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

The Yankees hope that their Bird is ready to fly. But where will he land in the long line of Yankees first basemen?

Yankees first basemen have produced a long and storied legacy. From Donnie Baseball to the luckiest man alive, from the Highlanders to the Yankees, the Bronx first basemen is an unparalleled collection.

For instance, this twice-named team has produced both the greatest player to ever man the bag and the greatest defensive player perhaps ever, at any position. And it’s not the same man.

Even baseball’s penchant for nickname-a-fication is exemplified by this group of Yankees. Names reference royalty and a fascist dictator, while one’s very name is a warning that is known throughout the baseball land.

Now Greg Bird has joined that company. But what will his rank be when his Yankees service is complete, and he turns in his uniform? Time to take a look at the competition.

However, the only players that will be considered must be homegrown baby Yankees. That leaves out some of the best of the first base bombers, including Tino Martinez, Mark Teixeira, Chris Chambliss and Johnny Mize. Mize might not have made it anyway as he platooned during those early fifties championship runs.

Tino and Mark are the two best recent free agent first basemen. Any list of the best players to man the bag for the Yanks would always include those two. But between them was the last of the homegrown bombers to play first for the Yanks, however, brief the stint.

That was Nick Johnson. And it’s with him that our Greg Bird comparisons begin.

The Saddest Word is, IF

Nick was a promising player and an advanced hitter; sound familiar? He played the game hard and wore his socks up high.

Johnson came up in 2001, joining a juggernaut. He platooned with Tino, taking over the bag full time in 2002. By the next year, Nick was 24 and just figuring out how to hit in the majors. He slashed .284/.422/.472 with 14 home runs and 19 doubles that year.

Those are good numbers. But here’s one that’s not so good: 406. That’s not his BA or OBP; it’s not even his slugging. No, that’s the number of plate appearances he had that year, fewer than he had managed the year before (441).

The problem for Nick was that he was injury prone: sound familiar? That proved to be Nick’s last year in pinstripes, for a while. He returned in 2010, his penultimate year in the show, hitting just.167/.388/.306. And he was healthy enough for only 98 PA’s.

His OBP tells you he still had the eye, but his SLG tells you the worst thing he could do was make contact with the ball. When his career ended two years later—after a year off and one last go with the Orioles—Johnson finished his career with a WAR of 14.6.

That will mean more to you as you read the comparative numbers of other players on this list. Hopefully, Bird will do better. He almost has to have a better career than Steve “Bye Bye” Balboni or Kevin Maas.

Still, It’s Part of the Legacy

Maas holds a special place in Yankees first basemen lore for inspiring the Maas Top girls. This was a seemingly spontaneous movement of women who would take their tops off and dance around the old stadium as if in a Dionystic spell whenever Kevin hit a home run, but that’s an article for another day.

For now let’s look at the pantheon of players who have distinguished themselves with the Yankees, shirts or no.

Honorable Mention

Joe Collins played his entire career with the Yankees (1948-57). His teams went to the World Series seven times and won five of them, which is a feather. But, while I could point out his poor postseason performances as a reason to rank him so low, it would be unnecessary.

Collins was a platoon player during those years, only getting more than 400 AB’s twice in that time. And he never had 500 in any season. Joe was obviously a valuable player, but his contributions to the Yankees can place him no higher.

Joe Pepitone played well with the Yankees (62-69). He was an All-Star three times and earned three Gold Glove awards. But he did not play enough first, spending too much time in the outfield for real consideration here.

It was important to consider time spent on the bag. Otherwise, Mickey Mantle would be the Yankees greatest at this position since he spent his last two years anchored up the line.

And Joe just didn’t have enough production to be seriously ranked. His best season was 1963 when he was 22 and hit .271/.304/.448. Those are solid numbers, but they aren’t nearly good enough to make the Yankees top four.

Wally Pipp

Some Yankees fans might balk at the idea of Pipp being on this list. Wally did indeed play 12 games for Detroit in 1913. But he spent the rest of that season in the minors and all of the next year. When the Yankees picked him up prior to the 1915 season, he was still a baby bomber.

The Yankees promoted him before Spring Training ended and Wally went on to spend eleven years with the club (1915-1925). Pipp hit .282/.343/.414 with 80 home runs over those seasons. But while those home runs may not seem like many, the numbers from those years have to be viewed in context.

For instance, Wally led the American League in home runs twice during his Yankees career: 12 in 1916 and 9 in 1917. And he led the league in triples in 1924 with 19.

But while other players have honors such as All-Star appearances and Gold Gloves to bolster their resumes, Pipp was ineligible for both; the first ASG was played in 1933 and Rawlings did not start giving out GG’s until the late ’50s.

Worthy of Honor

Nevertheless, Wally finished with 1,577 hits for the Yanks and 833 RBI’s. He also helped lead the Yankees to their first three pennants from 1921-23, usually batting clean-up behind Ruth. They lost the first two and won the third, and here again, Pipp loses points.

