Being on any MLB home run leaderboard is an honor, but it’s a little different when done in the Bronx. When it comes to Yankees all time home run leaders, the top five is a real tough club to enter.
Of the sluggers within that group, the one who played in an MLB game most recently is Mickey Mantle. He last played in a big-league game in…1968. So, yea, it’s been a while. However, the second half of the top-10 is littered with Yankees hitters from the organization’s most recent dynasty in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Let’s get into it.
Yankees All Time Home Run Leaders: Top 5
Babe Ruth: 659 Home Runs
When detailing the all-time home run leaders at each position, I just assumed Babe Ruth would make an appearance. I mean, he’s still third all-time in home runs overall. Ruth also played the majority of his games in the outfield, so my thought is he’d stick at one position long enough to be the leader. I was surprised to find out that wasn’t the case. After I was done being shocked, I realized he was an equal opportunity slugger wherever he played on the diamond.
In 20 games played at first base, Ruth slugged five home runs. He added another 23 in 56 games as a center fielder, as well as seven dingers while pitching. The Great Bambino essentially split his playing time in left field (896 games) and right field (1,062) down the middle. He hit 287 homers as a left fielder and 327 as a right fielder. In case you were wondering, he posted a slugging percentage better than .700 in each scenario, too.
This is just another way of saying that Ruth was cut from a different cloth. Even though Roger Maris holds the Yankees’ single-season home run record, Ruth takes up the majority of space. That shouldn’t be surprising at all.
Mickey Mantle: 536 Home Runs
Mickey Mantle played in at least 100 games for the Yankees 16 times in his 18 big-league seasons. But still, he’s one of those “What could’ve been?” scenarios because he played hurt so often. If he was fully healthy even for a couple of more years than he was, he’d be pushing 600 career dingers. Despite that, his 536 home runs are the most all-time for switch hitters. Mantle accumulated twice as many plate appearances as a left-handed hitter than a right-handed hitter. His career homers reflect that (372 as a lefty and 163 as a righty), but he slugged better than .540 in each situation.
The Commerce Comet accomplished quite a bit during his Hall of Fame career. He appeared in 20 All-Star Games, won three MVP awards, and was part of seven World Series-winning teams. In fact, his 18 postseason home runs (all in the Fall Classic) are still among the most all-time.
Mantle’s first MVP season in 1953 was a little extra special because it included a Triple Crown. He led the league with a .353 average to go along with 52 home runs and 130 RBI. The outfielder also led the league in runs scored (132), slugging percentage (.705), OPS (1.169), and total bases (376). He was good all year during this campaign, but Mantle set himself up for a historic performance within the first two months. Through May 31st that year, he had already slashed .414/.505/.860 with 20 home runs and 50 RBI. And, no — that’s not a typo. Just unreal.
Lou Gehrig: 493 Home Runs
Although he played a large portion of his career in the shadow of Ruth, Lou Gehrig found a way to become a legend in his own right. After all, someone had to protect the Sultan of Swat in the lineup, right? If it wasn’t for his ALS diagnosis, who knows how much longer he could’ve played (and dominated). He retired in 1939, but just the year prior, he produced a .932 OPS with 29 home runs and 114 RBI.
The consistent dominance he showed throughout his career was remarkable. From 1927-38, he hit at least 20 home runs with 100-plus RBI each year. If we look strictly at the 11-year stretch between 1927 and 1937, he was in another stratosphere. This period consisted of 1,695 games and 7,707 plate appearances. Gehrig slashed .350/.459/.659 while averaging 39 home runs, 154 RBI, and 141 runs scored. He averaged that! This is how a ballplayer gets himself on the verge of 2,000 RBI in fewer than 20 years (he had 1,995 career RBI, to be exact).
Gehrig led the league in both homers and RBI on two different occasions. The first time was in 1931 when he slugged 46 dingers with a whopping 185 RBI. He collected 42 RBI through the end of May, but it’s what he did the rest of the way that’ll make your jaw drop. The first baseman posted four consecutive 30-plus RBI months to finish the year. His best was in July when he drove in 41 while slugging 11 dingers.
Joe DiMaggio: 361 Home Runs
Joe DiMaggio was a ridiculously good hitter during his Hall of Fame career. However, we were robbed of exactly how good he could’ve been because three years of his prime were taken from him due to serving in World War II. Through his first seven seasons, DiMaggio slashed .339/.403/.607 while averaging 31 home runs with 133 RBI. That was through his age-27 season. Over his final six seasons (beginning with his age-31 campaign), those numbers were .304/.392/.540, 24, and 101, respectively.
Those are still numbers any ballplayer would love to have. But still, can you imagine what he could’ve accomplished if he didn’t lose those years of his career? Phew, boy.
