This is a time and a season belonging to Yankees captains, from the most prominent to the most pertinent; a time to reflect upon the courage and rare dignity of Lou Gehrig; a season to celebrate (even if it makes him cringe) the elegance and the excellence of Derek Jeter.
Together they embody everything a Yankees captain ought to be, and apart they were substantially responsible for 12 of the 27 championships in team history — five for Jeter, seven for Gehrig (assuming you include the fateful ’39 team, for which he was an active player for only a month but a full member of the traveling squad right through the four-game World Series sweep against Cincinnati).
In so many ways, both real and ethereal, Jeter is Gehrig’s baseball descendant — a team-first stalwart who was astonishingly popular and managed to keep his reputation clean, even in times (the Roaring ’20s, the Clinton ’90s) when excess was the rule, playing alongside larger-than-life foils (Babe Ruth for Gehrig, Alex Rodriguez for Jeter) who could have swallowed them whole, but never did.
They are the prominent and pertinent captains.
But not the only ones. And it sometimes seems the Yankees have forgotten that. Oh, Thurman Munson — who became the first captain since Gehrig, 37 years before — is duly memorialized, and has been since he died in a plane crash in August 1979. Ron Guidry’s 49 is retired, though that’s due in larger part to his 25-3 in 1978 than his tenure as captain. And if Don Mattingly never quite reached the team and individual goals Gehrig and Jeter did, he absolutely appealed to the same proud part of every Yankees fan’s soul the other two did, and his retired 23 is a testament to that.
That leaves two captains who have yet to be recognized, and at a time when it is clear the Yankees view it either historically proper (or fiscally prudent) to provide days for key members of the 1996-2000 Dyansty Boys (Tino Martinez, Paul O’Neill, Bernie Williams), the continued absence of Graig Nettles and Willie Randolph seems especially stark. And especially puzzling.
Look, neither had the kind of career that merits a retired number — besides, Nettles’ 9 is now forever (and rightly) Roger Maris’, and Mel Stottlemyre wore No. 30 with at least as much distinction as Randolph. But the Yankees are clearly committed now to a two-tiered Monument Park — one part for baseball immortals, one part for Yankees unforgettables.
And Nettles and Randolph belong.
Their captaincies came late in their time with the Yankees, more as rewards for being part of the turnaround Yankees of 1976-81 than for helping to win the titles in 1977 and ‘78. But make no mistake: If the alpha Yankees in those years were Munson and Jackson and Mickey Rivers (another whose time with the Yankees is oddly overlooked), Nettles and Randolph were two building blocks that made those titles possible.
Nettles arrived from Cleveland in 1973 and immediately began taking aim at the short porch. Randolph came in a trade from Pittsburgh after the ’75 season and immutably teamed with Rivers to give those Bombers some burners, too.
It’s interesting: Those ’70s Yankees always seem lacking when they are compared to their ’90s brethren. Even Jackson rarely is afforded the same level ovations as, say, Williams. Yet it’s easy to argue nothing that happened later on would be possible without the Zoo boys, who not only got Yankees fans used to winning after 12 years in the desert, but got George Steinbrenner addicted to the feeling, too.
They are teams that need to be remembered. Starting with two key players who would become captains is a good place to start. Sooner rather than later.
Whack Back at Vac
Ed Finnegan: As sports fans, we like watching world-class athletes perform. Soccer will always rank fifth on my list of sports to watch, but one has to love that the game is typically over in 120 minutes. Completely different games, but baseball will (slowly) lose fans to soccer. Games have to take less time.
Vac: I’ve come to believe MLB definitely needs to find its own Daniel Biasone, the man who saved the NBA by inventing the shot clock.
Stan Bowker: You ask, “Will America embrace soccer once the World Cup glow fades?” The identical question has been asked after every World Cup since at least 1994. The answer has invariably been, no. I see no reason why it will be different this time.
Vac: Just a heads up for the soccer inevitable-ists: There remain many — many — who feel exactly this way.
@Bucksky619: With all due respect Mike, I hardly think it’s fair to lump Mark Teixeira in with Brian Roberts, Brian McCann, Kelly Johnson etc.
@MikeVacc: Well, he is less than the back of his baseball card … but relative to the damage done so far, you’re probably right.
Rocco Labbato: Yes, Anthony, leave, but on one additional condition: that the Knicks package him with his twin ally J.R. Smith.
Vac: I wonder if, when Phil Jackson watches game film of J.R., he actually laughs out loud or simply chuckles quietly to himself.
Vac’s Whacks
As much as I love this tennis era, when Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic all seem to be terrific gentlemen in addition to all-time talents … I do occasionally miss the days when Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe and Ivan Lendl not only pushed each other to greatness, but also seemed to genuinely detest each other.
Good for Shaun Livingston, who deserves to get a nice score with the Warriors. Better for Bay Area scribes who get to deal with him every day.
No matter what your rooting proclivities may be, it ought to be universal to hope CC Sabathia, a pro’s pro and an old-fashioned pitching bulldog, makes it all the way back to the mound at Yankee Stadium.
All due respect to Benny Goodman, The Clarinet Man, but I already miss the Billy Joel Channel on Sirius Channel 4.