His postseason numbers did not help win championships, and that has weight. Wally’s postseason totals are a mere .224/.288/.254. The team probably wins more with a better first basemen. And they would get one.

We will get to him later, perhaps last, but it is Wally’s leaving that has left a mark on the game. Finding the true story behind it is a bit byzantine, from the commonly accepted beaning story to one told by Pipp’s son in which Wally tells manager Miller Huggins to let Lou Gehrig play in his stead.

Whatever the truth of the story, the metaphor and attendant moral are the same. Pipp was a very good player who missed one day of work. That one day became forever as Wally was permanently replaced and was shipped off to Cincinnati for his remaining three years in baseball.

Now, whenever a player loses his job to a better player because he missed a day, he is called getting Wally Pipped.

Wally finished his career with a 31.4 WAR. Yet a man with a worse WAR finished above him. And it is with a man named Bill that we get to our first great nickname.

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.

Don Mattingly

If your favorite player is Derek Jeter, then it’s likely that your dad’s favorite player is Don Mattingly. Donnie has two advantages over the players listed so far. One, he has better numbers. That always helps. And, two, he played his entire career in pinstripes (1982-95).

Lifetime Yankees can move to the front of the line if they have the numbers to back them up; Mattingly certainly has those. He finished his brilliant career hitting .307/.358/.471. That all went along with his 222 home runs, 2,153 hits and 1,099 RBI’s.

And every one of those was done in pinstripes.

And what was the impact of his play? Mattingly won the MVP in 1985 and finished in the top five in voting twice more. He was a six-time All-Star, won nine gold gloves, and three silver sluggers awards.

That’s how you leave a mark on the game, the Yankees, and the first base bag. And it’s how you end your career with a 42.2 WAR.

A Pain in His…

Sadly, he was not blessed to play at a time when the Yankees were following their mantra of winning championships every year. Despite his efforts, he only played in one postseason series: The 1995 ALDS against the Mariners.

It was a legendary series and proved true the prediction made by many that the world would only see the real Mattingly in the postseason. Donnie revealed his true self by hitting .417/.440/.708 with one home run, four doubles and six RBI’s in those five games.

Because of his play, his attitude, and his respect for the game, Mattingly earned the moniker, Donnie Baseball. Bestowed by Michael Kay, few nicknames ever suited somewhere better.

But Mattingly developed chronic back issues mid-way through his career and stopped playing at a hall of fame level. In his last two years, Donnie was only able to step up to the plate 372 and 458 times, respectively.

Like Larry Bird in Boston, Mattingly played with the pain as long as he could; he stopped playing after that 1995 series. When Ken Griffey Jr. slid across the plate, Donnie Baseball’s career was over.

The Thompsons

One final note: There has long been a dispute between New York baseball fans about who was better, Donnie or Keith Hernandez. We could compare numbers and awards all day and not find a resolution. Instead, we will let the imprint on popular culture during their playing days break the tie.

Early on, the Simpsons produced an episode in which Mr. Burns brings in the best MLB players for his company’s softball team. Griffey was there, as was Mike Scioscia, but not Hernandez. Donnie Baseball was selected as the best first baseman of the ’80s, and that helped propel him to number two on this list.

Now, you probably know who is first, but you don’t know who is next.

Unranked: Prince Hal Chase

Hal Chase played so long ago there wasn’t even a Yankees team. Chase got his AB’s from 1905-1913 when the team was known as the Highlanders. Hal put up very good numbers during those years, finishing for the Yankees with a .284/.311/.362 line.

That all went with his 1,182 hits and 494 RBI’s. Chase played in the dead ball era when home runs were devalued; he hit only 20. But getting on base and then causing havoc was in vogue, and Hal’s 248 stolen bases, 165 doubles, and 50 triples loom large.

Those accomplishments garnered accolades and after eight seasons with the bombers, Prince Hal…

…established himself as one of the biggest stars in baseball. Those seasons had highs, though they were mostly individual rather than collective: the Highlanders went through six managers, including Chase himself, and only twice posted winning records, but Prince Hal finished among the AL top ten four times in RBI, three times in batting average, and twice in stolen bases. In addition, he earned a reputation as perhaps the best batter in the league at executing the hit-and-run. For the most part, though, Chase was better known for his defense, and his relaxed ethical standards, than his offense.

His Defense Sometimes Rested

But as any sane baseball fan knows, numbers do not tell the story of the man. That might never have been truer than in Chase’s case. By all accounting, Hal Chase is the greatest defensive first baseman of all time, and maybe the best defensive player ever. This from Baseball Almanac:

Walter Johnson, Baseball magazine and Babe Ruth all named Chase as the greatest first baseman of all time. Ruth’s choice is perhaps the most curious, as he played either with or against Lou Gehrig, Jimmie Foxx and George Sisler.

