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Alex Rodriguez drops lawsuit against MLB and MLB Players Association

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Alex Rodriguez has voluntarily dismissed his lawsuit against MLB, the MLB Players Association, and Bud Selig after today's deadline for his side to respond to the request for the case to be thrown out. The odds were always against Rodriguez emerging victorious in federal court in hopes of getting his 162-game suspension reduced, which might have been enough at this stage to make Rodriguez abandon the effort. Whatever slim chance Rodriguez had of at least having his suspension delayed until his case was heard in federal court is also now gone.

Considering the fact that this story has become a little crazier as time has passed, it's a little difficult to imagine that this might be the end of the legal aspect of the circus. It's always possible that there will be a new suit that Rodriguez prefers to pursue instead, like the one against Yankees team doctor Christopher Ahmad. For now, everyone should enjoy the momentary bit of peace. That peace will be short-lived if Rodriguez still plans to show up to spring training in Tampa at the end of the month.

Update:


Alex Rodriguez withdraws lawsuits, accepts suspension

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Rodriguez had previously been seeking to overturn his 162-game suspension on appeal.

New York Yankees star third baseman Alex Rodriguez has voluntarily dismissed two cases in court: the lawsuit against Major League Baseball and the Player's Union seeking to overturn his 162-game suspension, and the separate "witch hunt" lawsuit against commissioner Bud Selig and MLB. Both dismissals were reported by Jim Baumbach of Newsday Sports.

After arbiter Fredric Horowitz reduced A-Rod's proposed suspension from 211 games to 162, the player filed a suit seeking to overturn the suspension based in part on its unprecedented length. However, Baumbach reports that Friday was the deadline for Rodriguez's camp to respond to the league's request to toss the case, and that Rodriguez has opted to voluntarily dismiss it.

By dropping the lawsuit, Rodriguez has ended his pursuit to reduce or eliminate his suspension, reports Daniel Barbarisi of the Wall Street Journal. He will sit out the entire 2014 season, as well as the playoffs if his team qualifies, due to his involvement in the Biogenesis scandal. A-Rod's lawyer, Joe Tacopina, also announced that Rodriguez will not attend spring training, reports Andrew Marchand of ESPN.

Major League Baseball confirmed in a press release that the legal action from Rodriguez was at an end:

"We have been informed that Alex Rodriguez has reached the prudent decision to end all of the litigation related to the Biogenesis matter. We believe that Mr. Rodriguez’s actions show his desire to return the focus to the play of our great game on the field and to all of the positive attributes and actions of his fellow Major League Players. We share that desire."

The Players Association said in its own release, "Alex Rodriguez has done the right thing by withdrawing his lawsuit. His decision to move forward is in everyone's best interest."

Rodriguez also dropped his "witch hunt" lawsuit against Selig, which contested that the commissioner had made a special effort to target Rodriguez and force him out of the sport due to his high-profile transgressions.

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Ralph Kiner dies at 91 | The Ralph Kiner Show

Forty Minutes with Ralph Kiner

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In the summer of 2009, I met Ralph Kiner. It is still, to this day, one of the most humbling experiences of my life.

Yesterday baseball lost a great baseball player and a great man. Ralph Kiner, Hall of Fame outfielder for the Pittsburgh Pirates and legendary broadcaster for the New York Mets, passed away at the age of 91. I could very well go into his Hall of Fame career and stats, but I'd like to quickly talk about the man I was lucky enough to meet in the summer of 2009.

To say that the 2009 baseball season was great for me would be an absolute understatement. Thanks to my internship at SNY, the TV broadcast home of our neighbors from Queens, I was able to see what goes on behind the scenes at baseball games and at baseball stadiums. I was in the Yankees locker room after the famous Luis Castillo dropped pop-up game. In fact, it's quite possible that I'm the direct reason the Yankees won the World Series that year. I'm not, but I like to think so. Holding the mic in the locker room after games and helping out the SNY staff was my usual routine if they sent me to sporting events. One Sunday Afternoon meant more to me than any other, and it surprisingly had nothing to do with the Yanks.

I was asked to help Ralph Kiner as he left the SNY booth for the afternoon. It was a simple task of carrying his bags down to the parking lot as he waited for a car service to pick him up. Before I go any further, I must stress that, while on the job, we are required to be completely professional. There is to be no asking for autographs or pictures. We're not even suppose to shake hands with the players or say hello to them. It's strictly business. Failure to do so would result in being instantly let go from the internship program. I'm just there to help with his bags.

As soon as we left the SNY booth and made our way towards the elevators, Mr. Kiner started talking with me out of the blue. He asked me questions about my internship and my life. He wanted to know what my career goals were. He told me stories from his time growing up, getting into baseball and broadcasting. It went from "just there to help with his bags" to having a full on, very friendly conversation with Ralph Kiner. Along the way, he signed autographs and took pictures with some fans. I am not a modest person, and I was incredibly humbled by the experience in the best of ways.

Let's not kid ourselves here. I was just an intern. My job was to get people coffee or food, help out when asked or told to, make future contacts, and to learn from people that can help me grow in my career. Ralph Kiner did not have to talk to me at all, but he still went out of his way to have a friendly conversation with me and get to know me. That spoke volumes to me. It still does. Again, I was just there to help with his bags.

After reading all the other articles out there talking about the man, it's clear that Ralph Kiner was one of the nicest individuals you could ever meet. Personable, friendly, and a great person get to know. I wanted to get to know him cause he's Ralph Kiner. I was humbled by the fact that he wanted to get to know me. I'll never forget it. Whenever his name is mentioned, I always tell people that he is the very definition of a class act. I still hold true to that.

R.I.P. Mr. Ralph Kiner. Thank you for the friendly conversation.

Masahiro Tanaka is Yankees' 'No. 3 starter,' says GM

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Brian Cashman isn't expecting Tanaka to carry the rotation in his first year in the majors.

New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman spoke about recently signed pitcher Masahiro Tanaka on Friday and stated that the hurler has the potential to be a "No. 3 starter," according to Andrew Marchand of ESPN.

The 25-year-old Tanaka inked a seven-year, $155 million contract in January, and expectations are sure to be huge. The deal is the largest ever given to an international player, and, coupled with Tanaka's impressive numbers in Japan (24-0, 1.27 ERA) and the pressures of pitching in New York, fans surely have high hopes for the right-hander. However, Cashman's comments on ESPN Radio aimed to temper those expectations (via Marchand):

"We view him to be a really solid, consistent No. 3 starter. If we get more than that, all the better. He's got a great deal of ability...There is definitely some unknown because of the transition."

Given the state of the Yankees' rotation, Tanaka may not need to be more than a No. 3 next season. Although CC Sabathia had an off-year in 2013, he is still only 33 years old and posted a collective 3.22 ERA (135 ERA+) in 905 innings in his first four seasons in New York; he will be relied on as the ace once again in 2014. Meanwhile, Hiroki Kuroda slots in as the No. 2 after turning in strong performances in each of the last two seasons for the Yankees. The back of the rotation is less certain, with the inconsistent Ivan Nova followed by a host of fifth-starter candidates, but the important thing for Tanaka is that he will not be expected to carry the rotation in his first year in the majors.

Cashman went on to say that he expects Tanaka to go through "some growing pains" as he becomes accustomed to pitching in a five-man major league rotation. Yu Darvish, who is often used as a comparison for Tanaka as the most recent Japanese pitching sensation to move to the U.S., struggled at times in his rookie year of 2012 before showing improvement in his sophomore campaign last year. The Yankees are no strangers to Japanese imports struggling in the majors, as past contracts given to Hideki Irabu and Kei Igawa did not yield the desired results, so providing a low-pressure environment to Tanaka could be one of their strategies to give him the best possible chance to succeed.

