WHY I THINK RUDY YORK SHOULD BE IN COOPERSTOWN
By- Damien
Whenever I look at Rudy York’s career numbers and accomplishments, I am almost completely in awe. For example, he had 35 home runs and 101 RBI’s in just 104 games as the Detroit catcher in 1937, including 18 homers in August, the one-month record. He also hit .316 with 33 homers, 46 doubles, and 134 RBI’s throughout his MVP-calibre 1940 season. The most important thing was that he was a slugger who could hit for a high average. The best hitters in baseball history were like that. York hit 30 or more home runs four times and batted over .300 three times. Besides his hitting skills, York was also a marvelous fielder with a cannon arm who fielded exceptionally well at both catcher and first base. After his 1937 season, York came back in 1938 to hit .298 with 33 homers and 126 RBI’s. He played in only 102 games in 1939, but still batted .307 and knocked in 68 runs with 20 homers. He then had statistically his best season, 1940, when he finished eighth in the MVP voting. In 1941, he returned with 27 homers and 111 RBI’s. After another fine season York came back to lead the majors in homers and the AL in RBI’s, total bases, and slugging percentage while finishing third in the MVP polls. He hit 18 homers in each of the next two years and slammed 30 doubles and 17 homers to help him drive in 119 runs in 1946. Suddenly, York couldn’t hit good pitching anymore, and despite hitting 21 homers and driving in 91 runs in 1947, he batted only .233 on the season. After 31 games in 1948 the great Rudy York retired. He did come back as a manager in 1959, but for only one game. Despite the brutal finish, Rudy York is still regarded as one of the top hundred all around hitters in baseball history, a wonderful fielder, and a guy who played to win, which is what makes a player a Hall of Famer.
LIFETIME STATISTICS
Games career: 1,603 season high: 155 in 1940, 1941, 1943, and 1945 led AL: 155 in 1940, 1943, and 1945
At Bats career: 5,891 season high: 595 in 1945
Hits career: 1,621 season high: 186 in 1940
Doubles career: 291 season high: 46 in 1940
Triples career: 52 season high: 11 in 1943
Home Runs career: 277 season high: 35 in 1937 led AL: 34 in 1943
Runs career: 876 season high: 105 in 1940
Runs Batted In career: 1,149 season high: 134 in 1940 led AL: 118 in 1943
Stolen Bases career: 38 season high: 6 in 1945
Walks career: 792 season high: 92 in 1938 and 1941
Strikeouts career: 867 season high: 93 in 1946
Batting Average career: .275 season high: .316 in 1940
On Base Percentage career: .362 season high: .417 in 1938
Slugging Percentage career: .483 season high: .651 in 1937 led AL: .527 in 1943
Total Bases career: 2,847 season high: 343 in 1940 led AL: 301 in 1943
Sacrifice Hits career: 25 season high: 5 in 1943
Fielding Percentage career: .989 season high: .995 in 1947 led AL 1B: .995 in 1947
Double Plays career: 1,098 season high: 163 in 1944 led AL 1B: 163 in 1944, 154 in 1946
Putouts career: 12,308 season high: 1,464 in 1945 led AL 1B: 1,464 in 1945, 1,327 in 1946
Assists career: 1,167 season high: 149 in 1943 led AL 1B: 146 in 1942, 149 in 1943, 116 in 1946
DID YOU KNOW?
-tied the MLB record with four grand slams in 1938
-hit his 40th career home run in the fewest games in MLB history (129)
-led AL in home run percentage (9.3) in 1937 and extra-base hits (67) in 1943
-hit three home runs in one game on September 1, 1941
-hit two grand slams and had ten RBI’s on July 27, 1947
-scored three runs, drew four walks, and hit a triple and a homer in the 1940 World Series
-hit a double, scored three runs and drew three walks in the 1945 World Series win
-batted .261 with a double, a triple, six runs scored, two homers, five RBI’s, and six walks in the 1946 World Series
-his 1937 home run percentage is the 43rd highest of all time
-led AL first basemen in games in 1940, 1941, 1943, 1945, and 1946
-was a seven time all-star
-led AL first basemen in games in 1940, 1941, 1943, 1945, and 1946 with 155 in each year
-had 1,300 plus putouts eight times and a .990 fielding percentage four times
-batted in over 100 runs six times and 98 once
-was second in fielding percentage at first base in 1946 and at catcher in 1938
-owns a .382 career caught stealing percentage
-set the single season record for double plays turned by a first baseman (163) in 1944
York was definitely a great hitter, but his career was short (11 years a regular) and 4 of those years were in WW II, facing subpar competition.
ReplyDeleteI'm in the mood for Davey Lopes. Davey Lopes for hall of fame! A good batter, a great baserunner, and a competent fielder. Note: I'm not sure Lopes should be in the hall of fame, actually. So I'm abruptly deciding to change my allegiance. Ron Cey for the hall of fame! Viva The Penguin!
By the way, there's a very good retired blog called "Garvey-Cey -Russel-Lopes". http://garveyceyrusselllopes.blogspot.com/
The author, GCRL, now writes "Cards as I See Them" and occasionally reads my blog. http://cardsasiseethem.blogspot.com/
Thank you so much for your blog suggestions. Even though I am a Giants fan, I will enjoy the Garvey-Cey -Russell-Lopes blog. I will also take a look at Cards as I See Them. I know that you are more of a small Hall guy, but I have interesting points of view on York, Lopes, and Cey. I do believe that York was enough of a dominant hitter for Cooperstown, though not a lock - that's why I publish these articles, to hear others' points of view. I actually do not know about Lopes and Cey. Lopes has a career slash line of .263/.349/.388 and 614 RBI's. Everything else is decent, but I don't know. Cey was a .261 hitter with 1,868 hits in 2,073 games, which is sub-par, even for the era.
ReplyDeleteYou look at Ron Cey as a .261 hitter. I look at him as a good fielding 3rd baseman who hit 316 home runs, and had a .354 OBP and a .445 SLG, who played most of his career in a pitcher's park and a pitcher's era.
ReplyDeleteLike you, I'm not trying to be blunt, but batting average is actually not the only meaningful statistic! If you hit .300, but have no power and never walk, you are contributing almost nothing to the offense. On the other hand is someone like Gene Tenace. In 1974 Gene Tenace hit .211, but he was actually a very good player because he was a catcher, and hit 26 home runs while walking 110 times. So his OBP was .367, and his SLG was .411. (In a pitcher's park in a pitcher's decade)
Look, I have all the hard and fast statistics in the second section. I have a few sub-.270 hitters who were great fielders, had a ton of power, or walked and stole a lot of bases. Cey is advocated by most everybody, but he was not a a huge power hitter or a Brooks Robinson at third or as patient as Rickey Henderson. He is truly one of the best third basemen who is not in the Hall of Fame, but the Hall of Fame is about the best of the best. A Cey-type player is not that rare or unique. One more thing: why are we going on about Ron Cey on an article about Rudy York?
ReplyDelete