SPECULATION: Cole Hamels the Best #35 in Yankees History?

Let’s have a little fun today, shall we? It’s Thursday, it is almost the weekend, and why not. Let’s assume that the New York Yankees acquire Cole Hamels in a midsummer trade much like the team acquired Sonny Gray before the trade deadline in 2017, would Cole Hamels be the best #35 in the Yankees history?

Well first and foremost, no. Hamels could be here in the Bronx for a couple months and be gone by November. No one knows what the future will hold, but before we send too much time speculating let’s look at some of the other notable players to wear the #35 in New York Yankees history.

Michael Pineda wore the number from 2014-2017. One pine tar scandal and a few shoulder and elbow injuries later and Pineda is currently wearing the number in Minnesota. I think. Who can really keep up with that the Twins are doing these days?

Brendan Ryan wore it in 2013. David Aardsma wore it in 2012. Meh and meh. Mike Mussina wore the number from 2001 – 2008 though and will likely go down as the greatest player in the Yankees history to wear #35. Mussina won a lot of games here including 20 games, finally, in 2008 alone.

Hideki Irabu was called a fat toad by George Steinbrenner while wearing #35 in 1997, John Wetteland won a World Series ring wearing the number in 1996 and went to the postseason as the first Wild Card winner in the American League in 1995, Phil Niekro wore the number in 1984 and 1985, and even a guy by name of Yogi Berra wore the number in 1946 and 1947 before switching to the number he would have retired with the Yankees, #8. 

Would Hamels be the best to wear #35 with the Yankees? Spud Chandler, who wore the number back in 1937, says no… and I would have to agree. Hope this post was as fun to read as it was to write. Enjoy.

This Day in New York Yankees History 12/16: The Day John Wetteland Would Have Broken Twitter if There Were a Twitter in 1996

On this day in 2009 the Yankees World Series MVP Hideki Matsui signed a one year deal worth $6.5 million with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. The Yankees were not interested in bringing back their DH due to his knee concerns.


Also on this day in 2002 the Yankees lost their relief pitcher Mike Stanton to a three year deal worth $9 million including a no trade contract with the New York Mets. The Yankees offered Stanton a two year deal worth $4.6 million on December 7, but Stanton was only allowed 15 minutes to consider the deal after a season where Mike went 7-1 with a 3.00 ERA and six saves.


Also on this day in 1996 the Yankees lost the 1996 World Series MVP John Wetteland to free agency to the Texas Rangers. Wetteland signed a four year deal worth $23 million to close games for the Rangers. Wetteland was only 29 years old when the Yankees let him walk to let Mariano Rivera close games.


Also on this day in 1983 the Yankees hired Yogi Berra for the second time to manage the team replacing Billy Martin. Martin was coming off of a season where he posted a 91-71 record which was good enough for third place, which is not good enough for George Steinbrenner. This tenure as manager would end in 1985 after 16 games and multiple assurances from Steinbrenner that he would not be fired. Yogi would not come back to Yankee Stadium for nearly 15 seasons after this.



Finally on this day in 1953 the Yankees and the Philadelphia A's completed an 11 player trade where the Yankees traded then top prospect Vic Power. Vic was a powerful first basemen who has hoped to be the first black player to play for the Yankees enjoyed three great seasons in the minor leagues including a .331 batting average and 109 RBI's the season before for the Newark Bears. The Bears were the equivalent of the AAA Scranton Wilkes Barre RailRiders today.

Yankees Postseason History Recap: 1996

The Yankees have had a lot of huge postseason moments and series and they have won a total of 27 World Series Championships. Tonight we're going to recap one of those World Series Championships and the first World Series I ever saw as a Yankees fan, the 1996 World Series. Derek Jeter, Andy Pettitte, Mariano Rivera, Bernie Williams, John Wetteland, Jim Leyritz and so much clutch and team building against the pitching juggernauts of the Atlanta Braves.