Cashman, via Marchand:

"No, he is not someone who is going to, in the front end of this thing, pitch in the front of the rotation."

More from SB Nation MLB:

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Ralph Kiner dies at 91 | The Ralph Kiner Show

Around the Empire: New York Yankees News - 2/8/14

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Last Time on Pinstripe Alley

Yankees News

Alex Rodriguez Drops Lawsuits. What's Next?

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This is not likely the way A-Rod envisioned his career ending, but it might have.

You no doubt heard this news late Friday when it broke, but I thought I'd provide a summary, in case you hadn't, and a place to discuss what this all means. First, in case you did miss it, Alex Rodriguez has dropped all his lawsuits:

After a year of warring with Major League Baseball, Alex Rodriguez effectively ended his battle on Friday, dropping his lawsuits against baseball and the players union over his doping suspension.

Rodriguez, the Yankees’ third baseman, has accepted that he will be sidelined for the 2014 season and postseason — the longest suspension in the sport’s history for the use of performance-enhancing drugs.

Without admitting to the use of banned substances, Rodriguez, 38, quietly submitted papers in federal court in New York seeking to dismiss two widely publicized lawsuits he had filed in recent months.

So those are the basic facts. Under baseball rules, A-Rod could have shown up at Yankees spring training, but he won't do that, and Craig Calcaterra adds:

One gets the distinct impression that Rodriguez has decided that being a pariah is not the best way to end his career. Whether it’s too late to mend fences and maybe — maybe — come back and play baseball again is an open question. But by ceasing to be a headache to MLB and the Yankees today, he’s taking at least a step in that direction.

Can those fences actually be mended? Regardless of whether he plays another game for the Yankees, they owe him $61 million from 2015-17. David Lennon of Newsday writes that the dropping of the lawsuit could be a move toward conciliation:

Rodriguez still has a lawsuit pending against the Yankees' medical team, and the name-calling between his attorneys and team president Randy Levine got very personal at times. As for Selig, he may be done as commissioner after this year, but all you need to know about the relationship between A-Rod and the commissioner can be summed up in that original 211-game suspension. Or Selig's view that he was being charitable by not pushing for a lifetime ban.

Regardless, Rodriguez is free to return in 2015, and we doubt that the Yankees know what they plan to do with him after this season. After they blew past the $189-million luxury-tax threshold this offseason, we were reminded that money remains no object for the Yankees, and if eating the rest of Rodriguez's contract buys them some peace of mind, it's not beyond the realm of possibility.

But as long as Kelly Johnson is manning third base for the Yankees, maybe bringing back Rodriguez, even at age 40, doesn't seem like such an awful idea. Plus, think of the ratings bonanza for YES. Love him or hate him, people can't stop watching A-Rod. Or reading about him.

That last part is undoubtedly true -- otherwise, why would I be writing this?

Kelly Johnson isn't a bad player, and perhaps by a year from now the Yankees will have found someone else to play third base (hint: the Cubs seem to have a logjam of good third-base prospects. Could we interest you in Christian Villanueva, Brian Cashman?).

It just doesn't seem to me that a nearly 40-year-old Rodriguez, who was just a bit above middling in the 44 games he played in 2013, coming back from a year's layoff, would be of any real use to the Yankees' lineup. (Incidentally, I don't think the suspension prevents A-Rod from playing independent-league baseball, and I wouldn't be surprised if he did this.)

The Yankees might be wise to just pay him the $61 million and release him, in which case any team could have him for the minimum salary. But who would want that media circus, surrounding a player whose on-field performance might not be all that good?

I think A-Rod has played his last major-league game, and good riddance. While the Biogenesis investigation that resulted in this suspension offered no testing proof of A-Rod's PED use, let's not forget that he himself admitted doing them several years ago and claimed to be clean after. We might never know the truth, but the sad part of this for A-Rod is, as it is for players like Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens, similarly accused, is that they were no-doubt, slam-dunk, first-ballot Hall of Famers without their alleged PED use.

Now their careers are forever tainted, and it will take a long time to remove the "cheater" stain from their legacies. It's a shame for A-Rod, because before all this was revealed, he appeared to be "the one" who would break records cleanly, and lead the game out of the Steroid Era. Instead, he becomes one of its poster boys.

Alex Rodriguez, you did this to yourself. No, Bud Selig and Major League Baseball aren't totally blameless here; there are no real winners in the aftermath of the Biogenesis mess.

Except for the players, who now seem nearly unified in their "clean up the game" view, and we as fans, who (hopefully) can now watch a sport where everyone's on a level playing field.

Yankees Spring Training: David Phelps says Derek Jeter "looks amazing" in workouts

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Jeter looks like he's finally ready to put the lost season behind him

Derek Jeter began taking live batting practice on Monday for the first time this year in preparation for spring training. According to pitcher David Phelps, Jeter certainly looks like he's finally healed and ready to put the lost season of 2013 far behind him.

"Derek looks amazing," Phelps told the New York Daily News. "That's awesome."

Phelps went on to say, "You can tell he's determined to go out there and do well. If you had to place a bet on it, you know he's going to go out there and have a good year. I'm really looking forward to seeing him play again. He's having a lot of fun right now."

"It's great to see," Phelps also said. "Our team, he's been the backbone for so long. He's the only one of the Core Four left going and he means a lot to this organization. We do a lot better when he's in our lineup."

Jeter, for his part, seems to be feeling much better than he did last year. "Everything's good, man, so far, knock on wood," he told the NY Daily News. Instead of trying to recover from a major injury in time for Opening Day, like last offseason, this offseason has been relatively routine. "Everything's normal schedule," Jeter said.

While I may not share Phelps' confidence that Jeter will be back to his old self in 2014 (I'm hopeful, sure, but I'm not about to put money on it), it's great to at least hear some positive news after the disastrous season Jeter just endured. In addition to taking batting practice, Jeter worked out in the field this week, taking grounders at short.

While this is all just talk, it's really great to hear some good news about Jeter. I started following the Yankees in the mid-'90s when Jeter was coming up (and when I was just a wee lad) and it was undeniably strange to watch Yankee games last year without seeing No. 2 manning short. I know I speak for all of us when I say that I hope Jeter looks like his normal self this year.

While he may not perform at his career line of .312/.381/.446 this season, if he can get anywhere close to that, Jeter may just be the best hitter in the infield. And based on the moves (or lack thereof) that the Yankees have made to improve their infield, it seems like Cashman and Levine are certainly counting on Jeter to produce like he used to. With Mark Teixeira (already doubting his wrist), an injury-prone Brian Roberts, and a solid - if unremarkable - Kelly Johnson filling the other infield spots, Jeter's production will be key if the Yankees are going to make it back to October in 2014.

Pinstripe Alley Top 100 Yankees: #83 Joe Pepitone

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Not only did he design Central Park, but he was also one of the farm system's last gasps of life before fading into obscurity for the bulk of the '60s.

Name: Joe Pepitone
Position: First base/Center field
Born: October 9, 1940 (Brooklyn, NY)
Yankee Years: 1962-69
Primary number: 25
Yankee statistics: 1051 G, .252/.294/.423, 113 2B, 24 3B, 166 HR, 104 wRC+, 7.4 rWAR, 9.9 fWAR

Biography

No one can be Lou Gehrig. Very few can be Don Mattingly. For nine years in the '60s, the Yankees got Joe Pepitone, and really, was that so bad?

