The Bronx Daily

Granderson coming to Bombers

Apparently an agreement has been reached in a deal between the D-Backs, the Tigers and the Yankees that would send Granderson to the Yankees while the D-Backs would receive Edwin Jackson and Ian Kennedy while the Tigers would get Max Scherzer, Daniel Schlereth, Austin Jackson and Phil Coke. 

Granderson brings a decent bat with power (30 homers) and speed (20 SB) and will fit in nice with the short porch in Yankee Stadium. However, he has a hard time hitting LHP and that is one drawback and makes me think the Yankees should of held out for offering a bit less. 

So, it looks like Johny Damon may be gone for the rumor is Granderson would play center.  But, we shall see.

GO YANKEES!!!!

The Hot Stove is Red Hot

The Yankees put some wood on the Hot Stove with the recent developments.

Brian Bruney was sent to the Nats for a player to be named later.  He was supposed to be the set-up man for Mariano but injuries kept him out for part of the season.  This deal means they practically gave him away.  

The Bombers are going to offer Pettitte a one year $10 million contract.  After this last season I say sign him.  He proved many of us wrong by having a good season this year. 

Brian Cashman is going after Jason Marquis.  He reportedly flew out to see him and his agents on the agents plane. Marquis is a solid pitcher and would be a nice addition to the staff.

Damon and Matsui are still not in the stove yet with any news.  

The deal with the D-Backs and Tigers that would've sent Granderson and two prospects to the Yankees appeared to have fallen through according to this tweet by Heyman of SI.
The deal would've cost the Yankees Kennedy, Jackson, Coke and Dunn.  Interesting but I think they Yanks can do better in a trade than this. They simply want too much.

Thats it for the Hot Stove news today!

Lets hope for some good news in signing of Matsui.

GO YANKEES!!!

 

Yankee Tidbits

The following Yankee teams had the best offensive records in the history of the team;

In 1930 the team BA was .309 with a .384 OBP, 130 Triples and 1683 hits with 9 players hitting .300.

1927 saw the SLG average at .489.

The 2009 Yankees hits 244 Homers.

In 1997 hit 325 Doubles.

The 1931 Yankees  scored 1067 runs and hit 1157 singles.

Those are the all-time team hitting records in the history of the New York Yankees.

The Babe Ruth Era, part 5

The defending World Champion Yankees started 1924 with the fans looking to repeat with a great team. In fact most thought that it would be the fourth straight Subway Series.  Well, the Giants held up their end winning the NL for the 4th straight year.

However, in the AL the Washington Senators were the surprise team with great pitching led by the great veteran Walter Johnson.  The Yankees pitching declined a bit this season and Carl Mays was released and went to Cincy where he won 20 games.  Despite the pitching decline the Babe had another great season  but it wasn't enough as the Yanks were 89-63 .586 -2 behind the Senators who won their first pennant and eventually their first Series!

As a team the second place Yanks hit .289 (5th in AL), scored 798 runs (2nd in AL), hit 98 HRs (1rst in AL), 734 RBIs (2nd AL) and a .426 SA (1rst in AL).  The staff as a team had 76 CG (2nd in AL), 1359 IP (5th in the AL), 487 Ks (1rst in AL), 3.86 ERA (2nd in AL) and 13 SHO (tied for 1rst in the AL). 

Leading the team in hitting was 3B Joe Dugan 610 AB, OF Babe Ruth 143 Runs (led AL), 200 hits, 46 HRs (led AL), 121 RBIs (edged Meusel by 1 RBI!), 142 BB (1rst in AL), .378 BA (led AL) and .739 SA (led AL), OF Bob Meusel 40 2b and 26 SB.  1B  Wally Pipp led the team with a league leading 19 3B.

The Staff was led by Herb Pennock with 21 W, 34 GS, 25 CG, 286 IP (led AL), 4 SHO, 2.83 ERA.  Waite Hoyt had 46 G, 109 BB (led AL) and Bob Shawkey with 114 K.

