Greatest Ever: New York Yankee

[Megatron]

This is a new thread series that I am starting, where we will look at teams and try to pick out their best player ever. Some teams will, more then likely, be easy due to either a) that player being an icon in the sport (i.e. Michael Jordan) or b) the team hasn't had much success (Montreal Expos/Washington Nationals). However, there will be certain teams where there really isn't a wrong answer, just multiple ones that you could make cases for.

And just to note, these players are being nominated based on their time spent with the team. So no Brett Favre is the greatest Jet after only one season, or Ty Cobb is the greatest Athletic after two seasons. No, these players are being voted on based on their tenure WITH the team, not as a summation of their career.

Next on this list is the clear-cut most known team in all of baseball, the New York Yankees. They have been home to some of the greatest names in MLB history, so this list will clearly be tough. There is a large list of players that could be worthy of this spot, so I'll apologize right now if someone you feel deserves this spot isn't mentioned. Like with the last list, I will do this in alphabetical order, and will limit to my top 3 (although theres a few others you may be able to make a case for).

Derek Jeter - Ah, the Captain. One of 3 to be home to their last 5 championships, and, if you've been paying attention to baseball in these last 2 months, you'd know that he was the first Yankee to get 3,000 hits as a Yankee. While he never won an MVP and he has been (at times) been heavily criticized for his defense (or lack thereof), nobody can deny that he has been the face of the team and the go to guy that they've needed in clutch situations. He will be a career .300 hitter when he retires and is the best bet out there remaining to retire with a unanimous selection to the hall of fame. But alas he's number two on my list.

Mickey Mantle - The face of the team in the 50's and 60's, Mantle was one of the huge crowd favorites and played all 18 of his years on the Yankees, making the all-star team 16 of those times (4 times twice when they had two ASG's). He accumulated 536 home runs in his career and is regarded by many as the greatest switch hitter ever. He won 3 MVPs (including a Triple Crown in 1956) and has 7 World Series titles to his name. He was also named #17 on SportingNews 100 Greatest Baseball Players. However, he's #3, to the next man.

Babe Ruth - The 'Sultan of Swat'. The 'Bambino'. 'George'. Alright the last one was his actual name, but he's most widely known as Babe Ruth, the first real national superstar in America. While he wasn't the first great player (Ty Cobb, Honus Wagner, Walter Johnson, and a few others can attest to that) he was the first one to make big headlines due to the one thing he did exceptionally well: hit home runs. 714, in fact with a large majority coming with the Yankees. Not only could the Babe hit homers, though, but he also hit at a .342 clip, which is amazing in itself. He also pitched, but that was during his time as a Red Sox, so technically that part of his career is ineligible for this discussion. A 7 time World Series Champion, Ruth was named the 3rd greatest athlete (although his body says otherwise ) in 1999 by an ESPN poll. So yeah, Ruth wins it here. It's Ruth, then everyone else.

What actually is somewhat interesting to me is who would be #2. You could easily make a case for the two above, along with (in no order) Gehrig, DiMaggio, Berra, Ford, and Rivera. But it's tough to not give Ruth the nod at 1, no matter what argument anyone tries otherwise.

Previous 'Greatest Evers':
Dallas Cowboys

 

[Showtime]

Before I respond to the question, as a Canadian Baseball fan, I will defend the Expo franchise and say there would be some good debate over who the best Expo would be. Could be Pedro Martinez who spent 4 seasons with them, winning his first Cy Young with and ERA of 1.90. Or it could be Vladimir Guerrero where he spent 8 seasons, reaching his career highs in HR and RBI's and joining the 40/40 club. Gary Carter, Tim Raines, Andre Dawson are also players that could be considered in that list. Heck Larry Walker spent 5 years with the Expo's, though not great years like his one's with the Rockies. And of course if we looked at any and all players that played for the Expo's, let's say some would be surprised by the All-Stars they've once had. But enough of that... to the thread topic.

