802	128
1976	32	156	728	104	179	29	14	65	.286	.365	.409	.774	128
1977	33	143	606	72	139	25	14	52	.268	.358	.405	.762	109
1978	34	103	395	44	93	13	8	43	.269	.349	.393	.742	112
1979	35	81	236	24	44	6	3	27	.215	.290	.288	.578	59
15 Y	15 Y	1881	7735	964	1803	300	160	758	.271	.360	.404	.764	121
162	162	162	666	83	155	26	14	65	.271	.360	.404	.764	121

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table

Now while I understand that this goes far beyond just a simple look at the stats. I know it has a lot to do with what the player did for the team and what the team meant to the game at the time and all that but still, the stats go hand-in-hand with that in my opinion. You have to be a big part of the city and the team on and off the field in my opinion to find yourself in Monument Park, and honestly I wasn’t alive when Roy White was in his prime so I don’t know what kind of character he was in the clubhouse and on the field, but the stats back up the claims.

Now where’s my Roy White Day at the Stadium?

Again, a big shout out to Rev LGMofield for the idea for the article and the great comment. Enjoy the day.

*stats and stat lines courtesy of Baseball Reference

Yankees Statistical Leaders Through 40 Games

The New York Yankees will resume baseball operations tonight in Kansas City with the beginning of a three-game weekend set inside Kauffman Stadium, but before that can occur for the first place Bronx Bombers let’s take a small look into what led the team here to date. Big thanks and shout out to Baseball Reference for the statistics.

*Notice that these stats are through 40 games and the 5.2 innings in Washington before the game was suspended on Tuesday. That explains why players show being in 41 games, since that game is official (length wise).

The Yankees Offense

At Bats:

Giancarlo Stanton – 157

Games:

Giancarlo Stanton & Aaron Judge – 41 each

Hits:

Aaron Judge – 46 each

Doubles:

Miguel Andujar - 13

Home Runs:

Aaron Judge - 11

RBI:

Aaron Judge - 35

Batting Average:

Aaron Judge - .307

The Yankees Pitching

Wins:

Luis Severino – 6

Losses:

Sonny Gray – 3 

ERA:

Starters:  Luis Severino - 2.14 ERA

Bullpen:  Aroldis Chapman - 1.50 ERA

Strikeouts:

Starters: Luis Severino – 70 K’s

Bullpen: Aroldis Chapman – 35 K’s

Saves:

Aroldis Chapman – 9 saves

Shutouts:

Luis Severino – 1

It is still early on in the season, but we are starting to see who is hot, who isn’t and who is going to put this team on their backs for the stretch run of this 2018 season. It is going to be a fun one to watch, so stay tuned with us all season long. We’ll be here!