The Tuesday Discussion – Who Were The Top 10 Yankees of All-Time?
This week we asked our writers a simple question – Who were the top 10 Yankees of all-time?
Here are their responses:
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Tamar Chalker – Not necessarily in order –
Babe Ruth
Lou Gehrig
Mickey Mantle
Joe DiMaggio
Yogi Berra
Mariano Rivera
Whitey Ford
Derek Jeter
Alex Rodriguez
Reggie Jackson
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Lincoln Mitchell – (A detailed article on this topic will come later this week.)
Babe Ruth
Mickey Mantle
Lou Gehrig
Yogi Berra
Joe DiMaggio
Derek Jeter
Whitey Ford
Mariano Rivera
Thurman Munson
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Cary Greene – (A detailed article on this topic will come later this week.)
Babe Ruth
Lou Gehrig
Joe DiMaggio
Mickey Mantle
Yogi Berra
Mike Mussina
Reggie Jackson
Derek Jeter
Dave Winfield
Thurman Munson
(More to come…)
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Ed Botti –
Babe Ruth
Lou Gehrig
Joe DiMaggio
Mariano Rivera
Mickey Mantle
Yogi Berra
Red Ruffing
Derek Jeter
Whitey Ford
Bill Dickey
Just short of the top 10 and not to be forgotten!
Thurman Munson, Don Mattingly, Phil Rizzuto, Dave Winfield, Tony Lazzeri, Bernie Williams, Ron Guidry, Alex Rodriguez, Graig Nettles, Miller Huggins, Joe McCarthy, Jorge Posada, Elston Howard, Ed Barrow (GM 1920-1945), Gene Michael (GM 1980-1981, 1991-1995), George Weiss (GM 1947-60) Rickey Henderson & Hideki Matsui (if they only stayed a little longer!).
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Tim Kabel –
Babe Ruth
Lou Gehrig
Mickey Mantle
Joe DiMaggio
Yogi Berra
Mariano Rivera
Derek Jeter
Whitey Ford
Bill Dickey
Thurman Munson/Ron Guidry
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Andy Singer – My list is below (listed in vaguely chronological order as opposed to a strict ranking):
Lou Gehrig
Babe Ruth
Joe DiMaggio
Yogi Berra
Mickey Mantle
Elston Howard
Ron Guidry
Don Mattingly
Mariano Rivera
Derek Jeter
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Paul Semendinger – The first eight are easy…
Babe Ruth (OF)
Lou Gehrig (1B)
Joe DiMaggio (OF)
Mickey Mantle (OF)
Mariano Rivera (RP)
Yogi Berra (C)
Whitey Ford (P)
Derek Jeter (SS)
The last two are more difficult. I see that this team is lacking a third baseman and a second baseman. There are so many great players to choose from, that choosing a second and third baseman makes some sense…
For second base the choice would be between Tony Lazzeri, Joe Gordon or Willie Randolph. I’ll choose Lazzeri as the best there.
For third base, it’s really Graig Nettles or A-Rod. There isn’t a statistic anywhere that says Nettles is better than A-Rod (except in my heart) so I’ll…. still take Nettles. It’s my list after all. (Even if A-Rod should be the guy there.)
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Mike Whiteman –
Babe Ruth
Joe DiMaggio
Lou Gehrig
Mickey Mantle
Yogi Berra
Derek Jeter
Mariano Rivera
Reggie Jackson
Bernie Williams
Don Mattingly
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Ethan Semendinger –
Across the 119 years of the New York Yankees organization, only 24 players have led the team in yearly bWAR multiple times in their Yankee careers. Only 12 players have done so 3+ times. Below, is my ranking of who were the best Yankees comes entirely from this fun thought experiment:
Babe Ruth (11 time Yankee yearly bWAR leader)
Mickey Mantle (10)
Joe DiMaggio (5)
Lou Gehrig (4)
Alex Rodriguez (4)
Aaron Judge (4)
Derek Jeter (3)
Ron Guidry (3)
Don Mattingly (3)
Jack Chesbro (3)
Robinson Cano (3)
Ray Caldwell (3)
Interesting that no catchers make the list, especially given the great catching in Yankees history (Dickey, Berra, Howard, Munson, Posada) and not surprising that no relievers made the list (sorry, Mo). It’s an interesting take on the “greatest” discussion.
If I had to cut that list down to 10, I’d leave off Robinson Cano and Ray Caldwell. If I had to state my “true Top-10” I would further remove Judge, A-Rod, and Mattingly for Mariano Rivera, Yogi Berra, and Whitey Ford.
The following players are the remaining 12 who led the Yankees in bWAR for more than one season: A. Orth, A. Pettitte, B. Shawkey, G. Nettles, H. Baker, M. Mussina, M. Stottlemyre, R. Ford, R. Henderson, R. White, S. Sax, and S. Stirnweiss.
#MickeyMantle #LouGehrig #JoeDiMaggio #MarianoRivera #DerekJeter #BabeRuth
