WasWatching.com

For starters, Donnie was already done for as a top baseball player during your selected 89-92 period. He hit 51 homers over 4 years and missed a full third of 1990 due to injury. Donnie was the most popular player in the era between Reggie and Jeter which is why everyone says "poor Donnie." Who can blame them? Who wants to root for Tartabull or Kevin Maas?

What's wrong with romanticizing a player, especially among your own fan base? Stats are only meaningful some of the time. If fans choose to think of Donnie in such favorable light, I say more power to them. I remember Donnie the same way and I'll never think of "Bobby" Kelly as anything more than the chip that brought Paulie to NYC.

I'm not knocking Donnie. I'm just saying he was not "lone-suffering" - that's all.

He may not have been lone suffering. Hell, he may have been CAUSING the suffering. It'll never change my feelings for him and how he just connected with the fans in a way that Roberto Kelly, Danny Tartabull or Kevin Maas would never understand.

But, that's the point - maybe the fans should have given Kelly more props?

But giving a player props is contingent on more than just stats. It's one thing to recognize a player's ability and another thing entirely to root for someone or, in this discussion, to empathize with someone for being stuck on a bad team.

I never polled any other Yankee fans so I have no idea how they feel about Roberto Kelly. All I know is how I feel about him. I couldn't stand him. It was not only wonderful to see him leave NY but it was even better that my favorite team got someone I loved in return.

I'm happy to give you what you want here - Bobby Kelly wasn't the reason the 1989-1992 Yankees stunk. He was a fine player on a bad team. He contributed, statistically speaking. Doesn't change anything. Donnie Baseball is king.

The thing was, by the end, Donnie had already established his "legend;" batting title in '84, MVP in '85, the batting title near miss in '86, the HR streak in '87. All-Star selections during that timeframs.

Roberto hasn't come close to what Mattingly meant to the Yanks, through no fault of his own.

'89-92 were some bad clubs, but that was mismanagement of the organization, not Mattingly. It wasn't his fault that the Yanks thought Barfield, Balboni, Phelps and Hall were suitable replacements for Winfield, Henderson, Clark and Washington.

And don'e even get me started on the pitching of that era...

I think the chart above speaks volumes towards the pitching, or lack thereof.

MJ - I never had the same dislike of Kelly. He was just there for me - not a hero, not a bum. Maybe because I was neutral on him that I think maybe he should get more props. I'm sure if he was Tartabull, who I thought was a dog, I would be saying "No way!"