Offseason Space Filler Post: My Top 10 Favorite Yankees Part I

It's getting a little late in the game to put this off any longer, and with Spring Training in full swing now I'm starting to run out of time to be able to use the "Offseason Space Filler Post" tag.  So while I could sit here and comment on every early-2000s former All Star in camp on a Minor League deal and how he's performing so far, I think I'll just leave that to the blogs that actually care and instead take another trip down memory lane.

Many of you remember November's award-winning 2-part series on my most hated Yankees of all-time.  If you don't, first of all shame on you for that, and second of all you can check out Part I and Part Deux before diving into this lovefest right here.  All caught up?  Good.  Now let's take a look at some players who actually put a smile or 2 on my face during their time in pinstripes.  And remember, I'm focusing on players from the era in which I have lived and followed the Yankees, otherwise we'd just be looking at another Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio list.

10) Orlando Hernandez- I don't care how old he actually was when the Yankees first got him in '98 or how old he actually is today.  This guy was money as a Yankee and was the first Yankee free agent signing that I remember being legitimately excited about.  I also remember practically crapping myself at a card show when I stumbled upon a couple of his Bowman rookie cards for cheap.  Sure, they weren't the Chrome edition, which might actually still be worth a little, but that wasn't the point.  The point was this was the hottest new pitcher on the market, the Yankees had him, and I had a piece of him.

There was something special about watching El Duque pitch.  His windup, insanely high leg kick, and changing arm angles always made you wonder what kind of pitch was actually going to leave his hand when he let go of the ball.  His '98 and '99 seasons were his best, but even as AL hitters started to figure him out, he still managed to be effective and had a nice comeback season in 2004 after missing the entire '03 season.  Perhaps the best, and most memorable, thing about El Duque was his postseason success. He had an almost Mo-like calmness and quiet intensity on the mound, and nowhere was that more evident than in the postseason.

When you add everything up, El Duque was awesome because of all the mystery surrounding him.  The circumstances of his defection, his actual age, the number of different arm angles and pitches he used, and the ridiculous leg kick all added up to make him a sort of cult hero amongst Yankee fans during that late 90s-early 2000s time period.  And I bought into all of it hook, line, and sinker.  In fact, I probably would have been more excited to see El Duque's dusty ass in camp this ST than any other FA pitcher.

9) Tino Martinez- He had the unenviable task of having to come in and replace Donnie Baseball after the '95 season.  He had the even more difficult task of trying to win over the rabid Yankee fanbase, who had worshipped Donnie over his career, and so Constantino Martinez joined the Yankees in 1996 with a bit of a hill to climb.  All he did over the next 6 seasons in the Bronx was play in 5 World Series, win 4 of them, finish 2nd in the 1997 AL MVP race, and put together 5 seasons of 28+ HR, 105+ RBI, and .800+ OPS baseball, effectively winning over the tough Yankee crowd.  Add in the first pitch, 2-run homer in the 9th of Game 4 of the '01 World Series and, while not making the fans completely forget Mattingly, Tino's performance while in a Yankee uniform certainly made Donnie Baseball a distant memory.

Thinking back to the good old days of '96-'01, I think my favorite thing about Tino was how he went about his business on the baseball field.  On a team with all kinds of characters (David Wells, Paul O'Neill), mega stars (Derek Jeter, Roger Clemens, Mo), and other interesting stories (El Duque, Darryl Strawberry), Tino always flew under the radar, quietly doing his job, putting up monster numbers, and doing things to help the team win.  He had a reputation as a fierce competitor, a loyal teammate, and a clubhouse leaders, best emphasized by how quickly and viciously his teammates defended him in their ugly brawl with the Orioles in '98 after Armando Benitez drilled Tino in the back with a fastball.  But Tino always projected the image of a calm, collected, consummate professional who only cared about winning.  Every team needs players like this to help build the structure for winning, and Tino was the perfect piece for that foundation, representing everything that was right about the Yankees during those dynasty years and everything that was wrong about them after he left.

Even when he came back in '05 for his final season, a shell of the player he was in his prime, it was impossible not to root for and respect Tino, for what he did for the team and the way he played the game.  Even in retirement he remains connected to the Yankees, as a ST instructor and as of last year, a color commentator on YES.  Tino loves being a Yankee and being part of the Yankee organization, and I love him for it.

