Bullpen: Dave Righetti — 1986
Converted to a closer as a replacement for Goose Gossage after three successful seasons starting (throwing a 1983 July 4th no-hitter against the Red Sox) Righetti instantly became one of the league's best closers. 1986 was his pinnacle in the role, leading the AL with 46 saves, posting a 2.45 ERA and 1.153 WHIP. Righetti was honored with his first of two All Star selections that season and also with the AL Cy Young Award.
And so the starting lineup for the All-Time All-Star New York Yankees team is:
C: Bill Dickey (1936)
1B: Lou Gehrig (1934)
2B: Alfonso Soriano (2002)
3B: Red Rolfe (1939)
SS: Derek Jeter (1999)
LF: Charlie Keller (1941)
CF: Mickey Mantle (1957)
RF: Paul O'Neill (1994)
SP: Ron Guidry (1978)
SP: Lefty Gomez (1934)
SP: Spud Chandler (1943)
SP: Allie Reyonlds (1952)
SP: White Ford (1958)
RP: Mariano Rivera (2008)
RP: Rich Gossage (1981)
RP: Dave Righetti (1986)
Article comments
1 - tink
While I'm not up on the older guys, the stats made your choices clear.
Great line-up. Dug that you included Mariano Rivera, he definitely rates up there.
Thank god for your no a-rod zone, although in our house we call him a-something else!!
Reading this took a bit of the sting away from not catching them while they were playing 10 miles from here this past weekend.
Thanks for a great piece on the best baseball team ever!!
2 - Tony
Thanks Tink. It was a lot of fun digging back through the history of the team.
3 - Aaron Whitehead
Nice piece. The one guy I'm surprised you didn't mention was Joe Gordon. He was great in his MVP year of '42, and he gets a clear edge over Soriano in defense.
A lot of tough choices here; I really like Graig Nettles, but was surprised to see that he wasn't an All-Star in '76.
I love that you mention Charlie Keller; he was on the fast track to Cooperstown before he turned 30. But Rickey Henderson was pretty darn good in '85. I think he should have won the MVP, and that was a good Yankee team in the midst of some poor ones.
4 - Tony
Gordon was very good in 42 but can't match Sorianos power or speed production. Also, the only thing he did lead the league in that year was strikeouts.
Henderson definately makes a case with his '85 season for sure.