Sports Then and Now

Jorge Posada is going to retire after 17 seasons with the New York Yankees.

It appears that another key component of the great New York Yankees teams from the last two decades is hanging up his pinstripes with word that Jorge Posada will be announcing his retirement.

After his struggles during the 2011 season it isn’t a complete surprise that Posada is calling it a career, but his retirement is another nail into the coffin of the great group of former Yankees farm hands that helped build the team into a juggernaut in the late 1990s with four titles in five years.

While the Yankees are historically known for building their success through signing free agents and trading for the best players from other teams, their championship teams from the 1990s included a core of home-grown players that proved to be vital to their success.

In addition to Posada, shortstop Derek Jeter, centerfielder Bernie Williams, starting pitcher Andy Pettitte and reliever Mariano Rivera all came up through the minor league system with the Yankees and each spent were key cornerstones of the Yankees’ success.

However, of those five, it seems that only Jeter and Rivera are sure-fire to receive a plaque in Cooperstown.

Williams (.297 career average, 287 home runs, 1,257 RBI) is on the ballot for the first time this year and while he is not expected to earn selection, it will be interesting to see how close he gets in his initial year.

Pettitte, who retired following the 2010 season, won 240 games during his 16-year career (13 seasons with the Yankees), but his 3.88 career ERA makes it unlikely that he will have smooth sailing into the HOF.

Like Pettitte and Williams, you can make great arguments that Posada belongs in the HOF and equally credible arguments against his selection.

His career statistics (.273 average, 275 home runs, 1,065 RBI) would not be even close to Hall of Fame consideration if Posada were not a catcher. Annually, Posada was among the top catchers in the game in offensive statistics as he topped 20 home runs and 80 RBIs eight times. Read the rest of this entry →

Former Tiger Curtis Granderson will watch his former team play in the AL Championship Series.

Well, so much for the American League East being heads and shoulder above the rest of the American League in talent and baseball stature. Following the Detroit Tigers 3-2 victory in game five of the ALDS to eliminate the New York Yankees, we are now ensured that a team from one of the “lesser” divisions in the AL will represent the league in the World Series for the second straight year and fourth time in the last seven seasons.

There is no question that the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox are still head and shoulders above the rest of the league in terms of spending, but they both are proving that in today’s baseball world money doesn’t buy you quite as much as it used to.

Don’t get me wrong, money has definitely helped them both become consistent contenders. The Yankees haven’t had a losing season since 1992 and have made the playoffs in all but one season since 1995 while the Red Sox last had a losing season in 1997 and have won two World Series and made the playoffs eight times since.

However, while spending lavishly on salaries to attract the top free agents and available veterans has helped both teams maintain a stranglehold on at least one playoff spot each season, it no longer seems to be enough to ensure they dominate the World Series. Read the rest of this entry →

It was 50 years ago that Roger Maris blasted a record 61 home runs in a single season.

It was 50 years ago today, October 1, 1961, that New York Yankees slugger Roger Maris broke what many thought was an unbreakable record by swatting his 61st home run of the season. Though his mark has now technically been eclipsed on six occasions by three different players, the accomplishment is still considered to be something special and now that there is testing for performance enhancing drugs might never again be topped.

Though Maris had been the American League MVP in 1960, no one expected him to threaten Babe Ruth’s hallowed mark of 60 home runs in a single season.

In the 33 years since Ruth had hit 60 home runs in 1927 the 50 home run plateau had been reached only 10 times with Jimmie Foxx in 1932 and Hank Greenberg in 1938 coming the closest with 58 home runs each.

The way Maris started the 1961 season, no one could have predicted that he would finish the campaign by breaking Ruth’s record.

Maris hit only one home run in 15 games during April and through the first 28 games of the campaign had only three homers.

Then on May 17th he started a streak of four straight games with a home run and then added five more home runs the rest of the month to enter June with 12 home runs.

