Sparky Lyle

New York Yankee Top 10s: The best Yankee relievers throughout history

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New York Yankees, Mariano Rivera

In the past, I’ve done about every New York Yankees Top 10s, that there could be.  From the best pitchers, catchers, infielders, outfielders, to the best and worst acquisitions.  One area that I have not addressed is the best Yankee relievers of all time.  Over the years, the definition of reliever has been blurred.  What was a closer in the 70s might be considered a middle reliever now.  Most of the great relievers with the Yankees have been set-up men and closers.  Here are my arbitrary selections for the top 10 relievers.

10. Delin Betances

Delin Betances didn’t have his option taken up by the Yankees two years ago, and he is now with the New York Mets.  Delin deserves to be on this list due to his eight-year tenure with the Yankees and his 2.36 ERA over the span.  He was primarily the setup man for Aroldis Chapman.  In the postseason, he pitched in five series for a 1-1 record and an ERA of 3.27.  Betances, in his years with the Yankees, was a dependable solid reliever.  Due to injuries, he did not pitch in the 2019 postseason.

9.  John Wetteland

John Wetteland has two solid years with the New York Yankees. In 1995 acting solely as a closer, he built up 34 saves, and in 1996 he led the league with 43 saves. The Yankees went to the postseason both of his years.  He was dominant in the postseason except for game 1 of the 1995 ALDS when he allowed seven runs in just four innings.  In 1996, for the Yankees, he won all three of his postseason games.  Wetteland was a strange guy, and with Rivera ready to take over for him, the Yankees and Wetteland parted ways following the 1996 season.

8. David Robertson

David Robertson pitched for the Yankees in two separate stints, the first for seven years from 2008 to 2014 and again from 2017-2018.  At nine years as a Yankee reliever, he deserved to be on this list.  He went 53-33 a .633 winning percentage. Although in his years with the Yankees, he was primarily the setup man for Mariano Rivera, however, he did manage 53 saves when Rivera was not available.

7. Luis Arroyo

Luis Arroyo is on this list primarily for his 1961 league-leading 29 saves. The New York Yankees got Arroyo from the Reds in 1960, where he was a full-time starter.  The Yankees converted him to a reliever.  His history with the Yankees is a tale of two different pitchers.  In his first two years, he was dominant, and in his last two years, he stank.  But in 1961, he closed 54 games for the Yankees. In his four years with the Yankees, he was 22-10 with a 3.12 ERA and a .688 winning percentage.

6. Wilcy Moore

Wilcy Moore is another pitcher that pitched long before the reliever was conceived.  He was just a pitcher that came in if the starting pitcher wasn’t pitching well.  He was also a starter who started 15 games while finishing 161 in his five years with the Yankees.  He had a 36-21 record while pitching to a 3.31 ERA.

Moore was one of the most dominant postseason pitchers in his era.  Back then, there was no ALDS OR ALCS just a World Series, and Moore was unhittable. In the 1927 World Series, he pitched 10.1 innings, and in 1932 he pitched 5.1 innings for a total of 15.2 innings while allowing a run to cross the plate, that’s an ERA of 0.56.

5. Dave Righetti

Righetti was a great relief pitcher for the New York Yankees but rated lower than Rivera, Lyle, and Gossage due to his lack of wins in the postseason that was the hallmark of the other three.  In 1986 he set the record for the most saves ever by a baseball player in a single season with 46 saves.  Mariano Rivera only bested that number of saves twice in his nineteen years.  He saved 224 games in seven seasons in the Yankees’ bullpen. He began his career as a starter and had a no-hitter in July of 1983 against the Red Sox, which made him a Yankee favorite.  Although he is most known as a reliever, he is one of the most successful pitchers in both fields.

4. Johnny Murphy

Johnny Murphy was closing games for the New York Yankees from 1932 to 1946, except for two years away for military service.  That’s 13 years of closing games for the Yankees before there was an official closer category. He was an All-Star three straight years, 1937-9, as a reliever. Saves weren’t yet a stat, but he led the league an amazing four times during the period. He closed in 415 games while starting only 40.  For his career, he went 93-53 with a 3.50 ERA.

3. Goose Gossage

Rich “Goose” Gossage is often credited as being one of the first pitching relievers in baseball.  Gossage was a frightening figure on the mound with his fierce look and electric pitches.  He saved 151 games for the Yankees in his remarkable 22-year career, six of them with the Yankees 1978-1983.  That’s an average of 25 saves a year.  Gossage was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2008.

2. Sparky Lyle

The most difficult of my selections was whether to place Goose or Sparky in the second placement.  I choose Sparky due to his dominance in 1977, and his postseason performance.  In the ALCS, he pitched in four of the games against Kansas City.  In game three he closed 5.1 innings for the Yankee win, in game four he pitched the last 1.1 innings for the Yankee win.  In the World Series, he pitched 3.2 innings to close out the Yankee win over the Dodgers. All in all, in the postseason in 1977, he pitched to an ERA of 1.24 over 14.1 innings that is dominance.