His most powerful season in the big leagues came in his age-22 campaign. In 1937, he slashed .346/.412/.673 with career-high marks in homers (46) and RBI (167). Crazy enough, he did that despite accumulating just one plate appearance in April. His best month of the season was in July. Through 139 plate appearances, DiMaggio slashed .430/.504/.984 with 15 home runs and 42 RBI.
Yogi Berra: 358 Home Runs
When it comes to listing out Yogi Berra‘s career accomplishments, you only need to mention three things. The Hall of Famer was an 18-time All-Star, was part of 10 World Series-winning teams, and took home three MVP awards. He’s also fifth on the Yankees’ all-time home run leaderboard without ever having hit more than 30 home runs in a season.
Berra hit exactly 30 twice in his career (1952 and 1956). Other than that, it was his yearly consistency that got him to where he eventually landed. After hitting two homers in seven games as a rookie in 1946, the backstop rattled off 16 straight seasons with at least 10 homers. On 11 of those occasions, Berra slugged at least 20 dingers.
Between 1950 and 1956, Berra pulled off something we’re familiar with Mike Trout doing. During this seven-year stretch, he finished within the top three of MVP voting six times. The one time he didn’t? He finished fourth, which happened in 1952. While manning a physically taxing position like catcher, he averaged 27 home runs with 108 RBI and 93 runs scored during this time.
Yankees held Lou Gehrig Appreciation Day after his sudden retirement earlier in the season. In an emotional opening speech, Gehrig famously stated: "Today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth." t.co/wocrBfXkKZ
MLB.com | Bryan Hoch: Paul O’Neill will have his No. 21 retired this Sunday at Yankee Stadium. “The Warrior” will be the 24th player to get his number retired in franchise history. “It’s kind of mind-blowing,” O’Neill said. “Everybody might say, ‘Hey, that’s a lot of people,’ but a lot of good things happened in a short period of time there. To win four World Series in five years, when is that going to happen again? So I’m proud to be associated with those teams, and especially the guys that were a part of those teams that are out in Monument Park right now.”
I did not know where to put this but I do think it is newsworthy that the MLBPA is taking an interest in the guys in the minors. There are going to be challenges and there could be issues where the interests of the two groups differ. I do think Tony Clark and company deserve a tip of the cap for showing some concern for the guys who "don't make it" but are essential to the game.
Former major league infielder/outfielder Héctor López has passed away at the age of 93, according to a report from Julia Kreuz of MLB.com (Twitter link). A two-time World Series champion, López played in parts of 11 major league seasons.
A native of Panama, López began his professional career in 1952. He played three years in the Athletics farm system before reaching the big leagues in May 1955. That marked the first of four-plus seasons with the franchise back when it played in Kansas City. López saw most of his early action at third base, but he also logged time at second base, shortstop and in center field. He was a solid hitter immediately, hitting at least .273 in each of his first three MLB seasons and getting into double digits in homers for five straight years.
Over his time with the A’s, López hit .278/.337/.433 with 67 longballs and 99 doubles. The Yankees acquired him midway through the ’59 campaign, and he spent the second half of his career in the Bronx. López topped 100 games in six of the next seven seasons, increasingly seeing more time in the corner outfield later in his career. López often shared an outfield with Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris in the early 1960’s, contributing to a team that claimed five consecutive pennants between 1960-64. New York won back-to-back titles in 1961-62, with López collecting a homer and a triple in four games during the former season’s World Series.
Over parts of eight years in pinstripes, López hit .262/.324/.399 with 69 homers. He finished with the Yankees in 1966. After playing two more minor league seasons but failing to return to the majors, he retired. López finished his playing career with a .269/.330/.415 line in 1450 big league games. He collected 1251 hits, 136 home runs, drove in 591 runs and scored 623 times. Once his playing time wrapped up, he kicked off lengthy career as a minor league manager. He worked in affiliated ball for a few decades and managed the Panamanian team at the 2009 World Baseball Classic.
MLBTR sends our condolences to López’s family, friends, former teammates and loved ones.
NJ.com | Bridget Hyland: On Monday, the National Baseball Hall of Fame announced the members of the ballot for the Contemporary Baseball Era, and a couple notable former Yankees made the list. Don Mattingly and Roger Clemens are among eight players up for considering from the 16-person panel otherwise known as the Veterans Committee.
Beltrán and Jacoby Ellsbury are among the ballot’s newcomers.
The National Baseball Hall of Fame released the 2023 Baseball Writers’ Association of America Hall of Fame ballot on Monday, and it includes a handful of former Yankees.
The most significant newcomer on the ballot is Carlos Beltrán. He only spent parts of three seasons with the Yankees, but the former outfielder’s first-time eligibility is notable because of his role in the Astros’ 2017 sign-stealing scandal. Beltrán, who retired after winning the World Series with Houston that year, is the first player involved in the scandal to appear on a Hall of Fame ballot, which have generally not been kind to players linked to other forms of cheating, such as performance-enhancing drugs.