The Yankees got down in the series 2-0 at home with three huge games in Atlanta looming. It didn't look good for the Bronx Bombers but they went down to Atlanta and took three games in a row in dramatic fashion setting up a decisive Game Six in the Bronx. You can watch that entire game above and watch the Yankees get back on top of the baseball world.

Enjoy.

ICYMI: Old Timers Day 2016 Roster

70th Annual Old Timers Day at Yankee Stadium. Let's go!

The game will be held at Yankee Stadium, the eighth time the new stadium is playing host to the tradition, on June 12th and fans are asked to be in their seats by 11:30 am that morning.

Here is the list provided by Yankees.com:

• Jesse Barfield
• Brian Boehringer
• Scott Bradley
• Dr. Bobby Brown
• Homer Bush
• David Cone
• Bubba Crosby
• Bucky Dent
• Al Downing
• Brian Doyle
• Mariano Duncan
• John Flaherty
• Whitey Ford
• Oscar Gamble
• Joe Girardi
• Rich "Goose" Gossage
• Ron Guidry
• Charlie Hayes
• Rickey Henderson
• Arlene Howard (widow)
• Helen Hunter (widow)
• Reggie Jackson
• Scott Kamieniecki
• Pat Kelly
• Don Larsen
• Graeme Lloyd
• Hector Lopez
• Jill Martin (widow)
• Hideki Matsui
• Lee Mazzilli
• Ramiro Mendoza
• Stump Merrill
• Gene "Stick" Michael
• Gene Monahan (Trainer)
• Diana Munson (widow)
• Kay Murcer (widow)
• Jeff Nelson
• Paul O'Neill
• Joe Pepitone
• Lou Piniella
• Willie Randolph
• Mickey Rivers
• Eddie Robinson
• Tanyon Sturtze
• Ralph Terry
• Marcus Thames
• Joe Torre
• John Wetteland
• Roy White
• Bernie Williams

Yankees Release Old Timers Day Roster 2016

The New York Yankees are set to host their 70th annual Old Timers Day at Yankee Stadium later this season and will likely once again put on a show like no other organization can. Every year the fans sit and wait for the roster to be released but I feel like that may be even more so lately with the retirement of the Core Four plus Bernie Williams. Well none of the official Core Four will be attending this year's contest but Williams will be along with five Hall of Fame players and 49 other widows or former members of the New York Yankees.

The game will be held at Yankee Stadium, the eighth time the new stadium is playing host to the tradition, on June 12th and fans are asked to be in their seats by 11:30 am that morning.

Here is the list provided by Yankees.com:

• Jesse Barfield
• Brian Boehringer
• Scott Bradley
• Dr. Bobby Brown
• Homer Bush
• David Cone
• Bubba Crosby
• Bucky Dent
• Al Downing
• Brian Doyle
• Mariano Duncan
• John Flaherty
• Whitey Ford
• Oscar Gamble
• Joe Girardi
• Rich "Goose" Gossage
• Ron Guidry
• Charlie Hayes
• Rickey Henderson
• Arlene Howard (widow)
• Helen Hunter (widow)
• Reggie Jackson
• Scott Kamieniecki
• Pat Kelly
• Don Larsen
• Graeme Lloyd
• Hector Lopez
• Jill Martin (widow)
• Hideki Matsui
• Lee Mazzilli
• Ramiro Mendoza
• Stump Merrill
• Gene "Stick" Michael
• Gene Monahan (Trainer)
• Diana Munson (widow)
• Kay Murcer (widow)
• Jeff Nelson
• Paul O'Neill
• Joe Pepitone
• Lou Piniella
• Willie Randolph
• Mickey Rivers
• Eddie Robinson
• Tanyon Sturtze
• Ralph Terry
• Marcus Thames
• Joe Torre
• John Wetteland
• Roy White
• Bernie Williams

TGP Prospects Night Open Thread featuring Mariano Rivera

We are almost done with Prospects Month 2016, thank the calendar Gods for Leap Year and the extra day, and we have to go out with a bang. What bigger bang was there in his day than Mariano Rivera, the Sandman? Mariano broke onto the scene as a starting pitcher in 1995 and found his true niche in the Yankees bullpen in front of John Wetteland. 