Both Sparky Lyle and Gossage pitched seven seasons for the Yankees (but Gossage pitched only six prime seasons, returning for 11 games late in 1989). Both led the league twice in saves for the Yankees. Both dominated in the post-season for World Series champions, Lyle in 1977 and Goose in 1978.  Even though Gossage made the Hall of Fame, Lyle, in my opinion, was the better pitcher for the Yankees. Lyle is the only Yankee reliever ever to win a Cy Young Award. Gossage had some similar seasons statistically, but none that stood out as the best pitching performance in the league that year.

1. Mariano Rivera

Mariano Riveria is probably the greatest closer of all time. When Mariano Rivera entered a game to the sound of the Sandman, Yankee fans knew the game was over. Of course, he didn’t save every game but has the most saves of any pitcher (652) not only for the Yankees, but that’s for all of baseball history. Before he became the most dominant closer in baseball, he was the successful setup man for Yankee closer John Wetteland.

Consider the fact that it is near impossible for a pitcher to allow less than a run over nine innings, and you see why bests number two on this list by a mile.  If you break down his postseason years with the Yankees into two seasons, the first from 1995 to 2001, his stats look like this: seven runs allowed over 71 innings for a 0.89 ERA. His second season from 2002 to 2011 was even better; six runs allowed over 70.1 innings for an ERA of 0.64. In his longest tenure in Yankee history of 19 years, he pitched to an ERA of 2.21 in 1115 games.  Many forget in 1995, he started ten games for a 5-3 record. Rivera is the only player ever to be elected to the Baseball Hall of fame in 2019 by a unanimous vote.

Honorable Mentions:  Lindy McDaniels, Ryne Duren, Andrew Miller, Joe Page, and at some point in the future, Aroldis Chapman may find himself on this list.

Method of selection:  In determining this list, I regarded tenure with the Yankees, overall performance, postseason performance, peak performance, Hall of Fame was important, but if on multiple clubs, performance with the Yankees overrode the Hall of Fame induction.  Also, players that may have been excellent relievers, if they were considered more a starting pitcher, were excluded from this list.

EmpireSportsMedia.com’s Columnist William Parlee is a member of the Society for American Baseball Research.  Follow me on Twitter @parleewilliam.

New York Yankees News: Goodbye Trenton Thunder, hello Somerset Patriots (video)

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The New York Yankees have made Trenton Thunder owner very unhappy while at the same time making the owner of the Somerset Patriots to say, “it’s is like a dream come true. The Yankees announced yesterday that after 18 years, they are moving their double-A affiliate to Bridgewater, New Jersey. In the video below, Yankee’s great Sparky Lyle introduces Yankees fans to the Somerset Patriots.

There are winners and losers in this move. Trenton Thunder’s owner says the Yankees have betrayed him. Joseph Plumeri, owner of the Thunder, is fuming.

“Despite repeated assurances that the Thunder would remain its Double A affiliate over the last 16 months, the Yankees betrayed their partnership at the 11th hour,” Plumeri said in a statement. “By doing so the Yankees have misled and abandoned the Thunder and the taxpayers of Mercer County, who have invested millions of dollars over the years to ensure that Arm & Hammer Park remains one of the premier ballparks in America.”

Several miles away in Bridgewater, New Jersey Patriots owner Steve Kalafer called the news of the move “a dream come true.”

“The first baseball game my father took me to was at Yankee Stadium and I continued the tradition, taking our sons Jonathan and Josh to their first games there as well. Our love for baseball and the New York Yankees came from those special days and has remained with us throughout our lives,” Kalafer, who retains the title of chairman emeritus, said in a written statement Saturday. “I’ve always looked at the Yankees as the gold standard in baseball and sports as a whole. It is how we’ve modeled the way we’ve conducted our business at the Somerset Patriots since day one.”

The moves were caused by MLB when they set out a plan to realign the minor league system to improve it and contract it from 160 teams to 120 teams.  In addition to Trenton’s move to Somerset, the Yankees will also leave Staten Island and Charleston. The Staten Island Yankees and the Charleston River Dogs will become the Hudson Valley Renegades in Wappinger Falls, New York.
The New York Yankees defended the move from Trenton to Bridgewater, claiming the move was decided upon by the better facilities at TD Park.
“We thank the great city of Trenton and the Thunder owners for 18 years of collaboration and we wish them well,” the Yankees said in a statement. “But this decision was made strictly on the basis of what we believe to be the best facility to develop our young players.”

