WHY BRONX FIRST BASEMEN WERE CHARACTERS

FIRST BASE: HONORABLE MENTION

Here are a few guys who also played first base for the New York Yankees. Obviously, they are not in my top 3 Yankees fist baseman of all-time, but they are all damn good ballplayers and true characters. They needed to be recognized. Enjoy.

Hal Chase: "Prince Hal" played for the New York Highlanders. (The Yankees were originally the Baltimore Orioles, then the team moved to New York, became the Highlanders, and were then renamed the Yankees.) He was considered the first star of the franchise. Babe Ruth and Walter Johnson called him the best fielding first baseman they ever saw.

Hal Chase was a very good hitter, although you may not know this if you just look at his stats. Hal was known to wager on games, especially ones in which he was playing. He was never
officially placed on Major League Baseball's Banned List but was blackballed in 1921. As with most players that "throw" or bet on games, as he grew older, Prince Hal regretted betting on games.

Wally Pipp: There's some debate as to whether Pipp actually had a headache or whether Yankee manager, Miller Huggins, just wanted to shake up the batting order and chose to put Lou Gehrig in that day. Either way, it's a great story and Lou Gehrig became the Iron Horse because of it. Pipp is quoted as saying, "I took the two most expensive aspirins in history." If you're not familiar with what happened, to put it simply, Pipp was replaced at first base June 2, 1925, with Lou Gehrig. The day before Gehrig came in for Pee-Wee Wanniger in a pinch-hit situation. These 2 important games started Gehrig's 2,130 run.

(photo: Corbis Images)

Joe Pepitone: One year just before Spring Training began, Pepitone bought a car, a boat, and a dog with his signing bonus. He drove all three to Florida. Joe travelled with a bag of hair products, for his toupees. He had two. He called the one he wore under his baseball hat his, "game piece." There are many more stories after he left the Yankees, but unfortunately some of them involve drugs and alcohol.

Steve Balboni: Initially, the Yanks rated Mr. Balboni as a higher prospect than Don Mattingly. But what I love the most about Balboni is that he looked like a softball player you'd see at your town's league, but when he got a hold of one, you knew it was gone for sure. Today, players are in much better shape and it's better for the overall quality of baseball. I don't think we'll see position players looking like softball players again, but it was kind of fun.

So, these are my first basemen honorable mentions, true characters of the Yankees lost in the shuffle of life, but never forgotten on Bleeding Yankee Blue. My features on the greatest Yankees second baseman are coming, look for it here.

What do you think so far? Let me know.



--Moonlight Graham BYB Staff Writer