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– Jeff Mangold, co-author, “Power and Pinstripes: My Years Training the
”
As I was reading Jeff Mangold’s new book, that was the second main item that preceded an eyebrow raise. The “it” to which Mangold, the former Yankees strength and conditioning coach, referred in the quote above was the barrel end of Mike Piazza’s bat more specifically, the shard that Roger Clemens dismissively flung toward Piazza in the 2000 World Series.
I’ve never been in a major league dugout before, so I don’t know the standard operating procedure of broken-bat removal, but it did seem in my amateur estimation that the bat is still someone else’s bat. Taking it seemed odd to me at first.
Top 60 All-Time Jays: #5 Tony Fernandez
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Tony Fernandez (born Octavio Antonio Fernandez Castro) was born June 30th, 1962, in
San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic. He was signed as an amateur free agent by the Jays in 1979. The Jays, back then, scouted the Dominican pretty thoroughly; we signed several players from there.
The Jays called Tony up when the rosters expanded in September 1983 and got into a handful of games. He was called up to the Jays for good at the end of May 1984, at first splitting time with veteran
Alfredo Griffin and slowly taking over the position as the season went on. He also played some third base. A switch hitter, he had a pretty decent rookie season, hitting .270/.317/.356 in 88 games.
Welcome to the relaunched This Day in
Yankees History. With the offseason well underway, the Pinstripe Alley team is continuing this revived program. These daily posts will highlight two or three key moments in Yankees history on a given date, as well as recognize players born on the day. Hope you enjoy this trip down memory lane with us!
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21 Years Ago
Former Yankees top prospect D’Angelo Jiménez suffers a broken neck in a major car accident that requires him to miss the 2000 season. Jiménez, who had been expected to be the Yankees’ utility infielder following the departure of Luis Sojo to the Pittsburgh Pirates, would never play another game for the Yankees, as the team traded him on June 23, 2001, in exchange for reliever Jay Witasick of the San Diego Padres. While he never quite reached his potential as a result of the accident, he did put together a respectable big league career, playing eight seasons and posting a 94 OPS+ in a part-time role.
Happy Birthday Devon White
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Devon White turns 58 today.
Devon was a 6th round pick 1981 amateur draft by the
Angels. He made it up to the Angels for a cup of coffee in 1985 and 1986. His first full season in the majors was 1987, where Devon came in 5th in Rookie of the Year voting. He hit 24 home runs as a rookie, the most he would ever hit in the majors, and he had 87 RBI, also a career-high.
The Angels grew to see him as a disappointment. He couldn’t get his OBP over .300 and wouldn’t again show the same power he had in his rookie season.