jimmy key..

he was money for the yanks in 1996 and 1997 playoffs

1996 ALDS NYY TEX W 1 1 3.60 0 0 0 0 5 5 2 1 3
ALCS NYY BAL W 1 1 2.25 1 0 0 0 8 3 2 1 5
WS NYY ATL W 2 2 3.97 1 1 0 0 11.1 15 5 5 1
1997 ALDS BAL SEA W 1 1 3.86 0 1 0 0 4.2 8 2 0 4
ALCS BAL CLE L 2 1 2.57 0 0 0 0 7 5 2 3 7


Key was one of the most popular Blue Jays until his departure in 1993 to play for the rival New York Yankees (signed as a free agent on December 10, 1992) and was paid US$16.8 million over four years. He posted a 49–23 record in 94 games over three seasons with the Yankees. He had his career high of 173 strikeouts in the first year with the Yankees in 1993, and he led the majors with 17 wins in the strike-shortened season of 1994. He continued to wear his number 22 with the Yankees.

He spent time with the Gulf Coast Yankees (1–0 and 0.00 ERA) and Tampa (0–0 and 2.77 ERA) of the Florida State League during rehab assignments during his last season with New York in 1996. In his final start as a Yankee, he outdueled Greg Maddux of the Atlanta Braves in the deciding game of the World Series

thurman munson should be in the hall of fame..carlton fisk and jim rice should not

another case of anti yankees bias...


Life and career

Born in Akron, Ohio to Darrell Vernon Munson and Ruth Myrna Smylie, Thurman grew up in nearby Canton. He graduated from Lehman High School in Canton, where he earned scholarship offers from various colleges due to his standout performances in football, basketball, as well as baseball. [1] Munson opted to attend nearby Kent State University on scholarship, where he was a teammate of pitcher and broadcaster Steve Stone. At Kent, Munson joined the Delta Upsilon fraternity. In September 1968 he married Diane Dominick at St. Paul's Parish, Canton.

In the summer of 1967, Munson joined the prestigious Cape Cod Baseball League leading his Chatham A's to their first ever league title. In the process Munson hit an amazing .420. To recognize this achievement and his subsequent MLB career, the Thurman Munson Batting award is given each season to the CCBL's best hitter.

Munson was selected by the Yankees with the fourth pick in the first round of the 1968 amateur draft. In the minor leagues, he caught for the Binghamton Triplets in their final (1968) season. He was named the American League Rookie of the Year in 1970 after batting .302 with seven home runs and 57 RBI, and making 80 assists. In 1976, he was voted the American League MVP after batting .302 with 17 home runs and 105 RBI, and stealing 14 bases. He is the only Yankee ever to win both the Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player awards.

An outstanding fielder, Munson made only one error while behind the plate in 1971 (he was knocked unconscious by a runner, dislodging the ball). He went on to win three straight Gold Glove Awards starting in 1973. A seven-time All-Star, Munson hit 113 home runs, batted in 701 runners, and had a career batting average of .292 over his 10-year career. He was also the first captain named by the Yankees since Lou Gehrig. Munson helped lead his team to three consecutive World Series (1976–78), where he batted a remarkable .373 overall (.339 in the American League Championship Series). From 1975-77, Munson hit .300 or better with 100 or more RBI each year, becoming the first catcher to accomplish the feat in three consecutive years since Yankee Hall of Famer Bill Dickey did it four straight seasons from 1936-39. Since Munson's run, Mike Piazza has also accomplished it (1996-98).

In the 1976 World Series, Munson batted .529 and collected six consecutive hits to tie a World Series record set by Goose Goslin of the Washington Senators in 1925, (also in a losing effort). After this hitting performance, which included a 4-for-4 night in the final game at Yankee Stadium, Reds manager Sparky Anderson was asked by a reporter to compare Munson with his catcher, Johnny Bench. Anderson's comment at the post-World Series press conference — "Don't ever embarrass nobody by comparing him to Johnny Bench" — may have been a tribute to his great player, but it angered Munson.[2]

Munson batted .320 with a home run in the 1977 World Series, in which the Yankees defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers four games to two. In Game 3 of the 1978 American League Championship Series, with the Yankees tied a game apiece with the Kansas City Royals and trailing 5-4 in the bottom of the eighth inning, he hit the longest home run of his career, a 475-foot (145 m) shot off Doug Bird over Yankee Stadium's Monument Park in left-center field, to give the Yankees a 6-5 win. They won the pennant the next day, and in the World Series against the Dodgers, Munson caught a pop-up by Ron Cey for the final out.

