THE BEST I'VE EVER SEEN

As the season winds down, many of my colleagues here at BYB have written their tributes to Derek Jeter.  Our captain is hanging up his cleats and our great staff will share their memories and thoughts much more eloquently than I could ever hope to do.

(In Photo: Mel Stottlemyre)
I’ve been a Yankees fan all of my life.  My earliest memories are of players like Celerino Sanchez, Jim Mason, Ron Blomberg (who I had the honor of interviewing a couple of seasons ago), Mike Kekich, Mel Stottlemyre (the player), Doc Medich and many others of the CBS ownership era. 

Yeah, those were pretty bad teams.

My favorite Yankees squads – with all due respect to the “Core four + Bernie” – were the 1977-1978 teams that won back-to-back championships.  Guys like Chris Chambliss, Willie Randolph, Ron Guidry, Mickey Rivers, Roy White, Bucky Dent, Brian Doyle, and Graig Nettles will always be among my favorites.

In fact, my favorite player was on those teams.  Thurman Munson will always define to me what the ultimate ballplayer should be.  His grit, intellect, ability, and heart were the epitome of what defines greatness on the field.  I admired his work ethic and his ability to do his job day-in and day-out without needing validation from the media (sorry Reggie and Rickey).

While Munson will forever be in the top spot of Yankees I’ve seen play, as I look back through players I most admired ( Mattingly, Bernie, Mo, Jorge, etc) only one other stands out (to me) in combining all those great characteristics that Thurman had: Derek Jeter.

Derek has been a little flashier off the field, but on it he encompasses all that Munson was.  Certainly his work ethic has always been second to none, and as far as intellect; I’ve never seen a smarter, “headier” player.  Other than the difference in the position he plays, Jeter is Munson-reincarnate to me.   Both were the ultimate professionals that led their teams to world championships, and both did so while keeping their private lives (for the most part) away from the field.

Where Munson’s teams had Reggie Jackson’s constant need for attention, Jeter’s had Alex Rodriguez not trying very hard to avoid off-field drama.  Yet both, somehow, managed to avoid the hurricanes their teammates attracted.  

In my pantheon of Yankees greats – that I’ve seen play – Munson and Jeter stand alone.  While they come from different eras- and played different positions-they are to me the two greatest players of my lifetime.

Both came to play with the same passion for the game on a daily basis and both had the ability to raise the talent of those that played alongside them.

I look forward to the next time I walk through Monument Park and can see the numbers of both of them in their rightful spots alongside the immortals.

    

--Steve Skinner, BYB Senior Writer
Twitter: @oswegos1


 
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"CAN'T YA CALL ME BUCKY?"

I have no problem admitting this to all of you readers.  Frankly, I may be placed in a crush file for 8-year-old girls who are obsessed with teen idols but I don’t care.  I love Bucky Dent.  I loved him when I was 8 and I love him now.  Last year, at the Trenton Thunder, I got to meet him and my heart stopped, especially when he talked to me.  Oh God, it was incredible.

From television spots, to his post game interviews to his eye black, I could not get enough of Bucky Dent.  I remember the spot for fur coats that he and his then wife Stormy did together back in the 80s.  “Russell, what do you think about this one?” his wife said flirtatiously as she wrapped herself in a mink coat.  I hated that commercial, but liked seeing him in anything I could lay my eyes on.

And I was not alone.  According to an article published in the Lakeland Ledger (HERE) in 1979, “Women have said if Dent’s picture is on it, they’ll buy the product, whatever it is.”  



Yes, number 20 was for me everyday of the week.  But, my dad and many other Yankee fans thought he was overrated.  He used to grunt when Dent got up with the bases loaded.  “Oh, there’s your friend again, grounding out,” he would complain.  We had one television in the house and it was either tuned to Walter Cronkite, Yankee baseball or M*A*S*H.  And the Yankees trumped the other two.  Then, 1978 came and Bucky Dent changed the minds of naysayers everywhere proving that he was much more than looks for the ladies.

As you may recall, it was 1978 when we played a special one-game playoff against the Red Sox.  The winner would advance to the American League Championship Series.  There was no Division Series back then.  Ron Guidry was on the mound and our lineup was stacked.  We were missing our regular second baseman Willie Randolph, but the rest of the guys were there ready to beat the Sox with everything they had.  The game was close and the stress level in my house was at an all time high.  Then, the 7th inning happened and Bucky Dent stepped up to the plate.  “Oh, no, why does it have to be him,” my father croaked.  I remembering praying for Bucky like I now pray for my son when he gets up to bat.  And then, like a gift from God, Dent sailed one over the Green Monster in left and the Yanks took the lead.  The nail biting game just took a turn for the better for us and my dad smiled and cheered as if he was the president of the Bucky Dent fan club.

Dent carried the momentum of that home run through the series against the Dodgers earning an MVP award with Brian Doyle.  The Dent-Doyle double play was the best there ever was during the 1978 series and the Yankees were back to their dynasty status with back to back series wins, something they had not seen since the early 60s. 

Today, Dent is still hated by Red Sox fans, who remember Dent’s dinger that sent the team to the golf course.  “They still, however, call him "Bucky Effin' Dent," even though its been more than 30 years since the three-time All-Star — who hit just 40 home runs in 12 major league seasons — destroyed New England's World Series dreams by hitting a three-run dinger in the 1978 American League East one-game playoff,” stated an article in the New York Daily News (HERE) in 2010.  Today, you can catch Dent watching his son Cody and daughter Caitlin playing ball while still coaching and making personal appearances like the one he did in Trenton last summer.

I love Bucky Dent and although he wasn’t a successful manager for the Yankees from 1989-1990 and has put on a few pounds since his playing days, he still floats my boat any day of the week.  How about you?

--Suzie Pinstripe, BYB Opinion Columnist
Twitter: @suzieprof





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