Mark Simon - Yankees Index: Every Number Tells a Story

To Grandma Frieda, who let a little boy who liked numbers play with her adding machine on trips to her house in Elmont.

And to Dr. Robert Cole, who taught me the keys to being a journalist, and convinced me that I had a future as one.

Contents

Foreword by Buster Olney

Lou Cucuzza Jr. has helped to manage the home and visiting clubhouses at Yankee Stadium for decades, and when old Yankee Stadium was scheduled to close in 2008, he asked every major league player who walked in that seasonand every former playerto sign his office door. Derek Jeter signed, of course, and Yogi Berra and Miguel Cabrera and Josh Hamilton and hundreds of others. By the end of the summer, so many autographs coated the thing, made of heavy steel, that one of the clubhouse guys who works for Cucuzza suggested that he create a notebook to identify all of the names, some scrawled and some curled perfectly, for posterity.

Cucuzza had the door wrapped up in outfield padding and bubble wrap, and it rests against a wall in his basement, just another of the many stories to come out of a Yankees franchise smothered in folklore. Babe Ruth pointing at Cubs pitcher Charlie Root in the 1932 World Series, or the stands behind him, before clubbing a homer. Roger Maris hitting his record-setting 61 st homer into a sparse group of fans stretching for the baseball. A kid with a glove reaching out of the stands to knock a long fly into the stands in the 1996 playoffsthe Jeffrey Maier play. Jeter goading President George W. Bush into throwing a ceremonial first pitch from the mound during the 2001 World Series, adding a warning that if he didnt do it the right way, Yankees fans were sure to boo him.

The stately Joe DiMaggio kicking at the dirt in anger after an outfielder robbed him of extra bases in the 1947 World Series. Yogi Berra leaping into the arms of Don Larsen after the only perfect game in World Series history. Mariano Rivera sprinting to the mound and throwing himself down in prayer after Aaron Boone ended the AL playoffs with one swing. Billy Martin emerging from the dugout to ask home-plate umpire Tim McClelland whether George Brett had too much pine tar on his bat, and, a few moments later, Brett sprinting out of the other dugout, rage in his eyes. Reggie Jackson pausing a moment at the plate and watching his deep drive carom off the black seats in faraway center field, the perfect punctuation mark to legend. The immortal words that Lou Gehrig spoke into a microphone not long before he died.

There was only one major leaguer who came through Yankee Stadium in 2008 without signing Lou Cucuzzas door, he recalledBobby Murcer, the longtime Yankees outfielder and broadcaster who was dying from cancer and passed away. Murcer was so sick and Cucuzza didnt have the heart to ask him to sign. But Murcers place in Yankees history lives on, from his days as the worthy heir to Mickey Mantle to the moment he homered and circled the bases with tears in his eyes after burying his close friend and teammate Thurman Munson.

The number of signatures on that door is staggering, but it wont tell you the whole story. The real stories are behind the numbers, just as Mark Simon shows in this book.

The signatures on Cucuzzas door may fade eventually, but the tales are eternal.

Buster Olney

Introduction

As a baseball fan, there is so much to appreciate when it comes to the Yankees franchise.

You dont have to love the Yankees to respect the Yankees and what they represent. The pride is in the pinstripes, as some like to say.

Much of that can be found in the numbers. Numbers make for great storytellers.

Some produce very specific memories. The number 60 evokes the thought of a larger-than-life giant of a man and ballplayer who became the games greatest immortal. The number 2,130 is about a streak, about giving it your unbounded best every single day until you have nothing more to give. The number 56 is about a streak of a different naturean unbreakable mark from a man who considered himself to be among the greatest at what he did. The number 3,000 is about a picture-perfect day in the Bronx, and a picture-perfect accomplishment by a picture-perfect star.

Every number tells a story of some sort, and you dont have to have a plaque in Monument Park for your time with the Yankees for it to have meant something. Aaron Smalls 100 means just as much to him as any number meant to any Yankee. It represents a turning point both in his career and in his life. Dr. Bobby Browns .439 batting average in the World Series is something he still thinks about every day and night.

The Yankees have an incredibly rich history as the most successful franchise in professional sports. There are many who love them and many who hate them. But even the haters cant deny the greatness of the past and the present. Yankees history is unlike any other teams history. There are overwhelming numbers of great players, great managers, great games, and great moments.

This book is about the numbers and the stories that matter in Yankees history. Each is important in its own right. Were here to share both from the earliest days of the franchise (which didnt just start with Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig) to the most recent successes (and even a few failures).

The goal is to educate and entertain. Maybe youll learn something you didnt already know. Maybe youll see something and it will evoke a memory for you of how you remember that moment, whether you were at the ballpark, watching on television, listening on the radio, or even following as it was live-tweeted. Regardless, if a story made you think about something, or re-think what you knew about something, I feel like Ive accomplished a goal in writing this book.

I hope you enjoy the journey.

Dominance: 27 World Series Titles

When Joe Girardi was introduced as Yankees manager in November 2007, he was presented with a uniform that would serve as a reminder of the ultimate goal.

The number on the back was 27, which represented what number the teams next World Series title would be.

The Yankees have since won a World Series, and Girardi subsequently changed the number on his back to 28. But for now, its that total of 27 championships that represents the greatness of the Yankees historic past.

They have more than twice as many as any other team, said ESPN baseball analyst Tim Kurkjian, noting that the Cardinals rank second with 11.

It is a number to celebrate. Its the most championships by any team in any of the four major sports. The next-most by a New York team is eight by the NFLs Giants.

There is a singular expectation when you become a member of the Yankees. The 10,000-plus regular season wins matter. But they pale in comparison to the 27 titles.

Your goal is to win the World Series. Youll hear the owner say it, the general manager say it, the manager say it, and the players say it.

Thats a lot of pressure. Theres also the extra pressure that comes with playing in the biggest media market in the world.

Playing here is at the complete other end of the spectrum than anywhere else, then-Yankee Dave Winfield said in 1987. In New York, its life or death. Everything is magnified.

Some players thrive in that sort of atmosphere and those who do become legends. The greatness of Babe Ruth, Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, Reggie Jackson, Don Mattingly, and Derek Jeter shined in the most important moments under the New York spotlight. Theyre now icons in the teams history.