Chris over at Beyond the Box Score introduced the All-True Dodgers team, comprised of players who played their entire career with the Dodgers, determined by WAR. My first reaction looking at the team was, “Not bad, decent pitching staff, but the Yankees would hose them.”
What would an all true Yankee team look like?
C Billy Dickey
1b Lou Gehrig
2b Robinson Cano (Tony Lazzeri played a few games outside the organization)
SS Derek Jeter
3b Gil McDougald
LF Joe DiMaggio
CF Mickey Mantle
RF Bernie Williams
DH Don Mattingly
BN Phil Rizzuto
BN Roy White
BN Jorge Posada
BN Elston Howard
BN Earle Combs
SP Whitey Ford
SP Ron Guidry
SP Mel Stottlemeyer
SP ??
SP ??
RP Mariano Rivera
RP David Robertson
I don’t know about you, but I’m blanking on filling the remaining pitching slots. I don’t want to start slotting in the Ivan Nova’s and Joba Chamberlains of the world. Who would you put into those remaining pitching slots? Dig deep back into Yankee history.
Its a fun exercise. The Yankees have such a storied history, but those stories are heavily weighed toward the offensive side of things. It’s pretty amazing that after 27 World Championships, a relief pitcher named Mariano Rivera has the highest WAR of any Yankee pitcher.
Just imagine the lineup: Jeter-Mantle-DiMaggio-Gehrig-Mattingly-Berra-Williams-Cano-McDonald. Sick. Can anyone think of any team that comes even close?
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18 Responses to The All True Yankee Team
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TIQ IQ
yogi played 4 games for the mets in 1965
Foiled! Yogi Berra is officially no longer a true Yankee.
Luckily, the Yankees are deeper at catcher than any non-CF position.
On the basis of Spud Chandler’s fantastic 1943 season, perhaps he’s one of the back-end starters? He pitched his entire career on the Yanks and was primarily used as a starter (187 of 211 games).
It’s a damn shame that Andy spent those three years in Houston, otherwise he’d make a lovely #4 on this list…
agreed. I was just thinking about Chandler as soon as I saw the vacant spots.
I forgot about Chandler! I tend to ignore WWII teams, since the level of competition was so low. But he had a nice little True Yankee career. He’s in.
Spud Chandler had a solid 26.0 bWAR as a ‘True Yankee.’ He missed time due to service in WWII and injuries, but that unimpressive career total would work out to be around ~4.8 WAR over a full season of IP.
Lefty Gomez missed the cut by the slimmest of margins – he tossed 4.2 IP for the Senators in 1943. 99.81355% of his IP were with the Yankees.
Oh, and it’s Gil McDougald. His career ended early, unfortunately, as the Yankees decided to cut ties with him and he did not want to play elsewhere.
It’s unfortunate the Yankees let Pettitte go to Houston…He’d fill one of those spots nicely.
What are the defensive metrics on Dimaggio? Bernie never the greatest arm, I wonder if he’d do better in left. Then again less ground for him to cover in right, and all the stories I hear on DiMaggio was he was very agile in left. Then again that could be code for slow.
Also was Gehrig that good at first? He obviously out hits Donnie, but Donnie’s defense was second to few. If Donnie can’t play first, I’d even consider Posada at DH over him.
If memory serves, Gehrig was kind of “meh” in the speed and defense departments. Not Eddie Murray awful or anything, but nowhere near the level of a Mattingly or a Teixiera.
I always remembered people saying that Gehrig was good at 1st, but it’s hard to tell with legends.
At Yankee Stadium (especially ‘True Yankee Stadium’), I’d rather have DiMaggio, touted as the better defender, roaming the big side of the outfield, regardless of Bernie’s poor arm strength. But point taken, Bernie’s not much of a RFer.
I went through the B-R pages for Yankees pitchers from 1903 to 2000, and the only other few “true yankee” starter I can find with more than 5 WAR are Spud Chandler (as other people have already pointed out), Bill Bevens, Marius Russo, Jack Warhop and Atley Donald.
Note: Warhop was technically also a Highlander besides being a Yankee.
Elston Howard was traded to the Red Sox in 1967 and played there in 1968 as well.
Frankie Crosetti would be a good utility guy. He could play second, short, and third.
Replace Elston with Thurman and definitely add Spud.
Spud is a good call.
Munson definitely trumps Posada. Thurm won an MVP award, ROY and multiple GG’s. No comparison.
Frankly, you should ignore the original author’s silly “100%” rule and use a more reasonable default, like 90% or 99%. It’s ridiculous that Lefty Gomez’s one game as a Senator no longer makes him a “True Yankee”.
Using a simple 90% rule, we get:
SS Derek Jeter
LF Joe DiMaggio
CF Mickey Mantle
DH Lou Gehrig
RF Bernie Williams
C1 Yogi Berra
1B Don Mattingly
2B Tony Lazzeri
3B Gil McDougald
C2 Bill Dickey
IF Robinson Cano
IF Phil Rizzuto
OF Roy White
OF Earle Combs
SP Whitey Ford
SP Ron Guidry
SP Lefty Gomez
SP Mel Stottlemyre
SP Spud Chandler
RP Mariano Rivera
RP David Robertson
Problem solved.
Roy White played for the Yomiori Giants in Tokyo in the early 1980s. Should that disqualify him?