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Writer's picturePaul Semendinger

Yankees Who Didn't Share (Exclusive Season Yankees)

by Paul Semendinger

March 18, 2024

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NOTE - I penned this article, in a slightly different format for the IBWAA newletter, Here's The Pitch. It was published on March 8, 2024

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We've been having fun making positional lists of Yankees players:


Here is a completely different type of list.

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I love watching baseball, but sometimes I think I like researching baseball history even more.  

The other day I discovered an original list of Yankees that is quite unique.  I encourage fans of other teams to find similar lists in their team's histories.  When one seeks information, he never knows what he'll find.  This is list of Yankees is one that I do not believe anyone, anywhere, has ever compiled.  


In the history of the Yankees, there have been eight times when one single player played every inning of every game at a specific position.  These are the Yankees who didn't share.  No player ever did this more than once, and the most famous Iron Man in Yankees history, Lou Gehrig, never did it even once.  (It's absolutely true, you could look it up.  I did.)


I have coined the term "Exclusive Seasons" for players who have accomplished this feat.  

On this list of Yankees, there are only two Hall of Famers.  Two of the other players are little known Yankees in spite of this unique accomplishment.  


Without further ado, here is the list of the Yankees who didn't share, ones that are in exclusive company:


  • Roger Peckinpaugh, shortstop - 1914

  • Wally Pipp, first base - 1917

  • Red Rolfe, third base - 1939

  • Joe Gordon, second base - 1940

  • Joe DiMaggio, centerfield - 1942

  • Billy Johnson, third base - 1943

  • Nick Etten, first base - 1944

  • Snuffy Stirnweiss, second base - 1944

The first question, I suspect one might ask, is how close did Lou Gehrig ever get to having a "selfish season?"  He came pretty close four times:


In 1926, Gehrig played all but nine innings at first base for the Yankees.  The other two players that spent time there were Babe Ruth (believe it or not) and Fred Merkle, who gain gained infamy for his base runner blunder in 1908.  


In 1927, Gehrig played first base in 1,386 innings, but little-known Cedric Durst covered the position in three innings.  In 1929, Durst again played first base in three innings depriving Gehrig of this honor (one invented be me almost a century later).


In 1933, Gehrig came within 10 innings of having an "Exclusive Season."  Infielder Lyn Lary and good ol' Babe Ruth covered those other innings.


One might also note that no Yankees player did that in the post-World War II years.  


The player who came the closest was Roy White who, in 1972, played 1,370.1 innings in left field for the Yankees.  Rusty Torres played all of three innings that season to deprive Roy White of this distinction.  

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Paul Semendinger has authored numerous books.  His newest, 365.2: Going The Distance.  A Runner's Journey hits the bookshelves on March 12.  Paul also wrote Scattering the Ashes, The Least Among Them, Impossible is an Illusion, and he worked with Roy White on his autobiography From Compton to the Bronx.  Paul runs the Yankees site Start Spreading the News.  

4 Comments


fuster
Mar 18

I'm a bit confused.


didn't Roy White play more innings in LF in 73 than in 72?


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Robert Malchman
Robert Malchman
Mar 18
Replying to

1972 was a strike year with games lost at the beginning of the season. The Yankees played 155 games, in all of which White played. The next year, however, he played in all 162 games, playing 1419.2 innings in LF. Felipe Alou played the other 8 innings in left that season, all on August 25.


And now, down the rabbit hole:


It was White's own fault that he missed his Exclusive Season; he was ejected for coming in contact with an umpire during an argument. The New York Times reported: "Roy White was ejected for jostling Umpire Jim Odom in the home half of the first inning. With a man on first and none out, White apparently caught a f…

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