Roy White Doesn't Get The Credit He Deserves
ALSO: MARINERS NEED INJURED EUGENIO SUAREZ BACK FOR POSTSEASON RUN
Pregame Pepper
Did you know…
Despite its reputation as a bandbox, Citizens Bank Park hosted a 1-0 game Thursday night, when the homestanding Phillies blanked the Braves and put a monkey-wrench into their hopes of catching the Mets in the NL East . . .
Until he was sent down earlier this week, the Milwaukee Brewers had a pitcher named Jason Alexander, which makes one wonder whether they showed Seinfeld reruns after games . . .
Pittsburgh third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes, more interested in sunflower seeds than paying attention on the field, somehow leads NL third basemen (including Nolan Arenado) in defensive runs saved . . .
The Mets marked Roberto Clemente day by inviting former MVPs Dale Murphy, Steve Garvey, and Jimmy Rollins, all past Clemente Award winners, along with Rick Sutcliffe, Eric Davis, Al Leiter, Jim Thome, Carlos Delgado, and Carlos Beltran, who also won the humanitarian award . . .
Before the Braves beat him last Sunday, Phillies rookie southpaw Bailey Falter had gone 5-0 with 2.43 ERA and 22-2 ratio of whiffs to walks over his last five starts . . .
Surprise, surprise: Mookie Betts of the Dodgers leads NL outfielders in defensive runs saved, with Ian Happ of the Cubs a close second.
Leading Off
A Great Yankee…One of the Best, Ever!
[Editor’s Note: the author is hosting a special Roy White tribute in November. Here’s the link: https://tmieducation.com/workshops/compton-bronx-evening-new-york-yankees-legend-roy-white]
By Paul Semendinger, Ed.D.
When people talk about the greatest Yankees of all time, the list usually begins (and often ends) with the same names: Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, Whitey Ford, Yogi Berra, Don Mattingly, Derek Jeter, and Mariano Rivera. Interestingly, except for Babe Ruth (and Yogi Berra for a few games), those players spent their entire careers with the Yankees.
When choosing a list of the greatest players for a team, fans often look for players who spent their entire career with that club. Reggie Jackson was a great Yankee, for instance, but he was also a member of the Kansas City/Oakland A’s, Baltimore Orioles, and the California Angels.
When people consider the best Yankees, they often think of the biggest names, the giants of the game, who overshadow many other all-time greats. And that’s a shame because, as a result, some great players get overlooked and sometimes even forgotten.
For example, many fans have never heard of Johnny Allen. But if one were to go to Baseball-Reference and look up the Yankees pitchers with the highest lifetime winning percentage, Johnny Allen sits atop the list. Other oft-forgotten pitchers on that list include Spud Chandler, Jim Coates, Monte Pearson, Bob Grim, and Chien-Ming Wang. In short, the history of the Yankees is greater than the stories and records of just the greatest of the great.
There’s another Yankees great who has been less remembered than the superstars he played with, but who also belongs on every short list of Yankees greats. This player was an outfielder. He spent his entire career with the Yankees. He played with Mickey Mantle, and even batted fourth to protect Mantle in the lineup. This player set the American League record for Sacrifice Flies in a season. He was also an All-Star and a quiet leader on the championship teams of the late 1970s that included Reggie Jackson, Thurman Munson, and so many others…
Before I go on, I would like to share a trivia question that I came up with. From 1950 through 1999, only two players spent an entire calendar decade (for example, the 1960s) with the Yankees. Those two players were Yogi Berra (1950s) and Roy White (1970s).
Roy White.
After struggling in both the 2020 and 2021 seasons, Suarez became an expendable piece for the cost-cutting Reds, who dealt Suarez and Jesse Winker to Seattle in March for a package of four younger players.
Often times, fans of the Yankees forget or overlook some of the best players in the franchise’s history. Roy White is one of those players. Roy White was a great Yankee, one of the best. All one needs to do is look at the lists of all-time great Yankees and his name appears time and time and time again.
In career WAR, Roy White ranks as the 11th greatest Yankee of All-Time among position players. Yes, his WAR (46.4) ranks higher than Jorge Posada, Tino Martinez, Paul O’Neill, Reggie Jackson, Don Mattingly, Phil Rizzuto, Roger Maris, Elston Howard, and Thurman Munson – players who are all immortalized in Yankee Stadium’s Monument Park.
Roy White is also among the greatest Yankees in Games Played (7th), Runs (13th), Hits (11th), Doubles (16th), Walks (8th), Stolen Bases (6th). While he wasn’t known as a power-hitter, Roy White is still 20th all time in Runs Batted In. And the list goes on.
Of note, as well, Roy White played in an era of depressed offense. Simply, when Roy White played, it was much more difficult to hit. He played in a pitcher’s era. For example, Roy White’s .267 batting average in 1968 looks pedestrian. But when one realizes that the American League as a whole batted only .231 that year, White’s performance is much enhanced.