[edit] Death and legacy
Thurman Munson's number 15 was retired by the New York Yankees in 1979

Munson was frequently homesick, and took flying lessons so that he could fly home to his family in Canton on off-days[citation needed]. On August 2, 1979, he was practicing takeoffs and landings in his new Cessna Citation I/SP jet at the Akron-Canton Regional Airport. On the third touch-and-go, Munson failed to lower the flaps for landing and allowed the aircraft to sink too low before increasing engine power, causing the jet to clip a tree and fall short of the runway. The plane then hit a tree stump and burst into flames, killing Munson (who was trapped inside) and injuring two other companions, Jerry Hall and Jerry Anderson of Canton[3]. It is believed that the inability to get out of the plane, and the ensuing asphyxiation, is what killed Munson, rather than injuries sustained on impact or burns. Munson's friends in the aircraft survived the accident. He was 32 years old.[4] The crash was attributed to pilot error, according to the National Transportation Safety Board. [5]

Munson's sudden death was major news across the nation and especially within the baseball community. Munson was survived by his wife, Diana, and their three children. The day after his death, before the start of the Yankees' four-game set with the Baltimore Orioles in the Bronx, the Yankees paid tribute to their deceased captain in a pre-game ceremony during which the starters stood at their defensive positions, save for the catcher's box, which remained empty. At the conclusion of Robert Merrill's musical selection, the fans (announced attendance 51,151) burst into a 10-minute standing ovation.

Four days later, on August 6, the entire Yankee team attended his funeral in Canton, Ohio. Lou Piniella and Bobby Murcer, who were Munson's best friends as well as teammates, gave eulogies. That night (in front of a national viewing audience on ABC's Monday Night Baseball) the Yankees beat the Orioles 5-4 in New York, with Murcer driving in all five runs with a three-run home run in the seventh inning and a two-run single in the bottom of the ninth.[6]

On August 1, 1980, the day before the one year anniversary of the accident, the Yankees filed a $4.5 million lawsuit against Cessna Aircraft Co. and Flight Safety International, Inc. (the company who was training Munson to fly) with team spokesman John J. McCarty saying "we asked for $4.5 million because that is what Munson would be worth if the Yankees traded him"[7].

Immediately following Munson's death, Yankee owner George Steinbrenner announced that his uniform number 15 was being retired. On September 20, 1980, a plaque was dedicated in Munson's memory and placed in Monument Park. The plaque bears excerpts from an inscription composed by Steinbrenner and flashed on the Stadium scoreboard the day after his death:
“ Our captain and leader has not left us, today, tomorrow, this year, next ... Our endeavors will reflect our love and admiration for him. ”


To this day, despite a packed clubhouse, an empty locker next to current Yankee team captain Derek Jeter's, with Munson's number 15 on it, remains as a tribute to the Yankees' lost catcher. The original locker that Munson used, along with a bronzed set of his catching equipment, was donated to the Baseball Hall of Fame (Munson himself is not in the Hall, generally considered by most sportswriters to be a "borderline" candidate at best due to the brevity of his career). His number 15 is also displayed on the center field wall at Thurman Munson Stadium, a minor-league ballpark in Canton. Munson is buried at Canton's Sunset Hills Burial Park. In January of 2008 Munson's youngest son, Michael, opened a baseball-themed sports bar in Canton called Munson's Home Plate Sports Pub. The pub is decorated in baseball memorabilia and photographs from throughout Munson's career.

Thurman is one of three Yankees who died in aviation accidents, including pitchers Jim Hardin in 1991 and Cory Lidle in 2006.

dandy andy

NEW YORK -- Andy Pettitte never needed to hear the offers that might have awaited him in free agency. He had decided that by the time winter turned to spring, he would have somehow wound up back with the Yankees.

It took longer than expected, but Pettitte has finally crossed the finish line. The veteran left-hander agreed Monday to a one-year, $5.5 million contract with the Yankees, with incentives that could push the total value of the deal to $12 million.

"There was no other team ever brought into the equation," Pettitte said. "My mind never changed. I wanted to come back to the Yankees, and in my mind, I was going to be back."

Discussions between Pettitte's representatives and general manager Brian Cashman had continued for weeks, with both sides insistent that they wanted to work out a deal. But, as Cashman said at one point, it had grown more complicated.

"Andy said every step of the way that he wanted to be a Yankee," Cashman said. "I remember him telling me at one point in this process, 'Cash, if you guys want me back, we will find a way to get this thing done.' He honored that."