It's hard to disagree with your 3 choices. And then there's guys like Joe Dimaggio, Lou Gehrig, Mariano Rivera. Despite the power of Babe Ruth, I think I would leave him off my list of top three, due to his lack of total all around game. My 3 would be Jeter, Mantle, and Rivera, with DiMaggio and Ruth a toss up for 4th and 5th. I think I would give number one to Riveria. A closer is an underrated position when discussing the greatest players. Riveria has had dominant playoff success, and has thrived at a position that's prone to burnouts (Rocker) and quick rises and falls (Eric Gagne). Mantle is second for what he did and how good he really could've if he was more healthy. Jeter's third because of his clutch abilities and consistency.

 

[Big Sexy]

The answer is definitely Babe Ruth. He may be overrated slightly by some but he is definitely the greatest Yankee ever.

Despite the power of Babe Ruth, I think I would leave him off my list of top three, due to his lack of total all around game.

What was wrong with his overall game? He hit for power, he hit for average, he was a decent enough fielder despite being out of shape. I'm not sure what else you would have wanted him to do.

I think I would give number one to Riveria. A closer is an underrated position when discussing the greatest players. Riveria has had dominant playoff success, and has thrived at a position that's prone to burnouts (Rocker) and quick rises and falls (Eric Gagne).

This is the definition of hypocritical. You unjustly knock Ruth down a few spots because you think his all around game isn't up to par yet you put Rivera at number one even though all he does is pitch and he even only does that on average 79 innings a season, roughly one inning every other game.

 

[Stormtrooper]

Who is the greatest Yankee? You know what, you would say it's easily Ruth, but I think you're wrong.

The greatest Yankee ever, in my opinion, is the man who batted AFTER Babe Ruth in the Yankee batting order. That man is the ORIGINAL Yankee Captain, LOU GEHRIG.

Lou Gehrig was always in Babe Ruth's shadow (hard not to be). Not deservingly, mind you, as Lou Gehrig was just as good a ballplayer as Babe Ruth (and maybe better), but without the overshadowing personality. He just went and did his business, better then most everyone else.

When Babe Ruth his 60 Home Runs in 1927, who won the MVP award that year? Here's a hint, it wasn't Babe Ruth. It was LOU GEHRIG. Why did he win it? Because he drove in 175 runs that year. Think about that for a second. Lou Gehrig hit 47 homers and drove in 175 runs that year, and 60 of those ABs occurred with the bases empty thanks to a Ruth homer.

Babe Ruth had Lou Gehrig behind him. Lou Gehrig didn't have anyone near his caliber behind him in the order. So without the protection of a Hall of Famer behind him, Gehrig went on to dominate the league for over a decade.

There was one thing he didn't do, however. Lou Gehrig was terrible at taking a day off. That's because for 2,130 consecutive games, a record that many thought would never be broken (ultimately Cal Ripken broke the record in 1995). Lou Gehrig played every single Yankee game for 13 plus seasons. Only one thing was powerful enough to take Gehrig out of the lineup. What was that? ALS, a crippling disease now named after him that tragically took his life a mere 2 years later. In Ruths Yankee career, he played in 2084 games. That is less then Gehrigs streak (2130), as well as his career total (2164). Ruth played 15 seasons with the Yankees, Gehrig was an everyday player for 14 seasons, bu Gehrig played more games then Ruth, while amassing comparable numbers.

Gehrigs numbers are DAMN impressive. .340 career average, .447 On Base, .632 Slugging, 493 Home Runs, 1995 RBI (currently 5th all time, and he played at least 5 years less then the top 4). Couple those numbers with the Streak, and Lou Gehrig is the greatest ever New York Yankee. There was reason Lou Gehrig was the captain, not Ruth. Gehrig was the better Yankee.

 

[Megatron]

Lou Gehrig was always in Babe Ruth's shadow (hard not to be). Not deservingly, mind you, as Lou Gehrig was just as good a ballplayer as Babe Ruth (and maybe better), but without the overshadowing personality. He just went and did his business, better then most everyone else.

