Reviewing the Yankees All-Supernova Team and its powerful lineup

The All-Supernova series is coming to an end as we focus on the 2022 regular season. All of the players have been revealed, but I wanted to take the time to announce the lineup with this final piece and go over everything.

Some players were slam-dunk choices, while others just missed the cut because of the strength of options at their position, and some concessions were made with weaker spots. Overall, I think this list of 13 ballplayers turned out pretty well.

Below is our squad, with linked articles on each player.

Yankees All-Supernova Pitching Staff

LH SP - Jimmy Key (1993-96)

RH SP - Chien-Ming Wang (2005-09)

RH RP - Dellin Betances (2011, 2013-19)

LH RP - Joe Page (1944-50)

While it wasn’t my intent at the beginning, a nice parallel was formed between the two starters and relievers, even if one must acknowledge the differences.

Wang and Key both joined the Yankees in transitional phases for the ball club. Key came in before the ‘93 season and provided stability for a few years to a team that would eventually go on and dominate baseball during the late ‘90s. While Wang joined a more accomplished core, he also came in at a time when the staff needed some fresh faces, and he ran with that opportunity.

Although Wang was a part of the 2009 team that won the World Series, it came after his injury and the Taiwanese player wasn’t the same. In 2018, he mentioned that he never wore the ring, as he didn’t feel quite a part of that championship roster. Jimmy Key also left just after the winning times began in 1996, and when the Yankees finished their three-peat in 2000, he had long since retired.

Both Page and Betances were imposing figures at the end of ballgames, and even though the former didn’t have the strikeout upside of Betances, his 15.1 career K% was well above the 9.5 MLB average at the time. Betances is still around and attempting a comeback on a minor league deal with the Dodgers, but even if he can’t return to his peak level, for five years, he was as dominant of a reliever as we have ever seen. That’s not an overstatement.

Yankees All-Supernova Lineup

1. Bobby Murcer - CF (1965-66, 1969-74, 1979-83)
2. Charlie Keller - LF (1939-43, 1945-49, ‘52)
3. Don Mattingly - 1B (1982-95)
4. Roger Maris - RF (1960-66)
5. Gil McDougald - SS (1951-60)
6. Ron Blomberg - DH (1969, 1971-76)
7. Mike Stanley - C (1992-95, ‘97)
8. Red Rolfe - 3B (1931, 1934-42)
9. Snuffy Stirnweiss - 2B (1943-50)

Much like with our pitching staff, you can see a pattern here in this particular lineup. There weren’t a ton of options that would fit our criteria, so I ultimately had to compromise a bit in terms of a balanced lineup.

I focused a lot on lineup construction with the Complementary Greats squad, but most of that had to do with an abundance of options in multiple positions. This lineup is left-handed heavy, but it was inevitable.

Murcer, Keller, Mattingly, and Maris were all choices beyond any sort of argument, each one fit the bill perfectly. As this is merely a hypothetical scenario, there’s no real harm, and I also doubt that any southpaw would be excited about facing this top four on any given day.

Mattingly is our team leader, captain, and even player/manager. A lot of this list came in a way to honor Donnie Baseball and remember just how great he was at his best.

Be sure to leave your favorite inductee in the comment section, and also feel free to name one player who you wish would’ve been discussed. Talk a little about what made that player special to you, and a true supernova in Yankee history.