Yankees All-Time Roster: Left Field
by Brandon C. on Sep 4, 2010 10:00 PM EDT
in Miscellaneous
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PrintDue to the substantial number of outfielders and the job of separating the players by position I am going to leave you the option of choosing all of the candidates in the poll. I will do this for each outfield position. Remember, get the position in the outfield right! Example: Don't put Bernie Williams for left field poll, wait until the center field poll.
Please read rules after the jump.
Top vote getter makes the roster as a starter, no others are guaranteed a spot.
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thanks for all your help (sarcasm)
but i get it now…
They didn't let me out, they just gave me a day pass.
I'm gonna go with one of my dad's all time favorites
A man whose autographed pic resides in my room
Roy White
One day you will find him striking out the Sox side in a Champagne IvanNova in the sky
I am Curtis Granderson, and so should you
http://twitter.com/MattF15
by MattF15 on Sep 4, 2010 10:21 PM EDT via mobile reply actions 1 recs
I'll rec that
I met him in ‘78 or ’79 when he was speaking at a dinner function for the company my Dad worked for. I don’t remember anything he talked about, but my Dad said he was pretty funny. I got an autographed baseball from him, but lost it some years later.
Usqueadbaugham! Anam muck an dhoul ! Did ye drink me doornail?
my grandad had a baseball signed by the '27 yankees team.
but when he died nobody knew where it was…its a shame.
They didn't let me out, they just gave me a day pass.
my grandpa has a ball like that
He got it signed by the Newark Bears team in the 30s or 40s during spring training. Most of those players went on to play for the Yankees. It is (or was a couple years ago) on display at the New Jersey Historical Society museum in Newark.
wow
thats cool. see, i would keep it for myself if i were him. i couldnt bear to part with it.
They didn't let me out, they just gave me a day pass.
lol, i'm pretty sure my grandparents didn't actually give it to the historical society
grandma volunteers there
Left field is really a vacant field for the Yankees. Most of the best Yankee outfielders played mostly Center or Right.
But, going by the rules of the poll, I’d say:
Dave Winfield, Hideki Matsui, Charlie Keller and Bob Meusel
by DougGreen on Sep 4, 2010 10:24 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs
The only really great left fielder i can think of is Dave Winfield...
They didn't let me out, they just gave me a day pass.
by TheMelkman on Sep 4, 2010 10:27 PM EDT reply actions 2 recs
He played mostly LF
and a little bit of Center
Having never seen him play myself I will go by baseball reference.
They have him as primarily a left fielder in four seasons (81,82,83,90)
They have him as primarily a right fielder in five seasons (84,85,86,87,88)
Those are all his Yankee seasons, the rest of his career he was a right fielder or DH.
Crowds are won and lost and won again, but our hearts beat for the diehards.
by Edwantsacracker on Sep 5, 2010 3:24 AM EDT up reply actions
Rickey, Charlie Keller, Sweet Lou, Bob Meusel
"Have faith in the Yankees, my son. Think of the great DiMaggio."
For the record, I’d rather play Mantle in left.
"Have faith in the Yankees, my son. Think of the great DiMaggio."
+1
"Winning is the most important thing in my life, after breathing. Breathing first, winning next." -George Michael Steinbrenner III
by Chris McKeown on Sep 4, 2010 10:34 PM EDT up reply actions
So would I
The commenters from past polls said they want separate for each outfield position, rather than 3 outfielders all together. Can’t make everyone happy!
Writer for Pinstripe Alley, MLB Daily Dish
Follow me on twitter @nyybrandonc
Brandon C was too lazy to narrow the list down by himself!
"Winning is the most important thing in my life, after breathing. Breathing first, winning next." -George Michael Steinbrenner III
by Chris McKeown on Sep 4, 2010 10:34 PM EDT reply actions 4 recs
Rec'd
Not saying it’s true….
