Who is the Oldest Living Yankee Legend?

When Whitey Ford passed away a few weeks ago it left the Yankee Universe asking themselves a question that has had an obvious answer for a very long time. Ford was one of many former Yankees who racked up championship rings at record rates in the 1950's and 60's. Since that time, the team has been lucky enough to celebrate those teams by inviting the men who made them legendary back to Yankee Stadium every year. And of that group, there's always been a clear elder statesman, an old guy with a Hall of Fame resumé who serves as the unofficial patriarch of the extended Yankee family.

For nearly 50 years this role was filled by Joe DiMaggio. The man who touted himself as the "Greatest Living Ballplayer" was treated as such whenever returning to the Bronx. There were others in the running of course, none more so than Mickey Mantle, but The Mick tragically died at the way too young age of 63 and DiMaggio held the title until he passed away in the spring of 1999.

At that point, the definitive oldest living Yankee legend was Yogi Berra. Having just ended a bitter feud with George Steinbrenner, Yogi was poised to return to Yankee Stadium for the first time in nearly 15 years. When he passed away at 90 years old in 2015, the Yankees were suddenly left with just one living player from that era who was truly legendary.

With Ford's passing, there's no definitive answer to the oldest living Yankee legend question, but that doesn't mean we can't try.

Joe Pepitone

Soon after Ford's death my brother mentioned in a text thread that Pepitone might now be the answer to this question. This got an audible laugh out of me. Mostly because Pepi didn't even get an honorable mention in the authoritative tome on the subject of legendary Yankees. But let's give the man his due.

When the Yankees were still a great team in the early 1960's, Joe Pepitone was the new kid on the block and served as the everyday first baseman for back to back AL pennant winners. The Brooklyn native quickly became a fan favorite. On the strength of his steady home run power and Gold Glove-level fielding skills, he was an All-Star every year from 1963 through 1965. The charismatic Pepitone seemed destined to be the next great Yankee slugger.

However, as the decade wore on, the team sank to the basement of the AL and Pepitone's limits as a ballplayer became apparent. When Mickey Mantle's ailing body needed to shift from center field to first base, Pepi admirably attempted to fill the void in center but struggled mightily. As a hitter, he offered little value outside of the occasional homer, as evidenced by his anemic .294 OBP and .718 OPS marks during his Yankee career. Even adjusting for the low run scoring environment of the 1960's, his 105 OPS+ was not good enough for a slugging first baseman.

Seinfeld fans may consider Joe Pepitone legendary, but the on-field results just aren't there.

Requena Pan American Photos/Wikimedia Commons/Public Domain

Before he turned 30, Pepitone was traded while the Yankees tried to rebuild. He ended his career as a journeyman in the National League, yet to this day he has ardent supporters among Yankee fans. Having turned 80 earlier this month he's the oldest Yankee on this list, but his resumé falls well short of legendary.

Dave Winfield

There's probably never been a better athlete to wear Yankee pinstripes than Dave Winfield. A three-sport star in college, he came to the Yankees on a then-record 10-year, $23 million contract in 1981 after a dominant run with the San Diego Padres.

Expectations were understandably sky-high for Winfield, but he rather famously never won a ring in pinstripes. It didn't help that he went ice cold in the 1981 World Series. Yet to crown Winfield a disappointment is not entirely fair. Facing relentless criticism and false accusations from a bitter George Steinbrenner, he was an extremely durable force in the middle of the Yankee lineup for nearly a decade.

Despite his reputation, Dave Winfield was a great Yankee during a confounding time for the team.

Phil5329/Wikimedia Commons

In the eight full seasons that Winfield spent in pinstripes, he was an All-Star every year. With a robust 135 OPS+ he averaged 25 home runs and 102 RBI's and was one of the biggest reasons that the Yankees won more games than any other team in 1980's. Unlike many Yankees of the era, he consistently played like the star he was paid to be but never let it inflate his ego. Had the front office managed the roster around him a little better, he might have had a chance to exorcise those October demons in New York. Instead, he won his lone ring in Toronto in 1992.

