Jimmy Sez

The Hall of Fame ballot is chock full of former Yankees this year and we have already covered  superstar players  that spent  significant time  with the team. In this go-around we'll cover some players that had long, productive careers before spending a year or two with the Yankees as a low-rent stop-gap. For each player, their JAWS (Jaffe Average WAR Score, developed by Jay Jaffe) value is given along with the average Hall of Famer's JAWS at they player's position. JAWS is a Hall of Fame rating system based on WAR that incorporates both career and peak value. If you're interested in learning more about this,  click here . Raul Ibanez - Left Field, JAWS: 20.2, HoF JAWS: 53.6 Raul Ibanez had the patience of a saint. By the time he became an everyday major league ballplayer he was 30 years old and he didn't complain about it one bit. For the next 13 years he made the most of his opportunity, maximizing his limited talent while being adored in every city he c...

In the first installment  of this series covering Yankees on the Hall of Fame ballot, we touched on three players that won multiple championships in New York. Here we'll focus on a quartet of players that produced at a high level in pinstripes during the 2000's but never won that elusive ring with the Yankees. For each player, their JAWS (Jaffe Average WAR Score, developed by Jay Jaffe) value is given along with the average Hall of Famer's JAWS at the player's position. JAWS is a Hall of Fame rating system based on WAR that incorporates both career and peak value. If you're interested in learning more about this,  click here . Gary Sheffield - Right Field, JAWS: 49.3, HoF JAWS: 56.8 A Gary Sheffield at bat was a sight to behold. Most of the great swings throughout baseball history could be described as beautiful, but a Sheffield swing would best be described as an act of violence. Before each pitch he would tilt his bat from an upright position back and forth ...

Just before Thanksgiving the  National Baseball Hall of Fame  released the  official 2020 BBWAA ballot . Of the 32 former players included, 11 of them spent at least one season with the Yankees during their career. In advance of the election, we'll dig into the Hall of Fame case for each former Yankee to see where they stand. As always, a player needs at least 75% of the electorate - should be 412 writers this year - to vote for them in order to gain election. In our first pass here, we'll review the credentials of three players that played huge roles in the Yankees dynasty of the late 1990's. Roger Clemens, Derek Jeter, and Andy Pettitte each have strong arguments for and in some cases against them when it comes to their Hall of Fame candidacy. However, it's likely that just one of the three will be giving a speech this July in Cooperstown. As was done on the post detailing the  2020 Modern Baseball Era ballot , the JAWS (Jaffe Average WAR Score, developed ...

This post is part of a series that includes material originally written for  The New York Yankees All-Time All-Stars  but had to hit the cutting room floor prior to publication. For other posts in the series you can search for the label "Author's Cut" on this site. “Who wouldn’t consider it an honor to have known…the builder of baseball’s greatest empire, Ed Barrow?” – Lou Gehrig The mass exodus of Boston Red Sox to greener pastures with the New York Yankees was not limited to players. In 1920, Red Sox manager Ed Barrow saw the writing on the wall in Boston and jumped at the Yankees’ offer to oversee all of their baseball affairs. For the next 24 years he served as the architect of the most consistently successful team in the history of baseball. Innovative, demanding, and as competitive as they come, Barrow was the man responsible for setting set the standard that all Yankee fans have now come to know and love. Born shortly after the Civil War ended in Springfiel...