Writer for Pinstripe Alley, MLB Daily Dish
Follow me on twitter @nyybrandonc
Correct me if I'm wrong
but I thought Winfield wasn’t a left fielder, as did jscape, correct?
Writer for Pinstripe Alley, MLB Daily Dish
Follow me on twitter @nyybrandonc
Actually, with the Yankees, he mostly played LF
About 70-75% of his games with the Yanks were in LF, with the others mostly at CF, and some at DH.
I'll put him in there
Worst case scenario I just give the second place guy the win.
Writer for Pinstripe Alley, MLB Daily Dish
Follow me on twitter @nyybrandonc
Your posted poll has omitted Winfield, WTF is that about
He’s the only genuinely great LF in Yankees history – although, as others have obviously mentioned, whomever between DiMaggio and Mantle doesn’t get CF would surely be the best pick for LF.
Thank you for your intellegence
If you look above, at the posted poll that has omitted Winfield, you will find Winfield!
Writer for Pinstripe Alley, MLB Daily Dish
Follow me on twitter @nyybrandonc
Actually no
You might not have refreshed your page, I added it about 10 minutes before the comment, see the comment above yours that specifically says “I’ll put him in there”
Writer for Pinstripe Alley, MLB Daily Dish
Follow me on twitter @nyybrandonc
open your eyes dude lol
"...we are all one consciousness experiencing itself subjectively. there is no such thing as death. life is only a dream and we are the imagination of ourselves..."
by Nine Inch Nails on Sep 4, 2010 11:34 PM EDT up reply actions
according to baseball reference, he played mostly left and center 1981-1983
84-88 mostly right with some center and left
90 he played 20 games in left field for us
Thank you for the research!
Writer for Pinstripe Alley, MLB Daily Dish
Follow me on twitter @nyybrandonc
This was a really hard one for me to choose because I don't know most of the choices
I didn’t vote fore Winfield because, as I mentioned above, he played more of his Yankee career in right field.
I wasn’t sure how to pick beyond that, so I just started comparing batting and fielding numbers (insert “numbers don’t tell the whole story” post here). I wasn’t impressed with Rickey Henderson because he was only with the Yankees 5 years, I wasn’t impressed with Sweet Lou because his numbers were also not that great in his 10 years with the Yankees, and I was also unimpressed with Bob Meusel for the same reasons.
Charlie Keller and Roy White looked like about the same player to me, but White had a better fielding percent, so that’s who I voted for.
Probably not the best method for choosing, but I thought it worked.
Winfield or Henderson for me ...
And I went with Henderson for the ultimate leadoff hitter. Not that this lineup needs a lot of stolen bases!
GGBG FTW
"...we are all one consciousness experiencing itself subjectively. there is no such thing as death. life is only a dream and we are the imagination of ourselves..."
by Nine Inch Nails on Sep 5, 2010 12:38 AM EDT up reply actions
I picked Winfield over Henderson..
Which is kinda funny because neither played left field as much as their other positions with the Yanks. Winfield played 719 games in Right, 351 in Left , and 77 in center. Winfield belongs on the RF list. Henderson played 321 in CF and 251 in LF(which was a lot more than I remembered) which is kinda odd to me. I always thought of Henderson as a CF due to his time with the Yankees but he played over 2400 of his nearly 2900 games in left. I know neither wouldve had a chance in the RF and CF polls though.
Take a long look at Keller
His career was interrupted by the war but his #s are great.
I feel sort of bad picking a guy like Henderson
For the sole reason that he was on the team for only 3 years… does anyone agree or disagree and why?
"Winning is the most important thing in my life, after breathing. Breathing first, winning next." -George Michael Steinbrenner III
It's Rickey Henderson
In 4.5 seasons with the Yankees, Henderson accumulated 35.4 WAR, 7.9/162 games. That WAR/162 is 5th highest among 5-year peaks for Yankee position players (after Ruth, Mantle, Gehrig, & Dimaggio). He was worth 220 batting runs and 56 fielding runs during that span.