In this video Rivera throws 3.1 inning of scoreless baseball against the Seattle Mariners in the ALDS. Rivera struck out five and continued to put his name on the map for not only the Yankees but for the league as well. My Baseball Reference won't load right now but from what I remember he did pretty well after this 1995 season and playoff trip, no? If anything he was solid. 

The Boring Winter Ahead: Watch the 1998 World Series Game Four HERE

Game Four of the 1998 World Series between the New York Yankees and the San Diego Padres

The Boring Winter Ahead: Watch the 1998 World Series Game Three HERE

Game Three of the 1998 World Series between the New York Yankees and the San Diego Padres

The Boring Winter Ahead: Watch the 1998 World Series Game Two HERE

Game Two of the 1998 World Series between the New York Yankees and the San Diego Padres

The Boring Winter Ahead: Watch the 1998 World Series Game One HERE

Game One of the 1998 World Series between the New York Yankees and the San Diego Padres

The Boring Winter Ahead: Watch the 1996 World Series Game Six HERE

Game Six of the 1996 World Series between the New York Yankees and the Atlanta Braves.

The Yankees & Their Threesomes

Did the title get your attention? Good! It was supposed to. The New York Yankees assembled a hell of a potential threesome in their bullpen last week when they "sold their souls" to acquire Aroldis Chapman from the Cincinnati Reds for Eric Jagielo, Rookie Davis and kitchen scraps in terms of top prospects, no disrespect intended. This got me wondering how this particular threesome compares to some great Yankees threesomes of the past.

We'll start with the Yankees dynasty years of 1996-2004-ish and we'll start with the 1996 season. Yes I realize the Yankees only had two reliable relief pitchers that season, Mariano Rivera and John Wetteland, but Rivera pitched so often he practically counted as two people. Rivera finished third in the AL Cy Young Award vote that season after striking out 130 batters in a whopping 107.2 innings pitched. Rivera pitched sometimes for two or three innings at a time setting up Wetteland who finished the season with an American League leading 43 saves and an All Star Game appearance.

Wetteland was gone in 1997 and Rivera was slid into the closers role. The Yankees were without their fireman while looking to defend their World Series championship so the team went out and added a pair of arms to essentially replace Rivera. In the Yankees bullpen was Mike Stanton and Jeff Nelson creating a threesome that was one of the best for the better parts of four seasons. From 1997-2000 these three led the Yankees to three World Series titles holding any and almost every lead the offense and the starting pitching gave them. Rivera had 160 saves in that span and led the league in 1999 with 45 saves. Stanton appeared in 273 games during that span which equates to a 69.1 innings pitched per season. Workhorse.

The final threesome in recent memory for the Yankees was when the team went back to a three headed monster in the bullpen for the 2004 season when Joe Torre had Rivera, Tom Gordon and Paul Quantrill at his disposal. Rivera was an All Star again and finished third in the AL Cy Young Award vote again pitching in 74 games while saving 53 games for the Bombers. Gordon was also an All Star and finished pitching in a whopping 80 games that season while Quantrill led the league with 84 appearances. It's a shame the World Series and season was cancelled after the Yankees went up 3-0 over the Boston Red Sox in the ALCS due to a strike.. these men deserved a World Series Championship.

This Day in New York Yankees History 12/16: The Day John Wetteland Would Have Broken Twitter if There Were a Twitter in 1996

On this day in 2009 the Yankees World Series MVP Hideki Matsui signed a one year deal worth $6.5 million with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. The Yankees were not interested in bringing back their DH due to his knee concerns.


Also on this day in 2002 the Yankees lost their relief pitcher Mike Stanton to a three year deal worth $9 million including a no trade contract with the New York Mets. The Yankees offered Stanton a two year deal worth $4.6 million on December 7, but Stanton was only allowed 15 minutes to consider the deal after a season where Mike went 7-1 with a 3.00 ERA and six saves.


