Though I didn’t watch the show, it did get me thinking. All three of the outfielders mentioned in that article, Reggie Jackson; Bernie Williams; and Paul O’Neill, are some of the finest the Yankees have had in the post DH era. Back when this blog was still (partially) The Yankee U, I ran the run scoring projections of an all time Yankee team that included the likes of Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and what not. To limit the ridiculousness (even the worst configuration of that lineup would break the run scoring record), I decided to go to the post-DH era Yankees and see what I could come up with. The rules: You had to play for the Yankees for at least five years to qualify for this “honor.” The lineup I came up with was:
1. Derek Jeter, SS
2. Bernie Williams, CF
3. Alex Rodriguez, 3B
4. Reggie Jackson, DH
5. Robinson Cano, 2B
6. Dave Winfield, LF
7. Paul O’Neill RF
8. Jorge Posada, C
9. Don Mattingly, 1B
I ran this (awesome) lineup through the lineup analysis tool from Baseball Musings and the results were pretty awesome.
The above lineup would average 6.120 runs per game, which translates to 992 over a full season.
The best configuration (below) would average 6.202 runs per game, which means 1,005 over 162 games.
Williams; Rodriguez; Posada; Jackson; O’Neill, Cano; Winfield; Mattingly; Jeter
The worst configuration (below) would average 5.975 runs per game, or 968 in 162 games.
Cano; Posada; Winfield; Williams; Mattingly; Jeter; O’Neill; Rodriguez; Jackson.
So, there’s the starting lineup. In the comments, tell me your pitching staff and bench.
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9 Responses to Post DH All-Yankee Lineup
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TIQ IQ
Pitchers:
SP – Pettite, Guidry, Clemens, Cone, Wells
Bullpen – Rivera, Stanton, Nelson, Wettland, Gossage
Bench – Randolph, Velarde, Gallego, Leyritz, Stanley, Matsui
No love for Carsten Charles?
“In the comments, tell me your pitching staff and bench.”
I don’t know how deep you want us to go so I just gave you five starters, relievers and positional backups apiece from the DH era. I specifically resisted the urge to add excess starters into the bullpen (otherwise David Cone would’ve made this team)
SP1: Ron Guidry
SP2: CC Sabathia
SP3: Roger Clemens
SP4: Mike Mussina
SP5: Andy Pettitte
RP1: Mariano Rivera
RP2: Goose Gossage
RP3: Sparky Lyle
RP4: Jeff Nelson
RP5: Dave Righetti
B1: Jason Giambi
B2: Rickey Henderson
B3: Alfonso Soriano (he’s sort of a 2B/SS right?)
B4: Johnny Damon
B5: Mike Stanley (cuz this bench needs a catcher…)
You had to play for the Yankees for at least five years to qualify for this “honor.”
so I skipped CC. Moose is an obvious miss on my part. I think the 5 year rule also eliminates Henderson, Soriano and Damon. Perhaps Stanley too.
Rags was a great add. As was Giambi.
Whoops, missed that five-year minimum parameter.
FYI – Rickey played in NY for nearly five season (he was traded in the last two months of his fifth season in pinstripes).
Not much love for the ’70s dynasty? Thurman Munson should be the starting catcher. Nettles, Randolph and White for the bench.
Hmm, actually a little surprised how few runs this lineup would score. Obviously high 900s-1000 runs is a lot, but the 2007 team scored 968 runs. I would’ve assumed a lineup of the best Yankee hitters in the DH era would blow that out of the water.
Starting Rotation:
Gator
Andy
Moose
Coney
El Duque
I refuse to use Rocket, and Wells didn’t hit 5 years. Stottlemeye overlapped the pre-and-post DH years, so I wasn’t sure he qualified. Rags only spent 3 seasons as a starter, so I didn’t include him. Kinda had to go with El Duque to round it out, just for the post season.
Bullpen:
Mo – closer
Goose – RH Set up
Sparky – LH set up
Nellie – RH middle relief
Stanton – LF middle relief
Rags – long man
Best bullpen ever? Could be. But we need to get Stanton a nickname.
Bench:
Randolph – backup middle infielder, pinch runner
Nettles – backup corner infielder
Munson – backup catcher/defensive replacement
Gardner – backup OF, pinch runner
Jason Giambi – pinch hitter
Randolph, Nettles and Munson, as three of the greatest Yankees not in the Hall, were no brainers. I was surprised how thin the OF is – so many players have come through that didn’t hit the 5 year mark. I could have gone with Matsui, but really I’m not putting Matsui in for any of the starters. Gardner is clearly the odd man out on this team, but with Winfield, Bernie and O’Neill, we need defense and speed more than a bat.
I should add that CC will almost certainly replace El Duque in 2 seasons.