Dave Winfield is at best 3rd among Yankee LFs. In 10 seasons with NY (one of which was lost to injury), Winfield accumulated 26.5 WAR, playing at the same time as Henderson. During that time, he was worth 220 batting runs (same as Henderson, twice the time) and -79 fielding runs (which is awful, even for LF).
Repeat: Rickey Henderson was substantially more valuable as a Yankee than Winfield, especially when you consider the time it took to accumulate that value.
George Keller is also a Yankee legend (peaking at 7.2 WAR/162), and I think he should be on the team. But as a reserve outfielder.
Because Rickey can do something important better than any other player in Yankee history…run and steal bases. Henderson stole something like 345 bases during his 4.5 years as a Yankee…which is the ALL-TIME Yankee SB record (Jeter might break it, but it will take him 3.5 times as long). He managed a .395 OBP during that period (.399 if you include his half-season in Oakland to finish 1989), basically equivalent to Jeter’s best run (.398).
Rickey Henderson is a Yankee stater, and also the leadoff man on the all-time roster.
I also think Mantle should be the DH, not a starting OF. Between his health issues & his average defense (Mantle was worth 19 fielding runs in his best 5 year period, and is -40 for his career), of all the great Yankee outfielders Mantle is the one who would benefit most from coming off the bench as a pure hitter.
You know what, there's no specific way we're supposed to pick (see also: MVP voting)
I have chosen to look at it as: who provided the most value at their position for a substantial (5-year) period.
Dave WInfield is a HOF, but he never hit a real peak.
Rickey Henderson is one of the 20 greatest position players of all time, and he played some of his peak years for the New York Yankees.
But hey, maybe you want to use “counting” stats to evaluate the two:
Henderson (4.5 Yankee seasons): 288/395/455 (OPS 850, OPS+ 135), 326 SB, 78 HR (15/season), 513 R (more than 100/season), plus arm according to TZ.
Winfield (9 seasons + 1 injured): 290/356/495 (OPS 851, OPS+134), 76 SB, 205 HR (22/season when he played), 76 SB, 722 R, 818 RBI, minus arm according to TZ (won a bunch of Gold Gloves, but Gold Gloves are worthless).
Henderson & Winfield were basically the same player in terms of total hitting ability, but Henderson had the best speed of any post-WWII player and was a plus defender.
by PortlandYankee on Sep 5, 2010 11:43 PM EDT up reply actions
Not as a Yankee, anyway
He had one MVP-caliber season with San Diego (WAR 8+), preceded by three years of 4.7 to 5. That was his peak.
But if we’re playing that game, Alex Rodriguez should be our SS and perhaps Wade Boggs our 3B.
Winfield’s 2 best seasons as a Yankee were 5.7 & 5.3 WAR. All-Star caliber, but nothing special. Henderson hit 10 as a Yankee in 1985 (one of the Top-100 seasons of all time), and never had a full Yankee season below 4.8.
by PortlandYankee on Sep 6, 2010 1:01 AM EDT up reply actions
Oh, and those 5+ seasons were at opposite ends of his contract.
by PortlandYankee on Sep 6, 2010 1:04 AM EDT up reply actions
Winfield made the all star team every year he was a Yankee(cept the year he missed)
He also won numerous GG’s, nearly won a batting title in 84, he also received MVP votes in 6 of the 8 years he played in NY. He also won 5 Silver sluggers too. I know you love the WAR stuff, but there is more to it than that. You dont get to be a first ballot HOFer by being a mediocre guy. While I liked Henderson during his Yankee years, one has to wonder why if he was so awesome, why our Yankees got rid of him.
Most of these statistics are terrible measures of value
All-Star Games are meaningless. They mostly reward “big names” from big markets. You’re telling me that Derek Jeter deserved to start an All-Star game this year, and Brett Gardner didn’t?
