The Curse of... oh, let's say, Clay Bellinger:



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Blue Jays (42-38) @ Yankees (45-33), Friday, July 3, 1:05pm **Game Chatter**
(164 Comments - 7/4/2009 2:43:38 am)

Mariners (39-38) @ Yankees (45-32), Thursday, July 2, 7:05pm **Game Chatter**
(196 Comments - 7/3/2009 12:54:58 pm)

Yankees.com: A-Rod puts Yanks’ win streak at seven
(49 Comments - 7/2/2009 7:25:01 pm)

Fangraphs.com: Another Look at HRs at the New Yankee Stadium
(23 Comments - 7/2/2009 6:52:43 pm)

Yankees.com: Yanks make it six straight, pick up Bruney
(155 Comments - 7/2/2009 2:22:32 pm)

Mariners (39-37) @ Yankees (44-32), Wednesday, July 1, 2009, 7:05pm **Game Chatter**
(152 Comments - 7/1/2009 10:00:39 pm)

Mariners (39-36) @ Yankees (43-32), Tuesday, June 30, 2009, 7:05pm **Game Chatter**
(360 Comments - 7/1/2009 12:41:00 am)

LA Times: Yankees acquire Eric Hinske from Pirates for 2 minor leaguers
(81 Comments - 6/30/2009 7:50:45 pm)

Yankee Zone Rating and Pitching Bar Graphs through Games of June 28, 2009 (UZR added upon request)
(41 Comments - 6/30/2009 1:24:19 pm)

Yankees.com: Rivera notches 500th save
(78 Comments - 6/30/2009 12:59:16 pm)

Player

 Current Projected
Jonathan Albaladejo
1 G
162 G
1.3 IP
216 IP
Brian Bruney
1 G
162 G
.3 IP
54 IP
Phil Coke
1 G
162 G
1.7 IP
270 IP
Damaso Marte
1 G
162 G
.3 IP
54 IP
Edwar Ramirez
0 G
0 G
0 IP
0 IP
Mariano Rivera
0 G
0 G
0 IP
0 IP
Jose Veras
0 G
0 G
0 IP
0 IP
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"Larry, can you be any more of a Yankee apologist?.... Just look past your Yankee myopia and try some objectivity."
- Bernal Diaz

"Mr. Mahnken is enlightened."
- cordially, as always,
rm

"Wow, Larry. You've produced 25% of the comments on this thread and said nothing meaningful. That's impressive, even for you."
- Anonymous

"After reading all your postings and daily weblog...I believe you have truly become the Phil Pepe of this generation. Now this is not necessarily a good thing."
- Repoz

"you blog sucks, it reeds as it was written by the queer son of mike lupica and roids clemens. i could write a better column by letting a monkey fuk a typewriter. i dont need no 181 million dollar team to write a blog fukkk the spankeees"
- yan

"i think his followers have a different sexual preference than most men"
- bob

"Boring and predictable."
- No Guru No Method

"Are you the biggest idiot ever?"
- Randal

"I'm not qualified to write for online media, let alone mainstream media."
- Larry Mahnken

This site is best viewed with a monitor.

Disclaimer: If you think this is the official website of the New York Yankees, you're an idiot. Go away.

Monday, February 11, 2008

Top Twenty Offensive Yankee Seasons - Designated Hitter

The last top twenty list for non-pitchers is designated hitter. The DH rule was instituted in the AL in 1973 so we don't have the litany of history that we had at the other positions. I am a fan of the DH although I think it's primarily because it's the game I grew up watching.

A final reminder, I've described the methodology I'm using here. It's important to remember that this methodology compares players to their peers of the same season, so you can't just compare raw stats. Context counts.

Your top ten Yankee DHs are...

Rank Player Year Team Lg Pos G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO AVG OBP SLG BRAA psOPS+
1 Jim Spencer 1979 NYA AL DH 106 295 60 85 15 3 23 53 0 2 38 25 .288 .367 .593 19 148
2 Don Baylor 1983 NYA AL DH 144 534 82 162 33 3 21 85 17 7 40 53 .303 .361 .494 18 117
3 Danny Tartabull 1993 NYA AL DH 138 513 87 128 33 2 31 102 0 0 92 156 .250 .363 .503 17 118
4 Jason Giambi 2006 NYA AL DH 139 446 92 113 25 0 37 113 2 0 110 106 .253 .413 .558 16 126
5 Ron Blomberg 1973 NYA AL DH 100 301 45 99 13 1 12 57 2 0 34 25 .329 .395 .498 15 134
6 Oscar Gamble 1982 NYA AL DH 108 316 49 86 21 2 18 57 6 3 58 47 .272 .387 .522 14 129
7 Don Baylor 1984 NYA AL DH 134 493 84 129 29 1 27 89 1 1 38 68 .262 .341 .489 14 114
8 Jack Clark 1988 NYA AL DH 150 496 81 120 14 0 27 93 3 2 113 141 .242 .381 .433 13 118
9 Ron Blomberg 1974 NYA AL DH 90 264 39 82 11 2 10 48 2 1 29 33 .311 .375 .481 11 134
10 Mike Easler 1986 NYA AL DH 146 490 64 148 26 2 14 78 3 2 49 87 .302 .362 .449 7 112


