By Paul Semendinger
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My goodness, everyone wore this number, 71 players in all.
71.
Marius Russo was the first, in 1939.
The Yankees seemed to give this number to a person who they didn’t feel would make a big impact on the team.
“Oh, you… sorry, forgot you were on the team. Here, take #38…”
It’s almost worth taking a look year by year:
1939 – Marius Russo
1940-41 – Not issued
1942- Hank Borowy
1943-45 – Not Issued
1946- Mel Queen
1947- Karl Drews
1948-1950 – Gus Niarhos
1950-1952 – Johnny Hopp
1952-1953 – Loren Babe
1953 – Willy Miranda
1953-1955 – Art Schallock
1955 – Ted Gray
1955-1965 – Johnny Blanchard (it seems he took the number, stuck around, and kept it, one of the rare few who did this.)
1965 – Doc Edwards
1966 – Not issued
1978-1968 – Frank Fernandez
1969 – Len Boehmer
1970-1974 – Steve Kline
1974 – Cecil Upshaw
1975 – Not Issued
1976 – Ken Brett
1976-1977 – Carlos May
1978 – Not Issued
1979 – Jerry Narron
1980-1981 – Tom Underwood
1982 – Barry Evans
1982 – Dave Stegman
1982-1983 – Curt Kaufman
1983 – Dave LaRoche
1984 – Jose Rijo
1985-1986 – Ed Whitson (once the issued him this number, he might have know it wouldn’t work out well)
1986 – Leo Hernandez
1987-1988 – Pat Clements
1988 – Hal Morris
1988 – Scott Nielsen
1989-1990 – Clay Parker
1990-1994 – Matt Nokes (it seems if you wear #38 and expect to stick around for a while, it’s best to be a left-handed hitting catcher)
1995 – Josias Manzanillo
1995 – Jeff Patterson
1996 – Matt Howard
1997 – Homer Bush
1997 – Scott Pose
1998 – Ricky Ledee
1999-2000 – Jason Grimsley
2001-2003 – Randy Choate
2003 – Drew Henson
2003 – Brett Prinz
2004 – Travis Lee
2005 – Ramiro Mendoza
2005 – Buddy Groom
2006 – T.J. Beam
2006 – Kris Wilson
2007 – Chase Wright
2008 – Chris Britton
2008 – Dan Giese
2008 – Chris Stewart
2009 – Ian Kennedy
2009 – Brian Bruney
2010 – Marcus Thames
2011 – Luis Ayala
2012-2013 – Cody Eppley
2013-2014 – Preston Claiborne
2014 – Brandon McCarthy
2015 – Andrew Bailey
2015 – Jose Pirela
2016 – Ben Gamel
2016 – Chad Green
2016-2017 – Rob Refsnyder
2017 – Kyle Higashioka
2018 – Shave Robinson
2018-2019 – Jonathan Loaisiga
2019 – Cameron Maybin
2020 – Erik Kratz
2021 – Andrew Heaney
(Whew…)
There’s a definite pattern to this number that holds true. If a player gets issued this number, and that player looks like he will stick around, the Yankees quickly give him another number. #38 seems to be the trying ground. It’s used early (as in a player’s career) and often.
In the end, this comes down to the fact that one player, and only one, wore this number for any significant period. That player was Johnny Blanchard.
Johnny played for the Yankees for eight years He hit 64 total homers for the Bombers while hitting .245 and driving in 187. In 1961, he blasted 21 homers in a magical year for the Yankees. That was the high water mark. Blanchard played mostly outfield and catcher.
After playing for the Yankees, Blanchard played for the Kansas City A’s and the Milwaukee Braves.
As a Yankee, the only number he wore was #38.
Blanchard accumulated just 2.9 WAR as a Yankee.
Matt Nokes (5 years, .249/71/222) actually accumulated 4.5 WAR as Yankee. In fewer years, he accumulated more total WAR, but Blanchard went to four World Series (winning two), and played a significant (enough) role on those clubs. Matt Nokes was on the teams that climbed out of the cellar, and he was on the 1994 team that lost its season due to the strike, but Blanchard had the greater impact. When looking at two players who averaged less than 1.0 WAR per season for their Yankees career, other factors must be taken into consideration. For that reason, Blanchard wins.
The greatest Yankee at uniform #38 was Johnny Blanchard.
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Most of the background research for this project came from Baseball-Reference.com.
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