Sunday, August 10, 2014

Yankees honor O'Neill in Monument Park, but is he the most deserving?

On Saturday August 9, 2014, the New York Yankees honored Paul O'Neill with his own spot in Monument Park, nestled among the legends of the franchise. While O'Neill was certainly a very good major league player (a five-time All-Star and 1994 batting champion), I question the motives behind the Yankees' decision to place him among the likes of Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle and Babe Ruth.

Nobody in baseball would ever place O'Neill in the above class (he earned only 2.2% of the vote in his one year on the Hall of Fame ballot), and as I said earlier this year when the Yankees inducted Tino Martinez into Monument Park, their motives for induction are based more on finances than what they did on the field.

Just as the Hall of Fame's empty 2013 ceremony displayed, there is little money in honoring the deceased. Knowing that fans would not pack the stadium to see a posthumous induction in 2014, the Yankees have decided to further expand the confines of Monument Park to include the "very good."

If both Martinez and O'Neill are honored for their tenure with the Yankees, then how long will it be before Bill "Moose" Skowron, owner of four World Series rings with the club, gets the call? Take a look below for a comparison of O'Neill and Skorown's stats.

Paul O'Neill



Year Age Tm Lg G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS OPS+ TB GDP HBP SH SF IBB Pos Awards
1993 30 NYY AL 141 547 498 71 155 34 1 20 75 2 4 44 69 .311 .367 .504 .871 136 251 13 2 0 3 5 *97/D
1994 ★ 31 NYY AL 103 443 368 68 132 25 1 21 83 5 4 72 56 .359 .460 .603 1.064 177 222 16 0 0 3 13 *97/D AS,MVP-5
1995 ★ 32 NYY AL 127 543 460 82 138 30 4 22 96 1 2 71 76 .300 .387 .526 .913 137 242 25 1 0 11 8 *97/D AS,MVP-15
1996 33 NYY AL 150 660 546 89 165 35 1 19 91 0 1 102 76 .302 .411 .474 .885 123 259 21 4 0 8 8 *9/D3
1997 ★ 34 NYY AL 149 637 553 89 179 42 0 21 117 10 7 75 92 .324 .399 .514 .912 137 284 16 0 0 9 8 *9/3D AS,MVP-12
1998 ★ 35 NYY AL 152 672 602 95 191 40 2 24 116 15 1 57 103 .317 .372 .510 .882 130 307 22 2 0 11 2 *9/D AS,MVP-12
1999 36 NYY AL 153 675 597 70 170 39 4 19 110 11 9 66 89 .285 .353 .459 .812 107 274 24 2 0 10 1 *9
2000 37 NYY AL 142 628 566 79 160 26 0 18 100 14 9 51 90 .283 .336 .424 .760 92 240 17 0 0 11 2 *9/D
2001 38 NYY AL 137 563 510 77 136 33 1 21 70 22 3 48 59 .267 .330 .459 .789 105 234 20 2 0 3 4 *9/D
G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS OPS+ TB GDP HBP SH SF IBB Pos Awards
NYY (9 yrs) 1254 5368 4700 720 1426 304 14 185 858 80 40 586 710 .303 .377 .492 .869 125 2313 174 13 0 69 51

Bill Skowron

Year Age Tm Lg G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS OPS+ TB GDP HBP SH SF IBB Pos Awards
1954 23 NYY AL 87 237 215 37 73 12 9 7 41 2 1 19 18 .340 .392 .577 .969 167 124 8 1 0 2 3/54
1955 24 NYY AL 108 314 288 46 92 17 3 12 61 1 1 21 32 .319 .369 .524 .894 140 151 11 3 0 2 4 3/5
1956 25 NYY AL 134 523 464 78 143 21 6 23 90 4 4 50 60 .308 .382 .528 .910 142 245 16 6 2 1 3 *3/5
1957 ★ 26 NYY AL 122 501 457 54 139 15 5 17 88 3 2 31 60 .304 .347 .470 .818 123 215 17 3 3 7 6 *3 AS,MVP-22
1958 ★ 27 NYY AL 126 502 465 61 127 22 3 14 73 1 1 28 69 .273 .317 .424 .740 106 197 16 4 1 5 1 *3/5 AS
1959 ★ 28 NYY AL 74 309 282 39 84 13 5 15 59 1 0 20 47 .298 .349 .539 .888 145 152 10 3 2 2 0 3 AS
1960 ★ 29 NYY AL 146 584 538 63 166 34 3 26 91 2 3 38 95 .309 .353 .528 .881 141 284 17 2 0 6 2 *3 AS,MVP-9
1961 ★ 30 NYY AL 150 608 561 77 150 23 4 28 89 0 0 35 108 .267 .318 .472 .790 113 265 21 8 0 3 9 *3 AS
1962 31 NYY AL 140 524 478 63 129 16 6 23 80 0 1 36 99 .270 .325 .473 .798 114 226 13 5 1 4 4 *3
NYY (9 yrs) 1087 4102 3748 518 1103 173 44 165 672 14 13 278 588 .294 .346 .496 .842 129 1859 129 35 9 32 29
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 8/10/2014.

Wednesday, August 6, 2014

Hip hop's passionate plea for Pete Rose and the Hall of Fame

Back in 2003 when I was DJ'ing on college radio, I befriended New York City hip hop artist Tribeca, who was on the appropriately titled Major League Entertainment imprint. The label was known for their attention grabbing sports inspired record covers, including one major tip of the cap to Mr. Pete Rose aka Charlie Hustle.

Tribeca - Pony Express (Charlie Hustle) 12"
Tribeca's "Pony Express" (Charlie Hustle) makes a heartfelt case for Pete Rose's enshrinement in the Baseball Hall of Fame that is not only a timeless tribute to the all-time "Hit King," but one that fans can appreciate regardless of their musical tastes.

Monday, August 4, 2014

Video: Eric Young Jr. of the New York Mets on the influence of his family on his baseball career

Eric Young Jr. interviewed by Ray "Digmi" Navarrete - N. Diunte
Eric Young Jr. of the New York Mets stopped by the Digmi Nation store in Port Washington, N.Y., on August 2, 2014, as part of the store's Digmi Discussions series.

Below, Young Jr. talks about how playing in New York allows him to be close to his family in New Jersey, as well as the close relationship between him and his father, Eric Sr., a veteran of 15 MLB seasons.

Filmaker Quinlan takes a deeper look at the 1986 New York Mets

Documentarian Heather Quinlan is digging deep to find the untold stories of the 1986 New York Mets championship season. She has recruited a wide cross section of the community to further unfold the tale of the last championship team from Flushing.

Her subjects range from the controversial: Lenny Dykstra, Dwight Gooden, Kevin Mitchell and Darryl Strawberry; to the infamous: Bill Buckner and Mookie Wilson; to the political: Chuck Schumer and Rudy Giuliani.

Signed Mookie Wilson / Bill Buckner photo - Author's Collection
A preview of the behind the scenes work on the documentary was recently featured in the Times-Ledger newspapers.

To help make the documentary a reality, Quinlan has formed a Kickstarter campaign to raise funding for MLB licensing, promotion and further interviews. With two-and-a-half weeks to go, Quinlan has raised $35,000 of her $50,000 goal.

Below is a preview clip of an interview with Buckner and Wilson from the movie.