FIRST CLASS
What's the best position in N.Y. sports?
SO, WHAT’S the real crownjewel position in New York sports? We can pretend and say it’s point guard for the Knicks, but that’s a bit crazy when you consider nobody ever has done it as well as Walt Frazier did it, and Clyde’s last game as a Knick happened 39 years ago.
We can throw out the job of quarterback of the Giants, and you’ll get a quartet of forever names — Charlie Conerly, Y.A. Tittle, Phil Simms, Eli Manning — and that’s plenty if you want to win an intramural contest against the one-man-band Jets, but beyond that …
No, the gig that comes with the most advanced notice and the most celebration has usually been center field for the Yankees, mostly because from 1936 through 1968 (with time out at the start for Joe DiMaggio’s war service and at the end when Mickey Mantle played a lot of first base to protect his knees) that was as priceless a portion of real estate as there was in the city, the couple hundred square feet in the middle of the great lawn at Yankee Stadium.
Others have come along to add to the lineage, notably Mickey Rivers in the ’70s and Bernie Williams in the ’90s and the Aughts, and you have to give Johnny Damon a tip of the cap for his work with the Yankees (after spending plenty of years haunting the Yankees as a charter member of the Boston Idiots).
So is it center fielder for the Yankees?
Maybe. But Mark Teixeira’s retirement does put a spotlight on the other Yankees position that’s been alternately plated in gold and platinum through the years. Really, the argument comes down to this: are you grading more on royalty, or on membership? Let’s break the two of them down.
CENTER FIELD
DiMaggio didn’t invent the job, of course. Earle Combs was the first great Yankees center fielder, holding down the position for Yankees teams that won titles in 1927, ’28 and ’32, earning induction to the Hall of Fame for a career that included a .325 lifetime batting average and a .397 OBP.
Then, of course, came the 33 years of DiMaggio and Mantle, which is when the position became something for the poets to ponder. And both earned all the purple prose they inspired, because in addition to building the offensive numbers that made them shoo-in Hall of Famers, they were both top-shelf fielders, playing the biggest outfield in the sport and making it look effortless.
Bobby Murcer was a splendid heir, taking over the job for good in 1970 and enjoying a five-year run in which he averaged .290, 23 homers, 90 RBIs, made four All-Star Games and earned MVP votes four times. After a one-year cameo by Bobby Bonds (who played just 45 games in center in ’75), Rivers became an instant fan favorite on three pennant winners and two world champions.
Still, this is where center field starts to become a little vulnerable. There was a two-year window in 1985 and ’86 when Rickey Henderson was mostly healthy and mostly played center, returning some luster to a lustrous position. But between Rivers’ last game as a Yankee — July 29, 1979 — and July 7, 1991, 1, when Williams made his de-debut, the Yankees featuredd the likes of Ruppert Jones, Jerryry MumMum phrey, Claudell Washington and Roberto Kelly.
FIRST BASE
Lou Gehrig rather famously manned this position for 2,130 games between 1925 and 1939. Gehrig’s predecessor, Wally Pipp, has become something of an eternal punchline, but as a Yankee he hit as high as .329 (1922), drove in as many as 110 runs (1924) and that year also hit 19 triples.
In the years covering DiMaggio and Mantle’s reign in center, first base became a revolving door (Joe Collins, Johnny Mize, Tommy Henrich) of capable veterans before Moose Skowron — good, not immortal — took over through 1962. Joe Pepitone be-
camcame a crowd favorite, but non one’s idea of a Hall of FamerFamer. BButt starting in 1974, things started to turn. Chris Chambliss, who won the 1976 ALCS with a Game 5 homer, was a steady presence on two title teams, and Bob Watson hit .307 for a team that won 103 games in 1980.
Then, in 1983, Don Mattingly showed up.
And for the last 33 years — the same stretch as the DiMaggio/Mantle Era — first base for the Yankees has been manned by Mattingly (best player in the sport from 1984-87), Tino Martinez (anchor of four championship teams); Jason Giambi (not always remember fondly but owner of a .950 OPS from 2002-06); and then Mark Teixeira. Who’s better? It’s a fine dilemma to ponder.