When
my children were young (they are now both in their 30's) I challenged
them to give me the names of the players whose Yankee numbers were
retired out in Monument Park. My son created a mnemonic, a running tale
in which all the most hallowed of pinstripers played a role.
With the list soon to be a staggering 21 upon the ascendancy of "number 2, Derek Jeter, number 2", I am quite certain my son's story would now be almost as long as the game itself.
With the list soon to be a staggering 21 upon the ascendancy of "number 2, Derek Jeter, number 2", I am quite certain my son's story would now be almost as long as the game itself.
I now assign a new simpler task, recalling the single digit lineup as follows:
Leading off, at second base, number 1, Billy Martin
Derek Jeter, shortstop, number 2, batting second
Babe Ruth, batting third, number 3, right field
Lou Gehrig, cleanup, number 4, first base
Joe D, center field, number 5, hitting fifth
Joe Torre, third base, sixth in the lineup, number 6
The Mick, number 7 , batting seventh, in left
Yogi and Bill Dickey sharing the catching duties and the number 8, batting eighth
Roger Maris, as DH , number 9, batting ninth
And announcing the game, Holy Cow, Phil Rizzuto, number 10.
Single digit numbers on a jersey were at one time intended to correlate to batting position in the starting lineup. It is almost a perfect fit, as the one to nine Bronx Bomber team, in numeric order, forevermore strides to the plate.
2 comments:
When my father took me to "The Stadium” for the first time in 1950 I was 6 years old, and can recall distinctly the amazing sight of it as we walked to our seats in the upper deck. While I do not recall Joltin’ Joe very well, I did actually see him play in his last 2 seasons. The Mick was always my great Yankee hero growing up. He could do no wrong no matter how many times he struck out, because inevitably, there would always be another memorable home run or game winning hit. I had the pleasure of seeing all the others except Dickey, Gehrig and the Babe. Derek Jeter emerged at a time in my life when the impact was very different. I had a young son of my own then to share the joy of this monumental player with. Plus, the game had changed in so many ways by the 90’s yet here was a player who reminded me of the glories of baseball the way it was when I was a kid. So for me Jeter represents the pinnacle of Yankee baseball. I don’t expect to see anything like him again. I’m planning on being at “The Stadium” on May 14.
Thanks for a walk down memory lane.
Jack Epstein
Nice piece no Trump.
T
Post a Comment