THINKING BACK TO THE ROBERTO KELLY DAYS

Roberto Kelly was an interesting bridge to the rebuilding of the Yankees franchise. The late 1980’s were a strange time for the Yankees organization. The team would perennially have powerful hitting, strong starts, poor pitching, and personnel issues. Roberto Kelly was one of the rookies coming up through the system, who had the promise to help the Yankees get over the hump and back into postseason play. Personally, I liked what he brought to the team, and was unhappy to see him go. Nevertheless, while he was here, he helped a struggling team stay competitive.

In 1987, one of those aforementioned personnel issues was Rickey Henderson. Rickey would periodically claim that his hamstring was hurt, and that he could not play. Other players and even managerLou Piniella accused him of not giving 100% and overstating the injury. By 1989, Roberto Kelly had established himself as the starting center fielder and a legitimate lead-off hitter, which gave the Yankees some options. Just before the All-star break, the Yankees executed one of the worst trades in franchise history, trading Rickey Henderson to Oakland for pitchers Greg Cadaret, Eric Plunk, and outfielder Luis Polonia and Roberto Kelly held sole possession of the lead off spot as well as center field.

Over the course of five full seasons with the Yankees, he hit .278 with about 14 home runs and almost 40 stolen bases per season. He was caught only about 25% of the time, making him a constant threat to steal second and a legitimate lead off hitter. He was an above-average fielder, with good range and a decent arm. The Yankees were very trigger-happy at the time with trades, giving away rookie talent for promising but ultimately disappointing veterans whose best days were behind them. Kelly represented hope that if the Yankees could have patience with their farm system, that they could have a very strong team on the field. The fact that he survived trade negotiations through his minor league career, made it to the majors, and delivered on what the team expected was just plain amazing.

Though he spent most of his career away from the Yankees, it was nice that he was able to finish his career with the Yankees, playing 10 games in 2000 before announcing his retirement. I was sad to hear the news on November 4, 1992, when the Yankees announced that they had traded him to the Cincinnati Reds. By then it was obvious that the Yankees had to do some major renovation to build a competitive team again, though I felt they could have done it with Kelly. 

Nevertheless, his departure opened the door for two legends of the Yankees to be part of the team. The trade that sent him to the Reds brought us a young left-handed outfielder named Paul O’Neill. Moreover, the Yankees needed to make room for another rookie coming up through the system who had speed, a good bat, and played center field – Bernie Williams. It was sad to see him go, but it worked out for the Yankees in the end.

 
--Ike Dimitriadis, BYB Writer
Twitter: @KingAgamemnon
My blog is: Shots from Murderer's Row

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