Hey, it’s my first post on Hardball Talk. Very exciting. I still cannot believe that Calcaterra and Gleeman didn’t save the “Jeff Francoeur is in the best shape of his life” post for me.
Kevin Youkilis plays for the New York Yankees now. I’m not typing those words as a fact. I’m typing those words to remind myself — kind of like that guy in Memento, who would tattoo integral facts on his body because he had no short term memory. Every few seconds, it seems, I forget all about Youkilis, and then some story or Tweet will cross my consciousness, and I’ll think, “Wait, what, Kevin Youkilis plays for the Yenkees now?”
I’m not quite sure why the Youkilis thing throws me.* I feel like I’ve largely grown numb to the temperamental and capricious ways of sports free agency. It really didn’t take me too long to get used to Peyton Manning in a Broncos uniform or Albert Pujols in an Angels uniform or even LeBron James in a Miami uniform. Josh Hamilton as an Angel? Got it down already.
*What Youkilis thing? Let me read back … wait, what, Kevin Youkilis plays for the Yankees now?
So this Youk as Yank thing shouldn’t be that hard to get used to. If we all could get used to Michael Jordan in a Washington uniform and Jerry Rice in a Raiders uniform and Greg Maddux in a Dodgers uniform and, heck, Wade Boggs in a Yankees uniform, there seem no real boundaries left. But for some crazy reason, Youkilis in a Yankees uniform just doesn’t quite compute for me. It isn’t that I have any personal connection to Youkilis. It isn’t that I could only see him in a Red Sox uniform — heck, I didn’t see any real incongruity when he played for the White Sox last year.
But for some reason Kevin Youkilis playing for the Yankees — wait, what, Kevin Youkilis plays for the Yankees now? — just triggers that cable TV “recording conflict” fiber in my brain.
Repoz
Posted: February 26, 2013 at 02:20 PM |
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1. Pat Rapper's Delight Posted: February 26, 2013 at 02:31 PM (#4376393)I didn't read it as a criticism of Youk or the Yankees, merely an acknowledgement that there is something odder than just the usual team change. He gives a number of pretty good examples in the piece of other player/team combos that just seemed odd (e.g. Rose/Expos).
As a Red Sox fan I certainly see it. Youk resonated in Boston like very few players. He was for the most part incredibly popular even if the majority of fans didn't realize just how great a player he was. One of the things I'm curious about is if he'll play on Sunday in Ft. Myers. There's a guy who every year at Spring Training would unleash this loud series of noises that sounded like a truck starting and then finish off with a robust "YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUK" every time Youk came to the plate. I suspect the series of noises were him actually saying something but I could never make it out. Anyway, I'll be interested if the guy still does it.
That was odd. For me, Patrick will always be a Sonic.
All "Weird to See in That Uniform" team:
C Gary Carter, Giants (or Dodgers)
1B Tony Perez, Phillies
2B Joe Morgan, Phillies
3B Eddie Matthews, Astros (or Tigers)
SS Mark Belanger, Dodgers
LF Willie Horton, Mariners
CF Duke Snider, Giants; Willie Mays, Mets
RF Dwight Evans, Orioles
DH Harmon Killebrew, Royals
SP Steve Carlton, Twins (or White Sox or Indians or Giants)
RP Trevor Hoffman, Brewers
You could do a complete team of Athletics alone
C Mike Piazza
1B Willie McCovey
2B Joe Morgan
3B Ron Cey
SS Nomar Garciaparra
LF Billy Williams or Tim Raines or Zach Wheat
CF Ty Cobb
RF Rocky Colavito
DH Frank Thomas
SP Tommy John
RP Rich Gossage
Terry Pendleton on the Reds.
Don Baylor on the Twins.
Randy Johnson on the Astros.
How many games would this team win, at that stage of their ability level?
I started watching in 1982. I had "Reggie Jackson was a Yankee?" and "Carlton Fisk was a Red Sox?" moments when ESPN would show old World Series highlights.
Hakeem Olajuwon is sort of a perfect storm of a highly respectable player on a completely cartoonish team.