8) Phil Hughes- If you've looked at the AB4AR Man Crush HOF on the right side of the page, then this choice should come as now surprise.  No, he doesn't have the winning pedigree or the long track record of success in pinstripes as everybody else on this list has.  But he's got the goods and the right attitude to be a great Yankee for years to come, and he does already have one championship ring to his credit, so it seems like a fair bet that Phil Hughes is cut from the same mold as some of the recent Yankee greats.

Phil Hughes was draft in 2004, when I was 19 and finally starting to embrace the world of baseball outside the 10 guys who suited up and took the field every day and played.  I had just read "Moneyball" and just started paying attention to the draft and the players the Yankees took, so naturally Hughes was the focus of my attention as he was the Yankees' 1st round pick that year.  I've followed Hughes closely ever since, up through the Minors to the bullpen to the rotation, where he currently projects to be the #2 starter behind CC this year.

The fact that Hughes is younger than me and far more awesome than I could ever hope to become is a big factor in my being a fan of his.  And now that he has gotten past all his previous struggles and injuries to establish himself as a legitimate Major League starter and future star, rewarding the faith the Yankees have had in him since '04.  He doesn't have the numbers yet to speak about, but he has an approach, a focus, and a dedication to his job that leads me to think we're dealing with the next great pitcher in Yankee history, and the first homegrown one since Andy Pettitte.

7) David Wells- Ahh the Boomer!  If anybody were more made for the "Bronx Zoo" Yankees of '77 and '78 it was this guy.  Unfortunately he came along 20 years too late, but still carved a fantastic niche for himself in the annals of Yankee history and in the minds of Yankee fans everywhere despite only spending 4 years with the team.

Between the slovenly appearance, the fun-loving attitude, the Babe Ruth hat, and the perfect game that may or may not have been pitched while hung over or still drunk, Wells brought the wackiness to the very serious and professional Yankee clubhouse of the late 90s.  He was sort of like Nick Swisher with today's Yankees, only in worse shape and much more involved in boozing and stirring the pot with the organization than Swish.  He had 3 of his 4 best statistical seasons as a member of the Yankees, he built up a reputation as a big-game pitcher while with them, and the image of him joyously waving his cap to the crowd while on the shoulders of his teammates after pitching the perfect game in 1998 is one of the most iconic Yankee images of all time.  It was always fun to watch Boomer on the mound, especially in Game 1 of the 1998 ALCS, where he got the victory against then Indians' starter Jaret Wright.  First Yankee playoff game I ever saw live.

Great piece of self history related to that game: one of my most prized possessions is a ball signed by Wells on the day he threw the perfect game.  Long story short, the bank my grandma used to work at in New Jersey was in a strip mall that also had a sports memorabilia store in it.  Wells was tight with the owners, and after he left the Stadium that day, he stopped in to sign some stuff for them commemorating the event.  My grandma happened to catch him walking in, immediately went in and snatched up a ball, and gave it to me for Christmas that year.  And this thing is legit, certificates of authenticity signed and dated by Wells and the owners of the store, date on the ball, and a picture of him signing it.  Coolest Christmas gift I've ever received and the first thing I'm grabbing to save if my apartment or future house burns down.

6) Bernie Williams- If Tino was #1 in terms of class on the field, then Bernie was 1A.  He was another guy who let his game do the talking for him and it talked louder and louder as he developed into one of the best all-around OFs in baseball from the mid-90s to the early-2000s, racking up multiple ASG appearances, Gold Gloves, MVP votes, and World Series rings along the way.

People focus on the Core Four (now the Key Three after Andy's retirement) because they are/were still active.  It's easy to forget that Bernie was just as big a cornerstone of the most recent Yankee dynasty as any of them, maybe an even bigger portion than guys like Posada and Jeter.  His postseason numbers speak for themselves, as he holds just as many significant playoff records as Jeter (most games, most RBIs, most XBH), and his position inside the top 10 of many important Yankee statistical categories speaks to the consistency and longevity of Bernie's production.

I remember watching Bernie play the outfield and think about how easy he made it look.  He didn't have the flash of a Ken Griffey Jr. or Torii Hunter, but he made just as many great plays as they did and did it all while routinely making it look routine.  Their was an effortless, smooth approach to everything he did, and Bernie's HR swing might be my favorite out of all the Yankees I've seen.  It's sad that he is still, in mind, under-appreciated by baseball and Yankee fans for what he did for the team, and even more sad the way he left the team, without the fanfare he truly deserved.  But anybody who knows anything about the Yankees knows that Bernie was one of the greatest OFs and greatest all-around players in team history at his peak.