whos the greatest yankee ever to wear the pinstripes?

Question

there tons i personally cant decide but derek jeter and mo rivera are in the top i want your peoples opinion

Answer 1

Lou Gehrig:

Averaged 147 rbi's a year over a 13 year period.
1934 AL Triple Crown Winner
Set a major league record with 184 rbi's in one season.
Lifetime career batting average .340
Post season batting average .361
Never struck out more than 90 times
Played in 2130 straight games
Lifetime slugging percentage .632

And his career was cut short by an illness that was later named after him.

Answer 2

There are great but I think Babe Ruth,who saved baseball after the BlackSox scandal; Lou Gehrig who had the longest streak of games played until Cal Ripken Jr passed him in 1995; Joe Dimaggio who still possesses the longest hitting streak in baseball history at 56 games for 65 years; Mickey Mantle whose popularity in baseball went far passed his playing days etc.But yes both Derek Jeter and Mo Rivera are on the list . My all-time Yankee team would be: 1st base Lou Gehrig; 2nd base Bobby Richardson or Tony Lazzeri; shortstop Derek Jeter; 3rd base Graig Nettles; catcher Yogi Berra; in the outfield Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle and Joe Dimaggio with Roger Maris as an unofficial DH. Mo Rivera in the bullpen and plenty of other Yankee pitchers can be considered in this group.

Answer 3

Babe Ruth is the first mentioned but Lou Gehrig gets my vote.In the last 20 years Derek Jeter is the best and the Yankees could not win without him. Rivera is the best closer since the advent of the specialist.

Answer 4

I am a Yankees fan...so don't get me wrong...but Are you kidding? Yes, Jeter and Rivera are great Yankees. But the Yankees were an empire long before either of them picked up a baseball. The Yankee dynasty was built by a list of players to long to mention. Many of the answers here repeat these names. Guys such as...Ruth, Gerig, Beara, Jackson, Mantle...these are the greatest Yankees to ever wear the pinstripes. Jeter and Rivera came into a team that was already established and had proven itself time and time again.

Answer 5

let me think for a second ... since George Herman Ruth was the greatest ballplayer of all time AND he was a Yankee that would make him the greatest Yankee to wear pinstripes.
I agree with another poster that as great as Derek Jeter is he doesn't crack the top 10

Interestingly enough Jeter's uniform # 2 is one of the only single digit Yankee numbers that haven't been retired; The other number is 6 which belongs to Tony Lazzeri and Joe Torre
So maybe the powers that be rate him higher than I do in the Yankee Pantheon.

Answer 6

The history that is "The Bronx Bombers" goes so far back and showcases some of the sports greatest. I only glanced at a few of the answers before responding. All the ones I viewed were worthy. I also must add that even though I narrowed it down to one (per the questions stipulation) I personally could fill the rosters of several All-Star Teams with Yankee Greats alone.

My pick goes to Lou Gehrig. Gehrig was a masterpiece at best and highly skilled at worst in all aspects of the game. The thing that put him in the top spot was the adversity he had to face after learning he had a terminal illness (Amyotrophic Lateral Schlerosis). That's Bravery and Courage at its Finest. Just My Opinion.

Answer 7

Babe Ruth, Joe Dimaggio, Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera

Answer 8

Derek Jeter wouldn't be in the top 10, maybe not in the top 20. They have had so many superstars. Just look at the careers of Lou Gehrig, "Joltin'" Joe DiMaggio, Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle. They are the cream of the crop. They've had countless more. The 1927 Yankees were the best team ever put on the field. If those guys would be playing now, Jeter wouldn't even make the 25-man roster. They would run away with the World series. I don't doubt they would feast on American League pitching and probably win 130 games, maybe more.

Answer 9

Babe Ruth. How can anyone talk about great Yankee players without talking about Babe Ruth? He is as great as you can get. Last year, DHL and MLB had something called Hometown Heroes where you can vote for who you think is the greatest baseball player on any team. For the Yankees, Babe Ruth won. You just can argue with these kind of results. If that isn't enough to convince anyone, then this might be:

.342 career batting average
714 home runs
Hit the first home run in All-Star Game history
Was one of a few players to be inducted in the Hall of Fame in its inaugural year in 1936.
2217 career RBI's.
Was the first player to hit 60 home runs.
Is the only player to hit 3 HR's twice in a World Series game.

Face it. Babe Ruth is also credited for saving baseball after the 1919 Black Sox scandal when his home run heroics seemed to have rejuvenated the game as well as people's interest in the game. When someone mentions baseball, Babe Ruth is what comes to my mind as well as many others. So, Babe Ruth is the greatest Yankee ever. He will never be replaced as the greatest Yankee ever.

Answer 10

1. Babe Ruth
2. Lou Gehrig
3. Joe DiMaggio
4. Mickey Mantle
5. Yogi Berra
6. Reggie Jackson
7. Thurman Munson
8. Whitey Ford
9. Goose Gossage
10. Lefty Gomez
Honorable mention: Frank Crosetti (coach) and Phil Rizzuto (in the broadcasting booth)
Jeter and Rivera are moving up on the list.

Answer 11

There are probably 50 different players that could be considered to be the best.

However, I think Joe DiMaggio was the greatest Yankee of all time. He was much more than just a player, who happened to hit in 56 consecutive games. He demonstrated a tremendous amount of "class" both on and off the field.

I'm not a Yankee fan, but I always admired Joe DiMaggio.