Speaking of which, Alex Rodriguez, Andy Pettitte and Gary Sheffield are on the ballot as well. All three ex-Yankees were tied to PEDs during their careers. Rodriguez is on the ballot for the second time after failing to get in last year – even though another player with PED connections, Red Sox great David Ortiz, earned induction.
Three outfielders make up the rest of the former Yankees on the 2023 ballot: Bobby Abreu, Jacoby Ellsbury and Andruw Jones. The oft-injured Ellsbury, like Beltrán, is a first-time candidate.
Players must receive at least 75 percent of the vote to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. You can see how the previously eligible pinstripers fared in 2022 below.
The full 2023 Hall of Fame ballot is as follows: Bobby Abreu, Bronson Arroyo, Carlos Beltrán, Mark Buehrle, Matt Cain, R.A. Dickey, Jacoby Ellsbury, Andre Ethier, J.J. Hardy, Todd Helton, Torii Hunter, Andruw Jones, Jeff Kent, John Lackey, Mike Napoli, Jhonny Peralta, Andy Pettitte, Manny Ramirez, Alex Rodriguez, Francisco Rodríguez, Scott Rolen, Jimmy Rollins, Gary Sheffield, Huston Street, Omar Vizquel, Billy Wagner, Jered Weaver and Jayson Werth.
Back on December 21st, during the press conference officially announcing Aaron Judge’s return to the Yankees, he was officially named the team’s captain. It was expected once the news broke that he was set to re-sign with the Yankees, but the confirmation was another notch on his belt in his place in franchise history. After all, especially in recent decades, being named Yankee captain has been a rare event. It’s taken a combination of great player and beloved status to have received the honor.
In the coverage of Judge being named captain, there were plenty of looks at some of the other Yankee legends that had been bestowed with the status. That included tweets like this one from the YES Network, showing who Judge joined on the list.
Everyone beginning with Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig on the list should be known to every Yankee fan. While some of the ones before the Yankees started winning championships aren’t quite as well known, most of them were still fairly notable names for their era. However, there’s one on the list that is confounding to me, even as someone that has read and written a lot about Yankees’ history.
Who on earth is Rollie Zeider?
Born in Indiana in 1883, Zeider didn’t appear in the major leagues until 1910 after several years in the minors. We don’t have a complete history of his minor league stats, but of the ones available, they’re not that impressive. In 1909, he was purchased by the Chicago White Sox and made his MLB debut for them the next April.
In his first year in Chicago, Zeider quickly established himself as one of the fastest players in the league, stealing 49 bases in his rookie year. He played all over, though mostly the infield across his first four years in the majors with the White Sox, never hitting much. Then in 1913 came a moment that would stick with him arguably for the rest of his career.
In a game against the Tigers, Zeider was spiked by either Ty Cobb or Sam Crawford (sources differ on who it was) during a play. Zeider had a bunion on his foot, and the spiking ended up causing a bout of blood poisoning. The incident gave Zeider the unfortunate nickname of “Bunions,” which would come into further prominence after a trade to New York that happened a few weeks later.
Chase was often the target of game-throwing accusations over the course of his career, and was a bit of a handful to deal with, even if he had been completely innocent of game-fixing. He would often stand behind Chance, who was deaf in one ear, and mock his manager’s instructions. Eventually, after a 12-2 loss to the A’s where Chase was alleged to not have given it his all, Chance and the Yankees decided they’d had enough. The next day, they traded their former star to the White Sox in exchange for Rollie Zeider and Babe Borton.
It’s unclear exactly how or why, but at some point after the deal, Zeider was named captain of the Yankees, actually replacing Chance, who had appeared as a player-manager a couple of times during the year. Whatever the reason was, Zeider got that distinction as the Yankees tried to salvage something out of the 1913 season.
That did not happen. The Yankees ended up with a 57-94 record for the year, avoiding last place in the American League by just one game. Zeider hit .233/.341/.245, which was worth a well below-average 72 OPS+. With Borton struggling even worse, sportswriter Mark Roth balked about the previous trade, remaking that the Yankees had traded Chase for “a bunion and an onion.” Making matters worse, Chase experienced a resurgence in Chicago.
Putting the cherry on top of everything, after the year Zeider jumped to the newly-founded Federal League, joining the league’s Chicago Chi-Feds. When that league eventually went belly up, the Chicago Cubs purchased him.
Go back and look at that list of captains again and know that alongside Gehrig, Thurman Munson, and Derek Jeter is a guy nicknamed “Bunions.”
Baseball by BSmile50 Years Ago Today: George Steinbrenner and a group of investors buy the New York #Yankees for the bargain price of $10,000,000! George's name doesn't make the headlines, but that won't last for long! (January 3, 1973) #MLB#Baseball#Historyt.co/08B4remTNO