 

 

 

 

New York Yankees: All-Time Starting Rotation and Bullpen

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The New York Yankees have a great history of starting pitching and relievers. They arguably have the best closer of all time and a top 5 pitcher in the league every decade.

Ace: Whitey Ford

Ford won 25 games in his CY Young award-winning season, which is almost unreachable in this day and age. He was probably the most consistent pitcher in the 50s and never had an ERA over 3.24, helping him win the ERA title twice.

He was also a 10-time all-star, 6-time World Series champion, and even won a World Series MVP. A sure hall-of-fame player if the game has ever seen one.

2nd Starter: Vernon “Lefty” Gomez

The triple crown is usually associated with hitters, but Gomez won the triple crown for pitchers twice! In 1934 and 1937, he led the league in wins, ERA, and strikeouts.

Gomez was also clutch when it counted, he did not lose a single postseason game in his career. This made him the main reason for the 5 World Series titles the Bombers won in the late ’30s.

3rd Starter: Ron Guidry

In 1978, Guidry had one of the best seasons ever for a pitcher. He won 25 games, had an astounding 1.74 ERA, and nearly 250 strikeouts. That is a type of dominance only a few pitchers have reached in their careers.

He was even a slick fielder throughout his career, earned himself 5 Gold Glove awards.

4th Starter: Charles “Red” Ruffing

Along with Babe Ruth, the New York Yankees stole another piece from the Red Sox, Ruffing helped them win 6 World Series and achieved 6 all-star appearances.

Ruffing and Gomez was a deadly one-two punch back then, both had 20-win seasons in the late ’30s. If they held their opponents to under 4 runs on average, them they were guaranteed to win a lot of games with Ruth, Gherig, and others in the lineup.

5th Starter: Andy Pettitte

The model for health and longevity, Pettitte led the majors in games started three times in his career. He pitched 200+ innings in 10 seasons of his career and even won 20 games, in 1996.

Pettitte, as well as other pitchers above, helped the Yankees win 5 World Series rings in the late ’90s and early and late 2000s. He pitched in and won many big games for the New York Yankees, making it hard to leave him out of this rotation.

An argument can be made for Spud Chandler, Mike Mussina, CC Sabathia, and Mel Stottlemyre to be in this rotation, but the five pitchers above allowed the Yankees to be. most successful throughout their history.

Bullpen

Long Reliever/Middle Reliever: Johnny Murphy

Murphy helped the ’30s New York Yankees win 6 World Series.

He even pitched 200 innings one season as a reliever, proving he can stay in games and consume innings. He led the league in saves four times as well.

Middle Reliever: David Robertson

His slider and ability to escape bases-loaded jams throughout the mid-2000s gives him a spot on this team. He could come out of the bullpen in the middle of an inning and let up no runs.

Robertson’s stuff allowed him to earn the second-best strikeout percentage in Yankees’ reliever history. He is the only active pitcher on this team.

Middle Reliever: Joe Page

Page only had an 8-year career, however, he led the majors in saves twice. He was also a 3-time all-star and lit up the radar gun.

Middle Reliever/Setup Man: Sparky Lyle

Lyle was a huge contributor to the 1977 and 1978 World Series Champion teams.

He led the league in saves in ’76 and would usually finish off games when he appeared. His most significant statistic was winning the 1977 CY Young award as a reliever.

Lyle could pitch multiple innings in relief, making him a good candidate for middle relief and setup man.

Setup Man: Dave Righetti

Beginning his career as a starter, Righetti was converted to the bullpen.

In 1986, Righetti led the majors in saves with 46. He won the 1981 Rookie of the Year award and reliever of the year twice.

He is second on the Yankees all-time saves list, behind none other than Mariano Rivera.

Setup Man: Rich “Goose” Gossage

He led the majors in saves three times, made 9 all-star appearances, and had his best years with the Yankees.

Gossage dialed up the radar guns and blew away hitters with his high 90s fastball. Not many pitchers in the league could throw with such velocity in the ’70s, making it even tougher to react to and make contact.

Closer: Mariano Rivera

There should be no argument here, Rivera won pretty much every award one can win as a reliever. He is the first unanimous hall of fame player in the history of Major League Baseball.

He has the most saves out of any closer ever (652), the most games finished (952), and the best ERA+ (205).

Any time “Enter Sandman” played on the loud-speaker, everyone in the budding knew the game was pretty much over. In 96 playoff appearances, Mo’ only lost one game.

He also had one of the most unhittable pitches ever, his cutter. He threw it inside on lefties and generated a lot of broken bats. He played on a level only a few relievers have reached in their careers.

When a bullpen consists of a Cy Young winner, two live arms, and the best closer ever, there is almost a guarantee the current game result as a win. A full 25-man all-time Yankees roster has been formed. This team could easily be the best group of players ever assembled.