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 Your Favorite Yankees CNN/SI asked for your favorite Yankees players of alltime. Chuck Knoblauch wasn't mentioned, but here's a selection of some who were. Click here to submit your own favorite Yankee.
Posted: Mon October 12, 1998
—Aileen Julianna Crowley, Phoenix
Phil
Rizzuto—When I was in grade school during the late '40s and
early '50s the nuns allowed us to listen to the Series on
the P.A. system and the Yanks were always in the Series! I
would run home for lunch and my mother would have my lunch
ready on a TV tray in
front of the black-and-white TV. Once my parents took my
brother and I to St. Louis to see the Browns and the
Yankees play and we got to stay at the same hotel (The
Chase Park Plaza) as "MY" Yankees—I later
found out that they had to sacrifice in order to
pay for staying there. Coming down on the elevator I
whispered to my dad that Allie Reynolds and Phil Rizzuto
were on the elevator with us and I got their autographs ...
and they are framed today in my
study!
Paul
O'Neill is one of the class acts in all of baseball. He has the
ability to step up and make the big play whether it be with
the bat, the glove or his underrated throwing arm. He has
a passion that is not found in many other professional
athletes. He is what
Yankee Baseball is all
about.
Thurman
Munson was my favorite alltime Yankee. He was not the best
athlete, but he made use of the tools that he had. He did
his job quietly, well, and challenged The Boss when he
needed to. One of the biggest tragedies in Yankee history
is that we never got to
see him fill out his career. I was about 10 years old when he
died, but I think if I was 30, I would've cried just as
hard.
Roger
Maris is still my favorite Yankee. Actually he is the only
Yankee that I will ever like. Most of this stems from the
fact that he is a North Dakota boy, and the reason that I
hate all other Yankees is for the way that his teammates
and the organization
treated him. All the while he was bringing attention to the
Yankees, the players and management we all treating him
with disrespect behind his back. Without him the Yankees
would not have won the World Series that year since
everyone's god-child Mantle was
unable to handle the pressure of the home run race and
pulled a fake injury. It was Maris who carried that team
for the years that he was there. Do you really think that
Mantle would have had those great years without Maris
behind him to protect him?
I don't think so. As far as I am concerned I hope the
Yankees fail big in the playoffs and never reach the World
Series
again.
Joe Torre. He is a leader with character, and a picture of calm, a
giver of compassion, who manages with canny calculation,
yet comprehends that it's far more important for a patient
with cancer to be the conqueror, than it is for a team to
lay claim to the title
of
champions.
Mickey Mantle. I grew up in northern Maine, where everyone was a Red Sox
fan. Something drew me to the Yankees. To me they
represented class, confidence and success. When I was nine
years old, my father took me to my first major league game,
the Yankees vs. the Red
Sox at Fenway Park. I can still see the Mick's mammoth home
run disappearing into the right field seats. Yankees 8, Red
Sox 0. I was hooked for life as a Yankees fan, despite
more than a decade of futility. To me, Mickey Mantle was
strength and speed,
everything a baseball player was supposed to be. He wasn't
a perfect human being, but he made a little boy very happy.
To me he'll always be "the man". I'm still a
Yankee fan in Red Sox territory, and proud of
it.
Sorry guys, it's a tie... Dave Winfield: he used to live in Teaneck and paid for renovations of parks and was consistently kind to children (example: Halloween trick-or-treaters at his house) Paul
O'Neill: Mr. Intensity. Plus, he's consistent and a realist.
O'Neill surely could have signed for more than he did, but
comments, "How much can I spend?" at his press
conference. He loves N.Y. and the city loves
him.
Don Mattingly. Never was there a player who truly embodied the spirit of
what it meant to be a New York Yankee as did Donnie
Baseball. Although he'll probably never be enshrined in
Cooperstown since his post-'88 numbers don't match up with
those of most Hall of
Famers, #23 will be immortalized in the hearts of all Yankee fans
who saw him play. His character and leadership carried us
through the dismal early-'90s seasons to the renaissance we
are experiencing now. The only shame is that he didn't get
to play in the
World Series in '96. But in the hearts of the Yankee
faithful, there was never a greater champion. His work
ethic and determination, even in his worst seasons, made
him a perfect role model for New York-area kids. The
President of the United States could
learn a few things about integrity from the
Hitman.
Reggie
Jackson. Although he caused a lot of turmoil in the Bronx,
nothing meant more to him than winning and nothing less was
accepted by him. I admired his style as
well!