Jim Spencer - 1979
The late Jim Spencer tops the list in a season where he only had 295 AB. He did hit 23 HRs in those 295 AB good for a .593 SLG. I thought Spencer had a rep for a pretty good glove, but I guess with Chris Chambliss around he didn't get to play as much first base as he should have. He did play in 26 games at first base, compared to 71 at DH.

Don Baylor - 1983
The first Yankee DH I really remember playing was Don Baylor. This was his first seasons as Yankee after coming over as a free agent Baylor was the 1979 MVP but at this point he was 34 and winding down. A pure DH, Baylor only played 6 games in the field this season.

Danny Tartabull - 1993
I still remember the night the Yankees announced the twin signings of Danny Tartabull and Mike Gallego. For some reason I thought that meant they were going to win the AL East. Tartabull is considered a disappointment by many, but his first two seasons in New York really were pretty good. He was 25 BRAA in 1992 and 17 BRAA in 1993.

Jason Giambi - 2006
After his return from the dead in 2005, Giambi put up a solid season in 2006.

Ron Blomberg - 1973
Blomberg was the first Yankee DH and was also the first DH to ever bat in a game. As you can see by the playing time distributions in the top ten the Yankees have not really had many full-time DHs.

Oscar Gamble - 1982
Oscar Gamble wasn't just a LF with big afro, he was a DH with a good HR/AB ratio in 1982.

Don Baylor - 1984
Baylor makes another top ten appearance.

Jack Clark - 1988
I could have swore that the only thing Jack Clark ever did as a Yankee was strike out. Apparently he did get some hits and walks too.

Ron Blomberg - 1974
Blomberg's second appearance in the top ten.

Mike Easler - 1986
Before the 1986 season, the Yankees traded Baylor to Boston for Mike Easler, aka the Hit Man. I was still a HR/RBI guy back then so I thought it was a horrible trade. It seemed worse when Baylor was supposedly leading Boston to the AL East title and getting all the hype for his clutch hitting and for helping Boston's chemistry. Easler wasn't a bad player though, even if I didn't understand it at the time.

And 11-20...
Rank Player Year Team Lg Pos G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO AVG OBP SLG BRAA psOPS+
11 Darryl Strawberry 1998 NYA AL DH 101 295 44 73 11 2 24 57 8 7 46 90 .247 .354 .542 5 110
12 Ken Phelps 1988 NYA AL DH 45 107 17 24 5 0 10 22 0 0 19 26 .224 .339 .551 5 134
13 Don Baylor 1985 NYA AL DH 142 477 70 110 24 1 23 91 0 4 52 90 .231 .330 .430 4 105
14 Eric Soderholm 1980 NYA AL DH 95 275 38 79 13 1 11 35 0 0 27 25 .287 .353 .462 4 107
15 Steve Balboni 1989 NYA AL DH 110 300 33 71 12 2 17 59 0 0 25 67 .237 .296 .460 3 106
16 Ron Blomberg 1975 NYA AL DH 34 106 18 27 8 2 4 17 0 0 13 10 .255 .336 .481 3 120
17 Bobby Murcer 1981 NYA AL DH 50 117 14 31 6 0 6 24 0 0 12 15 .265 .331 .470 3 114
18 Ron Kittle 1987 NYA AL DH 59 159 21 44 5 0 12 28 0 1 10 36 .277 .318 .535 2 108
19 Mike Stanley 1997 NYA AL DH 28 87 16 25 8 0 3 12 0 0 15 22 .287 .388 .483 2 113
20 Cliff Johnson 1979 NYA AL DH 28 64 11 17 6 0 2 6 0 0 10 7 .266 .360 .453 2 113


YOu look at Darryl Strawberry's 1998 at age 36 and wonder what would have been if he hadn't hit just 28 HRs from ages 30-35. Straw's pop off the bench was a big part of the best team ever. One of my favorite memories of the season came in this game. The Yankees were in Oakland trailing 5-1 going into the top of the ninth. Tino Martinez and Tim Raines singled. Chad Curtis grounded to 3B but an E5 allowed him to reach. Bases loaded, no outs and Joe Girardi was due up. Strawberry pinch hit for Girardi, hit a game-tying grand slam, and the Yankees went on to score five more runs including HRs by Paul O'Neill and Tino.