Excellent question. Their WAR that season, or first season with the team if they were there for a few years:
C Gary Carter, Giants 1.6 (or Dodgers) 1.1
1B Tony Perez, Phillies 0.2
2B Joe Morgan, Phillies 3.0
3B Eddie Matthews, Astros (or Tigers) 1.6 combined
SS Mark Belanger, Dodgers 0.1
LF Willie Horton, Mariners 0.9
CF Duke Snider, Giants -0.7; Willie Mays, Mets 1.6
RF Dwight Evans, Orioles 0.5
DH Harmon Killebrew, Royals -0.3
SP Steve Carlton, Twins (or White Sox or Indians or Giants) Best was 0.6 on White Sox, all others were negative.
RP Trevor Hoffman, Brewers 2.1
Trevor Hoffman, Marlins
Paul Konerko, Reds, Dodgers
Ryne Sandberg, Phillies
Bobby Abreu, Astros
Curt Schilling, Orioles
Randy Johnson, Expos
Pedro Martinez, Dodgers
And he never made it in the big leagues with them, but Josh Hamilton, Rays
Yea, I had the same thought reading Pos's piece. For me as a kid, Tony Dorsett was a Bronco. I was surprised to find out when I got older he had made his name as a Cowboy.
NFL ones:
Joe Namath, Rams
Franco Harris, Seahawks
Eric Dickerson, Falcons, Raiders
Johnny Unitas, Chargers
Emmitt Smith, Cardinals
Reggie White, Panthers
OJ Simpson, 49ers
Donovan McNabb, Redskins, Vikings
Cris Carter, Dolphins
Brett Favre, Jets, Vikings
Weird early careers:
Brett Favre, Falcons
Jerome Bettis, Rams
Priest Holmes, Ravens
Wes Welker, Dolphins
Cris Carter, Eagles
Actually, he made his name as a member of the Pittsburgh Panthers.
-- MWE
Hanley Ramirez, Red Sox
Who remembers that Steve Carlton and George Foster were teammates on the White Sox?
Much more weird: Wes Welker, Chargers.
I remembered that Cincinnati had acquired him, but I forgot that he had played games for them, before they flipped him for Mike Cameron (choosing Sean Casey as their 1B of the future, instead)
Joe Montana, Chiefs
Lou Piniella as a Seattle Pilot looks very strange...
Jim Kaat
Bert Campaneris
George Scott
Aurelio Rodriguez
Gaylord Perry
Rick Reuschel
Lee Mazzilli
Butch Hobson
Omar Moreno
What about as a Cleveland Indian? Baltimore Oriole? Washington Senator?
They were all Yankees?
Ewing Kauffman did this as well. Harmon Killebrew, Orlando Cepeda, Gaylord Perry, Vida Blue, Cesar Geronimo, Vada Pinson, Bill Buckner, George Scott, Lee May, Floyd Bannister, Bob Boone, Jose Cardenal all spent the tail end of their career in KC.
They've never played for my living room?
C Mike Piazza
1B Willie McCovey
2B Joe Morgan
3B Ron Cey
SS Nomar Garciaparra
LF Billy Williams or Tim Raines or Zach Wheat
CF Ty Cobb
RF Rocky Colavito
DH Frank Thomas
SP Tommy John
RP Rich Gossage
You forget Tris Speaker, a Philly Athletic in his final year in the show, as well as Dick Allen. Speaker goes to center I would guess, pushing Ty Cobb to right and Rocky Colavito to the bench. Dick Allen starts over Cey at third if we ignore defense, with which that lineup we probably don't really care about too much. Willie McGee was also an Athletic for two months. The one year on the A's thing for stars at the end of the rope is a weird one, given that it's been going on pretty much forever and continues today.
Jackie Robinson was also almost a Giant (famously retired rather than accept a trade), which would have been maybe the all-time one.
Hockey almost doesn't count - there's so much player churn even among stars. And Sergei is my all time favorite hockey guy for some reason. He also signed that big free agent deal with Carolina in the middle of the Red Wings' run - that would have been a weird one as well.
This would be fun to explore a bit, wouldn't it? The army of odd 'super' groups make some odd matches
Jimmy Page & The Firm jumps out
Not as sad as Dale Murphy, Colorado Rockie.