Lou
Gehrig stands above others as what a Yankee should be. A native
of New York himself, he embodied all that was New York (the
son of immigrants) and the Yankees (an unmatched record of
greatness over a very long time) by playing hard and doing
it day-in and
day-out. And when it was time for him to leave, he did so with
perhaps the greatest speech in sports
history.
It's tough to pick a favorite, but I sure did enjoy
watching
Goose
Gossage pitch, and
Graig
Nettles play third, especially in the the late '70s. The bottom
line is I love the Yanks because they embrace tradition,
style and class (especially as of late). They manage to
succeed in one of the toughest towns in which to play
professional sports. The '80s
and early '90s were certainly no joy ride, but it was worth
the
wait.
Willie
Randolph is my favorite Yankee of all-time. Willie was my childhood
idol because he represented, to me, what the game is all
about. He played hard everyday and was a true sportsman,
showing class on and off the field. Willie personifies what
being a Yankee
really
means.
My favorite Yankee of all time is
George
Steinbrenner. What a shocker, but George is a great man who is
misunderstood. All he wants to do is win..No matter who he
alienates or fires, he'll always bring them back to the
Bronx. He continues to go out and spend big money for
big-time players. He may have
made mistakes (Jay Buhner) but always learns from them (David
Cone, Chuck Knoblauch, Reggie Jackson and El Duque). George
goes for talent and has a win-now attitude. To hell with
planning for the future ... win
now!
Bobby
Richardson is my favorite Yankee of all time. He was an
exceptionally fine defensive player and a consummate
professional. Richardson's contributions were lost in the
lineup of great Yankee players in the 1960s. Bobby
Richardson was a positive role model long
before America realized that we needed
them.
Yogi Berra. He was baseball. No flash, just a baseball man on a team
of superstars. He played with grit and never never quit.
He never cried and at least appeared to love the Yankees.
I think he hit more homers on balls than strikes. His life
was baseball and
his love was baseball. Baseball never had a better role
model for any walk of life. If we all put the effort in
our lives that Yogi put in baseball, it would truly be a
better
world.
Mickey
Rivers—He was hard to get out. You didn't know if he was
hitting away or bunting. His lightning speed on the bases
made pitchers terribly nervous. A routine ground ball had
to be fielded clean or Mickey was legging out a
single.
Joe
DiMaggio, the Yankee Clipper. My grandpa used to take me to see the
Norfolk Tars play. His favorite was Phil
"Scooter" Rizzuto. Now this was back in the early
'30s, around '33 or '34. I was five at the time. Many of
the great Yankees played for the Norfolk
Tars, however, Joe DiMaggio came through their West Coast farm
system. When the Yankees played the Tars in the spring on
their way north, I first saw Joe play. He was my idol. His
swing was so beautiful. His power was amazing. Thru his
years with the
Yankees, his was what baseball was all about. A class Yankee and a
class gentleman who was a role model for a little boy who
now is an old man with fond memories of my Yankees and Joe
DiMaggio.
Whitey
Ford—He always seemed to pitch well enough to win, whether
he needed to shut down the competition or could give up six
or seven runs. I saw many times when he gave up two hits in
an inning and would then shut out the other
batters.
Pasqual
Perez and
Melido
Perez. They were never were able to truly demonstrate their
abilities.
Babe
Ruth made baseball "America's Pastime" back in the
'20s and has to be considered one of the top baseball
players of all time, probably
the greatest. Combined with a larger-than-life personality,
his fan-friendliness, and impact on American sports and
culture (especially at a time when baseball needed
it)—he's the
best!!
My favorite Yankee ever was
Ricky
Henderson. He is the best leadoff man to ever play the game and best
base-stealer. Growing up I imitated everything this guy did
on the field. Things like my batting stance, taking my
lead at first, and even perfecting the infamous "Ricky
snatch" in the
outfield. He is a nice guy overall, and is guaranteed a spot in
Cooperstown.
Bucky
Dent is my favourite Yankee of alltime. His image at shortstop
at Yankee Stadium will indelibly be etched in my memory.
Why? For one, he was a Yankee shortstop; my favourite
team and my favorite position. Secondly, his
name—Bucky —has got to be one of
the quintessential baseball names. Although not flashy, he
played shortstop as consistently well and reliably as any
Yankee ever. And finally, I will never forget seeing him
hit the home run to beat the Red Sox in that one-game
playoff.
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