Looking at the rest of the list we see some cringeworthy names include Ron Kittle. It's safe to say that for the most part Yankee DHs haven't been all that good, although they've rarely used a full-time DH which is a big part of it.

Here's how the top twenty breaks down by player:

Don Baylor: 3
Ron Blomberg: 3
Bobby Murcer: 1
Cliff Johnson: 1
Danny Tartabull: 1
Darryl Strawberry: 1
Eric Soderholm: 1
Jack Clark: 1
Jason Giambi: 1
Jim Spencer: 1
Ken Phelps: 1
Mike Easler: 1
Mike Stanley: 1
Oscar Gamble: 1
Ron Kittle: 1
Steve Balboni: 1

And that's it for the hitters. By request I'll do a couple of more posts for starting and relief pitchers, then it's time to start the 2008 player previews/projections.

Update: By request, here are the top twenty seasons by all DHs:

Rank Player Year Team Lg Pos G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO AVG OBP SLG BRAA psOPS+
1 Edgar Martinez 1995 SEA AL DH 145 511 121 182 52 0 29 113 4 3 116 87 .356 .479 .628 43 162
2 Frank Thomas 1991 CHA AL DH 158 559 104 178 31 2 32 109 1 2 138 112 .318 .453 .553 43 155
3 David Ortiz 2007 BOS AL DH 149 549 116 182 52 1 35 117 3 1 111 103 .332 .445 .621 39 164
4 Edgar Martinez 1997 SEA AL DH 155 542 104 179 35 1 28 108 2 4 119 86 .330 .456 .554 35 145
5 Travis Hafner 2006 CLE AL DH 129 454 100 140 31 1 42 117 0 0 100 111 .308 .439 .659 35 152
6 Edgar Martinez 1996 SEA AL DH 139 499 121 163 52 2 26 103 3 3 123 84 .327 .464 .595 35 149
7 Paul Molitor 1987 ML4 AL DH 118 465 114 164 41 5 16 75 45 10 69 67 .353 .438 .566 34 154
8 Frank Thomas 2000 CHA AL DH 159 582 115 191 44 0 43 143 1 3 112 94 .328 .436 .625 34 145
9 David Ortiz 2005 BOS AL DH 159 601 119 180 40 1 47 148 1 0 102 124 .300 .397 .604 32 147
10 Travis Hafner 2005 CLE AL DH 137 486 94 148 42 0 33 108 0 0 79 123 .305 .408 .595 32 138
11 Manny Ramirez 2001 BOS AL DH 142 529 93 162 33 2 41 125 0 1 81 147 .306 .405 .609 30 147
12 David Ortiz 2006 BOS AL DH 151 558 115 160 29 2 54 137 1 0 119 117 .287 .413 .636 30 146
13 Edgar Martinez 1998 SEA AL DH 154 556 86 179 46 1 29 102 1 1 106 96 .322 .429 .565 30 137
14 Travis Hafner 2004 CLE AL DH 140 482 96 150 41 3 28 109 3 2 68 111 .311 .410 .583 29 133
15 Paul Molitor 1993 TOR AL DH 160 636 121 211 37 5 22 111 22 4 77 71 .332 .402 .509 29 136
16 Rafael Palmeiro 1999 TEX AL DH 158 565 96 183 30 1 47 148 2 4 97 69 .324 .420 .630 27 145
17 Edgar Martinez 2000 SEA AL DH 153 556 100 180 31 0 37 145 3 0 96 95 .324 .423 .579 27 124
18 Edgar Martinez 2001 SEA AL DH 132 470 80 144 40 1 23 116 4 1 93 90 .306 .423 .543 27 129
19 David Ortiz 2004 BOS AL DH 150 582 94 175 47 3 41 139 0 0 75 133 .301 .380 .603 25 142
20 Jim Rice 1977 BOS AL DH 160 644 104 206 29 15 39 114 5 4 53 120 .320 .376 .593 25 155

--Posted at 9:15 am by SG / 30 Comments | - (769)


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