So, the season was a disappointment for the Yankee fans this season.  While they did win 89 games and just missed the pennant much more was expected but not delivered by this team.  With the snow coming the fans were wondering what would 1925 bring.  Surely the Yankees would rise back to the top.  How did they do?  Come back to find out....

Herb Pennock

Yankee Tidbits....

Did you know that the Yankees were the first team in history to have more Home Runs than Stolen Bases in 1920?

The first black player to win the AL MVP was Elston Howard of the Yankees who did so in 1963.

After the Babe left the Yankees won 7 pennants and 6 Series in 8 years! 

!938 was a big year for Gehrig.  He had 114 RBIs but that wasn;t the big news, the big news was this was his 13th straight season of 100 or more RBIs.  This is a record still not equaled to this day.

In 1936 Gehrig hit 14 homers.... against the Cleveland Indians, the most any player has ever hit against one team in a season.

The first New York Pennant

Through the years New York baseball fans have rooted for the Yankees, the Mets, Dodgers or Giants.  But, before these teams even existed there were the New York Mutuals of the NA and NL and in the 1880's a team called the New York Metropolitans who played in the American Association.

The Metropolitans were the first New York MLB team to win a pennant which they did in 1884, the year there were 3 Major Leagues competing for fans.  The NL, the American Association and the Union Association competed heavily for fans and their money.  In the end the UA was destroyed and the AA hurt by this baseball war. 

But, in New York there were two teams.  The Gothams in the NL (they are today's Giants) and the American Association's New York Metropolitans.  While the Gothams had a very good year, the Metropolitans did even better winning the American Association pennant with a 75-32 .701 +6.5 record.

it was a unique situation for the Metropolitans for they and the Gothams were owned by John Day who had a team in both leagues.  They shared the Polo Grounds with two diamonds being built there with the outfield wall between the two fields.   I wonder what happened if a ball was hit over from one park to other during play?  I bet it was interesting when both teams were playing at the same time.  But Day was a smart man, he hedged his bets in that if both leagues succeeded he would have it made and if one failed he would still have another team to fall back on.

Both New York teams were good in 1884 but for one year the Metropolitans were the toast of the town.  The team leaders were as follows;  RF Steve Brady 485 AB, 1b Dave Orr with 162 H (led the league), 32 doubles, 13 triples, 9 HR, 112 RBIs, .354 BA (led league) and a .539 SA, SS Candy Nelson with 114 runs and 74 SB (led league) in hitting.  On the staff Time Keefe led with 57 G, 57 GS, 56 CG, 37 W, 17 L, 317 Ks, 75 BB, and a 2.29 ERA and Jack Lynch led with 496 IP and 5 SHO.  The 111 CG by the staff led the AA.

Against the rest of the AA the Metropolitans had the following record;
Columbus Buckeyes  5-4, Louisville Eclipse 7-3, St. Louis Browns (today's Cardinals) 5-4, Cincinnati Reds (todays Reds) 6-4, Baltimore Orioles 5-5, Philadelphia Athletics 8-2, Toledo Blue Stockings 5-4, Brooklyn Grays 9-1, Virginia 2-0, Pittsburgh Alleghenys (today's Pirates) 9-1, Indianapolis Hoosiers 8-2 and the Washington Statesmen 6-2.

Having won the AA Pennant next came the pre-1900 World Series.  A best of 5 series it pitted the Providence Grays of the NL against the New York AA Champions.  The Series was over in 3 games with the first game at the Polo Grounds going to the Grays 6-0, the second at the Polo Grounds again going ot the Grays 3-1 with Keefe losing both games for the Metropolitans.  The third game also at the Polo Grounds was a 12-2 Providence blowout with the losing pitcher being Becannon. 

The New York nine only hit a .143 BA in the series with a team ERA of 5.57.  Provdence hit .235 with a 0.00 ERA with all three wins being by the first ironman pitcher Hoss Radbourn. 

