Yankees: 3 NYY Stars Who'd Have Been Hall of Famers Without Injuries

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These Yankees stars would’ve made the Hall of Fame if not for the injury bug.

The New York Yankees have a hallowed set of Hall of Famers enshrined in Cooperstown — as well as several players who still sit on the Hall’s outskirts and deserve further consideration.

But we’re Yankee fans. We’re not satisfied with a bunch of “Yes” votes and a couple of maybes. We need the world to acknowledge that getting 90% of the breaks isn’t enough, and we’d be further dominating the Hall’s landscape if just a few more had gone our way.

If all things were equal, I believe these three fan favorites would’ve made the Baseball Hall of Fame, too. Alas, they fell victim to father time, as well as a few unhappy accidents.

3. Elston Howard

Whitey Ford, right, and Elston Howard of the New York Yankees – (Photo Reproduction by Transcendental Graphics/Getty Images) /

Elston Howard is in Monument Park, but not the Hall of Fame.

Plenty of factors conspired against Elston Howard’s Cooperstown induction, but one final injury officially did him in and closed the case.

Howard did not debut with the Yankees until the age of 26, back in April of 1955. He signed with the Negro League’s Kansas City Monarchs back in 1948 as a 19-year-old, and played three seasons in their outfield, rooming with a young Ernie Banks along the way. Of course, it became tough for Howard to break through once he joined the NYY’s minor-league system.

For one thing, Yogi Berra was still firmly entrenched as the starting catcher. For another, it took the team…quite a bit too long to integrate, to say the least.

But once Howard arrived, he raked — Ellie made the AL All-Star team 12 consecutive times in nine seasons (they used to double up on the game per year, which was a…mistake). He was the AL MVP in 1963, and a destroyer of worlds from the age of 28 through 35. Unfortunately, his age 36 season was marred by an elbow injury suffered in Spring Training, which required surgery. Although he made the All-Star Game one final time that season, his career featured three more mediocre-to-bad seasons after 1965.

The late start was one thing, but three more representative years from Howard, instead of a few disastrous ones, might’ve gotten him over the Hall hump anyway. 1,800 hits or so instead of 1,500, he could’ve passed the 200-homer mark and hit .280…sigh. Howard’s road was doomed from the start, but that elbow issue really cinched it.

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2. Tony Kubek

Tony Kubek of the New York Yankees with Casey Stengel. (Photo by Mark Rucker/Transcendental Graphics, Getty Images) /

Tony Kubek might’ve been on a Hall of Fame track.

This one’s pure speculation on my end with very little data, but I have a strong feeling Tony Kubek’s career would’ve reached Hall of Fame level if not for one disastrous bounce.

Through 1960, a 24-year-old Kubek had played four full seasons in the bigs as the shortstop of the New York Yankees. He’d racked up Rookie of the Year honors, successive All-Star appearances in 1958 and 1959, and an 11th-place MVP finish and power breakout in ’60, socking 14 homers and hitting .273. The kid hit two homers in a World Series game as a rookie, and was also second in defensive WAR among shortstops in ’59 and ’60.

Then, the unthinkable happened: while trying to get in front of a ground ball during Game 7 of the 1960 World Series, the baseball struck a pebble, and took a horrifying hop into Kubek’s throat. He’d make the All-Star Game again the next season (hitting a club-record 38 doubles at SS), and hit .314 in limited duty in 1962, but the injuries cascaded from there.

He lost time while battling assorted neck, shoulder, and arm problems, and eventually retired at the age of 29, felled by what was described as a nerve at the top of the spinal column that had continued to fray. It’s unclear whether his whiplash reaction to the throat injury caused these building side effects, but Kubek was never the same.

There’s a happy ending here, though — Kubek made the Hall’s broadcaster wing in 2009 after a long, fruitful, and hilarious career in the booth.

1. Don Mattingly

Manager Joe Torre (L) and hitting coach Don Mattingly (R) of the New York Yankees (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images) /

Don Mattingly was so close to being a Hall of Famer.

Don Mattingly is riiiiiiight on the borderline of being a justifiable Hall of Fame case regardless of his bodily breakdown, but since I don’t have the requisite nostalgia, I can’t quite endorse it.

That being said, if there had been just a bit more to the body of work, he’d be a shoo-in. Was there any bigger “sure thing” than Mattingly’s Cooperstown pass back in 1989?

After that season, his age-28 campaign, Donnie Baseball had racked up 1,300 hits, 164 homers, 272 doubles, six All-Star appearances and an MVP in just six full seasons. From then on, he’d only play six more seasons, winning four more Gold Gloves and rebounding in ’92 and ’93 (.288/14/86 and .291/17/86), but never again making an All-Star team.

Even with ALL things considered, the Yankees icon racked up 2,153 hits in a 14-year career that ended at the age of 34, when his back demanded it.

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He made just one singular postseason appearance in 1995, and exited the field watching Ken Griffey Jr. round third on a mad dash for a walk-off victory. The Captain deserved better, by any metric. So close.

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Yankees: 3 NYY Stars Who’d Have Been Hall of Famers Without Injuries