Not even his weirdest NL Central team - he played for both the Reds and Brewers in 2010.
Scott Rolen as a Blue Jay. I think it's the fact that his other three teams all have red uniforms.
Whereas I'm of an age and fanhood where I only remember Esposito as a Ranger. Same with some of the players listed in #33.
Danny Ainge, Blue Jays.
Or we could merge the two concepts, and end up with The Nuge (or Tommy Shaw) as Damn Yankees.
Not as sad as Dale Murphy, Colorado Rockie.
Terence Trent D'Arby with INXS.
OK, I made that up. But he was in The Betsy.
this is my all time favorite. Also, Chris Mars is a legitimately famous enough artist that I've randomly come across his stuff a few times without seeking it out.
The parking attendant from Ferris Bueller's Day Off in Sonic Youth
Randy Savage in the minors
The correct answer was "Randy Moss on the Titans."
hunter pence in a giants uniform !
where is pac-man when you need him ... ... ..................
Bruce Hornsby with the Grateful Dead.
Roy Orbison, Tom Petty, Bob Dylan, Jeff Lynne and George Harrison as the Travelin' Wilburys.
Laura Nyro with Labelle.
Peter Frampton with the Pogues.
Linda Ronstadt and Jack Bruce with the Jazz Composer's Orchestra.
(Though Ian Gillan with Black Sabbath really rased some new questions in my mind.)
In a slightly different vein, finding out that David Johannson was the man behind "Hot Hot Hot".
Nothing will ever top Jimi Hendrix backing Little Richard when it comes to early career oddities.
To me, this one made a lot of sense. Hendrix was a "for hire" guitarist for whatever R&B band needed a top guy. Jimi probably learned a lot from Richard: showmanship, moustache design, intensity. In an interview available online Richard describes having the Beatles as his opening act in England, then going home and hiring Hendrix for a tour.
Mookie Wilson as a Blue Jay.
It was funny to see him in the parade of ex-Marlins after the last Florida game at Sun Life Stadium.
I remember that the Sox had just started advertising (or maybe it was just their announcers were talking about it a lot) that they were the youngest team in MLB. Then they signed 41-year-old Steve Carlton and George Foster, who was officially 37 but whose baseball skills were much older than that.
The teenaged Billy Preston was in Richard's band on that tour, which is how the Beatles got to know him.
I remember seeing him appear on some talk show in his Marlins jersey the day or so after the trade. It was that hideous teal green one and I'm pretty sure that the show was taped in LA.
No kidding, people, check it out. If you like King Crimson from either '72-'74 or '81-'84, you'll really enjoy the album.
pah...How about Neil Young and the "International Harvesters?"
That's how I know about it. Good stuff.
Also, Rick James and Neil Young.
Michael Jackson and Eddie Van Halen.
Michael Jackson and Vincent Price.
Fontella Bass ("Rescue Me") with the Art Ensemble of Chicago.
Miles Davis with Kool Moe Dee.
Jack White and Loretta Lynn.
George Jones and Gene Pitney.
Given that the 1961 Yanks set their all-time club record with 10 pinch hit home runs, I'm not sure how much added value that extra $100,000 would've given them on the field, although he might have made it up at the box office.
Absolutely agreed.
Johnny Marr in Modest Mouse - talk about slumming it.
It really was beneath Isaac to hire that old washout.
(The BEST Johnny Marr post-Smiths membership is when he was a Happy Monday for literally twenty minutes after the Ryder brothers kidnapped him, to take to Barbados where they proceeded to release maybe the most disastrous album of all time, but not before letting Marr go because they had forgotten that they were going to hire him. Shaun Ryder is the greatest terrible rock star ever.)
But, on the point you raised, I've never heard of a team that thought it had too many pinch hit homers (or pinch hit hits). And, yes, the Yankees would have gotten back at least $100K in publicity and at the box office.
As a Blue Jay fan, it was weird having Jack Morris, Dave Winfield, Dave Stewart, Paul Molitor and Rickey Henderson on our side when they'd been big stars for rival teams for so long.
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