So is the Bengough typo in the headline their doing or yours?

MHS, are you a Yankee fan, by which I mean the current team?

And I've said it before, but I like this whole idea. If Willie was managing, Gehrig would be hitting seventh.

The most interesting part of the lineup is that the man I think of as the greatest leadoff hitter in Yankee history is a rookie

Combs was the greatest Yankee leadoff hitter based on career, but I'll take Rickey's peak over the Kentucky Colonel's any day of the week.

1. It was mine. Fixed, thanks.

2. Rex - not a Yankee fan. I have a rooting intrest in the RedSox but as the years go by the term fan might be a little strong. I'll get off the Yankees motif shortly.

3. John -

Rickey played parts of 5 seasons in pinstripes - stealing tons of bases and posting very high on base percentages in all of the seasons, creating over 100 runs in 3 of the seasons.

Lets call Rickeys Yankee peak 85, 86 and 88. With 85 being one of the best years from a leadoff hitter ever. In those 3 years Henderson created 140, 113, and 109 runs using up 398 outs, 480 outs, and 412 outs.

Lets call Combs 3 year peak 27, 29, and 30 where he created 142 runs, 122 runs and 118 runs. Using 435 outs, 402 outs, and 370 outs.

On the surface Combs looks to have been better, however, as a leadoff hitter your component values are slightly different than of an average player, so considering how close the players were in production its not a stretch to think that Rickeys peak was slightly greater due to skill set.

If you use any longer time frame than 3 year than Combs is much better than Rickey. Of course this only talks about time with the Yankees. For a career value Rickey is without a doubt the man.

Lets call Rickeys Yankee peak 85, 86 and 88. With 85 being one of the best years from a leadoff hitter ever. In those 3 years Henderson created 140, 113, and 109 runs using up 398 outs, 480 outs, and 412 outs.

Lets call Combs 3 year peak 27, 29, and 30 where he created 142 runs, 122 runs and 118 runs. Using 435 outs, 402 outs, and 370 outs

But don't these numbers need to be put into context, Matt?

Well, the Yankees have a rich history, regardless of rooting interest. And it's a good place to start. I didn't even know who Combs is, let alone arguably the Yankees top leadoff hitter.

Context: AL Average runs a game

1927 4.92
1929 5.01
1930 5.41


1985 4.56
1986 4.61
1988 4.36