The Yankees retire so many numbers and give out so many plaques that reading about the latest immortal to be honored always feels like something straight out of The Onion. But there you have it, the hits keep coming.
For more Stupid Human Tricks, here’s Alex.
And we’d be remiss if we didn’t salute our ol’ pal Jason Giambi who announced his retirement today. Giambo is five months older than me to the day and I suppose I always liked him because he was in my grade.
He was a good fella. I’m sure we’ll see him as a coach soon enough.
[Photo Credit: Stephen Anzaldi]
So, why don't they retire A-Rods number today? But more seriously, isn't retiring numbers what you do when your team isn't playing well enough to draw fans? Only one retiring number I remember and it isn't a fond memory, .237.
.385 ops. 106 walks.
[1] Yup. Three retirement dates this year means that they expect they need to do something to have sellouts. And A-Rod will no longer be a draw.
Why does Willie R get a plaque, but no number retired?
If we can't keep the Yankees from overdoing the "day" / number retirement racket, at least I can take some satisfaction from their spreading it around equitably.
Every time I've heard the term "Core Four" over the last several years, what rankled me was the implicit exclusion of Bernie Williams. If you want to put O'Neill, Tino, Coney, Boggs etc. on a slightly lower pedestal because they weren't home-grown, there's at least a consistency there -- but Bernie should always have been in the same breath with those guys.
[5] Agreed! I hate it. When Bernie was still around they called them "The Fab Five" which, though not very original, was more than apropos considering they were all home grown talent making major contributions to the championship run. It was only after Bernie stopped playing did you hear "Core Four" since they were the only ones left who came up at the beginning of the run and the Yanks needed a marketing gimmick. But that's all anyone says now, and I find it highly disrespectful to Bernie the Yankee. Granted, Bernie was older than them and probably didn't pal around with them as much as he occasionally jammed with Paulie on drums, but c'mon, stop minimizing the man's part of the "dynasty" like he was just an add-on to the foundation of those teams.
On another note, not that I expect their numbers to be retired (and I would be outraged if hey were), but on what level do we put Sori and El Duque; two guys who were international free agents, but began their MLB careers with the Yankees and also made lasting impressions on the team (especially El Duque) during that time? Would you put either one of them on a Tino/O'Neill shelf or perhaps a Scott Broscius "Only A Superstar In The Tri-State" shelf?