WHY MARIANO IS THE BEST

So Bleeding Yankee Blue readers have spoken and hands down, Mariano Rivera is your favorite Yankees pitcher ever....EVER! In it’s rich history, Mo is the man you chose. You know what? I tend to agree with that. He’s electric. Without a doubt I still go back to the old school guy choosing Ron Guidry myself, but let's face it, it's a personal choice when choosing from our poll this time. Picking Mariano is not a wrong answer. In fact there was no wrong answer. So let’s analyze the poll. Here are the results:

Out of 127 people that voted, Mariano Rivera received 44 votes. That was followed by Andy Pettitte with 24 and in third place was Ron Guidry with 19. It’s good to see that my fluff piece on my love for Gator didn’t sway you, Read WHO IS YOUR FAVORITE PITCHER OF ALL TIME? I'm not going to lie, I was surprised that someone like Whitey Ford only received 15 votes and someone like CC Sabathia, or Waite Hoyt or Red Ruffing received less than 3 votes. I mean Ruffing was a terrific pitcher back in the day and Whitey was one of the greatest. Sabathia is pitching now and clearly in everyone’s view every 5th day and he's awesome to see perform, plus he numbers reflect that. It’s interesting and the only thing I can think of is maybe because of the Yankees incredible run since 1996, Mariano Rivera and Andy Pettitte just stick in our minds as being part of some of the greatest Yankee teams ever in the modern era, am I right? Even someone like David Wells received 4 votes and Mike Mussina received 7 too, so clearly these guys may be more popular because of their recent history. I get it, I'm just saying...

Now I chose 15 pitchers for you to vote from, and yes, there are plenty of guys I left out and they were write-in votes and they should have been...people like Orlando Hernandez were mentioned on Twitter and Tommy John was suggested in our comments section of the poll post. Again, no pitcher is the wrong answer, it's a personal choice. I could have made the list 40 guys, but then it just gets out of hand. I wanted to keep it to 15 and when that happens, guys don’t make the cut. It wasn’t a slight, it was just the way I conducted the poll. Hell, someone may have thought Rick Rhoden was their favorite, but he wasn’t on the list, see what I mean?

So yeah, hands down Mariano is the greatest, even without the poll I think it’s safe to say coming off a season where he became the All-time Saves leader, he’s truly the man, but it was just shocking to me that guys that were part of the Yankees rich history didn’t get too many votes. Goose Gossage only received 2 votes... I expected more. Lefty Gomez received 1, I expected at least as many as Whitey, and Roger Clemens received 3. Oh yeah...Allie Reynolds only received 2. Very interesting.

In the end, I hope you had fun with this poll and we’ll be conducting more very similarly to this one soon. Look for it and thanks for participating.

ORDER A BYB SHIRT NOW, DROB WEARS ONE! Also, Please comment, we have DISQUS, it's easier than ever. Let me know what you think and follow me on Twitter @BleednYankeeBlu and join the group Bleeding Yankee Blue on Facebook, just type it in.

11 11 11 THE YANKEE WAY

There have been a handful of Yankee players that have worn #11 in their career, but today I'm going to only highlight 3 on this day, 11-11-11. Why? Because I can.

Chuck Knoblauch: CK was a superstar before he ever put on pinstripes and he already had a ring with the Twins, so he had a swagger walking into the Yankee Clubhouse. I was a fan of Knoblauch because, he may have been smaller than the other Yankees, but it never stopped him, he still had the talent and the power and guts to be a great Yankee. He was successful and a very talented hitter. Luckily for Bleeding Yankee Blue, we got to interview him and talk about his life as a ballplayer and now and it was personally exciting for me because I was always a fan. Chuck got involved very rapidly in the Twitter world is has connected with fans which is pretty cool. There is no doubt that CK was a huge part of the Yankees 1998, 1999 and 2000 championships and a staple in that clubhouse. Now we just need him to get invited to Old Timer’s Day. Why he hasn’t yet I will never know. Read EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: CHUCK KNOBLAUCH if you want to hear from Chuck in his own words. It was a great interview we did with him. Knobby was a great #11.

Dwight Gooden: Doc has a great New York Yankee story, because he overcame so much, but yet is still struggling to this day. He was an incredible talent with the Mets and I thought for sure, once he had his no-hitter with the New York Yankees on May 14, 1996, he was past all the rough times. Drugs can devour an individual and addiction is the hardest thing to kick, but the one thing I remember most about Dwight Gooden in 1996 was he looked happy, he felt wanted and he was part of a terrific team. The Yankees gave Doc a chance when no one would and he in return, got clean and pitched his heart out, or at least, pitched everything he had left in the tank. Seeing Doc on the shoulders of his teammates after his no-hitter was awesome and a moment that I will never forget because it was very special. This man, who had fallen from grace had risen up again to prove to the fans, his family and himself and the world that change could happen. And it did for Doc Gooden at that very moment.

Lefty Gomez: Gomez was with the Yankees for a long time and was by far the best Yankee player to wear #11. That’s not a slap any any of the other players, but you have to realize that pitchers at that point in baseball, pitched longer, on shorter rest and usually didn’t get the hook for a closer. Gomez played on the Yankees from 1930 to 1942. He was a 7 time All-star and not only that, he was apart of 5 championships. Gomez was also a 20 game winner 4 times in his career, how many pitchers can say they’ve done that in this day and age. Look at someone like Mike Mussina, a great pitcher for the Yankees, but a 20 game pitcher once… in 2008. Gomez is among one of the best pitchers for the Yankees and played just about his entire career with New York, on leaving after the 1942 season and signing with the Washington Senators for 1943, then retired. To me, Gomez was a great #11.

This post was fun and gave me a chance to highlight some terrific Yankees that wore #11.

(In Photo: Herb Pennock)

There are others that wore the number, Joe Page (1945-1950), Gary Sheffield, Doug Mientkiewicz,Johnny Sain, Brett Gardner, Waite Hoyt, and Herb Pennock who was the first to wear #11 in 1929.

It's 11/11/11 Ladies and Gentlemen... I'm not sure what that means, but be sure to see a new piece like this on 12/12/12, that's for sure.

Please comment, we have DISQUS, it's easier than ever. Let me know what you think and follow me on Twitter @BleednYankeeBlu and join the group Bleeding Yankee Blue on Facebook, just type it in.