So, the first pennant by a New York team was in the bag.  By the time the Giants won the Series in a few years the Metropolitans would be out of business and the AA just about done. 

Yankees World Series MVPs

Since Matsui won the Series MVP this year I thought we would post all the past Yankee World Series MVPs. The award was started in 1955.  Here is the list;

1956 Don Larsen
1958 Bob Turley
1960 Bobby Richardson
1961 Whitey Ford
1962 Ralph Terry
1977 Reggie Jackson
1978 Bucky Dent
1996 John Wetteland
1998 Scott Brosius
1999 Mariano Rivera
2000 Derek Jeter
2009 Hideki Matsui

The Babe Ruth Era, part 4

1923 came and the fans were brushing off the disappointment of the previous two years of losing the World Series to the Giants.  Would the Browns remain a viable threat to the Yankees?  Could they win their third straight AL pennant? Could they win the Series for the first time?

The answer to the first question is that the Browns fell back to 5th place to a 74-78 record.  There was no real challenger to the Yankees for the pennant this season as they roared to their third straight pennant with a 98-54 .645 record leading the poor second place Detroit Tigers by 16 games! So far the first two questions were answered with a resounding yes.

Before we answer the last question lets cover the 1923 season.  This season was the first in the then new Yankee Stadium which is now called the old Yankee Stadium. No longer did the Yanks share the Polo Grounds with the cranky John McGraw and his Giants.  Now they were right across the river in plain view in a new stadium that was a right in your face move to the Giants and their great manager who scoffed at the Yankees and the AL in general.

As a team the Yankees hit .291 (3rd in the AL), led the AL with 105 HR, were 2nd in RBIs with 770, led the AL with a .422 SA and were 3rd scoring 823 runs.  The staff led the AL with 102 CG, 1381 IP, 506 Ks, a 3.92 ERA and were 4th with 9 SHO.  While the Babe was the big star and the offense fearsome the little known fact is that the pitching was the best in the AL, a fact very much overlooked in today's world.

Leading the Yanks with 151 Runs (1rst in AL), 205 hits, 45 doubles, 13 triples, 41 HR (1rst in AL), 131 RBIs (1rst in AL), 170 BB (1rst in AL), 93 Ks (1rst in AL), 17 SB, a .393 BA and a .764 SA (1rst in AL) was none other than.. you guessed it, the Babe.  3rd baseman Joe Dugan led the team in the only other hitting category available with 644 AB which also led the AL.  A great year by the Babe coupled with great pitching propelled the Bombers to their 3rd straight pennant in 1923.

The staff leaders were Sad Sam Jones with 21 wins, 39 G and 3 SHO,  Herb Pennock with a AL leading .760 Winning Pct, Bullet Joe Bush with 23 CG, 276 IP, 3 SHO and 125 Ks, Waite Hoyt with a 3.01 ERA, Bob Shawkey with 31 GS and 125 Ks.  A nicely balanced pitching staff, as you can see, was a key to this season's success.

But, the final question.  Could the Yankees win it all for the first time ever in the new Yankee Stadium?  The Giants came in for the first game and beat the Yankees 5-4 to open the Stadium and the fans were fidgeting.  But the Yanks returned the favor at the Polo Grounds taking a 4-2 decision.  The Giants then shutout the Yanks at the Stadium to go up 2-1 in the Series and thoughts of a third straight failure at the Series were haunting some Yankee fans. 

But, the Yanks battered the Giants 8-4 in the Polo Ground and then achieved their first World Series win at Yankee Stadium stomping the Giants 8-1.  The next day at the Polo Grounds the Yankees achieved revenge on John McGraw and his Giants winning 6-4 to take their first of 27 World Championships.  To beat the Giants was sweet for the Yankees, but to do it in the Polo Grounds made it even better.

