Righty swinging catcher Rick Cerone had one good year (1980) followed by six bad ones for the Yankees.  He played in 147 games in 1980 (his first year with the team) and he was 144 of 519 (.277 avg, .753 OPS) with 70 runs scored, 14 homers, 85 RBIs and 1 stolen base.  Cerone finished in 7th place in the A.L. MVP vote in 1980.  Cerone played in 587 games in his seven years with the Yankees and he was 459 of 1,842 (.249 avg, .648 OPS) with 188 runs scored, 31 homers, 203 RBIs and 2 stolen bases.  Cerone didn’t have a good career with the Yankees, but at least he had one good year (1980) for them.

Righty swinging outfielder Dave Winfield was elected into Baseball’s Hall of Fame in 2001.  He played in 1,172 games in his 9 years with the New York Yankees and he was 1,300 of 4,485 (.290 avg, .851 OPS) with 722 runs scored, 205 homers, 818 RBIs and 76 stolen bases.  He finished in the Top twelve in MVP voting six times in his 9 years with the Yankees, finishing as high as 4th (1988).  Winfield played in 149 games for the Yankees in 1988 and he was 180 of 559 (.322 avg, .927 OPS) with 96 runs scored, 25 homers, 107 RBIs and 9 stolen bases.  Winfield knocked in at least 100 runs six times for the Yankees and he scored at least 100 runs in a season twice.  He also was an American League All-Star in 8 of his 9 years with the Yankees and he won 5 Silver Slugger Awards and 5 Gold Gloves for them.  But, as good as he was for the Yankees, owner George Steinbrenner deemed Winfield as Mr. May.  The Yankees only made it to the playoffs one time in Winfield’s 9 years in the majors and they lost the World Series in six games to the L.A. Dodgers that year (1981).  Winfield played in 6 games in the 1981 World Series and he was only 1 for 22 (.045 avg, .268 OPS) with 1 RBI and 1 stolen base.  He played in 14 games in the post-season for the Yankees in 1981 and he was 10 for 55 (.182 avg) with 4 runs scored, 0 homers, 3 RBIs and 2 stolen bases.

Lefty pitcher Dave Righetti is currently the pitching coach for the San Francisco Giants, but he was a pretty solid pitcher in his playing career for the New York Yankees. Righetti burst onto the scene in 1981, winning the Rookie of the Year Award. He pitched in 15 games (all starts) for the Yanks in 1981 and he was 8-4 with a 2.05 ERA and a 1.07 WHIP. On July 4th, 1983, Righetti threw a no-hitter against the hated Boston Red Sox, whiffing Wade Boggs to get the last out. He didn’t stay a starting pitcher long as the Yankees shifted him to the pen to be the closer, a role in which he embraced. In 1986, Righetti finished fourth in the Cy Young Voting as he lead the majors in saves (46). He pitched in 74 games (0 starts) for the Yankees in 1986 and he was 8-8 with 46 saves, a 2.45 ERA and a 1.15 WHIP. Righetti pitched in 522 games (76 starts) in his 11 years with the Yankees and he was 74-61 with 224 saves, a 3.11 ERA and a 1.30 WHIP. Righetti is #2 in Yankees’ history in both games pitched (522) and saves (224), trailing only Mariano Rivera in those categories. He amazingly only made the All-Star Team twice in his 11 years with the Yankees.

Switch-hitting CF Bernie Williams was a darn good all-around player for the Yankees. He played in 2,076 games in his 16 years in the majors (all with the Yankees) and he was 2,336 of 7,869 (.297 avg, .858 OPS) with 1,366 runs scored, 287 homers, 1,257 RBIs and 147 stolen bases. Williams was a very consistent hitter for the Yankees as he hit at least .300 for eight straight years from 1995-2002. He also scored over 100 runs in a season nine times and he knocked in at least 100 runs five times in his career. Williams is #6 in games played in Yankees’ history with 2,076 of them. He is also #6 in runs scored (1,366), #3 in doubles (449), #4 in walks (1,069), #7 in homers (287) and #6 in RBIs (1,257) in Yankees’ history. Williams won four Gold Gloves, 1 Silver Slugger Award and he was an American League All-Star five times. Bernie Williams was one of the best outfielders in Yankees’ history.

Righty swinging Willie Randolph was a master of playing small ball when he played with the Yankees. He played in 1,694 games in his 13 years with the Yankees and he was 1,731 of 6,303 (.275 avg, .731 OPS) with 1,027 runs scored, 48 homers, 549 RBIs and 251 stolen bases. His best year for the Yankees came back in 1980, when he played in 138 games in which he was 151 of 513 (.294 avg, .834 OPS) with 99 runs scored, 7 homers, 46 RBIs and 30 stolen bases. Randolph also led the major leagues with 119 walks in 1980 and the result was a .427 on base percentage. Randolph made the All-Star team, finished 15th in the MVP Voting in the A.L. and he won a Silver Slugger Award in 1980 for the Yanks. Randolph made is to 5 All-Star teams and he won 1 Silver Slugger Award in his 13 years with the Yankees. Randolph is currently #9 in runs scored (1,027), # in stolen bases (251) and #5 in walks (1,005) in Yankees’ history. Willie Randolph was a darn good 2B for the New York Yankees.

