Who are your favorite Yankees?

#1. Bernie Williams
#2. Derek Jeter
#3. Mariano Rivera
#4. Hideki Matsui
#5. Mike Mussina

Wasn’t old enough for guys like Mattingly, so its gotta be Bernie. It stills saddens me what happened with him though.

I remember watching WPIX Channel 11 and the promo/intro to the Yankee song included a replay of Dent’s home run at Fenway and the baseball then became an animated ball that shot all the way up to fill the screen, etc., etc. I VAGUELY remember watching the series the two previous years, the Reggie 3 HR game etc. (I was 4!). For that era Dent was my favorite, Reggie my sister’s, Graig Nettles my dad’s and Sweet Lou Pinella my mom’s. My little brother was too young to have a favorite.

In the 80’s my favorite player was Rickey Henderson. When they picked him up from the A’s he was an instant superstar and a flashy player I couldn’t resist with his leadoff power, base-stealing ability (mayhem!), and snap catches. My dad’s and little brother’s favorite in the 80’s was Mattingly, my sister’s was Winfield I think, and not sure about my mom. Guidry was also a favorite of mine by then but I feel like I didn’t get to see him at the Stadium as often as I’d have liked – always being unlucky and getting guys like Rasmussen, Tewksbury, etc. (or Pascual or Melido Perez, who were pretty good or any of the multitude in the revolving pitcher door of the 80’s).

In the 90’s Bernie was my favorite. I remember catching wind of him when he was drafted at like age 17 out of Puerto Rico and followed his rise to the majors, his early struggles with Mel Hall picking on him, etc., and his eventual rise to ‘94/’95 prominence and ‘96+ heroics, etc. Pettitte too. And I’m almost over his following the dirtbag Clemens to Houston for the 2-3 yrs he did, and the crap he did under Clemens’ “wing”.

Now it’s just gotta be Derek. Gotta be. For how good he’s been and for how long, I think he deserves all the credit people can heap on him, and deserves little or none of the scorn.

From before my time my favorite is The Mick. He was my dad’s favorite and I identify with the struggles he had in his life with the alcohol, etc. Of all the HOF, all-time great Yanks of before my time, he’s my favorite.

i dont really know why, but he was always my favorite of those 90s yankees. next has gonna come mariano, then jeter. though whitey ford played in the 50s and 60s, so alot of people have watched him play. on an aside, my friend’s grandfather was actually at game 3 of the 32 world series and said the called shot never happened. though hes a huge cubs fan and hates the yankees so i wouldnt trust him on that.

Mussina. He was awesome

Thats easy.

1. Don Mattingly
2. Derek Jeter
3. Alex Rodriguez
4. Mariano Rivera
5. Mike Mussina

I grew up watching Mattingly, and although I didn’t start watching a whole lot until he was in the decline, I always admired him, his mustache, and his performance in the postseason.

Jeter for obvious reasons

A-Rod I didn’t always love. In fact I never even liked him at one point. I never booed him like other Yankees fans, but I can’t say I was an “A-Rod fan”. Until last year. Yea he had 2007 where he carried the team to the postseason. And he’s put up unbelievable MVP caliber numbers every single season. But last year was really the first season I started to love him as one of my favorite players. He takes so much shit from every direction, and he deals with it. He’s a lot tougher than people give him credit for, when you consider all the insults he takes. And he was able to put all his faults and all the insults, the doubters, aside and have the postseason of a lifetime. I really admired that.

Rivera- Best closer of all time. My favorite pitcher of all time. All this success, with one pitch? Thats great.

Mussina- Favorite starting pitcher of all time. I love the way in 2008 when he came back from that awful 2007 and reinvented himself, and then had a career year, winning 20 games (I never doubted once that he would get himself straightened out, by the way).

If we were doing a top 10, Tino Martinez, Bernie Williams, Andy Pettitte, Hideki Matsui, and Paul O’neil would be the next 5.

1. Derek Jeter – My first baseball memories involve him playing in the minors when I was about 4-5 years old.
2. Mariano Rivera – When I think about Mo I consider myself truly lucky that I’m able to watch him pitch. I don’t think there will ever be another like him and he is one of the all time greats in all of baseball.
3. Alex Rodriguez – Yes, A-Rod. You’d be surprised how many people give you strange looks when you say that. He is an amazing player and athlete. Despite all the media hoopla, I love watching him play and I’d love to watch him break the HR record in pinstripes.
4. Lou Gehrig – Obviously I am far too young to have ever seen Lou play, but he has always been someone I consider to be one of my favorite Yankees. A very classy guy judging from everything I’ve seen, read, and heard. I would have loved to watch him play.
5. Andy Pettitte – My favorite Yankee starting pitcher of all time. Andy is one of those guys I trust to get a big win. He may never make the Hall, and he may not be the best guy in the game, but I am continually impressed with what he does. He just seems to get better and better as he gets older.

Honorable Mentions: Mickey Mantle and guys who are quickly becoming favorites like Cano and Swisher.