(Kinda) Hometown boy makes good

The man ubiquitously known as "Pepi" was born in the heart of Brooklyn just a little over a year before Pearl Harbor, and growing up, his life appeared typical of his generation--he grew his hair out, he was a free spirit, and he didn't always answer to authority. An upbringing that included an abusive father who once beat him and destroyed his new bike just for coming home three minutes late certainly didn't help with that. Nonetheless, Pepitone was a sandlot star who learned the game on the streets of New York and whose claim to fame until high was that he could hit "four sewers" in stickball. While attending Manual Training High School in Brooklyn (which later became the now-defunct John Jay High School), he was dealt a crushing blow when a friend of his accidentally shot him in the stomach.

By sheer luck though, Pepitone survived without any major organs getting hurt, and just two weeks later, he was back in school. (Theoretically, anyway.) The Yankees watched him grow up just a few boroughs over and jumped at the chance to sign him when he finished up school in 1958; Pepitone was one of the team's last big American amateur signings before Major League Baseball instituted the draft in 1965. The Yankees gave him a $20,000 bonus and he reported to Class D Auburn about 260 miles upstate. He only made it into 16 games on the record, but he left a strong first impression by hitting .321 with a .491 slugging percentage.

The next season was a bigger test for him, as he went far, far away from home for the first time to the Fargo-Moorhead Twins in the Class C Northern League. Pepitone was undaunted, and he hit .283/.345/.482 with 35 doubles, 12 triples, and 14 homers in 123 games. Over the next two years with Class A Binghamton and Double-A Amarillo, Pepitone converted from center field to first base, toiled away, and moved up the levels. His .316/.364/.525 triple slash with 21 homers in '61 was actually impressive enough for the Yankees to take the 21-year-old north with them to the Bronx at the start of the '62 season. The Yankees' future at first base had arrived.

Hotshot

The '62 Yankees were coming off one of the greatest seasons in franchise history, and they already had veteran Bill "Moose" Skowron entrenched at first base, so Pepitone did not see much playing time in his rookie season. Manager Ralph Houk often deployed Pepitone as a pinch-hitter, and it was in that role that he registered his first career hit, a clean single to right against Hall of Fame pitcher Jim Bunning. On May 5th, Pepitone slugged the first of his 219 career homers, and it was a big one. The Yankees were inexplicably trailing the lowly Washington Senators 6-2 entering the eighth, but they rallied on a three-run homer by Yogi Berra to make it a one-run game, and Johnny Blanchard walked to bring up Pepitone as the go-ahead run. Reliever Marty Kutyna came in to stem the tide, but Pepitone took him deep to right-center field for a two-run bomb and the Yankees went on to win, 7-6.

Although Houk liked Pepitone's power and his flexibility to be used occasionally in the outfield, he showed little plate discipline and the Yankees were disappointed with his .242/.262/.417 triple slash, so toward the end of July, they sent him to Triple-A Richmond for more seasoning. Motivated to prove he belonged back in the majors, Pepitone set the International League on fire with a .315/.342/.539 triple slash in 46 games. Upon his return to the Yankees in mid-September, he only had two hits in 11 plate appearances, but they were both pinch-hit homers in games the Yankees won. They ended up six games ahead of the Twins to clinch their third straight AL pennant and beat the Giants in seven games to win their 20th World Series title. Pepitone did not play in the Fall Classic, but he received a World Series ring in his first season. Little did he and the Yankees that it would be the only one of Pepitone's career and the franchise would go title-less for the next 15 years.

The Yankees were encouraged enough by Pepitone's performance that they deemed Skowron expendable, so they use him as a trade chip in a November '62 deal with the Dodgers to acquire young starter Stan Williams. The first base job was there for the taking, and Pepitone seized it with an All-Star sophomore season. The lefty took advantage of the short porch in left field by belting 27 homers in 157 games and quickly became a Manhattan idol through both his play and unique style. Pepitone had his uniform fit as tight as possible with flannel, abandoning the previous standard of baggy uniforms. Add in some classic Italian good looks that hearkened back to previous Yankees Tony Lazzeri, Joe DiMaggio, and it was easy to see how Pepitone rose to fame.

With Pepitone at first base and solid seasons from many contributors, especially MVP catcher Elston Howard, the Yankees won their fourth straight pennant with 104 victories, the sixth-highest total in franchise history. It was five more wins than the NL champion Dodgers, but the boys in blue had the devastating duo of Hall of Famers Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale ready to tackle the Yankees. The Bronx Bombers were absolutely silenced in the Fall Classic, as they were held to a .171/.207/.240 triple slash in the four-game sweep. Skowron even got his revenge with a Game 2 homer against Al Downing, and in the decisive Game 4, a 1-1 tie was broken in the seventh on a sacrifice fly that followed a three-base error by the normally sure-handed Pepitone at first, who lost third baseman Clete Boyer's throw in the background of white shirts.

The Yankees rebounded from the sweep and an inauspicious start to the '64 campaign under rookie manager Yogi Berra to collect their record-tying fifth consecutive pennant, though Pepitone did not have as good a year as his breakout '63 campaign. He was named an All-Star and topped '63 with 28 homers but his plate discipline took a tumble with a .281 on-base percentage. In the World Series against the Cardinals, he hit his only career World Series homer with an eighth inning grand slam in the Yankees' 8-3 Game 6 victory to force a seventh game, but for the second straight year, he had an OPS south of .600 in the World Series. He would never play another game in the World Series again.

Pepi

The '65 campaign was the beginning of the end of the Yankees' long period of dominance since the days of Babe Ruth. With the disinterested CBS ownership purchasing the team and stars Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, and Whitey Ford all declining without much of a youth infusion aside from Pepitone, Downing, and Mel Stottlemyre, not even hiring the manager who just beat them in the World Series, Johnny Keane, helped them stave off their first under-.500 season in 40 years. (That streak of avoiding losing seasons still stands as the record today; the current Yankees are high on the list of over-.500 streaks, but they are still barely over halfway to the 1926-64 Yankees.) Pepitone earned his third straight All-Star nod and even won a Gold Glove at first base, but personal accomplishments were lost amid such a disappointing year.

Things only got worse in '66 as the Yankees completed their tumble from first in '64 to worst in '66 with a last-place 70-89 season. Keane was fired after a 4-16 start with Houk returning to the dugout from the front office. Pepitone might have actually had his career year in '66 with a personal best 31 homers, 2.7 fWAR, and another Gold Glvoe, but as in '65, it was all for naught. In '67, the Yankees asked Pepitone to become a full-time centerfielder in order to allow Mantle to finally shift to first base in an attempt to keep the future Hall of Famer healthy. (The Yankees' ideal future center fielder, Bobby Murcer, was off serving in the military.) Pepitone wasn't a very good centerfielder, but it was a move made the keep Mantle in the lineup. It worked, as Mantle's 144 games marked his most since '61, and despite playing in a high-pitching era, his .245/.391/.434 triple slash was meritorious of a 149 OPS+.

During this time, the Yankees grew even more wary of Pepitone's work ethic, as he sometimes would not show up at Yankee Stadium until minutes before the game. In his book Pinstripe Empire, Marty Appel noted several occasions when Houk and the front office working with the New York Police Department trying to track Pepitone down before game time. To his credit, Pepitone always showed up, but the Yankees certainly deemed his associates shady. There were also bizarre incidents that angered Houk, like an electrician Pepitone hired accidentlaly interrupting a team meeting to set up a personal hair dryer in the clubhouse. Such was life with Pepitone.