While the negotiations were described as cordial, the two sides had one major stumbling block to get past. The 36-year-old's agents, Randy and Alan Hendricks, advised Pettitte that the Yankees' initial offer -- one year at $10.5 million -- represented too large of a pay cut it represents from the $16 million he earned in each of the last two seasons.

Pettitte said that he believed Cashman's word that the Yankees wanted him back, and once he had decided to pitch in November, he decided that it would only be for the Yankees.

He did check in with Joe Torre at one point about possible relocation out west, but even the Dodgers manager expected Pettitte would eventually hammer something out in New York.

"I felt quite sure that one way or the other, we were going to get something worked out," Pettitte said. "I'd be lying if I didn't say, 'Heck, is this going to ever get done?' It was taking so long. I was very impatient, and it tried my patience. But I just trusted that things would work out."

Though Randy Hendricks said that he was certain Pettitte could have found more money in free agency, he was tethered to his client's wishes of pitching for only the Yankees. Pettitte isn't thrilled about the pay cut, but the end destination is what he was more concerned with.

"I guess it does take a shot at your pride a little bit," Pettitte said. "But when you put all that aside, I wanted to play for the New York Yankees. That was the bottom line. I wanted to be there and play in that new stadium."

The Yankees remained unwilling to budge from the neighborhood of their original offer, exhibiting tight wallets in harsh contrast to the $423.5 million in combined commitments that wooed CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett and Mark Teixeira.

Hot Stove
After the Yankees inked Teixeira to an eight-year, $180 million deal two days before Christmas, even Pettitte began to wonder if there would be anything left in the organization's coffers for him.

Had Pettitte not agreed to get creative with the structure of his deal, there might not have been. After completing business at the Winter Meetings in Las Vegas, Cashman met with Pettitte face-to-face in Houston on Dec. 11, a detour that set the negotiations back on track.

There, Pettitte informed Cashman that he had "absolutely no problem" with the idea of an incentive-based contract, a concept that the Steinbrenners signed off on. With less than three weeks remaining before Yankees pitchers and catchers report to Tampa, Fla., Hendricks called Pettitte and informed him that the club had made its last offer.

"I think Cash and I both knew that if we don't get it done now, we'll probably never get it done, and time will pass this by," Hendricks said. "We just made a committed effort to roll up our sleeves and put a pencil to everything."

Pettitte said that, having heard the final parameters, his response did not require much thought.

"We were at the end of the line and I needed to make a decision," Pettitte said. "I'm extremely happy to be coming back."

Hendricks was asked if his camp had any regrets in not taking the original flat offer of $10.5 million, which would have represented a $5.5 million cut. Instead, Pettitte is taking a gamble by decreasing his base pay by $10.5 million.

"I think time will tell," Hendricks said. "If in fact Andy does in 2009 what he's done before, he'll actually make more money, so in that case we'll have no regrets. If things go wrong, we might be in a position to say we should have taken the left fork in the road."

If Pettitte remains healthy and performs to caliber, an increase should be reachable. Last season, Pettitte was 14-14 with a 4.54 ERA in 33 starts last season and has logged at least 200 innings in four straight seasons.

But he was hampered by a shoulder injury that forced him to falter down the stretch last year, going 2-7 with a 6.23 ERA over his last 11 starts. The Yankees ordered a medical exam on Pettitte late in September and were pleasantly surprised when it came back clean, with only rest needed to restore Pettitte's strength.

Pettitte slots in as the likely fourth starter in a rotation that will be headlined by Sabathia and Burnett. Chien-Ming Wang is expected to serve as the No. 3 starter, coming back from his season-ending foot injury, and Joba Chamberlain rounds out the rotation as the No. 5 starter.

"I'm very excited about it," Pettitte said. "With every signing that we did, for me, it was, 'OK, I'm coming back. I want to be part of this.' I just think that we're going to have an unbelievable staff."

hector lopez..

Héctor Headley López Swainson

(born July 9, 1929 (possibly April 8, 1932) in Colón, Panama) is a former left fielder and third baseman in Major League Baseball who played for the Kansas City Athletics and New York Yankees from 1955 to 1966.[1] He is notable as the first black manager at the AAA baseball level, as the third outfielder on the Maris/Mantle Yankees, and as the Kansas City Athletics franchise hitting streak record holder. López was on World Series Championship teams for the Yankees in 1961 and 1962. In various seasons, he finished among the top 10 American League hitters in hits, runs batted in, runs scored, doubles, triples, slugging percentage, sacrifice flies, sacrifice hits, games played, times hit by pitch and at bats. He was also known for his hustle and his clutch hitting.