Winfield will turn 70 next year, which makes me feel old, but also makes him one of the freshest faces on this list. His slam dunk Hall of Fame case was mostly compiled as a member of the Yankees and he deserves a better legacy than he currently has in Yankeeland. However, it still doesn't hold up when compared to the hardware that each of the next guys on the list has.

Goose Gossage

Like Dave Winfield, Rich Gossage was lured to the Yankees on a rich free agent deal in the middle of his career. It was a head-scratching move considering that he was brought in to replace a closer who had won the Cy Young Award the season before in Sparky Lyle. Nobody was doubting it by the time his first season in pinstripes ended.

That season he pitched an absurd 134.1 relief innings with a sparkling 2.01 ERA as the Yankees completed back-to-back championships in 1978. He probably could have stopped right there and the Yankee faithful would have loved him forever, but he toiled on in New York and remained one of baseball's elite firemen for the next five seasons.

The most legendary aspect of Goose Gossage was his ferocious mustache.

tradingcarddb.com/Wikimedia Commons/Public Domain

The one drawback during this time was that Gossage and the Yankees were never able to secure another World Series title. Not that any of that was his fault. Again like Winfield, he's a Hall of Famer mainly because of the portion of his career spent with the Yankees. He remains a fan favorite to this day.

Yet something about calling Goose Gossage a Yankee legend seems very strange when Mariano Rivera is still around. Don't get it twisted, Gossage was an all-time great, but he still fits within the massive shadow cast by Rivera with plenty of room to spare. The answer to our question must lie elsewhere.

Reggie Jackson

Perhaps the biggest free agent splash in Yankee history, Reggie Jackson brought with him an ego as big as the titanic home runs he hit. A year before signing with the Yankees he was once quoted as saying "If I played in New York, they'd name a candy bar after me." He also made it abundantly clear before he even put on a Yankee uniform that he was the missing ingredient that would end their championship drought. The fact that both came true makes it tough to argue that he's a Yankee legend.

What makes it even tougher is the way that Jackson fulfilled those prophecies. In 1977 he clinched a World Series victory for the Yankees by hitting home runs on each of the first three pitches he saw in Game Six. It was one of the defining moments in baseball history. In the Yankees' home opener a season later, they celebrated their new hero by - you guessed it- handing out "Reggie!" bars to the fans in attendance. Jackson again rose to the occasion by homering deep to right in his first at bat, inspiring the Yankee faithful to shower him with his own candy bar when he took the field at the top of the inning.

Love him or hate him, Reggie delivered the goods for the Yankees.

Jim Accordino/Wikimedia Commons

For the balance of his five years in pinstripes Jackson continued to be an elite hitter, but he won World Series championships in only those first two years. Not that it mattered much to his reputation. By the end of his run in New York his legacy was sealed as the guy who put his money where his mouth was on baseball's biggest stage.

Impressive as that was - and even considering his advancing age at 74 years old - Jackson was a mercenary who excelled at the job he was paid to do, then got out while the getting was good. Furthermore, he had a longer, more productive run with the Oakland A's at the start of his career that yielded three World Series rings compared to his two in New York. There's no doubt that Reggie was legendary, but there are some older Yankee lifers with a more deserving claim to the title we're looking to bestow here.

Graig Nettles

After Reggie Jackson's all-time performance in the 1977 World Series, the Yankees needed another World Series hero to make it back to back in 1978. Down 2-0 in the series, Graig Nettles stepped up as that hero by putting on the finest display of fielding at the hot corner in World Series history. On four separate occasions the Dodgers were threatening to score with runners on base and hit scorching grounders or line drives down the third base line. All four times Nettles flashed some serious leather with eye-popping plays to stop the threat in its tracks, saving at least four runs in the process. The Yankees would win 5-1 and never look back in the series.