Pepitone played one more season as a regular in center field before Mantle retired in spring training of '69, enabling Pepitone to move back to first base. He immediately resumed his defensive prowess with a third Gold Glove that year, and he tacked on 27 homers as well. While they finished just half a game under .500 at 80-81, it was the team's fourth season in five years with a losing record. After the season, the Yankees were finally tired of Pepitone's act, and though he was only 29, they dealt him to the Houston Astros for outfielder Curt Blefary.

Quick decline away from the porch

Somewhat surprisingly, Pepitone only had a couple good years left him in despite his young age. He split the 1970 season with the Astros and Cubs, slugging 26 homers between the Astrodome and Wrigley Field with a 106 OPS+ campaign. He followed that up with a .307/.347/.482 year at Wrigley, good for a 122 OPS+ in '71. That would be his last great year, as he plummeted to 66 games played in '72 and 34 in '73 due to injury and ineffectiveness. He ended his MLB career with three games on the Braves, then midseason in '73, tried to revitalize his career in Japan with the Yakult Atoms. Pepitone was terrible, batting just .163/.265/.233 in 14 games before leaving the team. After two years away from the game, he tried to come back with the Padres' Triple-A affiliate in Hawaii at age 35 in '76, but he only made it into 13 games before being forced to realize his career was over. So ended one of the most colorful careers in baseball history.

Overall, Pepitone didn't have the most glorious of Yankee careers, but he did a fine job anyway despite the controversy and losing teams around him. Fans recognize this fact, as he always receives a warm ovation at Old Timers' Day festivities. Here's to you, Pepi.

20130623_kdl_ag9_050
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Andrew's rank: 89
Tanya's rank: 84
Community rank: 62.5
rWAR rank: 92

Season Stats

YearAgeTmGPAABRH2B3BHRRBISBCSBBSOBAOBPSLGOPSOPS+TBrWARfWAR
196221NYY63141138143332717113210.2390.2550.4420.6978661-0.2-0.1
196322NYY1576155807915716327893523630.2710.3040.4480.7521092602.82.5
196423NYY16064761371154123281002124630.2510.2810.4180.69890256-0.60.2
196524NYY1435805315113118318624243590.2470.3050.3940.699982091.11.4
196625NYY1526215858514921431834329580.2550.2900.4630.7531182712.82.7
196726NYY1335445014512618313641334620.2510.3010.3770.6781041890.10.7
196827NYY10842138041939315568237450.2450.3110.4030.7141201530.81.3
196928NYY1355465134912416327708630420.2420.2840.4420.7261052270.71.2
NYY (8 yrs)1051411538414359671132416654131232234130.2520.2940.4230.71810516267.49.9

Stats from Baseball-Reference and FanGraphs

References

Appel, Marty. Pinstripe Empire: The New York Yankeesfrom Before the Babe to After the Boss. New York: Bloomsbury, 2012.

BR Bullpen

Pepitone, Joe. Joe, You Coulda Made Us Proud. New York: Playboy Press, 1975.

Other Top 100 Yankees


Around the Empire: New York Yankees News - 2/9/14

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Last Time on Pinstripe Alley

Yankees News

Are pitchers getting better?

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Over the last ten years, league ERA is down and strikeouts per nine innings are up. But, can we definitively say that pitchers are getting better?

Over the last decade, we've witnessed the emergence of a new class of star pitchers. From powerful righties like Felix Hernandez and Justin Verlander, to finesse lefties like Clayton Kershaw and Cliff Lee, to newcomers like Stephen Strasburg, Yu Darvish, and Matt Harvey, the number of aces in the big leagues has risen dramatically.

Gone are the days when the league's best teams boasted a 1-2 punch—if lucky—at the top of their rotation. Now, World Series contenders like the Detroit Tigers (Verlander, Max Scherzer, and Anibal Sanchez) and the Los Angeles Dodgers (Clayton Kershaw, Zack Greinke, and Hyun-Jin Ryu) flash three potential front-of-the-rotation starters.

Naturally, front offices have taken notice. Kershaw became the highest paid player in baseball, and a bidding war occurred to lure Masahiro Tanaka, ending with a $155 million contract to pitch for the New York Yankees despite never throwing a pitch in the Major Leagues.

It's not just an overabundance of star pitchers; the statistics of the entire league—starters and relievers—have improved. The following graph displays ERA by year since 2004:

League ERA from 2004 to 2013. All data from FanGraphs.

Era_by_year_04_to_13

Overall, a pretty strong drop since 2004. It hovered around 4.50 early on and dropped to below 4.00 in two of the past three years. To put that in context, that means that Jarrod Parker, the second best pitcher on a playoff team in 2013, had a below-average ERA at 3.97 (granted, 3.97 isn't usually something to brag about, but it's rarely a below-average mark in the current era).

But, pitchers aren't just lowering the number of runs that they give up per start; They're becoming more dominant, striking out nearly one more hitter per nine innings than they did ten years ago. Here's how pitchers' K/9 averages have increased since 2004:

League K/9 from 2004 to 2013. All data from FanGraphs.

K-9_by_year_04_to_13

Pitchers have improved their accuracy, as well, allowing fewer walks per nine innings and hitting fewer batters since 2004.

League BB/9 from 2004 to 2013. All data from FanGraphs.

Bb-9_by_year_04_to_13

League HBP from 2004 to 2013. All data from FanGraphs.

Hbp_by_year_04_to_13

The BB/9 graph looks a little bit crazy—mostly, the change isn't as consistent year-over-year as the others—but the overall trend of pitchers improving their accuracy over time holds true.

But, all of these trends are not without their confounding variables.

What if hitters are just getting worse? It's entirely possible that there aren't as many great hitters as there are great pitchers, or that the next generation of great hitters is just a few years behind this generation of great pitchers that has already started to blossom.

What if players are getting more athletic, resulting in faster fielders and more covered ground? Is it possible that, much like we see in the NBA, the playing space is seemingly shrinking because of the size and speed differences of players today compared to players of older generations? Just imagine how many fly balls would be dropped if your outfield consisted of Starling Marte, Carlos Gomez, and Gerardo Parra.

Or, what if coaches are becoming more strategic because of the advanced data available to them? Things like defensive shifts and situational pitchers (lefty specialists, for example) have certainly increased over this time period.

It's impossible to assert "pitchers are getting better" given the noise when trying to look at the full picture of the statistical trends. But, with what we are seeing in today's game—faster fastballs, deadlier curveballs, more deceiving changeups, etc.—maybe we are witnessing an era of baseball in which pitchers are, on average, better than the average hitter.

. . .

All statistics courtesy of FanGraphs.

Evan Kendall is a contributor at Beyond the Box Score and co-founder of The Sports Post. You can follow him on Twitter at @Evan_TSP.

Yankees Prospects: Three outfielders to watch in 2014

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Look out for Jake Cave, Taylor Dugas, and Ben Gamel this season

We've seen a ton of prospect lists out there in the last month and most of them are the same. They're all dominated by the Yankees' trio of outfield prospects: Mason Williams, Tyler Austin, and Slade Heathcott, but what about the rest of the system? There's Ramon Flores, who has some decent upside, is on the 40-man roster, and could start the year in Triple-A. After him, no one seems to really stand out as a potential top 20 prospect right now, but there are three who could change that, starting in 2014.

