Happy Yankee Day!

Well, technically, Yankee Day isn’t until tomorrow but what the hell.

What is Yankee Day?  Well, two of the most significant events in the history of the franchise occurred on Jan. 3, so if there was going to be a national holiday celebrating the franchise, this would probably be it.

What are those events?

In 1973, George Steinbrenner bought the team from CBS for $10 million - a sum that astounds me, even with inflation, which is probably the most significant event of the modern era.

Moving back a bit, in 1919, New York acquired LHP/OF George Herman Ruth for cash considerations from the Boston Red Sox - most definitely the most significant event of its time, not just for the franchise, probably for the game.

So take time out to remember Jan. 3, it’s been good to the Yankees over the years.

The date might also be significant in 2007 if the rumored Randy Johnson trade goes down tomorrow. I’m ambivalent on the deal - the Yanks paid a heavy price for the Unit before the 2005 season, and he’s been inconsistent (to put it mildly) in his time in New York. I always kinda liked Johnson, so I wanted him to succeed, however, it just doesn’t appear to be working out for either side.

If the Yanks can get some young arms back from the desert, it’s probably for the best.

Speaking of young arms, NoMaas.org cited an ESPN chat where Baseball America guru Jim Callis rated the Yanks system as the sixth best in all of baseball. A lot of that has to be the strength of its pitching, which appears to be Cashman’s main target in trades and in the draft. I like this strategy, it appears that building a pitching staff via free agency is a lot harder to do than building an offense, so by stockpiling young arms, the Yanks get the double benefit of saving some cash to spend on offense and avoiding big pitching mistakes (see: Zito, Barry). Good times all around.

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On a not completely unrelated note, please indulge me a bit here.

In Detroit tonight, the Red Wings honored my favorite athlete of all time Steve Yzerman by retiring his number. Now, the Wings are like the Yankees in many respects (large payroll, enthusiastic ownership, large fan bases, successful history), but one thing that separates them is how stingy Detroit is with retired numbers… Yzerman’s is the sixth officially taken out of service by the club, compared to 16 by the Bombers.

Yzerman captained his team for 20 seasons - the longest stretch in club history, and maybe league history and was the youngest captain in Red Wing history. His style wasn’t as brash as Mr. “We’ll Win Tonight” for the Rangers, it was a quiet, stoic leadership. In 1993, the club hired Scotty Bowman who convinced Yzerman that his gaudy stat lines wouldn’t produce a Stanley Cup win as much as playing both ways. So Yzerman changed his style, saw his numbers drop, but his team’s win totals rise culminating in three drinks from the Cup between 1996 and 2002.

He played in extreme pain for the last few seasons after knee surgery, oftentimes having to prop himself up with his stick, but never complained as his ice time and role with the club changed.

Yzerman was the consumate professional and in every sense of the word the leader we’re told the Yankees captain is. All the intangibles the McCarvers and Morgans of the world assign to Jeter - Yzerman actually had.

If you never saw him play, check out his You Tube clips - he wasn’t always the prettiest guy on the ice, but he was a consumate professional and true leader.

Wings fans call him the best captain in team sports history, I don’t know if I can go that far, but when I hear older Yankee fans talk about Munson, that’s how I feel about Yzerman. Just a great, great player yet still underrated.