New York Yankees: All-time best shortstops in franchise history

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New York Yankees legends (l to r) Lou Gehrig #4, Tony Lazzeri #6, Frankie Crosetti #1, Red Rolfe #2 and Don Heffner #10 – (Photo by Kidwiler Collection/Diamond Images/Getty Images) /

player. 43. . 1932-1948. New York Yankees. Frankie Crosetti. 4

New York Yankees all-time best shortstops – No. 4: Frankie Crosetti

27.4 WAR

Frankie Crosetti played 17 seasons with the Yankees and won eight Wolrd Series rings. For most of his first nine years, he was an everyday starter, with four seasons over 700 plate appearances., leading the majors twice.

He also led the league in stolen bases once, in 1938, and strikeouts twice. Seven times he led the AL in being hit by pitches. While his batting average was seldom very good, topping .265 just once, his on-base percentage was usually healthy. For his career, it was .341.

During the war years, he evolved into a backup player, never seeing action in more than 95 games from 1941 through 1944. He returned to full-time status in 1945, but his numbers overall weren’t good – .238 batting average, only four home runs, and 48 RBI.

After that season, he played in just 48 more games, spread over three seasons. His career ended after the 1948 season, at the age of 37. In the last two seasons, he was a player-coach, and after his retirement, he became a third base coach for the next 20 years.

Over the first half of his career, Crosetti was pretty darn good. He was a two-time all-star and played nearly every day. He was a valuable part of some outstanding Yankees’ squads and practically ran out of fingers for World Series rings.

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