I wouldn't call them the next trio of outfield prospects, but Jake Cave, Taylor Dugas, and Ben Gamel each have the potential to make the top-20 list in the next few years. Going into the season they all fit in and around the top 30-40 group, but I see them moving up this year if each can continue building on what they have done so far.

Jake Cave was drafted out of high school in the 6th round of the 2011 MLB Draft. He played in one professional game that year before he broke his knee in a home plate collision. He missed the rest of the season and then all of 2012 after he required surgery to clean up the injury. Cave finally made it back in 2013 and proved to not only be healthy, but also productive. He hit .282/.347/.401 in a full 115 games and 520 plate appearances, this time in Low-A Charleston.

Despite his knee troubles, his speed doesn't seem to have taken much of a hit as he stole 18 bases (though he was caught nine times). He suffered from an apparent lack of power (just two home runs this year), but he showed the potential to add a few more as he matures after hitting a total of 37 doubles.

Now 21, Cave will be one more year removed from surgery and could look to turn heads this season. If they see that he's healthy, the Yankees might try to move him quickly through the system so he can make up for lost time. He has a real chance of being the Tampa Yankees' starting center fielder and if he can build on last season he'll be in the top 30 for sure.

Taylor Dugas is a little further along than Cave, but might have less upside. Drafted in the 8th round of the 2012 MLB Draft out of the University of Alabama, the 24-year-old just finished his second professional season and is already on the cusp of Double-A. After an impressive 2012 debut at Staten Island, where he hit .306/.465/.373 in 59 games, Dugas hit .285/.405/.339 this year, spending equal time in Low-A and High-A. He performed especially well in Tampa (321/.426/.373), outperforming teammate Mason Williams, and displayed some speed (17 stolen bases), though he was caught way too many times (11). Unfortunately, he lacks power (three professional home runs) and is essentially a singles hitter.

His age and lack of power are likely why he isn't more highly regarded, but he's capable of playing all three outfield positions fairly well and could make for a good leadoff hitter if his on base abilities are legitimate. Where he plays to open up the season depends entirely on what the Yankees decide to do with their top outfielders. Austin, Heathcott, and Flores could all be in line for a promotion to Triple-A, while it remains to be seen if Mason will stay in Trenton or go back to Tampa. Dugas should probably be moved quickly, if possible, so I'd prefer it if he could find his way into Double-A, but only if he has a starting job.

Ben Gamel is the final guy you should be looking out for, and he's the one closest to the majors. Drafted in the 10th round all the way back in 2010, Gamel is now 21 and just got his first taste of Double-A. While his offensive production has dropped over the last two seasons, he still outperformed Mason and was on par with Austin and Slade this year.

He hit a decent .267/.342/.387 and showed at least a slight increase in power when he produced a career high in doubles (32) and home runs (4). He also had career highs in stolen bases (22) and walks (52), so he not only made improvements where he needed to, but also improved what he does best. He's never posted an OBP under .340 and has stolen a total of 41 bases over the last two seasons, which makes me hopeful that he can pry his way into the outfield mix in 2015. In the end, he could end up as a fourth outfielder, but he's already further along than Zoilo Almonte was at the same age, so I'm hopeful there's more to come with Gamel.

Open Thread: Disney arguments unleashed

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There is a Disney discussion of epic proportions going on among the PSA writers in the Twitterverse. What are your thoughts?

Moving away from baseball's RIVETING news of late, it's time for a completely off-topic discussion. The subject matter: Disney. It's causing chaos among our writers on Twitter at this very moment. Almost everyone has a different opinion on the best Disney movies and songs. So what are yours?

1. What are your top 5 Disney films?

2. What are your top 5 best Disney songs?

3. Who is the best Disney princess?

4. Who is the best Disney villain?

5. To steal a Centerstage question, if you were trapped in a foxhole with one Disney character, which would it be?

Around the Empire: New York Yankees News - 2/10/14

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Last Time on Pinstripe Alley

Yankees News

Major League attendance trends past, present, and future

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Baseball may be in a second Golden Age in terms of attendance. Is it real, and can it last?

I'm relatively new to the Internet blogging thing. I've been amassing baseball statistics for about 10 years or so and tried to start a blog in 2012 but couldn't get enough readership to make it work. I tried again in 2013, hoping to marshal my Twitter army of 20+ followers to see if I could generate interest. This took time, but I wrote something that got above the usual 50 or so hits--it's been read almost 2,000 times, so it must have struck a chord with someone. It was on baseball attendance trends over the past 60 years or so.

This chart shows MLB average attendance per game from 1950 through 2013:

Mlb_attendance_1950-2013

Click on image to enlarge

Attendance data prior to 1950 is spotty, and the Great Depression and World War II had impacts on attendance that wouldn't accurately reflect fan interest. Baseball in the 1950s had outstanding players like Willie Mays, Mickey Mantle, Hank Aaron, Ernie Banks, Warren Spahn, Whitey Ford and countless others, but it didn't translate into game attendance. Westward migration in population intensified after WWII, and increasingly old ball parks in bad parts of eastern cities lost their appeal. In short, the average fan was looking at baseball and found it wanting.

A brief look at the attendance of the Yankees, Giants and Dodgers shows why two of those teams departed for the West Coast. The Yankees won 6 World Series, played in 2 others--and saw their average attendance decrease from 27,000 a game to 20,000 from 1950 to 1959. By the time the Giants and Dodgers left they were both drawing fewer than 15,000 fans a game. 14 of the 20 World Series teams of the 1950s were from New York and people weren't attending their regular season games.

Expansion in the 1960s helped, but not much. The Dodgers saw an immediate spike in attendance upon relocating to Los Angeles but the Giants, while seeing a bump, didn't have as dramatic an increase. New teams and relocations provided brief surges but did little to move overall average attendance. Pitching was at its heights with players like Sandy Koufax and Bob Gibson, base stealing began to be incorporated into the game again, but still attendance stayed relatively flat throughout the decade.

The 1970s saw a wave of new stadiums and expansion into Canada which caused some increase in attendance, but by this time a long-term trend of stagnant attendance had developed. Something happened to cause attendance to begin a long-term increase in attendance in the early 1980s, however. These were (among other factors):

  1. The aging of the Baby Boom Generation, those people born between 1946-1964. By the time the 1980s began they were entering their 20s and 30s.
  2. The economic expansion of approximately 1982-2007, which created new wealth and disposable income, allowing for greater spending on items like baseball attendance.
  3. An increased corporate presence and expanded advertising opportunities.

I'm at the tail end of the Baby Boomers, being born in 1962 and making me 51 today. I graduated from the University of Iowa in 1983 and my first job was as a manager for Kmart. After some training I was transferred to Evanston, IL, arriving in the Chicago area around the same time as Rick Sutcliffe to the Cubs and was able to see my team make the playoffs for the first time in 39 years. I didn't attend any games (it's difficult to do that working 60-70 hours a week), but something was happening at Wrigley Field. They had new owners in the Tribune Company, a popular broadcaster in Harry Caray and a new hip Wrigleyville neighborhood, one that even 10 years earlier had been considered dicey. The Cubs reached a low of under 10,000 in average attendance during the strike-shortened 1981 season. By 1984, with Van Halen's "Jump" playing before every WGN TV broadcast, attendance was up to 26,000+, which is what the novelty of a good Cubs team can do.