Also on this day in 1996 the Yankees lost the 1996 World Series MVP John Wetteland to free agency to the Texas Rangers. Wetteland signed a four year deal worth $23 million to close games for the Rangers. Wetteland was only 29 years old when the Yankees let him walk to let Mariano Rivera close games.


Also on this day in 1983 the Yankees hired Yogi Berra for the second time to manage the team replacing Billy Martin. Martin was coming off of a season where he posted a 91-71 record which was good enough for third place, which is not good enough for George Steinbrenner. This tenure as manager would end in 1985 after 16 games and multiple assurances from Steinbrenner that he would not be fired. Yogi would not come back to Yankee Stadium for nearly 15 seasons after this.





Finally on this day in 1953 the Yankees and the Philadelphia A's completed an 11 player trade where the Yankees traded then top prospect Vic Power. Vic was a powerful first basemen who has hoped to be the first black player to play for the Yankees enjoyed three great seasons in the minor leagues including a .331 batting average and 109 RBI's the season before for the Newark Bears. The Bears were the equivalent of the AAA Scranton Wilkes Barre RailRiders today.

This Day in New York Yankees History 12/16: The Day John Wetteland Would Have Broken Twitter if There Were a Twitter in 1996

On this day in 2009 the Yankees World Series MVP Hideki Matsui signed a one year deal worth $6.5 million with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. The Yankees were not interested in bringing back their DH due to his knee concerns.

Also on this day in 2002 the Yankees lost their relief pitcher Mike Stanton to a three year deal worth $9 million including a no trade contract with the New York Mets. The Yankees offered Stanton a two year deal worth $4.6 million on December 7, but Stanton was only allowed 15 minutes to consider the deal after a season where Mike went 7-1 with a 3.00 ERA and six saves.

Also on this day in 1996 the Yankees lost the 1996 World Series MVP John Wetteland to free agency to the Texas Rangers. Wetteland signed a four year deal worth $23 million to close games for the Rangers. Wetteland was only 29 years old when the Yankees let him walk to let Mariano Rivera close games.

Also on this day in 1983 the Yankees hired Yogi Berra for the second time to manage the team replacing Billy Martin. Martin was coming off of a season where he posted a 91-71 record which was good enough for third place, which is not good enough for George Steinbrenner. This tenure as manager would end in 1985 after 16 games and multiple assurances from Steinbrenner that he would not be fired. Yogi would not come back to Yankee Stadium for nearly 15 seasons after this.

Finally on this day in 1953 the Yankees and the Philadelphia A's completed an 11 player trade where the Yankees traded then top prospect Vic Power. Vic was a powerful first basemen who has hoped to be the first black player to play for the Yankees enjoyed three great seasons in the minor leagues including a .331 batting average and 109 RBI's the season before for the Newark Bears. The Bears were the equivalent of the AAA Scranton Wilkes Barre RailRiders today.

Brian Cashman Wants to Emulate Kansas City’s Bullpen, That Sounds Familiar

Late last week and into the weekend we all digested the YES Network’s interview that the awesome Jack Curry had with Yankees GM Brian Cashman and now we get to pick it apart this week. In the interview Cashman stated that re-signing David Robertson was the team’s top priority this offseason. The reasoning behind putting Robertson ahead of a Chase Headley or a replacement shortstop was that Cashman wanted to use the Kansas City Royals shutdown bullpen from 2014 as a model to build their bullpen after in 2015 and beyond. Boy does that sound familiar.

Remember HERE when I said the same exact thing last month? If not there then what about HERE? Or HERE? I am in no way suggesting that Cashman reads my stuff or gets his ideas from me but it is refreshing that maybe a good decision is on the way for once. Many around Twitter and such see no reason to keep Robertson around when Dellin Betances is going “to be the next Mariano Rivera circa 1997” but I see Robertson as a huge asset that would not be replaced as easily as John Wetteland was after 1996.

I said all that to say this, good work Cashman. Bring the team the best bullpen you can and turn these games into five or six inning games for the starters. It’s 2015 and the New York Yankees may finally be acting like it. 