López was the second Panamanian-born major league baseball player and continues to be one of the country's most revered world champion athletes. Although Humberto Robinson (102 games played/5 seasons) debuted in the major leagues 22 days earlier than López, López (1,450 games played/12 seasons) was the first of the 49 major leaguers born in Panama to have an extensive career.[3] He was the first Panamanian-born major leaguer to finish in the top 10 in any official statistical category (sacrifice hits, 1956); first to lead his league in any official statistic (sacrifice flies, 1958); first to play in the World Series (with the 1960 Yankees); and the first to win a World Championship (with the 1961 Yankees).

He was an infielder for the Athletics, and later was often the third outfielder on the Maris/Mantle Yankees of the early and mid-1960s. López had his most successful season in 1959, but continued to contribute effectively during the early 60s during their pennant successes. The utility player divided his career almost equally between infield and outfield positions. After retiring from baseball, he went on to become a groundbreaking manager in minor league baseball as the first to break the baseball color line as a black manager at the AAA level for the Buffalo Bisons and then served in various international managerial and coaching positions.

robbie cano....don'tcha know!

January 26, 2009

Maybe Robinson Cano's 2008 struggles were the best thing to happen to the 26-year-old second baseman.

Cano's bat heated up with the weather again last season, but not enough after he hit a woeful .151 in April. He ended the season at a pedestrian .271 with 14 home runs and 72 RBIs.

Cano played winter ball in the Dominican Republic, his home country, and he will play on their World Baseball Classic team.

"It's motivation for me this year," Cano told MLB.com. "Now I know I have to start from the beginning this year, in April, not in June. I have to start early now."

Most would consider that common sense, but with the way Cano was performing in the dog days of summer it was tough to complain about his work ethic. In December, The Post's Joel Sherman spoke with a scout who had watched Cano play in the Dominican Republic and was impressed with his performance.

"Cano looked good," the scout said. "He is playing for the worst team in the (Dominican) league, but his at-bats looked like the old Robinson Cano Robinson Cano to me. He was swinging the bat with authority."

Though Cano's numbers did improve as the major-league season progressed last season, it was nowhere near the production he put forward in the first three years of his career. Cano hit .301 after July, August and September in 2008, compared to a career .330 average during those three months in his first three seasons. Cano's off-year led to speculation he might be traded this offseason.

"I heard a lot of rumors, but I never pay attention," Cano said. "I've been through that the last four years, every year they say I'm going to get traded. If it happens, I have to keep playing."

andy carey

Andy Carey is one of the least-remembered regulars on the great New York Yankees teams of the 1950's that often won the World Series. Carey was the regular third baseman from 1954-58. He led the American League with 11 triples in 1955. The Yankees won the World Series four times while he was with them.

He closed out his major league career with the 1962 Los Angeles Dodgers who won 102 games.

Gil McDougald was the third baseman when Carey came up, but by 1954 Gil had moved over to second base to accomidate Carey.

He married actress Lucy Marlow in 1955. His hobby was photography. After baseball he went into the brokerage business in California. Source: Glamor Girl Lucy Marlow.
[edit] Notable Achievements

* AL Triples Leader (1955)
* Won two World Series with the New York Yankees (1956 and 1958)

tom tresh...

Tom Tresh: What Might Have Been
The Yankees' Switch Hitter Was Similar to His Idol, Mickey Mantle.

© Harold Friend

Jan 17, 2008
After winning the 1962 Rookie of the Year Award, it was expected that Tresh would join the other Yankees greats. It was not to be.

Tom Tresh batted .315 at Richmond, the top Yankees’ farm team, in 1961. He became a Yankee in 1962 and after hitting .286 with 20 home runs and 93 RBIs, the Yankees’ switch hitting shortstop won the Rookie of the Year Award. At the age of twenty-five, it was expected that he would go on to be one of the all time great Yankees, but that didn’t happen.
World Series Hero

Tresh took over for Tony Kubek at shortstop in 1962 because Tony had to serve in the army. When Tony returned at the end of the season, Tresh moved to left field and helped to defeat the Giants in the 1962 World Series by hitting a three run home run to win pivotal Game 5 and making a great catch of a wind blown Willie McCovey line drive to preserve a 1 run Yankees’ lead in Game 7.
Sub-Par Seasons