As the chart shows, attendance didn't just increase in Chicago. As people aged into the prime baseball-attending years, the cumulative effect of greater population, more disposable income and nicer parks created a period of sustained increases in attendance. There were bumps in the road--the strike of 1994-1995 hurt attendance but it rebounded by 1998 when Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire had their epic home run seasons, followed by the emergence of Barry Bonds as one of the best hitters in baseball history. This chart adds two elements to gauge the popularity of baseball:

Mlb_attendance_2

Click on image to enlarge

The first line shows the percent of stadium capacity teams were using, which trends closely with attendance. The second shows the percent of metropolitan population that attends a game, a measure to see how popular a given team is. I used these two because several things have changed in the past 60 years or so, such as smaller stadiums and the obvious increase in U.S. population from around 150 million to over 300 million. Increased population provides a larger pool of potential attendees but it appears the tendency to attend a game also increased over time.

When I first wrote about this last year, I concluded by stating that baseball was in good shape from an attendance standpoint, the declines from 2007 on notwithstanding. I'm not so sure anymore--attendance peaked in 2007, declined in 2008 and fell dramatically in 2009, from which it has yet to recover. At my advanced age I'm still a viewer the World Series covets since every time I tune in I decrease the average viewer age from its current 54.4 years. Ticket prices are climbing ever higher and coming close to being unaffordable to the average fan. Factoring in travel a typical game is a 6-hour time commitment, and the choices for spending that time continue to expand. Add in the comfort of watching baseball in 55-inch high definition in air-conditioned comfort and beer at the right price surrounded by a computer, iPad and iPhone to keep up with stats and commentary, well...

I'm not predicting the end of baseball, but the 30-year trend of increased attendance has stalled and may not resume. Ratings for the 2013 World Series were an improvement over 2012 but still the 4th-worst in history. Nothing stays the same, and perhaps baseball had its run and simply reached the logical conclusion of a run-up in attendance that couldn't be sustained. There are numerous factors affecting attendance that are beyond the reach Major League Baseball's influence (the economy, what teams are in the World Series, etc), but there are a whole host of factors they can control, such as pricing, game length and even season length. The best way to maintain and expand attendance is to establish a foothold with the next generation of fan.

Ideas come and go in baseball. Segregation, public financing of stadiums (thanks Miami!) and the designated runner all came and went, and the near future will show whether strategies like lucrative local broadcast deals, corporate stadium naming rights and stratospheric ticket prices can be maintained--the MBA in me says no to each (and to public financing of stadiums, which I find equal parts egregious and disingenuous). All sports benefited greatly from the confluence of Baby Boom aging and economic expansion. What will be the future when neither of these factors is a given?

Special offer--tweet me @ScottLindholm if you want to see your team's attendance from 1950-2013

Attendance data from Baseball-Reference.com

Scott Lindholm is a web columnist for 670 The Score in Chicago. Follow him on Twitter @ScottLindholm.

Yankees Prospect Profile: Luis Severino

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Can this high-ceiling pitching prospect continue his climb on the top prospect ladder?

Background

Luis Severino, at the ripe age of 17, was signed to a $225,000 signing bonus by the Yankees out of Sabana Del Mar, Dominican Republic. Not much is known about his background due to his international status and relative obscurity, but he began raising eyebrows pretty quickly. He began his professional career in the international complex, pitching in the Domincan Summer League to the tune of a 1.68 ERA and 45 strikeouts in 64 1/3 innings. Here is a briefing on Severino's progress, courtesy of Marc Hulet of FanGraphs:

"Signed out of the Dominican Republic in 2012, Severino reached Low-A ball last year and could be a Top 100 prospect in a year’s time if he continues to follow his current development track. The right-hander has power stuff, including a low-to-high-90s fastball, breaking ball and changeup..."

That's a pretty bold prediction considering he will only be turning 20 on February 20th. Some think he is already a rung higher than these projections--Keith Law has him ranked as the ninth best prospect in the Yankee organization. There really isn't much tape available to peek at, but there's a decent one courtesy of Josh Norris of Baseball America from last year's spring training. If you take a look at this video, there's certainly a lot to like. The arm is live and features a great deal of run and velocity readings that are quite good (92-97 mph). There's an issue with his arm recoil which could cause a shoulder or elbow issue in the future, but I wouldn't be surprised if his pitching coaches tried to wean him off of that. All of this development will come in time and he has age on his side, but it's clear that the raw talent exists.

2013 Results:

Combined between GCL and Low-A: 44.0 IP, 2.45 ERA, 10.8 K/9, 5.30 K/BB

In his brief foray into Low-A Charleston, Severino impressed. Even though he put up a 4.08 ERA in his four starts at that level, the strikeouts and walks remained constant to that of GCL, and his FIP was at 2.24. As I said before: this type of improvement from 2012 put him into the conversation of Top 10 in the Yankee organization.

2014 Outlook:

Barring a complete implosion, Severino will most likely play his entire season at Low-A as a starter, and I'm sure the organization and scouts are interested to see whether he'll continue his improvement over a full season. If he refines his peripheral pitches and command, he will not only jump to the top of the Yankee prospect radar, but will definitely be on any Top 100 list. Severino, at his highest ceiling, has the potential to be a number two or three starter in a major league rotation. At his floor, I think he can be a competent reliever who will at least be able to get by with his dynamic fastball. My fingers are crossed that it's the former, and I'm sure the Yankees' are too. Only time will tell, but I'm very excited to see what he does in a full season of work.


Pinstripe Alley Top 100 Yankees: #82 Al Orth

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They called him "The Curveless Wonder." The more you know!

Name: Al Orth
Position: Starting pitcher (RHP)
Born: September 5, 1872 (Sedalia, MO)
Died: October 8, 1948 (Lynchburg, VA)
Yankee Years: 1904-09
Primary number: N/A
Yankee statistics: 72-73, 2.72 ERA, 2.42 FIP, 230 G, 145 GS, 1,172.7 IP, 402 K, 102 CG, 14 SHO, 98 ERA-, 92 FIP-, 17.8 rWAR, 17.2 fWAR

Biography

One of the benefits to the long process of creating and writing these lists is learning about players who I knew extremely little about prior to research. In some ways, it's incredible that 99% of Yankees fans also probably have no knowledge about a man who threw 102 complete games for them with impeccable control and an ERA well under 3.00, but such are the consequences of both pitching in the Deadball Era and pitching for the Yankees franchise during the mostly-dark first decades of existence prior to the arrival of Babe Ruth.

This is Al Orth, a man born so long ago that the National League was not even founded yet. Would you believe his nickname was "Smiling Al?" He was 31 when he joined the then-Highlanders in the middle of 1904 and perhaps represented the very first in a long tradition of Yankees midyear veteran acquisitions to help them attempt to clinch a playoff spot.

Early life on the Phillies

Orth was born two months prior to President Ulysses Grant's re-election over New York Tribune founder Horace Greeley (who died three weeks after the election), future Vice-President Thomas Hendricks, and a smattering of other candidates. He was born in Missouri, but grew up in Hendricks's state of Indiana. While not much is known about Orth's youth, he was raised in Danville just outside of Indianapolis, and he went on to attend little-known DePauw University in Greencastle, where he honed his craft as a young pitcher.

Some reports say that Orth pitched for semi-pro teams around that time in Lebanon and Indianapolis. His first big break came when the Lynchburg Hill Climbers of the Virginia League caught his attention with an offer to join their team in 1894. The 21-year-old accepted, and though there isn't a record for his 1894 stats, he thoroughly dominated his opposition the next year by pitching to a 2.51 ERA in 34 games, completing 28 of them with three shutouts and a 1.190 WHIP. In those days, aspiring major leaguers could pitch for years in the minors before getting noticed, but fortunately for Orth, he only had to wait about a season and a half.

