Yankees Uni Watch; The Long Shot

By Michael Kelly

Well, today we have our Long shot to have his number retired. I was trying to think of one Yankee for this spot, one player who maybe didn’t have the statistical prowess of the players mentioned previously (last post, HERE).

Initially I thought of Cone and Wells (perfect games), El Duque for his postseason dominance, and maybe someone like Hideki Matsui, who had good stats for a number of seasons for the Yankees. But, Cone wasn’t around long enough to make up for that one terrible year (4-14) he had, and I’ll never forgive Wells for his performance against the Marlins (bad back and pitched for an inning). Matsui never won a ring, and El Duque had mainly mediocre—at best—regular seasons.

I considered Chuck Knoblauch at my father’s suggestion, but then I remembered things like this and this.

So, dad, consider him considered. And if you want to stop reading here and just do some more reading about your boy Chuckie, maybe check out this story.

In all seriousness, here is the player I came up with; Scott Brosius, number 18. We all know why he shouldn’t (and won’t) have his number retired. He played only four seasons with the Yankees, and his career totals as a Yankee are the following; 65 home runs, 272 RBIs and a batting average of .267. He was an All-Star and a Gold Glover for only one year, and he never drove in 100 runs in a season.

Here’s the argument for retiring his number; he is as synonymous with those ’98-’01 teams as the guys in our previous lists have been. And he made huge contributions to those teams.

He was the 1998 World Series MVP, hitting two home runs in the series. You know who wasn’t ever a World Series MVP? Martinez, O’Neill, Pettitte, Posada or Williams.

He had the dramatic two out, game-tying homerun in the 9th inning of the 2001 World Series against the Diamondbacks, setting up an extra innings win for the Yanks. His fielding was exceptional for most of his time with the Yankees, and his charging, barehanded scoop-and-throw-to-first maneuver became a staple of Yankee wins.

I don’t think they will put Brosius into Monument Park. But if they did, I wouldn’t be opposed to the idea. He was a constant on the dynasty team, a team player and beloved by the fans.

And he never had to switch to leftfield because he couldn’t play his position anymore.

**One more entry to come, with our Wild Cards to have their number retired.