YANKEES: Do The Right Thing! (Monument Park)

By Paul Semendinger

August 18, 2026

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Tragedies

We see this all too often... A great player passes away - and then he is honored.

Buck O'Neil deserved to be in the Baseball Hall of Fame. He wasn't elected in his lifetime. He achieved that honor only posthumously.

Dick Allen was voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame - only after he died.

Ron Santo too.

Dave Parker didn't live long enough to enjoy his special day in Cooperstown.

One day, probably soon, Tommy John will be enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame. It is a tragedy that he will not be alive when this recognition finally comes.

Baseball must do a better job with this.

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The Hall of Fame Rules

But, to be fair, the Hall of Fame actually has an excuse for why the above happens. There are elections and deadlines, and public votes.

During those players' lifetimes, when the votes were counted, they did not get enough to be inducted into the Hall.

There are rules and procedures for getting into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Everyone knows them. The calendar for election is... the calendar for election.

It was unfortunate for Dick Allen and Ron Santo, and Dave Parker, and so many others that the calendar and the rules didn't allow for their elections during their lifetimes.

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The Yankees and Monument Park

The Yankees have their own Hall of Fame, of sorts. It is called Monument Park. This is the part of Yankees Stadium where the greatest of the great - and the most noteworthy - in their own history are enshrined.

Supposedly.

Unlike the Baseball Hall of Fame - there is no voting, there are no rules, there is no protocol for who gets into Monument Park. There is no calendar. Players get placed in Monument Park on the whim of...whoever. No one even knows the process for players being so thusly honored. No one knows if there is voting. No one knows who votes, who decides, or when those decisions and celebrations take place - or when they will take place. (An article coming later this week highlights the nature of this arbitrary process. But, in short, In 2014, four Yankees were honored by inclusion in Monument Park. In 2015, it was five. No Yankees were honored in 2016. One was in 2017. Since 2017, the Yankees have added no one to Monument Park - that is, until C.C. Sabathia gets honored in September of this year.)

The truth is, the way the Yankees handle who gets is is more of a gimmick than anything else. Some players get in. Some do not. There is no rhyme or reason.

There are great Yankees, some who are in the Baseball Hall of Fame, who are not in Monument Park.

As we have seen, in some years, more than one player gets in - other years no one does.

Again, this just happens when the Yankees seem to feel like honoring players. There are no rules, there is no criteria, there is no calendar or schedule.

On their website, the Yankees highlight Monument Park the following way: "Monument Park, located in center field, recognizes legends who have appeared at Yankee Stadium over the years."

Except that it does not recognize all the legends, it just recognizes some.

As I noted in The Least Among Them, the Yankees have never recognized a third baseman from their history in Monument Park. Every single position on the diamond is recognized - except third base. The Yankees have had a host of worthy third basemen - most notably Graig Nettles - but none are in Monument Park. That makes no sense, at all.

There are Yankees Hall of Famers who are not in Monument Park. Rich Gossage is in the Hall of Fame. He is not in Monument Park. Dave Winfield is in the Hall of Fame. He is not in Monument Park.

And there are Yankees legends, as well, who are not in Monument Park. Among these, Roy White stands the tallest. The case for White, and the impact he made is noted again and again in From Compton to the Bronx.

Tommy John just passed without receiving the honor that was his sue.

The Yankees must not let that happen to their living legends.

Roy White is 82 years-old.

Graig Nettles will be 82 years-old on August 20.

Rich Gossage is 75 years old.

Dave Winfield is is 74 years-old.

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Rickey Henderson, the Yankees greatest base stealer ever, passed away in 2024. He was only 65 years-old. He deserved to be in Monument Park, but he never lived to enjoy that honor he so well deserved.

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IT IS TIME!

It is time, it is well past time, for the Yankees to recognize these deserving players while they can still enjoy the moment and bask in that recognition.

Unlike Cooperstown, there are no rules or procedures, there are no voting dates for induction dates into Monument Park.

If they wanted to, the Yankees could write these wrongs tomorrow. More...

IT IS TIME FOR THE YANKEES TO DO THE RIGHT THING.

IT IS TIME TO HONOR THESE PLAYERS WITH INDUCTION INTO MONUMENT PARK.

THE YANKEES NEED TO DO THE RIGHT THING - NOW.

This week, I will run a host of articles highlighting players who deserve to be in Monument Park and more.

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