Major league scouts were thoroughly impressed by the righthander's pitching dominance and excellent control, and the Pittsburgh Pirates told Lynchburg that they would buy him for $500. Team officials were so confident in Orth's marketability that they declined, and their intuition paid off, as they soon after sold Orth to the Philadelphia Phillies for double the Bucs' offer. Orth immediately jumped to the Phillies, who at the time were mired in seventh place in the 12-team NL.

A couple weeks shy of 23, Orth made his MLB debut on August 15, 1895, pitching a couple mop-up shutout innings at home for the Phillies in a 23-9 whooping of the New York Giants. In that first game, he also demonstrated another aspect of his game that would be an Orth trademark--a prowess at the plate that was superior to the typical pitcher. He had slugged .436 with 15 extra-base hits in 149 at-bats in Lynchburg, and on his first pitch in the majors, he belted a double off the wall at the Baker Bowl and scored a run. Over the remainder of the season, he made 10 starts, completing nine of them and winning eight thanks to some strong run support, a 3.89 ERA (83 ERA-), and a 3.91 FIP (83 FIP-). The team rallied behind its burgeoning ace and went 30-12 the remainder of the season to end up in third place at 78-53, a .595 winning percentage that would translate into 96 wins over a 162-game campaign. Following that rookie season, Orth married his wife, Jimmie Allen, who he would have two sons with later in life, John and Allen.

Over the next six years, the Phillies were up and down, but Orth remained a steady presence in the rotation, averaging 27 starts, 23 complete games, and 236 innings per year. Although he didn't strike out many batters, his pinpoint control led to a minuscule 1.86 BB/9, and solid marks in ERA (3.47, 91 ERA-) and FIP (3.46, 93 FIP-). His 18.8 fWAR ranked eighth among pitchers in baseball over that time. Along the way, he achieved the unusual feat of starting both ends of a doubleheader in one day and completing both of them with victories on October 13, 1898 against the Brooklyn Superbas. Even going back to baseball's old times, only 44 pitchers have ever done that.

Orth capped off his career in the City of Brotherly Love at the turn of the century with an outstanding 1901 campaign in which he posted an otherworldly 1.00 WHIP, 1.0 BB/9 (both led the league) and a 2.27 ERA (a 69 ERA-). His six shutouts were also tops in the NL. At the end of the season though, he followed many of his National League compatriots in jumping over to the upstart new league, the American League, which had just completed its first at the major league level. The Washington Senators reportedly offered Orth $3,500 to join them, and he took the offer, ending his seven-year career in Philly.

Al in the AL

The Senators brought Orth aboard hoping that he would be their new ace, but there's no way to sugarcoat it--he was a big disappointment in the nation's capital. Over two and a half seasons with Washington, he was battered to a 4.21 ERA (a 132 ERA-), and while he kept walks down, opposing batters hit close to .300 against him. Halfway through the 1904 campaign, Orth was at his worst with a 4.76 ERA and 188 ERA- in 10 games for the Senators, so Washington finally gave up on him by trading him to the New York Highlanders on July 20th in exchange for pitchers Tom Hughes and Barney Wolfe.

Orth's AL past was checkered, but pitcher/manager Clark Griffith had a positive impression on him from the get-go of the Highlanders' history in New York, as Orth beat them in their very first game in 1903. The upstart Highlanders were in the midst of a pennant race against the defending champion Boston Pilgrims, and Griffith realized they needed a starting pitcher to replace himself in the rotation since he was getting older and less effective. Along came Orth, who resurrected his career thanks to some help from his new teammate and baseball's best pitcher in 1904, Jack Chesbro.

The future Hall of Famer and 41-game winner in '04 helped Orth master the spitball, a crucial pitch for Orth, who was called "The Curveless Wonder" during his Philadelphia days of success despite not much movement on his pitches at all. Orth's delivery seemed effortless and while he was once able to get away with pitches since he had decent velocity while younger, it had decreased by the late 1890s, and Orth's "slow stuff" was not helping him as much in the AL as it did during his exceptional 1901 season with the Phillies. With an improved spitter that had "quicker break" in tow though, Orth dramatically turned his season around by pitching to a 2.68 ERA in 20 games, walking just 1.2 per nine innings and pitching to a 1.02 WHIP. Although a wild Chesbro spitter cost the Yankees the season in the penultimate game of the season against the Pilgrims, the Highlanders felt fairly confident about their future with Chebro and Orth leading the rotation.

Unfortunately, the Highlanders needed more than just a pair of strong pitchers to help them repeat their '04 success in 1905. The pitching staff behind the two aces was dismal, and they stumbled to a 71-78 season back in the second division. They rebounded in 1906 with superior pitchers behind them though in Bill Hogg and Walter Clarkson, and the second-best offense in the league helped Griffith's Highlanders to another second-place finish at 90-61, just three games behind the eventual champion White Sox. Orth led the charge with a career year at age 33, leading the AL with 27 wins, 36 complete games, 338 2/3 innings pitched, 7.7 rWAR, and 6.6 fWAR. If the Cy Young Award existed then, it would have been a tight race between Orth and... well, Cy Young.

AL standout to the minors in two years

The next year, the Highlanders continued the pattern of "one step forward, one step back with another sub-.500 season as Orth attained the ignominious feat of becoming the only pitcher in major league history to lead the league in wins one year and losses the next. However, that was also a byproduct of horrid run support, as Orth actually pitched slightly above league average with a 2.61 ERA (97 ERA-) and 2.37 FIP (94 FIP-). Alas, Orth declined further in 1908 with a worse season, and his longtime manager Griffith was fired after a 3-27-1 stretch in late June. Kid Elberfeld took over for Griffith, but it didn't really help.

Orth was ultimately cut in August, and he returned to his roots with his old Virginia League team in Lynchburg, where he completed the season as player-manager with 19 games played, both on the mound and in the field. During the next season, Orth was still serving that all-around role for Lynchburg and hitting .296 with a .379 slugging percentage when new Highlander manager George Stallings convinced him to return to the majors with a proposal. He would not pitch as much and instead be use more as a hitter since he had always done relatively well at the plate.

Orth thus only made one emergency start for the Highlanders, played six games at second (unimpressively, per legendary scribe Ring Lardner), and appeared in 15 others as a pinch-hitter. Although he hit .265/.359/.324 with a 115 OPS+ in 40 plate appearances, it was evident that his major league playing days were over. A forgettable 35-game stint close to his hometown with the minor league Indianapolis Indians of the American Association ended his professional career in 1910, and he returned to managing the Lynchburg team midseason.

Orth tried a new baseball role in 1912 when he joined the National League as an umpire, 11 years after he served as a doubleheader fill-in while with the Phillies. (Imagine an umpire crew today asking a player on one of the teams that day to try to be an impartial arbiter.) He was an umpire until 1917, then served as an athletic director for American troops in France during World War I. Orth lived out the remainder of his days in Lynchburg, which he had grown to love during his minor league stints there and occasions as a collegiate baseball coach for Washington and Lee University and the Virginia Military Institute. Long after the New York AL team had changed its name to the Yankees and achieved incomparable success, Orth died quietly at home at age 76 in 1948, a more than serviceable pitcher who probably deserves to be remembered far more than he actually is today.

