A five-time All-Star with the New York Yankees, Robinson Cano was one of the most prolific hitters ever to wear their pinstripes.  Cano would bat over .300 seven times in New York.  Cano provided power as 204 of his 1,649 Hits in New York went over the fences and he was certainly excellent defensively as he would win two Gold Gloves and two Wilson Defensive Awards as a Yankee.  It was a sad day in the Bronx when Cano would sign with Seattle in free agency.

One of the most underappreciated members of New York Yankees folklore, Charlie “King Kong” Keller was known for his incredible strength and corresponding Home Runs but he probably should be more known for his plate discipline.  Keller would twice lead the American League in Walks and had an On Base Percentage over .400 seven times, six of which were enough to put him in the top ten that year.  He would also lead the AL in OPS in 1943.

Along with Red Ruffing, the eccentric Lefty Gomez anchored a pitching staff that dominated the 1930’s.  Before the days of Yogi Berra, it was the southpaw that was the known for witty banter and unique sense of humor. 

One of the most popular Yankees of the last thirty years, Bernie Williams had his peak seasons in the late ’90s, which coincided with the best run of the Bronx Bombers over the last fifty years.  Williams would be named an All-Star five years in a row from 1997 to 2001 and over his career he brought a nice balance of power and speed to the Yankees lineup.

Before there was New York Yankees Hall of Fame Catcher, Yogi Berra, there was New York Yankees Catcher, Bill Dickey.

Don Mattingly can make a claim as the best player for the Yankees in the 1980’s.  He can also make a claim as the best hitter in the American League over the same timeframe.  The First Baseman would break out in 1984 where he would go to his first of his six straight All-Star Games where he was the Yankees “Hit Man”.

Oh boy…

Let’s get all of the negative stuff out of the way.

In the storied franchise of the New York Yankees, Ron Guidry was responsible for some of the best seasons ever for a Starting Pitcher.

Is there any doubt that Yogi Berra was one of the most colorful characters in any sport?  How many times have we heard a “Yogism” of some kind and couldn’t help but smile?

Meet the second biggest theft from the Boston Red Sox by the New York Yankees.

The ace of the Yankees staff in the 1930’s, Red Ruffing won 15 or more games 11 times, including a four year stretch where he exceeded the 20 Win mark.  Ruffing would represent the Yanks in six All Star Games and would also be a key figure in helping New York win Six World Series Titles.

I don’t think we are going to have one person dispute us when we are saying that Mariano Rivera is the greatest Relief Pitcher of all time.

The all-time leader in Saves realistically had one pitch; and that fastball was all he needed.  Elite firemen shorten a game, but nobody did it longer and better than Rivera did.  Nobody actually came close. 

The Bronx Bombers were always known for their sluggers but amidst the Mantles and the Maris’ there was Whitey Ford, “The Chairman of the Board”.

Without question, Derek Jeter is the most important New York Yankee in the last thirty years.  He is also one of the few players to retire with over 3,000 Hits for one team. 

Was Joe DiMaggio the first athlete to hook up with a major celebrity?

We aren’t sure, but the pairing of DiMaggio and Marilyn Monroe will go down as the most elite pairing of an athlete and celebrity of all-time.

It says a lot when you were considered one of the most popular New York Yankees ever, and Mickey Mantle was just that.  Taking over the mantle (sorry, couldn’t help the pun) as the star player for the Bronx Bombers, Mantle was a devastating switch hitter who hit for average and power and was a career Yankee.

Considered by many baseball writers to be the finest First Baseman that ever lived, Lou Gehrig is also one of the most inspirational figures in sports history.

The New York Yankees are the most successful baseball team of all-time:

Period.

Love them or hate them, this team has been loaded throughout the years with talent after talent and you might think that it would have been difficult to come up with a consensus number one for the Bronx Bombers, but it really wasn’t.

It can be nobody other than Babe Ruth.

As we move onward and upward in our slow trudge to naming all of the Top 50 players from the North American “Big Four”, our eventual follow up will be the look at how those organizations honor their former players and executives.

As such it is news to us (somewhat big actually, though completely expected) that the New York Yankees will formally retire the number #2 of their eventual first ballot Hall of Fame infielder, Derek Jeter on May 14, their Mother’s Day home game against the Houston Astros.

Going through the accomplishments of Jeter would be exhausting, but just to recap the tip of his iceberg, he is a member of the 3,000 Hit Club, a five time World Series Champion and a fourteen time All Star

Twenty-one former Yankees have had their number retired, and the retirement of #2 mans that their can never be another New York Yankee who will wear a single digit number as all of the others have been retired.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to congratulate Derek Jeter for this much deserved honor and the Yankees for doing this is an appropriately timed fashion.  

While Jason Giambi is better known for being an inflated PED user, the fact remains that he was a very good hitter who was a former American League MVP.  Giambi would go to five consecutive All-Star Games, blasted 440 Home Runs with a .516 career Slugging Percentage over a twenty-year career.  He would also show solid plate discipline with three On Base Percentage Titles and retired with a very good 50.4 bWAR.

This one is a little tough.  We recognize (and we are sure most people agree) that the overall career numbers of Roger Maris does not equate to a Hall of Fame Baseball player.  However, many very good players have been excluded from Cooperstown because they lacked moments of greatness.  Nobody could ever doubt that Roger Maris had a year that was part of baseball immortality.