Scott Taylor of Bleacherreport suggested that I compare Thurman Munson and Carlton Fisk based on their first 10 full seasons, since Munson had a short career. Taylor opined that Munson never had the chance to experience the fall-off in production that occurs during a player's middle- and late-30s.Here we go. Munson (1970-79) batted .292/.347/.411 for his first 10 full seasons. Fisk (1972-81) hit .283/.356/.471. There is a problem because in four of those seasons, Fisk was injured and played a total of only 318 games. Fisk started a skein of ...
Mark Teixeira, who has been suffering from a bronchial infection since early April, will sit on Sunday for the third straight game, reports Paul Casella of MLB.com.Manager Joe Girardi hopes that the weekend of rest will be the cure to the ailment that has been hampering Teixeira all season long.Although not many players would be okay with being given an entire series off, Teixeira seems to be the exception: "It's not easy, but you have to sometimes take care of yourself and try to get better because it's a long season. ...
Two men approached Mickey Mantle at his restaurant. One was a baseball writer that knew Mantle quite well. ''Mickey,'' said the writer, ''I'd like you to meet a friend, Dr. Herschkopf. He's a psychiatrist.'' Mantle looked at the writer, then looked at writer's friend, but he didn't extend his hand. Instead, Mantle extended his head to the psychiatrist. Some fans asked Mantle for autographs and while he was signing for them, Herschkopf observed Mantle carefully as the writer spoke. ''You know, Mantle used to talk about a recurring dream after ...
The New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox both find themselves in a dog fight. At 21-19 and 5.5 games behind the upstart Baltimore Orioles in the AL East, the New York struggling to find its groove.
At 19-21 the Red Sox are battling several pitching woes to rebound from a slow start to the 2012 season.
In this slideshow, we have compared hitting, pitching and fielding statistics for both the Yankees and Red Sox. At the end of each category, we provided an edge to the best performing team.
Statistics will show, both teams ...
Yankee Stadium at one point was the Roman Colosseum, the Greek Parthenon, the holy grail of baseball—today it is just another ballpark.Yankees fans may hate me for this, but deep down they know that it is true. What was once before, no longer is. The Yankee Stadium of today is literally a completely new and different stadium. When the Yankees players make the walk from their clubhouse to the dugout they are not taking the same tunnel that The Babe, The Iron Horse, Joltin' Joe, The Mick, Yogi and all ...
The 2012 MLB season is about to hit the quarter mark, and a lot of teams who were considered "playoff contenders" are still struggling to find their footing. A lot of baseball fans are counting out the Phillies, Yankees, Red Sox, Angels and Tigers, but be warned, there's a ton of baseball left to play, and all five of these teams will lean on their experience to pull through in the end. Still, it's Week 6 and Orioles, Indians and Nats fans are living the dream so far. I hope they don’t ...
"Aging" Andy Pettitte wasn't too old to pitch a brilliant eight-inning shutout game Friday night against a formidable Cincinnati Reds team. This gave him his first win in 2012, and it made up for a weakish previous start against the Seattle MarinersHis skills are still what they used to be. That is not unexpected for an older player, even a pitcher.What is likely to be lacking in an older player is endurance. And my proposed cure for that problem will be discussed below.To illustrate the point, in 2010, his last ...
There is a difference between being a great baseball talent, being a great player and having a great career. Thurman Munson and Carlton Fisk were great baseball talents. Munson and Fisk were great players. Fisk had a better career than Munson did. As Helen Gamble of The Practice might say, "I wonder why." Traditional statistics reveal little when comparing them, although Munson had a better batting average (.292 to .269) and a better on-base percentage (.346 to .341). Fisk's slugging average (.457) was superior to Munson's (.410). Do you think ...
The Yankees needed a jolt heading into Friday night, They had lost three in a row and their offense had looked non-existent. Enter Andy Pettitte, who was making his second start of the 2012 season against the Cincinnati Reds and looking for his first win of the season. All the Yankees needed was a decent start. Instead, they got a brilliant and dominant performance. Pettitte went eight strong innings, allowed four hits, no runs, walked one and struck out nine batters. On the mound, Pettitte didn't look like he was ...
The rivalry between the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox is intense, but the rivalry between Thurman Munson and Carlton Fisk might have been even more fierce. Rob Neyer, in Rob Neyer's Big Book of Baseball Legends, investigated the claim that Munson once deliberately dropped six or seven of Ron Guidry's strikeout pitches because of his competition with Fisk. Christopher Devine, in Thurman Munson: A Baseball Biography, and Dan Okrent and Steve Wulf, in Baseball Anecdotes, each wrote about the story. Neyer discovered what really happened from Marty ...