Andrew's rank: 94
Tanya's rank: 71
Community rank: 87.8
rWAR rank: 72

Season Stats

YearAgeTmWLERAFIPGGSCGSHOIPHRERHRBBSOHBPWPERA-FIP-rWARfWAR
190431NYY1162.682.212018112137.21224741019473496821.92.3
190532NYY18162.862.754037266305.12731229786112175100945.93.8
190633NYY27172.342.254539363338.2317115882661331781817.76.6
190734NYY14212.612.373633212248.224413472253786297941.24.2
190835NYY2133.422.89211781139.1134625343022411341191.21.0
190936NYY0012.002.551100364401100460100-0.20.0
NYY (6 yrs)72732.722.42163145102141172.21096484355162304022119989217.817.2
YearAgeTmGPAABRH2B3BHRRBISBCSBBSOBAOBPSLGOPSOPS+TBrWARfWAR
190431NYY24666461911072?070.2970.3080.3440.651101220.40.2
190532NYY55139131132431182?4220.1830.2130.2440.45839320.0-0.7
190633NYY471441351237221172?680.2740.3050.3410.64694461.00.3
190734NYY441121051134601131?460.3240.3550.4100.764136431.30.8
190835NYY38736942012040?270.2900.3100.3620.672118250.70.6
190936NYY2240343901051?590.2650.3590.3240.683115110.20.4
NYY (6 yrs)230574538491431373548?21590.2660.2970.3330.630941793.61.6

Stats from Baseball-Reference and FanGraphs

References

Appel, Marty. Pinstripe Empire: The New York Yankeesfrom Before the Babe to After the Boss. New York: Bloomsbury, 2012.

BR Bullpen

Deadball Era

SABR bio

Other Top 100 Yankees

Yankees Prospects: 2014 is a big year for Slade Heathcott

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If he has a healthy and productive 2014 season, Slade Heathcott could find himself as the Opening Day left fielder in the Bronx come 2015.

After getting poor production from their outfielders in 2013, the Yankees committed big money this off-season to outfielders Jacoby Ellsbury and Carlos Beltran. As a result, the Yankees' outfield is now jam-packed with five outfielders and only three spots available. However, the outfield should become a lot less crowded with the impending free agencies of Brett Gardner, Alfonso Soriano, and Ichiro Suzuki, all of whom could very well be gone by this time next year. Thankfully, there are outfielders at the upper levels of the farm system, namely Slade Heathcott, who could step in next season.

Heathcott's 2013 was a bit of a rollercoaster, which, really, is nothing new for him. His season started off pretty rocky, in which he hit just .230/.284/.338 in 163 plate appearances through May 24. He also struck out a whopping 27% of the time. Thankfully, the then 22-year-old caught fire at the plate, as he posted a .279/.351/.454 line through his next 281 plate apperances. His strikeout rate dropped as well, as he posted a more respectable 22% K-rate. However, Heathcott's hot stretch lasted only until August 10, as the outfielder, once again, suffered an injury. This time, it was a knee injury, which needed minor surgery. All told, Heathcott hit .261/.327/.411 with a 104 wRC+ in 444 Double-A plate appearances.

The Yankees' Senior VP of Baseball Operations, Mark Newman, recently said that "it'll be close" as to whether Heathcott will begin 2014 in Double-A Trenton or Triple-A Scranton. This has more to do with the uncertainty of whether Heathcott will be ready for spring training or not, as he recovers from surgery, than it has to do with his (somewhat) underwhelming 2013 season. Because the Double-A outfield has a chance to be pretty packed with the likes of Tyler Austin, Mason Williams, Ben Gamel, and even Ramon Flores, Heathcott should be in Scranton, if healthy.

A natural center fielder, Heathcott will have to move to a corner spot, possibly left field, if he wants to crack next year's big league squad. Because of his all-out style of play in center, perhaps a move to left could do Heathcott some good, since he'll (theoretically) have fewer chances to wreck himself out there. With only three career games in left, it will be interesting to see how the Yankees use Heathcott and if he will see more time in left field since Ellsbury will handle center field in the Bronx for the foreseeable future.

Despite all of Heathcott's past injury problems, which have led to plenty of lost development time, he does have a chance to replace Gardner in left field next season. The big "if," obviously, is his health. After missing ample time due to injuries and having to undergo numerous procedures to heal said injuries, maybe, just maybe, Heathcott has learned his lesson and will dial it down a few notches on the aggressive meter. With the only guarantees in 2015 being Ellsbury in center and maybe Beltran in right, Heathcott, who is the furthest along and the best outfield prospect in the system, in my opinion, should see this opportunity and do his best to take advantage of it.

Derek Jeter says Yankees have to move on without Alex Rodriguez

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Jeter has some very diplomatic non-things to say about the A-Rod situation.

On Monday, Derek Jeter spoke to the media about Alex Rodriguez, his suspension and his decision to drop his federal appeal. Jeter said, "It's a situation that he has to deal with. Now it's over and it's done with, and we'll move on from there," according to the AP.

Last week, Rodriguez ended his attempt to overturn the 162-game suspension levied upon him by Major League Baseball. He was suing both MLB and the Players' Union on the grounds that the arbitration process that resulted in the suspension was not up to snuff. But now that the cases have been dismissed, all that's left for him to do is serve out his season-long suspension.

Jeter said that he has communicated with Rodriguez via text recently, but told reporters they would have to ask him themselves if they would like to know how he feels about it all. Jeter, ever the statesman, had nothing but careful, diplomatic answers to the reporters' queries.

As for the Yankees, they will be moving on with free-agent signee Kelly Johnson presumably manning the hot corner. Johnson spent last season with the Rays as a utility man, posting a decently average .235/.305/.410 batting line while playing four positions. Can Masahiro Tanaka play third base on his off days?

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Around the Empire: New York Yankees News - 2/11/14

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Yankees News

Yankees Prospect Profile: Nik Turley

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How will this lefty pitcher perform in his first full season in Triple-A?

Background:

Nik Turley experienced a real nail-biter of a draft during 2008, when he ended up being picked number 1,502 out of 1,504 draftees. The 24-year-old lefty pitcher hails from California, where he attended Harvard-Westlake High School. Turley would have been heading to BYU if he hadn't received that phone call from the Yankees and ultimately agreed to sign with them. Listed at 6'4" and weighing in at 195 pounds, Turley is a large dude. Despite his size, Turley isn't considered a power pitcher, with his fastball averaging between 88-92 mph. He takes advantage of his size by pitching downhill and keeping the ball low in the strike zone. He also throws a curveball, which he can "throw for strikes or bury in the dirt," though Turley needs to work on his command. Additionally, Turley features a changeup which scouts say could be a good "out" pitch.

2013 Results:

Trenton (Double-A): 26 GS, 139 IP, 8.87 K/9, 4.73 BB/9, 0.71 HR/9, .290 BABIP, 3.88 ERA, 1.38 WHIP, 4.18 FIP

Turley spent almost the entirety of last season pitching in Trenton, where batters hit just .230 against him. As expected from a lefty pitcher, lefties struggled against Turley, and he managed to strike out 40 of them through 34 innings. Turley was called up to Scranton in May for a one-game spot start, where he faced a rehabbing Jason Heyward. Heyward ended up hitting an RBI double, which was the only run allowed by Turley, who struck out four and walked three through six innings. The troubling thing about his 2013 campaign is the fact that his BB/9 increased quite a bit from his 2012 season, going from 3.46 BB/9 in 2012 up to 4.71 BB/9 in 2013.

2014 Outlook:

After spending 2013 in Trenton, Turley is set to start 2014 in Scranton. The southpaw could see a September call-up, or a spot start if his season goes well. Turley needs to work on the command of his off-speed pitches, and his approach to righties in particular. Given the Yankees penchant for lefty specialists, it's possible that Turley could end up converting to the bullpen at some point.

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