The David Phelps Bullpen Audition Could Mean the End of David Robertson in Pinstripes

With David Phelps on his way back from elbow inflammation and being sent to the Yankees bullpen this could be serving as an audition of sorts for the 2015 season. You guys know me by now, I’m always thinking about next season whether we’re in the thick of things or not, and I believe the Yankees may be as well.

The Yankees current closer David Robertson is set to hit free agency after this season in his age 30 season and if Phelps can show he is capable of pitching out of the bullpen it may spell the end of Robertson in pinstripes. Much like after the 1996 season when the Yankees let 30 year old John Wetteland walk away via free agency and immediately plugged Mariano Rivera in as the closer after he burst onto the scene as a failed starter turned reliever. Dellin Betances would be Mariano in this situation and could slide into the ninth inning role for New York to replace Robertson.

If Robertson leaves and Betances moves up from the eighth inning then the Yankees would have to fill the void with either Shawn Kelley or Adam Warren. Phelps could conceivably earn his way into the 8^th inning but knowing Joe Girardi and his tendencies like I think I do then Phelps would likely replace Warren in the pen and everyone else would take a step up leaving a glaring hole in the back end of the pen. Obviously New York could once again catch lightning in a bottle and throw Jose Ramirez into the bullpen and actually use him this time and you also have to remember that Jacob Lindgren is also expected to get a real look at spring training next season and could also help fill the gaps in.

For Phelps sake and the Yankees sake I hope he either gets bombed in the bullpen or shines, nothing in between. I don’t want the Yankees to have any excuse to keep moving the guy back and forth between the rotation and the pen a la Joba Chamberlain and Phil Hughes. I would like to see Phelps either become a mainstay in the starting rotation or a mainstay in the bullpen, not both. 

POLL: Robertson & The Yankees All Time Saves Record

Just a quick poll to get your Wednesday started right. Does anyone think that David Robertson could approach Mariano Rivera’s Yankees single season saves record of 53 in 2004? Can he beat Rafael Soriano’s 42 saves in 2012 in a partial season for New York? Can he pass John Wetteland’s 43 saves in 1996? Vote in the poll and shoot us your answer in the comments section of the site. Thank you

  

How Many Saves Will David Robertson Finish 2014 With?
	Passes Mariano Rivera’s 53 saves in 2004
	Passes John Wetteland’s 43 saves in 1996
	Passes Rafael Soriano’s 42 saves in 2012
	Saves 30-40 games in 2014
	What’s a save?
pollcode.com free polls

Dellin Betances, Mariano Rivera, and Comparisons

The Yankees manager Joe Girardi had an interview with ESPN's Andrew Marchand recently and all but compared Mariano Rivera's 1996 season to Dellin Betances' 2014 season. That sounds really familiar, probably because I wrote the same exact thing SEEN HERE on June 3. Just for fun, since we were on the subject, I decided to take a look at the stats through 95 games in their first full season with New York and the stats may surprise some. For simplicity sake I wen't through June to be posted here or this would be a nine mile long post, you get the gist though.

Mariano Rivera 1996:

