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December 01, 2006
Moose & Boomer: The Chief & Larrabee In Yankees History
In a recent WasWatching.com reader comment, "baileywalk," asked "...what were the top ten power-control numbers for pitchers in the modern era?"
That got me thinking - and heading to the Complete Baseball Encyclopedia. If I had to offer an answer to that "command" question, here would be my answer:
While I expected to see Schilling in the top ten, I am surprised to see Mr. Sock Stain finish # 1 in this ranking. Big ego, big mouth, and big command for ol' Curt.
Back to the "thinking" item, I decided to take this a step further - and look at just Yankees pitchers in the modern era - and this is what I found, using the same rules:
Lieber and Candelaria were not Yankees for very long. So, to me, clearly, Mike Mussina and David Wells have been the best pitchers in Yankees history in terms of having command.
Moose and Boomer were teammates on the 2002 and 2003 Yankees - and 2003 was the last season that the Yankees had a really good pitching staff (and the last time the Yankees won a pennant). No shock there.
Here's some fun - what happens if you only look at Yankees pitchers with at least 800 IP for New York? The top ten:
George Mogridge? Never heard of him before this exercise.
Funny, if you look at his career stats, you'll see that the Yankees made a big mistake when they traded Mogridge on December 31, 1920 for Braggo Roth. Not "Buhner" bad - but, a pretty stupid move.
Lastly, what if you drop it down to just 50 IP for the Yankees? See this:
While it's interesting to see how close Wetteland and Rivera are here - and that Chris Hammond made the list - it's flat out chilling to see Carl Pavano at # 9.
I just hope if the Yankees trade Pav-Dog that it works out better than that George Mogridge deal.
Posted by Steve Lombardi at December 1, 2006 10:12 PM
Comments
It warms the cockles of my heart to see Jimmy Key on that list. I absolutely loved him while he was on the Yanks and I'll never forget his start in the 1996 WS.
Posted by: MJ ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.waswatching.com/nav-commenters.gif)
at December 1, 2006 11:07 PM
it's flat out chilling to see Carl Pavano at # 9.
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It shouldn't be. He's a sinkerballer that's always around the plate.
Posted by: Raf at December 1, 2006 11:14 PM
It shouldn't be. He's a sinkerballer that's always around the plate.
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As long as his plate is full of pizza bites and near the sofa.
Steve, I demand the Cone of Silence.
Posted by: Paul at December 1, 2006 11:26 PM
"As long as his plate is full of pizza bites and near the sofa."
LOL Paul - and I'm glad someone got the Control reference!
Posted by: Steve Lombardi at December 2, 2006 08:59 AM
"It warms the cockles of my heart to see Jimmy Key on that list."
Did you see him at the Torre 1996 reunion? Totally gray now. Time flies.
Posted by: Steve Lombardi at December 2, 2006 09:01 AM
Did you see him at the Torre 1996 reunion? Totally gray now.
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Really? He was greying when he was with the O's. And he isn't even that old...
Posted by: Raf at December 2, 2006 10:24 AM
Who is this Carl Pavano? I've been following the Yankees from the early 1970s and don't recall him at all. Did he pitch for the Yankees during WWII, when all the good, healthy players were in the military?
Posted by: rbj at December 2, 2006 03:57 PM