You Gotta Know
Enough baseball players are frequently asked-about in quiz bowl that nearly any appropriate subset of them would still be too large for a single "You Gotta Know" entry. One franchise, however, has--for good or bad--easily the most distinguished history in baseball. The players and managers below form a reasonable starting point for quiz players just beginning to learn baseball lore. What follows was written by an avowed Yankee fan and edited by an NAQT officer who describes the Yankees as his least favorite team, though he readily acknowledges their singular place in the history of the sport.
(George Herman) "Babe" Ruth (1895-1948), the son of a saloon keeper, grew up on the Baltimore waterfront and in the St. Mary's Industrial School for Boys. Ruth spent six seasons with the Boston Red Sox, primarily as a pitcher, winning 89 games and three championship rings. He also distinguished himself at bat, setting a record in 1919 with 29 home runs. Debt-ridden Red Sox owner Harry Frazee sold Ruth to the Yankees to finance a Broadway production of No, No, Nanette. Prior to the sale, Boston had won five World Series (three with Ruth) to New York's zero; since then the Yankees have won 26 championships (four with Ruth) versus none for the Red Sox. Moved to the outfield, Ruth led the league in home runs ten more times, including the 60 he hit in 1927 as part of the "Murderers Row" lineup. In the third game of the 1932 World Series, he allegedly gestured towards the center field stands before his "Called Shot" home run. Beyond his on-field exploits, Ruth was an infamous eater and carouser.
(Ludwig Heinrich) "Lou" Gehrig (1903-1941) was born in Manhattan and played football and baseball at Columbia. In 1925 he replaced incumbent first baseman Wally Pipp on Pipp's "day off" but stayed in the lineup for 2,130 straight games, a streak broken by Cal Ripken, Jr., in 1995. The "Iron Horse" also set an American League record with 184 runs batted in (1931) and a major league record with 23 grand slams. After he was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (now commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease), he told Yankee fans on July 4, 1939: "Today, I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the Earth." In deference to Gehrig, no Yankee was appointed team captain until Thurman Munson in 1976.
(Joseph Vincent) "Joe" McCarthy (1887-1978), no relation to the Wisconsin senator, began managing the Yankees in 1931, the first of nine straight years that his teams finished first or second. McCarthy led New York to four straight championships (1936-39) and seven overall. His .615 career winning percentage is the all-time best among big league skippers. Besides winning - his teams never finished below .500 - McCarthy's teams were distinguished by their offense: The 1931 Yankees scored 1,067 runs, most by any big league team since 1900.
(Giuseppi Paolo) "Joe" DiMaggio, Jr. (1914-1999) left the San Francisco Seals of the Pacific Coast League and joined the Yankees in 1936, in time to lead New York to its fifth championship, the first of nine the Bronx Bombers would win in his career. The "Yankee Clipper" won three Most Valuable Player awards, two batting titles, and two home run titles. In 1941 "Joltin' Joe" hit safely in a record 56 consecutive games (he had hit in 61 straight for the 1933 Seals). Post-career highlights include his nine-month marriage to Marilyn Monroe, his ads for Mr. Coffee (among the earliest televised celebrity endorsements), and the mention of his name in Simon and Garfunkel's "Mrs. Robinson."
Mickey (Charles) Mantle (1931-1995) was born to play baseball--his father named him for Hall of Fame catcher Mickey Cochrane--but his left leg was not. In high school it was nearly amputated because of osteomyelitis, the first of his many leg problems. Known as the Commerce Comet (after his speed and the Oklahoma town where he grew up), Mantle became the Yankee center fielder following DiMaggio's retirement. Mantle's Yankees played in 12 World Series (winning seven of them); he holds Series records for home runs (18), RBI (40), runs (42), walks (43), extra-base hits (26), and total bases (123). In the regular season, the switch-hitting Mantle had 536 home runs, three MVP awards, and a Triple Crown (1956). In 1961 he and teammate Roger Maris each had a chance of breaking Ruth's home run record; Mantle was the fan favorite but injuries limited him to 54 longballs (Maris broke the record with 61).