Rk	Date	Inngs	Dec	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	HBP	ERA	BF	Pit	Str	StL	AB	Entered
1	Apr 6	6-7		2.0	1	0	0	0	2	0	0	0.00	6	23	17	5	6	6b --- 0 out d2
2	Apr 11	6-7		1.0	2	0	0	3	0	0	0	0.00	7	36	19	7	4	6t --- 0 out a4
3	Apr 13	6-7		1.2	1	1	1	2	3	0	0	1.93	8	39	23	3	6	6t 1-3 1 out d1
4	Apr 16	8-GF(8)		1.0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1.59	3	15	11	3	3	8b --- 0 out d4
5	Apr 17	6-7		2.0	3	2	2	2	3	0	0	3.52	10	52	35	9	8	6b --- 0 out d5
6	Apr 19	4-6		3.0	3	0	0	1	5	0	0	2.53	13	63	42	8	12	4b 12- 0 out d3
7	Apr 22	6-8	H(1)	3.0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	1.98	9				9	6b --- 0 out a3
8	Apr 26	6-8	W(1-0)	3.0	0	0	0	1	2	0	0	1.62	10				9	6t 12- 0 out d4
9	Apr 28	6-8	W(2-0)	3.0	0	0	0	1	5	0	0	1.37	10	55	38	3	9	6t --- 0 out d1
10	Apr 30	7-8	H(2)	2.0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1.25	6				6	7b 1-3 0 out a3
May		Inngs	Dec	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	HBP	ERA	BF	Pit	Str	StL	AB	Entered
11	May 3	7-8	W(3-0)	2.0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	1.14	8				7	7t --- 0 out tie
12	May 5	7-8	H(3)	2.0	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	1.05	6	36	20	5	6	7t --- 0 out a2
13	May 12	6-8	H(4)	2.1	1	0	0	0	2	0	0	0.96	8				8	6b 1-- 2 out a1
14	May 15	6-7		1.1	0	0	0	0	3	0	0	0.92	4	16	13	1	4	6t -2- 2 out d4
15	May 17	9-GF	S(1)	1.0	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0.89	3	8	7	3	3	9t --- 0 out a3
16	May 18	9-GF	S(2)	0.1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.88	1	4	3	0	1	9t 12- 2 out a4
17	May 21	8-GF		2.0	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0.83	7	19	14	3	7	8t --- 0 out a4
18	May 25	7-8	H(5)	2.0	2	1	1	1	2	0	0	1.04	9	45	29	4	7	7b --- 0 out a2
19	May 31	7-8	H(6)	2.0	0	0	0	1	3	0	0	0.98	7				6	7b --- 0 out a1
June		Inngs	Dec	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	HBP	ERA	BF	Pit	Str	StL	AB	Entered
20	Jun 2	7-8	H(7)	1.1	2	2	2	0	1	0	1	1.42	7				6	7b -2- 1 out a2
21	Jun 4	7-8	H(8)	2.0	2	0	0	1	2	0	0	1.35	9	39	31	4	7	7t -2- 0 out a1
22	Jun 7	7-8	BS(1)	2.0	2	1	1	0	3	0	0	1.50	8	30	21	2	8	7b 1-- 0 out a2
23	Jun 10	7-8	H(9)	2.0	2	0	0	0	2	0	0	1.43	8				8	7b --- 0 out a2
24	Jun 16	6-8	H(10)	2.2	3	1	1	1	5	0	0	1.54	12	59	39	8	11	6t --- 0 out a2
25	Jun 21(2)	6-8		3.0	3	1	1	0	5	0	0	1.63	12	47	35	5	12	6b --- 0 out a5
26	Jun 25(2)	6-8	H(11)	3.0	1	0	0	1	5	0	0	1.54	11	50	33	7	10	6b 12- 0 out a4
27	Jun 28	7-9	L(3-1)	2.1	4	3	3	2	2	1	0	1.96	12	47	32	6	10	7t --- 0 out tie
30	Jul 4	8-8	H(14)	1.0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1.86	3	16	9	3	3	8t --- 0 out a2
				107.2	73	25	25	34	130	1	2	2.09	425

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 7/19/2014.

Dellin Betances 2014:

Year	Age	W	L	W-L%	ERA	G	GF	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	ERA+	FIP	WHIP	H9	HR9	BB9	SO9
2014 ★	26	4	0	1.000	1.42	41	5	1	57.0	23	9	9	1	16	87	281	1.31	0.684	3.6	0.2	2.5	13.7

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table

It is also worth mentioning, and has been mentioned here on the blog a few times, that John Wetteland was 30 years old when the Yankees let him go after the 1996 season. David Robertson is currently 30 years old and a free agent after the 2014 season. Obviously that was a different time and the Yankees had many more financial restrictions back then but as long as both seasons end in a World Series victory I'll take it.