Which Ex Yankee legend looks more ridiculous?

In my He played in the postseason with WHAT team 25 man roster post, I found lots of pictures of well known players looking strange in different uniforms. Elston Howard as a Red Sox? Dizzy Dean as a Cub? Dwight Gooden with the Indians?

But none of those pictures are as strange as these three Yankee legends who wore the uniforms as a coach for different clubs.

They all look absurd. Which one is the strangest?

BABE RUTH - Coach for the Brooklyn Dodgers.

Ruth never got a shot to manage a team. The closest he ever got was being the first base coach for the 1938 Dodgers under manager Leo Durocher.

It was a match made in hell as Ruth felt he was the superior talent to Durocher (was there any argument there?) and HE deserved to manage the team.

Durocher felt that Ruth's head wasn't in the game and Ruth wound up leaving.

Yes, it is crazy seeing Ruth as a Dodger. But the fact that it is a black and white picture from another era makes it less anachronistic than the next two pictures. And besides, Ruth wound up playing for the Braves at the end of his career, so the idea of him wearing a strange uniform is not so foreign.


JOE DiMAGGIO - Coach for the Oakland A's

OK, this is a little absurd.

DiMaggio played in a preexpansion, pre franchise moving, black and white TV era. The A's were in Philadelphia when he retired after the 1951 World Series.

Now here he is, skipping over the Kansas City move and landing in Oakland? And unlike Ruth who played for three different teams, DiMaggio was a Yankee only icon. He took the baton from Gehrig and became the superstar of style and grace in Yankee pinstripes.

And here he is in the bright green Oakland unis for the 1968 and 1969 seasons? This was AFTER Simon and Garfunkel sang "Where have you gone Joe DiMaggio?" Well, I hope the nations lonely eyes turned to the East Bay.

But DiMaggio was a product of the Bay Area. And Charlie O. Finley wanted to bring some prestige to the A's when they arrived in Oakland. So Joe D was offered a coaching job and an executive position. And he did get to mentor a certain young slugger named Reggie Jackson.

It didn't last long and soon Joe's main profession became selling Mr. Coffee and throwing out the first pitch at Yankee Stadium.

(He probably became richer doing those two things than playing baseball.)


YOGI BERRA - Coach for the Houston Astros

This is so surreal that it almost looks like a Photoshopped picture.

It sounds like a scenario from a dream. "I had a dream that Yogi Berra was a coach... but he was in a Houston Astros uniform, back when they had the orange stripes across the belly."

I actually remember Yogi as the Astros coach. During the 1986 NLCS, I remember him in the Houston dugout and patting Billy Hatcher on the back when he hit his game tying, series extending home run in Game 6.

And even with that memory this STILL looks absurd.

Yogi has no connection to the Astros!

He is a St. Louis native so maybe the Cardinals would have made sense... but the ASTROS?

A player who so represented a traditional romantic time of baseball played for the very team whose legacy was the modern and the new era. Yogi, the hero who played in the post war Yankee dynasty, was calling a dome with fake grass and garish orange uniforms for an expansion team.

I am trying to think of some metaphor to explain how absurd that is... but I can't think of one better than Yogi Berra in a Houston Astros uniform!

He had two bitter divorces from the Yankees. One after the 1964 World Series when he was fired as the manager and replaced by former Cardinals manager Johnny Keane. Yogi found refuge with his mentor Casey Stengel and became a Mets coach and eventually a manager.

Then in 1985 when Steinbrenner fired Yogi as the Yankees manager in 1985. He joined the Houston coaching staff and never embraced the Yankees again until DiMaggio passed away in 1999.

Maybe Joe D left him a message. "Don't have the last uniform you wear be that ridiculous orange Astros uniform."

The Dodgers ARE going back to Brooklyn!

Why else would they be wearing the old uniforms?

I guess someone listened to my plea!

Hey Brooklyn! BRING THE DODGERS BACK!

You are never going to get a better chance!
The Dodgers are a mess... they have gone from one of the classy and glamorous franchises to a team that needs to be bailed out.

So come on. There MUST be a billionaire in Brooklyn who can bring them back!

Hey, that whole "Bring the Nets to Brooklyn" thing isn't happening anytime soon. So come on! Have them play in MCU Park and put in some temporary seats.

L.A. stole the Raiders and lost them.
Have them lose the Dodgers as well!

The Red Sox honor Chuck Stobbs

Like with every team in baseball this evening, the Red Sox players all wore #42. It is a unique gesture from the Red Sox on this Jackie Robinson Day.