But Tresh would match his rookie year in only one other season. His home run total increased to 25 in his 1963, but his RBI total dropped to 71 and he hit only .269 as an outfielder, since Kubek returned from the army. In 1964, Tom’s batting average dipped to .246 with only 16 home runs. He made a comeback in 1965, hitting .279 with 26 home runs, but the Yankees had been sold to CBS and they entered the Mike Burke era of disingenuousness. Burke was in charge when the Yankees traded Roger Maris to the Cardinals for Charlie Smith and Clete Boyer to the Braves for Bill Robinson. He kept telling the fans that they were important, but he really meant that their money was what was important.
The Yankees Finished Tenth

In 1966 the Yankees finished last in the ten team American League. Tresh hit .233 with 27 home runs. Some attributed his poor season to the fact that he tried to play third base for ten weeks but he followed his .233 with seasons in which he hit .219, .195, and .182 before he was traded to the Tigers on June 14, 1969.
Tresh's Bad Right Knee

Part of the problem was that Tresh had a bad right knee. Tresh hurt the knee when he made a quick stop and throw and caught his right knee in the grass along the left field foul line in a 1967 exhibition game. Tresh said that “It felt like the bottom part of the leg had separated from the top part.” There was cartilage damage and the knee was never the same.
Mantle Was His Idol

It is ironic that Tresh suffered similar injuries as his idol, Mickey Mantle. Both were switch-hitting shortstops who were moved to the outfield and whose careers were affected by knee problems. When Mickey retired, Tresh was affected greatly, not knowing that he too would soon no longer be playing for the Yankees. In March, when it was apparent that Mickey would not play, Tresh told reporters that “I don’t think anybody misses Mickey right now because we haven’t seen him in five months. But in a couple of months, that’s when it’ll sink in. I know it will for me. Mickey’s locker is next to mine at the Stadium. After every game, I’d go and get a beer for both of us and we’d sit and discuss the game. And I used to ride up to the ballpark with Mickey when we stayed at the same hotel. I’ll miss him as a friend.” Three months later, Tresh was traded to the Tigers for Ron Woods. He retired after the season.

ed figueroa

in 1978 easy ed had an era of 2.99 and was the first puerto rican pitcher to win 20 games...
* 15 Wins Seasons: 4 (1975-1978)
* 20 Wins Seasons: 1 (1978)
* 200 Innings Pitched Seasons: 4 (1975-1978)
* Won two World Series with the New York Yankees (1977 & 1978; he did not play in the 1977 World Series)

on todd drew's passing

todd was a fellow yankee blogger and an excellent writer...if you love or have loved baseball you need to read this,his last column...

Baseball and Me

By Todd Drew

I went to a baseball game after my father’s funeral. I also went to one after finding out about my mother’s brain cancer.

It was selfish and heartless. I felt guilty before and embarrassed after, but for nine innings I felt only the game. That’s the way it’s always been between baseball and me.

It was my friend when I didn’t have any others. And it has always been there to talk or listen or simply to watch.

Baseball helps me forget and it makes me remember. That’s why it was exactly what I needed on the worst days of my life.

But there were no games when a doctor told me that I had cancer. The neighborhood was out of baseball on that cold November day. No one was playing at Franz Sigel Park or John Mullaly Park. And there wasn’t even a game of catch in Joyce Kilmer Park. The last game at the old Yankee Stadium was long gone and Opening Day at the new Yankee Stadium was long off.

So I went home and wished for one of those summer days when I was a kid and my mother would send me to the ballpark with a paper sack stuffed with her famous tuna-fish sandwiches. That was back when you could slip through a delivery gate with the beer kegs and watch batting practice. And it was always okay to come home late with a beat-up scorecard and popcorn stuck between your teeth.

The doctor told me that tomorrow’s surgery and chemotherapy treatment might keep me in the hospital for 10 days.

“At least it’s December,” I said. “There aren’t any ballgames to miss.”

And I will be ready to slip through a delivery gate with the beer kegs when the new Yankee Stadium opens. I’ll watch batting practice with one of my mother’s famous tuna-fish sandwiches and come home late with a beat-up scorecard and popcorn stuck between my teeth.

Cancer can’t change the way it will always be between baseball and me.

trades....

keep swisher and nady, the yanks need gamers,guys that get dirty, start or come off the bench,play hard and stay fairly healthy
these guys do that.

managers cards...

always a little disappointed when one of the cards from the pack was a manager...unless it was the yanks...you felt like he was your manager as well...
click title above to go to a cool card site...
below is a 1967 ralph houk...topps # 468