Gehrig was great, yes. Top 10 for sure, possibly top 5 (in terms of position players). Better then Babe? Nah. Babe had a total 149.6 WAR as a Yankee (according to BR), Gehrig, 118.4. Gehrig hit .340. Ruth hit .342. Gehrig OBP was .447, Ruths was .474. Gehrig slugged .632 clip. Babe slugged .690 (highest ever). Gehrigs OPS+ was 178. Ruth's was 206 (again highest ever). Everything you wanna look at, Gehrig was great, but Babe was slightly better.

When Babe Ruth his 60 Home Runs in 1927, who won the MVP award that year? Here's a hint, it wasn't Babe Ruth. It was LOU GEHRIG. Why did he win it? Because he drove in 175 runs that year. Think about that for a second. Lou Gehrig hit 47 homers and drove in 175 runs that year, and 60 of those ABs occurred with the bases empty thanks to a Ruth homer.

Gehrig only won the MVP because Ruth won it 4 years earlier and was ineligible to win it at the time. A stupid rule, but true.

Babe Ruth had Lou Gehrig behind him. Lou Gehrig didn't have anyone near his caliber behind him in the order. So without the protection of a Hall of Famer behind him, Gehrig went on to dominate the league for over a decade.

What? Have the 'Murderer's Row' team been forgotten? The two hitters behind him hit >.300 and one (Tony Lazzeri) WAS a HOF. Were they the calibre of Ruth? No, but someone had to hit 3. And the two behind Gehrig brought in 100+ runs that year as well. Gehrig certainly had a ton of protection, and if you don't think so, you're just... wrong.

There was one thing he didn't do, however. Lou Gehrig was terrible at taking a day off. That's because for 2,130 consecutive games, a record that many thought would never be broken (ultimately Cal Ripken broke the record in 1995). Lou Gehrig played every single Yankee game for 13 plus seasons. Only one thing was powerful enough to take Gehrig out of the lineup. What was that? ALS, a crippling disease now named after him that tragically took his life a mere 2 years later. In Ruths Yankee career, he played in 2084 games. That is less then Gehrigs streak (2130), as well as his career total (2164). Ruth played 15 seasons with the Yankees, Gehrig was an everyday player for 14 seasons, bu Gehrig played more games then Ruth, while amassing comparable numbers.

The numbers were comparable, but alas, almost all of Ruths numbers (aside from games played) trump Gehrigs.

Gehrigs numbers are DAMN impressive. .340 career average, .447 On Base, .632 Slugging, 493 Home Runs, 1995 RBI (currently 5th all time, and he played at least 5 years less then the top 4). Couple those numbers with the Streak, and Lou Gehrig is the greatest ever New York Yankee. There was reason Lou Gehrig was the captain, not Ruth. Gehrig was the better Yankee.

Again, those are great numbers. If he played for any other team beside the Yankees, he's probably the choice. But against Ruth? Just can't be. Ruth is the most celebrated hitter in all of the MLB's history. Gehrig was great, Ruth was just better. Not by a great margin, but enough that he is the Greatest Ever, games played streak or not.

 

[IrishCanadian25]

The idea that Ruth doesn't have "all around game" is innacurate to the point of being insulting. Not only is he one of the all time great power hitters in an era before hitting mechanics and exercise science were what they are today, but he was also a very solid pitcher, too. If Albert Pujols could feasibly pitch and go 10-6 for a few years, he'd be like Babe Ruth, just still not as good of a hitter.

As a pitcher, Ruth was 94-46 with a 2.28 ERA. He batted.342 lifetime. He hit 714 HR's in 21 seasons, which means he averaged 34 HR's per. His career slugging percentage of .690 is still the best all time, as is his 1.164 career OPS.

Now I still think the greatest Yankee - and the greatest baseball player of all time, period - is Joe DiMaggio. He played 13 seasons, was the only player in history to make the All Star Team every season he played in, and in those 13 years won 9 World Series'. If you extrapolate Joe D's numbers over the course of a 20- or 21-year career, he'd be in the 500-HR club and have more than 3,500 hits.