And this from baseball historian, Bill James:

No other player in baseball history was so richly praised for his defensive skill – no one. His (Hal Chase) brilliance with the glove is easier to document than Ty Cobb‘s temper, Hack Wilson‘s drinking or Walter Johnson‘s fastball; it is all over the literature of the sport.

This from the Sporting News in 1913:

That he can play first base as it never was and perhaps never will be played is a well known truth.  That he will is a different matter.

And, finally, this:

In 1981, 62 years after his last major league game, baseball historians Lawrence Ritter and Donald Honig included him in their book The 100 Greatest Baseball Players of All Time.

Accolades and Anecdotes

By 1913, Chase was among the upper echelon of players in the league and his reported good looks and personality made him a prince of both baseball, and New York City. Thus the nickname.

Why then has this amazing player been forgotten? Again, because numbers never tell the whole story. Prince Hal thought more of himself than of his teammates or winning. He might not have been the first cancer on a team, but he was probably the biggest.

Once, when a reporter complimented him on a particularly outstanding play, he grinned and replied, referring to his less-talented teammates, “I could make plays like that every day, only I am afraid to turn the ball loose because I might hit one of those dopes in the head.”

And it didn’t stop there. Chase was known for gambling on baseball, including his own team, and bribing both teammates and opponents to ensure he would win. Even his high errors are probably attributed to choice more than talent.

Prince Hal played hard when he felt like it and committed errors when it helped him, no matter how it affected the team.

Again, It’s All Part of Yankees First Basemen’ Lore

I could probably write another complete article on the enigmatic Chase: His eventual trade for an “onion and a bunion”; Hal’s involvement with the 1919 Black Sox scandal; the secret wink and nod arrangement with John McGraw that kept him in baseball over the objections of Christy Mathewson; and his eventual end as a penniless, “shambling derelict” roaming the streets of Tucson.

But none of that has a place here or helps to rank the player. How can the greatest defensive first baseman of all time end with a WAR of 22.8 at the end of his fifteen-year career? All of this makes ranking the Prince impossible.

I will end my discussion of this conundrum with one of my own. Chase should never have been a Yankees player; he stands for everything the Yankees are not. He is a disgrace to the game and humanity. And even his massive regrets at the end of his life cannot redeem his transgressions against the Yankees and the baseball gods.

But, my lord, I wish I could see him play. In fact, there is only one first baseman I wish I could have seen more, and he is among the greatest players who has ever played this game.

Giant Shoulders

Gehrig is clearly not in competition with the other men on this list. His only peers are the immortals. For those of you who might go back and check the records, note that the gods have decreed that no man can find immortality inside a syringe.

Lou is third all-time in RBI’s; Hank Aaron is second, and Ruth is first. He is third all-time in slugging, behind Ruth in second and Ted Williams in first. Gehrig’s OBP is the fourth highest in history (Teddy Ballgame is the all-time leader).

The numbers keep adding up. He is seventh all-time in BA (Cobb), eleventh in runs scored (Rickey Henderson), thirteenth in average, sixteenth in walks, and 28th in home runs (Aaron).

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And his WAR (prepare yourself) is 112.4. You can compare that to the other Yankees first baseman, but you’re better off looking at the names above his. There aren’t many, as Lou’s is fifteenth all-time, and the list ends with another Yankees player: Babe Ruth, 183.7.

Once upon a Yankees fairy tale come true, these two men batted three and four and created the team’s still used the nickname, the Bronx Bombers.

More to his Story

But even with Lou, the numbers could never tell the full story of this man. If Ruth had Panache, and Dimaggio had Grace, then Gehrig had Dignity. I am working on a piece called, The Lost Years of Yankees Legends, including Dimaggio, Munson, and Mattingly. I shall return to Mr. Gehrig then.

Lou’s numbers remove most opinions, though, leaving only facts. But I will start with one exception: it might be just my opinion that the Iron Horse is a top-five player all-time. That is, perhaps, an argument to be had.

However, I feel so strongly about this, that, to the last I would grapple with thee. From Hell’s heart I would stab at thee, and, for the sake of Yankees fans and baseball historians everywhere in time, I would spit my last breath at thee to win that argument.

But it is not opinion that Lou is the greatest first baseman who has ever manned the bag; his numbers make a fact of the assertion. And as that includes both Yankees and Highlanders, the fact is that Lou Gehrig is the greatest first baseman ever to don the pinstripes.

Next: Now Meet the Four Greatest Yankees Teams that Never Were

No one expects Greg Bird to be Lou Gehrig. I have a hard time believing anyone was ever Lou Gehrig. But with his power and eye, the hope is he can be somewhere between Moose and Donnie Baseball. Just as long as he does not turn out to be Nick Johnson; that’s a history I hope never repeats itself.

Next: Yankees should abandon ship and focus on Wild Card

But even if his career ended tomorrow, his place in the fascinating line of Yankee’s first basemen would be debated, by fools and philosophers.

And honky-tonk heroes, like me.

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