In the Series 2b Aaron Ward led the Yankees with 10 hits and a .417 BA, OF Bob Meusel led the team with 2 Triples and 8 RBIs, 3rd baseman Joe Dugan and OF Whitey Witt led the team with 2 doubles and the Babe led the Yankees with 8 Runs and 3 HR.  The Babe hit .368 for the Series.

The staff was led in the Series by Herb Pennock with 3 G, 17.1 IP, 8 Ks and 2 Wins, by Bullet Joe Bush with 3 G and Sad Sam Jones with a 0.90 ERA.

The Yankees had finally won it all!  Yankees fans were rejoicing and looking forward to 1924.  Could the Yankees make it 4 straight pennants and win back to back World Championships?  Come back to find out!  Thank you for reading!

Yankee Stadium Opening Day 1923

Yankee Tidbits

The season the Yanks won their most games ever was in 1998 when they won 114.

The longest winning streak in Yankees history was in 1947 when they won 19 straight.

 Pinstripes first appeared on their uniforms in 1912.

That the first game at Yankee Stadium was played on April 18, 1923 against the Red Sox and that Babe Ruth hit the first homer in the Stadium as the Yankees won 4-1. The first pitch thrown out at Yankee Stadium was by Gov. Al Smith.

Yankee Stadium was the first stadium to have three levels or decks.

Yankee Stadium was the first to have a electronic scoreboard and instant replay.

The biggest shutout win ever by the Bombers was a 21-0 pounding of the Philadelphia A's on August 13, 1939.

The highest team batting average by a Bombers team was in 1930 when as a team they hit .309.

In 1987 the Yankees hit a team total of 10 Grand Slams.

The Babe Ruth Era, part 3

The year 1922 came and the Yankee fans were ready.  Coming off their first world Series they were sure they would go again.  After all, they had the best hitter in the Babe.  Well, they were right for the 1922 Yankees did win the pennant.  But, not as easily as everyone thought they would.  The Babe and Bob Meusel were suspended till May 20 for barnstorming and the St. Louis Browns roared out of the gate with a great offense and very good pitching. 

The race was close and for a few days in July the Browns took over the top of the Al before the Yanks took the lead back for good.  In the end, when the smoke cleared won the pennant by one game over the St. Louis Browns with a 94-60 .610 +1 record!

To show how close it was, the Browns led the AL with 96 dingers to the Yanks 95, the Browns led the league in RBIs while the Yanks were third, the Browns led the AL with a .315 BA the Yanks were 3rd and it was like that all through the offensive categories. 

It was the same way in pitching with the Browns leading the AL in ERA by 0.01 over the Bombers, by 1 shutout, had more Ks, but the Yankees had more complete games, allowed 10 less hits and had two 20 game winners to the Browns one.  The biggest difference was Bullet Joe Bush who led the Bombers staff going 26-7 3.32 followed by Bob Shawkey 20-12 2.91 then Waite Hoyt who was 19-12 3.43.  The Yankees had more solid pitching in the end and edged the Browns out for the Pennant.

In Hitting while the Browns won most team honors, the Yankees were led by the Babe who had a off year leading the team with 35 HR, 99RBI and a .672 SA.  Wally Pipp led the team with a 190 hits, 32 doubles, 96 runs and a .329 BA.  Bob Meusel led the Yanks with 11 triples and 13 SB. 

With the Giants repeating as NL Champions the World Series was once again the Subway Series with the games all held at the Polo Grounds. 

This Series wasn't even close as the Giants swept the Yankees 4-0 with one tie game.  While the games were close the outcome wasn't.  Ruth hit .118 with 1 run, 1 rbi and 2 hits. The team hit .203 and had 2 HR both by Ward. 

It was a disappointing end to a season that had started out with such high hopes.  What would 1923 bring?  The Yankees were leaving the Polo Grounds to begin play in a new stadium called Yankee Stadium.  Would they repeat for their third straight pennant? Could they win the Series?  Come back and find out!

Wally Pipp, while replaced by Gehrig he was one heck of a ballplayer in his own right...