It was the defining moment in Graig Nettles' career, but really just gave him the recognition for being one of the best all-time fielders at the position that he had deserved for years. Nettles was traded to the Yankees when he was nearly 30 years old after toiling in the relative anonymity of Minnesota and Cleveland for far too long. Armed with the aforementioned glove and a knack for hitting home runs with regularity he was an instant upgrade for the Yankees and really started cooking as they became contenders.

Graig Nettles was finally able to let his skills shine when the Yankees traded for him in 1972.

tradingcarddb.com/Wikimedia Commons/Public Domain

In 1976 Nettles' 32 home runs and 8.0 WAR were both an AL best as the Yankees won their first pennant in over a decade. Over the next two years he averaged 32 home runs and 100 RBIs while earning two Gold Gloves in seasons that ended in a World Series championship. He was as important to those Bronx Zoo teams as anyone else. Perhaps more importantly, he rolled with every punch that came his way during those tumultuous times. Nettles was a master at keeping the clubhouse loose with his extremely dry sense of humor.

Nettles stuck around for the fallout of those championships and even served as team captain briefly before George Steinbrenner deemed him expendable and shipped him to San Diego. He spent 11 productive seasons as a Yankee, was tough as nails, and was a World Series hero in pinstripes. At 76 years old, Nettles is looking like a great choice for oldest living Yankee legend. I think we might be able to do just a bit better though.

Willie Randolph

Willie Randolph became a Yankee when he was just 21 years old and was nudged out of town by the signing of Steve Sax at 34 in 1988. All he did in those 13 years in between was become one of the most productive, well-rounded second basemen in baseball history. Like the man himself, his legend was built quietly and patiently over that time.

Second basemen of the 1970's were expected to be solid fielders, smart baserunners, and able to handle the bat well enough to not be a liability. With excellent range and the surest of hands, Randolph was a gold glove worthy fielder (although he never won one), rarely made a mistake on the basepaths, and was anything but a liability at the plate. He may have lacked home run power, but his elite ability to draw walks always gave the Yankees a valuable asset at the top of the lineup. In fact, his .373 career on-base percentage is better than a slew of Hall of Fame second basemen including Ryne Sandberg, Craig Biggio and Roberto Alomar.

Willie Randolph was as cool as a cucumber in the bowl of hot sauce that was the Bronx Zoo Yankees.

tradingcarddb.com/Wikimedia Commons/Public Domain

Randolph played a key role on the repeat World Series champion Yankees of the late 70's, but bad luck and bad timing kept him from getting the recognition he deserved as an all-time great. In 1978 he had one of the best seasons of his career and could have shined in the World Series, but injuries kept him out of action while his replacement Brian Doyle got his 15 minutes of fame. Throughout the 80's he was a metronome of consistency, giving the Yankees quality production every year while the team around him fell just short of a return to glory. Worst yet, his best skill - that world class ability to get on base - wasn't fully appreciated in the era he played in. Players were supposed to be aggressive and make contact no matter what, not passively wait for a free pass. Willie knew better.

Soon after his playing days were over, Randolph returned the the Yankees as the third base coach and earned another four World Series rings in pinstripes. That makes six combined between playing and coaching for the franchise. So he's probably the best second baseman in franchise history, he has more rings than any living Yankee, he did it with dignity and no drama, he's gotta be our guy, right? Well, Willie is only 66 years old. That makes him a spring chicken on this list.

Ron Guidry

Reggie Jackson and Graig Nettles each had a shining moment of greatness where they transcended baseball in a big game for the Yankees. Ron Guidry transcended baseball for an entire season in 1978. Dominate seems like too small a word for what he did to hitters that season. He went 25-3 with nine shutouts and a ridiculous 1.74 ERA and even set a single game Yankee record with 18 strikeouts that June. It was as if he was facing Little Leaguers.