(Lawrence Peter) "Yogi" Berra (1925-Present) is best known for his quotes and malapropisms (e.g. "Little league baseball is a very good thing because it keeps the parents off the streets"). Berra was also notorious for swinging at bad pitches, but he made contact just often enough to set the record for most home runs by a catcher (306, a mark later broken by Carlton Fisk). After playing on ten championship teams and winning three MVP awards, Berra was hired as the Yankees' manager in 1964 but fired following the World Series loss to the St. Louis Cardinals. His 1973 pennant with the Mets made him the second manager (after Joe McCarthy but before Sparky Anderson) to win pennants in both leagues.
(Edward Charles) "Whitey" Ford (1928-Present) was called "Chairman of the Board" because of his cool, efficient pitching. With 236 career wins against 106 defeats, he has the best winning percentage of any pitcher with 200 or more wins. He broke Babe Ruth's World Series record with 33 consecutive scoreless innings (1960-62); his other Series records include ten wins, eight losses, and 146 innings pitched. Manager Casey Stengel often rested him against bad teams so that he could pitch more often against contenders, making his 2.75 career ERA more impressive.
(Charles Dillon) "Casey" Stengel (1890-1975) managed the Yankees to ten pennants and seven championships, including five in a row from 1949 to 1953. The "Old Perfessor" did not use a set lineup or pitching rotation, instead often mixing and matching players. As a player he was best known for his two home runs against the Yankees in the 1923 World Series. Off the field he was known for his vaudevillian personality and (like Berra) his mangled quotes. In 1958 a Senate subcommittee called him to testify on baseball's anti-trust exemption, leading to an hour of nearly incomprehensible "Stengelese."
(Alfred Manuel) "Billy" Martin (1928-1989) managed the New York Yankees on five separate occasions, the result of his frequent hirings and firings by owner George Steinbrenner. An alert, combative second baseman from 1950 to 1957, he caught Jackie Robinson's bases-loaded popup in Game 7 of the 1952 World Series and won the final game of the '53 Series with a single in the bottom of the ninth. As manager Martin won two pennants and a World Series (1977) but also nearly came to blows with Reggie Jackson during a nationally televised game.
(Reginald Martinez) "Reggie" Jackson (1946-Present) was one of baseball's first high-profile free agent signings. After winning three straight World Series with Oakland (1972-74), Jackson left the A's following the 1975 season, spent a year in Baltimore, and then joined the Bronx Zoo (as the Yankees' chaotic clubhouse was then known). Known as Mr. October, he hit three home runs in Game 6 of the 1977 World Series, each against a different pitcher, each on the first pitch of the at-bat. Also in 1977 he created a sensation by proclaiming himself "the straw that stirs the drink." He hit 563 career home runs and led the league in homers four times, but also set a major league record with 2,597 career strikeouts.
Don(ald Arthur) Mattingly (1961-Present) is almost unique among Yankee greats for his lack of a World Series ring. He holds the major league record with six grand slams in a season, led the league in hits twice, and won the 1985 MVP award. "Donnie Baseball" also won nine Gold Glove awards at first base and posted a .996 career fielding percentage. The Yankees of the 1980s, led by Mattingly, Dave Winfield, and Willie Randolph, consistently finished above .500. Mattingly's 1982 rookie season, however, was the first of a 13-year playoff drought. A 1995 Division Series against the Seattle Mariners (won by Seattle in five games) was his only post-season experience.
Derek (Sanderson) Jeter (1974-Present), in contrast to Mattingly, has reached the playoffs every year in his major league career, including six pennants and four championships. He was Rookie of the Year in 1996, the same year that 12-year-old Jeffrey Maier reached over a railing to turn his fly ball in the American League Championship Series into a controversial home run. In 2003 the Yankees named Jeter their 11th captain in franchise history and first since 1995. (In baseball a "team captain" is a purely honorary position; some teams dispense with the practice of naming one.) His junior high school yearbook named him "Most likely to play shortstop for the New York Yankees."
This article was contributed by John Gorman.