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As the Yankees turn 110 in 2013, which of the numerous talented players to don the pinstripes will land in the our top 100 list? You can help decide.
The year was 1903. Teddy Roosevelt was President of the United States. Two of the world's most famous sporting events, the World Series and the Tour de France, were first organized. The Wright Brothers completed their famous flight in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Calamity Jane, Pope Leo XIII, and a hard-drinking, hard-hitting outfielder named Ed Delahanty all passed away. Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, and a little German boy named Lou Gehrig were all born. Most importantly to this site, the New York Yankees came into existence in a rickety building on 165th Street and Broadway that came to be known as Hilltop Park.
Since 1903, there have been an incredible 1,519 different players to play for the New York Yankees. Interestingly, less than 30 percent of these talented athletes have made it into at least 100 games, but how can one whittle that number down further to just 100 when so many can be considered worthy for their great feats in pinstripes? Several Yankees who were vital contributors to the franchise's unparalleled total of 27 World Series championships and 40 American League pennants will not make it onto this list. It can be difficult to compare eras and say one person is better than the other. For instance, one player's numbers from the 1930s might be better than another from the 1980s, but do you give credit to Mr. 80's for playing integrated ball? Are some statistics more legitimate than others? Why are the clocks melting? The questions can be endless.
That being said, some of us have decided to tackle this project as several of our SBN brothers have done so in the past for their respective teams. It is high time that the blog of the most iconic and historic team in the annals of baseball gets its own Top 100. The best part is that we want your help.
Steve, Tanya, the WARbot 9000 (an average of fWAR and rWAR), and myself are in on this project; however, we would love to get some more community voices involved in it. Without the readers, we would just be writing for ourselves on Xangas or whatever the kids are doing these days (probably not Xanga). Actual people can give more thought to the idea than a simple WAR ranking, too. It might seem like a hassle to go through the efforts of assembling a list of the top 100 Yankees in team history, but it really is a fun exercise to think about all of these terrific players and how they compare to each other.
We will be commencing the project with #100 sometime soon. If you want to submit your list of the top 100 Yankees and help make your imprint on this project, please e-mail it to me at greatscott723@yahoo.com.
Take these guidelines into consideration:
- If you're a site member, feel free to add in your username so we can list you as a contributor.
- We are only ranking players--no managers or executives.
- If you think making a list of 100 is too much for you, you can submit a list of your top 50 or 75 instead, and it will also be counted.
- We're not going to accept lists of fewer than 50 Yankees since we want some good thought behind it and due diligence given to those Yankees that might not always pop in your head when thinking of the greatest players.
- Please do not submit your top 100 in the comments section for this thread. I will copy it down and include it when I get a chance to view it, but I will then promptly delete the comment so that other list-makers will not be influenced. Plus, it will just make it easier for me if I can track them via e-mail.
- You can make submissions until 11:59 PM on Wednesday, January 16th.
I think that this could be a fun project for the community to do together. Make your voice heard!