On a team full of great players, Guidry was no doubt the greatest as they successfully defended their World Series championship. He would never reach those Herculean heights again, but even as a mere mortal the Gator pitched his heart out to become one of the best the franchise has ever known. For nearly a decade after those championship years, the Yankees starting rotation was a revolving door of relatively ineffective pitchers past their prime. Yet they stayed in contention most years because Guidry was always there, firing fastballs and sliders even while battling injuries to keep his team afloat.

Weighing in at just over 160 pounds, Ron Guidry surprisingly threw like a heavyweight.

tradingcarddb.com/Wikimedia Commons/Public Domain

In 1985 a finally healthy Guidry nearly brought the Yankees back to October baseball. Bolstered by a staggering lineup paced by Rickey Henderson and Don Mattingly he led the AL with 22 wins and posted a nifty 3.27 ERA. The Yankees' 97 team wins would have easily qualified them for the playoffs these days, but 35 years ago they fell two wins short behind the division-winning Toronto Blue Jays. Guidry was named co-captain of the Yankees with Willie Randolph for the following season. It was a role he filled admirably for the next three years while his arm wore down for good.

Having been drafted by the Yankees in 1971, Ron Guidry never played professionally for another organization. And as a man who perfected his father's recipe for frog legs, he knows that there's nothing quite like home cooking. Ever since that magical 1978 season Yankee fans have adored Louisiana Lightning and he is one of just two players on this list to have their number retired in Monument Park (Reggie Jackson is the other). He's as legendary as his 18-strikeout performance more than 40 years ago, but Guidry is only 70 years old. Is there an older living former Yankee that can match his legendary status?

Roy White

He never had an iconic season or moment that captivated the baseball world like some others on this list. He didn't have blazing speed, he didn't hit tape measure home runs, and he couldn't throw the ball a country mile. But to expect super powers of Roy White is to overlook the obvious greatness he brought to the baseball field everyday. Anybody who watched White play with any regularity could tell you - he simply didn't have a weakness as a ballplayer.

Signed out of high school in Compton, CA, White made his debut with the Yankees at 21 years old in 1965. That meant he would spend his formative years as a major leaguer in the dying embers of a once great team. Luckily, it didn't impede his development. During these lean years White was a beacon of light for the team, contributing in a myriad of ways.

The switch-hitting outfielder served as a slugger in 1970, belting 22 home runs. The season before, White probably deserved a Gold Glove as he led all AL left fielders in fielding percentage while showing great range. From 1969 through 1971 he hit .293, a mark that's better than it looks when considering the pitching-dominant era. He supplemented that batting average with a ton of walks, as evidenced by his AL best 99 in 1972. In 1971 he even led the majors with 17 sacrifice flies. There was nothing he couldn't do to help his team win. Unfortunately those wins were hard to come by when he was in his prime.

After decades of being overlooked, Roy White deserves to be recognized as the Yankee legend he is.

tradingcarddb.com/Wikimedia Commons/Public Domain

By 1976 White was a hardened veteran leader on a team that finally showed promise, and he found another way to contribute by stealing a career high 31 bases. All those years of hard work paid off for him as the Yankees won the first of three straight pennants. When the last two of those resulted in World Series titles, White continued to prove that he was the ultimate team player. He accepted a platoon role with Lou Piniella in left field that Billy Martin worked to perfection.

If anybody deserved a happy ending to his story with the Yankees it was White. For 15 years his on-field contributions were undeniable - if often overlooked - and off the field he was the picture of grace and dignity, respected by anyone he ever met. He's the only Yankee that can claim to have been a teammate of both Mickey Mantle and Reggie Jackson. But make no mistake about it, Roy White is a home-grown, lifelong, championship-tested Yankee legend in his own right. He'll turn 77 years old before the end of the year, and he's got my vote for the unofficial title of Oldest Living Yankee Legend.

All numbers used in this article were obtained from Baseball Reference.