1. Mattingly
2. Henderson
3. Jeter
4. Williams
5. Rivera
6. Posada
7. Winfield
8. Pettitte
9. Pagliarulo
10. Randolph

Current:

1. Jeter
2. A-Rod
3. Cano
4. CC
5. Rivera

Past (never saw any of these guys play, but I like them for various reasons). Theres a bunch of others, but these are probably my top 5:

1. Mantle
2. Willie Randolph
3. Mattingly
4. Reggie Jackson
5. Gehrig

Honorable mention of some guys that I liked that still play and aren’t on the team anymore: Alfonso Soriano, Matsui, Damon, Gary Sheffield (hes a free agent and an asshole, but I still liked him), Abreu, Giambi

1. Mariano Rivera
2. Robinson Cano
3. Derek Jeter
4. Tino Martinez
5. Andy Pettitte

Also close to the top 5 are Jorge Posada, Hideki Matsui, Paul O’Neill, Andy Pettitte and Alex Rodriguez.

1) Derek Jeter
2) Mariano Rivera

Derek
Thurm
Mo
Reggie
Donnie
Lou Pinella
Brett Gardner
Paulie O
Nettles
Goose
I saw the Mick but it was the very end of his playing days you can also add Willie, Bernie, Cano

Farnsy
Tom Gordon
Paul Quantrill
Tanyon
Graeme LLoyd
Erik Almonte
Ruben Sierra
Rondell White.

A decade and a half years old but I been watching baseball for the past 9 years. With that…

1. Derek Jeter – I always liked Jete. Hes an amazing talent and also an amazing person. He could teach you a thing or two how to be as a person. Classy and respectful. Plus he brought 5 rings to Ny.
2. Alex Rodriguez – A-Rod used to be my favorite until I heard about steroids. It just made Jeter move a spot ahead. The HR was always my favorite part of baseball as a kid and seeing him his 50+ in 2007 I went nuts.
3. Mariano Rivera – Shutting down games since the late 90’s. No one will realize how good it is to automatically have a win in the 9th. We will once Mo leaves.
4. Robinson Cano – Came through with the Yankees system like Jeter and Mo, but I always liked him because I saw him break in. Screw Tony Womack! We had Robbie Cano on the bench. Great hitter and his glove is getting better.
5. The others – I really don’t have a 5th favorite. Its usually whoever is helping us at the time. I love Posada, Pettitte, Teixeira, Swisher, Sabathia, Burnett, for what they done last year and over the years. Hell Grandy’s been climbing the ranks too. I guess it will take a great playoff moment to decide this.

1) Don Mattingly – The guy who got me into this great game, such a joy to watch. The total package, did it with the bat, the glove and did it the right way.
2)Mariano Rivera – Sorry Whitey, the most important Yankees pitcher of all time. The best Yankees pitcher too.
3)Andy Pettitte – There have been games where we all wanted to kill Pettitte, but the guy wants to win as much any player I have ever watched. His 1996 WS game 5 performance is a favorite, since he came back from a drubbing in game 1 and out pitched the great John Smoltz
4)Bernie Williams – Such a graceful player, he proved Mel Hall(what a disgrace he became BTW) wrong. I remember when he came up wearing the glasses, he really was the first player I saw develop into a great player.
5)David Cone – A guy who always gave it his all even when he didnt have his best. Without him, I dont think we win all those titles. The end of his perfect game always gives me goosebumps.

Honorable mention
Hideki Matsui, Jorge Posada, Dave Righetti, Dave Winfield, Darryl Strawberry, Tino Martinez

and I only got to see a broken down Donnie Baseball too, aside from a decent 93.

1) Jeets – privilege to see his whole career. Amazing that he’s Yanks all time hit leader. And only one to get 3000 hits.
2) MO – GOAT
3) Jorge Posada – too much hate for Jorgey over the years.
4) Bernie Williams – in many organizations, would be the best CF in the team’s history. The Yanks? yea..right.
5) Andy Pettitte- still going strong, and I don’t care why.

Honerables- Luis Sojo, Tino Martinez, Paul O’Neil, Joe Torre, Chad Curtis, Mike Mussina, David Cone, David Wells, Ramiro Mendoza, Robinson Cano, Alex Rodriguez, Nick Swisher, Francisco Cervelli, Andrew Brackman

1) Tino Martinez, just a classy, fiery ballplayer that had to win.
2) Alex Rodriguez, I was a fan of his when he was an M. Still love his power.
3) Andy Pettitte, complete class, he cried when the Yanks didn’t re-sign him.
4) Paul O’Neill, now that’s a guy that needed to win, loved his attitude.
5) Derek Jeter, kinda low on this list, but not much you can say bad about him, if anything.
6) Mariano Rivera, also low on the list—but still the greatest closer in history
7) Mike Mussina, a total work-horse. Hopefully the Next Yankee Hall of Famer
8) Robinson Cano, maybe the best 2nd baseman in the last 50 years? Ever?
9) Don Mattingly, only got to see the deteriorating Mattingly, but still a great Yankee.

Current:

1. Mo
2. Jeter
3. Andy
4. Jorge
5. Cano

Past

1. Mantle
2. Donnie
3. Gehrig
4. Thurman
5. Yogi

1. Mattingly
2. Jeter
3. Munson
4. Cano
5. Mo/Lyle