Roy White was also an adept left-fielder. In 1971, he went the entire season without making an error. He was the first Yankees player to ever accomplish that feat.
White was also a steady presence in the lineup. In five different seasons, White appeared in no fewer than 155 games, and, in fact, he played in all 162 games in the 1970 and 1973 seasons.
A Yankees from 1965 through 1979, Roy White was a special player. He bridged the gap between the teams who were World Champions in the 1950s and 1960s with the championship teams of the 1970s. Roy White was a quiet leader. The word most often used to describe him was “class.” During the Bronx Zoo years of the 1970s, the team needed some stable leaders, players who could be counted on to do their jobs well, and not create controversy. Roy White was one of those players. He was a champion, a leader, and an all-time great Yankee.
It is time for the Yankees to recognize and honor this great player, one of the best to ever wear pinstripes, with a plaque in Monument Park. With this deserved honor, Roy White will stand where he belongs, alongside the other Yankees greats. Just as importantly, his contributions will then also be recalled by generations of Yankees fans to come.
Dr. Paul Semendinger is the Editor-in-Chief of the Yankees site Start Spreading the News. Paul has collaborated with Roy White on his autobiography From Compton to the Bronx which will be released by Artemesia Publishing in April 2023.
Cleaning Up
Seeking First Flag Ever, Seattle Suffers Serious Setback
By Dan Schlossberg
Sleepless in Seattle: en route to their first playoff appearance since 2001, the Seattle Mariners have lost one of their hottest bats — possibly for the duration.
That’s bad news for the only one of the 30 major-league teams that has never won a pennant.
Even the team that won a league-record 116 games in 2001 wasn’t able to beat the Yankees in the American League Championship Series.
Losing Eugenio Suárez, a slugging third baseman, makes it even tougher.
Suarez, who has 31 home runs, went on the IL last weekend with a fracture in the tip of his right index finger. He hopes to take some batting practice during the Royals series this weekend and return in time for a few at-bats in the final week before the playoffs.
In a word, Oy.
The 31-year-old Venezuelan slugger, who once had a 49-homer season for Cincinnati, is a key cog in the Seattle machine. He’s hitting just .235 this season but has 31 homers and 84 runs batted in.
Suárez has had a pair of 100-rbi seasons and this would have been his third if he had stayed healthy.
Instead, he spent Monday visiting an Arizona hand specialist.
The 5-11, 180-pound right-handed hitter is one of three ex-Reds, along with pitcher Luis Castillo and outfielder Jesse Winker, who turned the M’s into a playoff team for the first time in 21 years.
After struggling in both the 2020 and 2021 seasons, Suarez became an expendable piece for the cost-cutting Reds, who dealt Suarez and Jesse Winker to Seattle in March for a package of four younger players.
The deal paid instant dividends: Seattle began the day Thursday at 81-67, good for second in the AL West but 17 games behind the front-running Houston Astros.
Even such legendary icons as Alex Rodriguez, Randy Johnson, and Ken Griffey, Jr. couldn’t get the M’s to the promised land of the post-season. A-Rod and Johnson got there with other clubs but Junior never made it — even after a mid-career trade to his hometown Reds.
Suárez would like to play in the World Series too and might get his chance this year. A team only has to reach the 12-team tournament for that to be possible.
Toronto and Tampa Bay, both in the American League East, will be the other AL wild-cards.
Former AP sportswriter Dan Schlossberg of Fair Lawn, NJ has written 40 baseball books and thousands of articles about the game. He never wastes his time watching football. E.mail Dan at ballauthor@gmail.com.
Timeless Trivia
"I haven't changed anything, particularly (on offense). I just continue to work every day and think we're starting to see some good results."
— Atlanta right-fielder Ronald Acuna, Jr.
Rookie right-hander Spencer Strider of the Braves broke Randy Johnson’s record of reaching 200 strikeouts in a season faster than any previous pitcher . . .
Sad-Zack Greinke has yet to win a game on the road this year for the Royals . . .
Center-fielder Harrison Bader, whose plantar fasciitis has kept him sidelined since his trade from St. Louis to the Yankees at the Aug. 2 deadline, has finally made his Yankees debut . . .
Mets announcer Keith Hernandez says Tommy John (288 wins) belongs in Cooperstown . . .
No Met has ever won an MVP award and none of the Yankees’ Core Four ever did either . . .
With Aaron Judge the heavy favorite to win over Shohei Ohtani this year, it’s noteworthy that the only Yankee to be American League MVP since Don Mattingly in 1985 was Alex Rodriguez.
Know Your Editors
HERE’S THE PITCH is published daily except Sundays and holidays. Brian Harl [bchrom831@gmail.com] handles Monday and Tuesday editions, Elizabeth Muratore [nymfan97@gmail.com] does Wednesday and Thursday, and Dan Schlossberg [ballauthor@gmail.com] edits the weekend editions on Friday and Saturday. Readers are encouraged to contribute comments, articles, and letters to the editor. HTP reserves the right to edit for brevity, clarity, and good taste.