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January 07, 2006
Fast Take Out
Johnny Damon is a very good base stealer. This made me wonder: What other great lead-off type base stealers have the Yankees acquired in the past - and what impact did it have on the team?
Basically, before the Damon deal, the Yankees have acquired 5 "lead-off base stealer" types: Mickey Rivers, Willie Randolph, Rickey Henderson, Steve Sax and Chuck Knoblauch.
And, for the purposes of this study, I'm going to throw out Randolph - because he was not a "proven" big leaguer at the time that he was acquired (like the other players here).
After getting Rivers, the Yankees won 2 rings in the four years that he was in New York.
The Yankees finished 17 games out of 1st the year before Henderson joined the team. In the 1st four years that he was with the team, the Yankees averaged 90 wins a season. He was traded during his 5th Yankees season - a year in which the team finished 14.5 games out of first.
Steve Sax was with the Yankees from 1989 through 1991. While he was in New York, the Yankees averaged 91 losses a year.
And, most people know the story about Knoblauch - he was in New York for 4 seasons and during that time the Yankees won 3 rings and came darn close on a fourth.
In summary, other than Steve Sax, acquiring a lead-off base stealer has usually meant good things for the Yankees. I hope that Damon keeps this trend the same.
Posted by Steve Lombardi at January 7, 2006 01:34 PM
Comments
A couple of things;
1984, the Tigers had that ridiculous start, and ran away with the division.
Steve Sax, who replaced Randolph, was the least of the Yanks' worries. He wasn't the sole reason the Yanks did as poorly as they did.
The running game isn't as relevant as it used to be, so I wouldn't put much stock in the Yanks acquiring a leadoff base stealer.
Posted by: Raf ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.waswatching.com/nav-commenters.gif)
at January 7, 2006 05:33 PM
The 1984 Yankees were 2 games out of 5th place.
Posted by: Steve Lombardi at January 7, 2006 11:00 PM
They were also 2 games out of 2nd place
Posted by: Raf at January 7, 2006 11:33 PM
Just my point - they were a middle of the pack team before Rickey.
Posted by: Steve Lombardi at January 8, 2006 11:25 AM
They were a middle of the pack team with Rickey there too.
Posted by: Raf at January 8, 2006 05:34 PM