Remember, the Red Sox were the first team to give Jackie a try out. Back in the mid 1940s the Red Sox had Robinson and Sam Jethroe play for scouts at Fenway Park. Supposedly someone yelled "Get that ni--er off the field."

Seeing the Red Sox lost a racial discrimination suit 40 years later, I do not find the story to be outlandish.

The Red Sox had a chance to be the first team to integrate.
Instead, under the grip of the dreadful Yawkey family, they became the last.

The Red Sox could have lead the way in integration. Instead they were dragged kicking and screaming into it... up until the 1990s when Dan Duqette discovered that the Red Sox didn't even send scouts to the Dominican Republic.

In 1947, while Jackie Robinson changed history in Brooklyn wearing number 42, Chuck Stobbs was a pitcher for the Red Sox.

He wore #42 in Boston instead of Jackie.

Stobbs was 18 years old and a young phenom of a left handed pitcher. His career never blossomed and he is best remembered as a member of the Senators when he let up a 560 foot homer to Mickey Mantle that brought about the term "Tape Measure Shot."

He became a minor league coach before passing away in Florida a few years ago.

He wore the number 42 with pride for the Red Sox.
That's almost as good as having Jackie Robinson, isn't it?

An Open Letter To Brooklyn Dodger Lover Fred Wilpon

Dear Mr. Wilpon,

I was recently at the Mets Team Store on the Field Level at Citi Field looking for some Mets T-shirts. After being pleasantly surprised to finally see R.A. Dickey and Angel Pagan number shirts for sale, my jaw dropped when I saw yet another piece of Brooklyn Dodgers merchandise.

This wasn't yet another tribute to Jackie Robinson or Ebbets Field. This was something else entirely. Ladies and gentlemen, I give to you photo documentation of the latest shirt for sale at the Mets Team Store.


A Sandy Koufax Brooklyn Dodgers shirt? Really? Let's look up a few things about Mr. Koufax to share with our readers.

Sandy Koufax had a great career in the major leagues. He finished his career with a .655 winning percentage (165 wins, 87 losses), pitched four no-hitters (a record at the time), struck out 382 batters in a single season (also a record at the time), won three Cy Young Awards and was the National League MVP in 1963. He also was a member of four pennant winners and three World Series champions. As a result of his outstanding career, Koufax was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1972, his first year of eligibility.


That's a lot of accomplishments for a pitcher whose career was cut short because of arthritis. But that's not what stands out most for me on his Hall of Fame plaque. Let's focus on Sandy himself, or rather, let's focus on the cap he's wearing in the plaque. What's that on his cap? Oh, yeah...

It's a LOS ANGELES DODGERS cap!

Now why is he wearing an LA on his cap rather than a "B" for Brooklyn? That's because Koufax did very little in Brooklyn as a Dodger.

From 1955-1957, the last three seasons the Dodgers played at Ebbets Field, Sandy Koufax's record was 9-10, or the same record compiled by Jonathon Niese in 2010. He was also very wild, walking 108 batters in 204.2 innings and posted a 4.00 ERA.

Once the Dodgers packed their bags and left Brooklyn for LA, Koufax blossomed into one of the all-time greats in baseball.

So why on Earth is Citi Field selling Sandy Koufax Brooklyn Dodgers shirts when he did practically nothing as one of Dem Bums? It surely can't be because the Mets appreciate pitchers who go 9-10 while pitching in one of the outer boroughs. If that were the case, then the store would also have a full stock of Jonathon Niese T-shirts (which they don't; what's up with that?).

No, Mr. Wilpon. You know the reason as well as I do. Sandy Koufax was a childhood friend of yours. The two of you went to Lafayette High School in Brooklyn together. Sandy comes to spring training as a favor to you to talk to your pitchers.

We get it. You're BFFs. Fine.

But please. Sandy Koufax wasn't a Met. He was barely a Brooklyn Dodger. Stop trying to make it seem like he was. The Mets don't play at Ebbets Field. They don't have a "B" on their hats. Therefore, if you could, we'd like you to stop trying to shove the Brooklyn Dodgers down our throats. We know this is probably hard for you to do, so perhaps we can reach a compromise.

Do you remember which two players led the major leagues in home runs and RBI during the 1950s? Maybe the photos below will help.