Lefty swinging Greg Nettles was a power hitting 3B who was known for his mitt more than his bat in N.Y. His best season in the Bronx came back in 1977. Nettles played in 158 games for the Yankees in 1977 and he was 150 for 589 (.255 avg, .829 OPS) with 99 runs scored, 37 homers, 107 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. He was fifth in the voting for the MVP award in 1977 while making the All-Star team and winning a Gold Glove award. Nettles played in 1,535 games in his 11 years with the Yankees and he was 1,396 of 5,519 (.253 avg, .762 OPS) with 750 runs scored, 250 homers, 834 RBIs and 18 stolen bases. Nettles made it to five All-Star teams while playing with the Yankees and he also won 2 Gold Gloves (he should have probably had more). Nettles is still #9 in Yankees’ history in homers with 250 of them. Nettles was one of the best all-around 3B of his generation.

Lefty reliever Sparky Lyle was a solid closer for the New York Yankees. He won the A.L. Cy Young Award in 1977 for the Yankees. He pitched in 72 games (0 starts) in 1977 for the Yankees and he was 13-5 with 26 saves, a 2.17 ERA and a 1.20 WHIP in an amazing 137 innings pitched. He pitched 7 years with with Yanks and he worked in 420 games (0 starts) in which he was 57-40 with 141 saves, a 2.41 ERA and a 1.21 WHIP. He made three All-Star teams in his 7 years with the Yankees. Lyle is #3 in Yankees’ history in saves (141), #6 in games pitched (420) and #3 in ERA (2.41).

Lefty Jim Kaat might already be in Baseball’s Hall of Fame if he just pitched a little better in his two years with the Yankees. Kaat pitched with the Yankees in 1979 and 1980. He worked in 44 games (1 start) in his two years with the Yankees, and Kaat was 2-4 with 2 saves,a 4.12 ERA and a 1.42 WHIP. Kaat finished his major league career (25 years) with 283 career wins, so he didn’t get an automatic punch into the Hall of Fame. Maybe if he pitched better with the Yankees, he would have made it.

Rich “Goose” Gossage reminded me of a very nasty version of Mariano Rivera when he was with the Yankees. He burst onto the scene with the Yankees in 1978. Gossage pitched in 63 games (0 starts) for the Yankees in 1978 and he was 10-11 with 27 saves, a 2.01 ERA and a 1.09 WHIP. The Goose only gave up 87 hits in an amazing 134 1/3 innings for the Yanks back in 1978 as he was nearly unhittable. Gossage pitched in 319 games (0 starts) in his seven years with the Yankees and he was 42-28 with 151 saves, a 2.14 ERA and a 1.08 WHIP. He only gave up 390 hits in 533 innings for the Yankees while whiffing 512 batters. Gossage is the Yankees’ all-time leader in ERA (2.14). He is also #3 in saves (151) and #2 in WHIP (1.08) in team history. The Goose made it to 4 All-Star Teams with the Yankees and he also was elected into Baseball’s Hall of Fame in 2008.

Don Mattingly might be the manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers but when he was a player he had few peers, at least for a few years with the Yankees when he was healthy. Mattingly was part of an era when the Yankees weren’t a dominating team. That didn’t stop him from winning the A.L. MVP Award in 1985. In 1985, Mattingly played in 159 games for the Yankees in which he was 211 of 652 (.324 avg, .939 OPS) with 107 runs scored, 35 homers and a major league leading 145 RBIs. Mattingly was a wizard with the bat that year as he only struck out 41 times while walking 56 times, showing just what kind of eye he had at the plate. Mattingly followed up his 1985 season with another great year in 1986. In 1986, Mattingly had 238 hits and 53 doubles which are still all-time high marks in New York Yankees’ history. Mattingly played in 1,785 games in his 14 years with the Yankees and he is 2,153 of 7,003 (.307 avg, .830 OPS) with 1,007 runs scored, 222 homers, 1,099 RBIs and 14 stolen bases. He only whiffed 444 times with the Yankees while walking 588 times showing his plate discipline. Mattingly is #9 in Yankees’ history in games played (1,785), #7 in hits (2,153), #10 in batting average (.307), #10 in runs scored (1,007), #10 in RBIs (1,099) and he’s #4 in doubles (442). Mattingly was an All-Star six times for the Yankees and he won 9 Gold Gloves showing that he was much more than just a hitter. Those numbers likely aren’t good enough to get Mattingly in the Hall of Fame, but if he never hurt his back he would have with little doubt made it to Cooperstown.