Will Yankees Greg Bird be more Moose Skowron or Nick Johnson?

Bill Skowron

While it’s true that Skowron’s WAR (26.9) is lower than Pipp’s, all of his other numbers are much better. Of his 14 years in the major leagues (1954-67), Moose spent his first nine with Yankees. Over that span, the power hitting first baseman hit .294/.346/.496 with 165 home runs.

He also belted out 173 doubles and ended with 672 RBI’s and 1,103 hits. Bill’s play is best framed by his times, and the fact that he went to five straight All-Star games speaks volumes.

Best for Yankees fans, though, is that his play helped take the Yankees to seven pennants and four World Series victories. And when he got there, Skowron played his best. Moose stroked seven home runs during those seven series and collected 34 hits.

His best showing came in the seven-game (sadly) losing series to the Pirates in 1960. Skowron slashed .375/.364/.625 that week with two homers, seven ribbies, and twelve hits in those seven games. The Yankees lost to Bill Mazeroski and the boys, but it wasn’t Moose’s fault.

Thank God He didn’t Look German

Skowron’s regular and post season production are good enough for third on this list. But his nickname would have probably gotten him here anyway. While Bill was a big, strong man, his nickname has nothing to do with his physical prowess.

Instead, it is a reflection of his physical presence. After one particular haircut, Bill’s grandpa thought his youthful grandson now resembled Italian leader and Fascist Dictator Benito Mussolini. Grand pappy slapped Bill with the truncated, Moose, and the rest is nickname history.

It would take thirties years, but by the early Eighties, the Yankees would finally get a better home grown first baseman than Moose. And one with an even better nickname.