Maris wasn’t the only Yankee who entered June with double digits in home runs. Mickey Mantle blasted seven homers in each of the first two months to enter June with 14 home runs.

In June, Maris slugged 15 homers and Mantle 11 to give both players totals near the pace of Ruth as the season neared its mid-point.

When the Yankees played their 81st game on July 8th, Maris had 32 home runs and Mantle 29 to put both players in range of the record.

Maris blasted four home runs in a double header against the Chicago White Sox to give him 40 for the season and people started to discuss the possibility that Ruth’s record could be in jeopardy.

When Maris then went eight straight games without a home run and ended up having one homer in a 16 game stretch, the attention started to shift to Mantle, who was still blasting long balls. Read the rest of this entry →

It was payday....

What’s in a rivalry? Hatred? Two very good teams in the playoff hunt?

The Philadelphia Phillies are a very good team, worthy of contending year in and year out. They’re also very good at paying attention, you got something going for you Philly. They watched the Yankees buy pennants for years, and decided to follow the pattern. They are number two behind the Yankees with a payroll of just under $173 million. Their average player is paid over $5.7 million. That’s what I call buying wins. Maybe that is why you are one of nine MLB teams in debt.

Now for my favorite part, the Braves payroll comes in at just over $87 million. Now lets do some math, for you Philly fans out there, I will help you out.

Phillies payroll $172,976,381
Braves payroll $87,003,192
Difference- $85,973,189

Read the rest of this entry →

No major leaguer has come close to matching Joe DiMaggio's record hitting streak of 56 straight games.

The Major League Baseball players of today are capable of accomplishing amazing feats, but I am going to go out on a limb and predict that no major leaguer of today will ever hit in 56 consecutive regular season games.

It was 70 years ago today that one of the most amazing individual streaks in sports history ended following an unbelievable two month performance by future Hall of Famer Joe DiMaggio.

After knocking out a hit in every game from May 15th through July 16th, the luck finally ran out for DiMaggio in a game against the Cleveland Indians. As he had done throughout most of the streak, DiMaggio hit the ball hard, but unlike in previous days, there was always someone there to make the play.

His best chance to extend the streak came in his first at bat when DiMaggio laced the ball down the third base line. Unfortunately, third baseman Ken Keltner was playing deep and was able to grab the ball and throw DiMaggio out at first.

After walking in the fourth inning, DiMaggio hit another drive toward third in the seventh inning, but Keltner made another play to throw out the Yankee Clipper.

With the bases loaded and one out in the eighth inning, DiMaggio managed not to hit the ball to Keltner, but instead grounded to shortstop Lou Boudreau who turned it into an inning ending double play.

During the streak, DiMaggio hit .408 with 15 home runs and 55 runs batted in. He had multiple hits 22 times, including four games with four hits. Read the rest of this entry →

Derek Jeter is only the 28th player in baseball history to reach 3,000 career hits.

Given how much money they have spent to acquire the best players from across baseball over the last century, it is ironic that the first player to reach 3,000 hits as a member of the New York Yankees has spent his entire career in Yankee pinstripes.

It didn’t take Derek Jeter long after coming off the disabled list last Monday to get the last six hits needed to reach the prestigious milestone. With a home run in the third inning Saturday against the Tampa Bay Rays (part of a 5-hit day that also included the game-winning RBI), Jeter became the first player to reach 3,000 hits since Craig Biggio in 2007 and joined Wade Boggs as the only players to hit a home run to reach the plateau.

It is likely that the next player to reach 3,000 hits will also be a Yankee as Alex Rodriguez is within reach at 2,762 career hits. Though a pair of future Hall of Famers, Ivan Rodriguez (2,842 hits) and Omar Vizquel (2,831) are currently ahead of A-Rod, both are nearing the end of their careers and seem unlikely to stick around long enough to join the club.

Now that he has become the 28th player in baseball history to reach this milestone, it is interesting to analyze where Jeter stands in the pantheon of Yankee and all-time greats. Read the rest of this entry →