Gold Gloves are meaningless. Palmeiro won a Gold Glove with 6 games at 1B. Not to pick on them too much, but Jeter and Bernie Williams won multiple Gold Gloves playing very poor defense. Like All-Star ballots, Gold Gloves are a popularity contest.
Silver Slugger is the batting equivalent of a Gold Glove.
MVP-votes are meaningless. Justin Morneau won an MVP when he was 3rd in value on his own team. Mo Vaughan has one. So does Dustin Pedroia. Juan Gonzalez has TWO.
Winfield was a very good player. He had a couple of great seasons (for SDG) and compiled the all-important 3000 hits. He’s a HOF by “big hall standards”, and probably a HOF by “small hall” standards, but he’s toward the bottom of the latter.
Rickey Henderson was a transcendent player, one of the true “pantheon” figures to play the game of baseball. 14th among position players in career value (Winfield is outside the Top-100). All-time leader in Runs and Stolen Bases. A career OPS (820) not far off Winfield (827), despite not being a “slugger”.
We can go by WAR (where Henderson was 50% more valuable than Winfield as a Yankee, and nearly twice as valuable as a player for his career),
Or we can go by more traditional metrics.
Counting the end of his 89 season in Oakland, from 85-89 Henderson had 513 R and 255 RBI (leadoff) off an OPS of .850. He stole 326 bases. Though he only won 1 GG, he has a career FP in LF of .979 and a career range of 2.41.
During his best 5-year stretch as a Yankee (81-85), Winfield had 446 R and 504 RBI (batting heart of the order, which inflates RBI) off an OPS of .857, but only stole 56 bases. Winfield’s FP in LF is .972 and his range 2.04. Despite winning 5 GG, Winfield was the inferior defender (he was actually much better at FP in RF, though his range was still very low).
So Winfield was a slightly better offensive hitter, but brought nothing on the basepaths and was a worse defender.
Or we can go by Linear Weights, the sum total of each player’s offensive production. In his 4.5 years with the Yankees, Henderson created 481 runs and had an offensive WP of .702 (if you just had a team made up of this player, they would win this often). From 1981-5, Winfield created 463 runs, for an Off. WP of .628.
In other words, a team of Rickey Hendersons would win 114 games, and a team of Dave Winfields would win 102, assuming both played equal defense.
There is just no conceivable statistical means by which you can justify putting Winfield’s best years as a Yankee against Henderson. Only when you rely on meaningless awards and even more meaningless traits like “personality” can you build a case.
by PortlandYankee on Sep 6, 2010 3:42 AM EDT up reply actions
Meaningless traits like personality?
You think a guy like Henderson who would rather be in the clubhouse playing cards or compiling stats makes him a more valuable than a guy like Winfield? I know WAR and the rest of the saber stuff doesnt measure the importance of how a guy acts in the clubhouse but leadership does hold some importance. I was never comparing Rickey and Winfield to begin with, just cant believe you make Winfield out to be an overrated bum. In his heyday, Winfield was one of the most feared sluggers in the game. Of course Winfield didnt have Rickey’s range, but he had a much better arm and was a much better athlete. You dont get drafted by teams in three different sports by being mediocre.
I find it funny that my original comment was about Winfield hitting his peak, and you turned it into Winfield vs Henderson. I always liked Rickey and think he is the best leadoff man in the history of the game and I do think he had more value than Winfield overall. Just think you are undervaluing Winfield and his accomplishments due to your obsession with WAR.
Wait - how do they do the fielding metrics for historical seasons?
I would think that it would be impossible to determine line drive/fly ball percentages in any real way, or figure the range values definitively unless you have a video source.
I'm shocked to have voted for Roy White
I had no idea he was so good. Henderson and Winfield were much better for the course of their careers, but Roy White was better as a Yankee. So he got my vote.
by long time listener on Sep 5, 2010 10:41 PM EDT reply actions
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