The man in the photo on the left is Duke Snider, who played in Brooklyn for 11 seasons (1947-1957). The man on the right is Gil Hodges, who came up to the Brooklyn Dodgers for good in 1947 after playing in one game for the team in 1943.

Both men played the majority of their major league careers as Brooklyn Dodgers, winning six pennants and one World Series in Brooklyn. They also have one other thing in common. Let's roll out the photo album one more time to assist you.



Your eyes are not deceiving you, Mr. Wilpon. They were indeed both members of your New York Mets.

Duke Snider played one season for the Mets, making the All-Star team in 1963. Gil Hodges played parts of two seasons for the Mets (1962-63), hitting the first home run in franchise history on April 11, 1962. He also did something on a grander scale seven years later. It may or may not have involved winning a championship. I'll have to look that up.

Do you see what I'm getting at, Mr. Wilpon? Why are you selling Sandy Koufax merchandise when you can sell Duke Snider or Gil Hodges gear? They were both Brooklyn Dodgers far longer than Koufax was and contributed to more success in Brooklyn than your boyhood buddy did. Plus, they have the added appeal to Mets fans because they both donned the orange and blue at some point.

As of right now, there is nothing for Duke Snider at Citi Field and only a first base entrance named after Gil Hodges. I know I'm not the only fan who's appalled that you're trying to sell Sandy Koufax as a Brooklyn Dodger to Mets fans. In fact, my wife (you might know her as "The Coop") also has an opinion on the lovefest between you and the Brooklyn Dodgers, which she will share with you now:


Speaking of both teams for whom to pay homage, you also discredit the origins of the “orange” from the term “orange and blue” in your child-like fascination with the Brooklyn Dodgers, and that’s the New York Giants.

While the Dodgers were quick to embrace their new identity on the west coast with winning a championship in two years, the now-San Francisco Giants had to do nothing BUT embrace their New York roots. And why was that? Because prior to 2010, they had not won a championship in their 50 year old home and a lot of their rich history was based in New York. Even when the team won, they visited the old site of the Polo Grounds (where both the New York Giants and…oh some other team…oh yes, the New York Mets once upon a time played) with the Commissioner’s Trophy to pay homage to where their history originated. I don’t believe that the Dodgers visited the old site of Ebbets Field after winning a championship so quickly after switching coasts. The Giants embrace New York and the Mets need to embrace the Giants history as well.

It’s not so much the Koufax jersey or this blatant “to the victor go the spoils” attitude at Citi Field that is troublesome -- there is also no mention of New York Giants history. You’d like to be fair, then how about this? In addition to selling Brooklyn memorabilia, why not include the Giants as well in a nostalgia store? Not to mention, one of the most storied baseball players in history, Willie Mays, played for both New York and San Francisco Giants AND ended his career with the Mets. Wouldn’t it be great to not only acknowledge those teams but to also have an actual connection to the Mets? There’s no limitation to having Giants or Dodgers jerseys either in the nostalgia store – you can sell old Mets jerseys as well and even other items such as collectible yearbooks and souvenir cups.


My wife and I are just two people, Mr. Wilpon. But we're not the only ones who feel that you have overdone it with your homage to the Brooklyn Dodgers at Citi Field.

You're the owner of the New York Mets. You also love the Brooklyn Dodgers. If you absolutely must share that Dodger love with the fans who pay their way into your homage to Ebbets Field to see the Mets play, at least share it with players who have ties to both teams. Is that so hard to do, Mr. Wilpon?

Peace, love, Mets, y'all,
Ed Leyro and Taryn Cooper

When Duke Snider helped the Giants beat the Dodgers

On May 2, 1964, the Giants played the defending World Champion Dodgers at Chavez Ravine. In the 9th inning, Dodgers pitcher Joe Moeller had a 4-2 lead and looked to get the complete game victory.

Willie McCovey led off the inning with a walk. Up next was the new Giants left fielder... Duke Snider.

Yup... The Duke of Flatbush actually finished his career as a Giant. The whole "Willie, Mickey and the Duke" trio once had two of them as teammates.

Snider was not a member of the Dodgers when they won in 1963. The Mets, hoping that his presence on the team would boost the box office. After a year of calling the Polo Grounds his home and wearing the N-Y logo on his hat, he was sold off to the Giants in 1964.

So up he stepped in 1964 and hit a line drive home run into the Dodger Stadium seats and tied the game up.

The Giants would win the game in extra innings.

In the last game of his career, the second to last day of the 1964 season, Snider came to the plate as a pinch hitter in the 9th.

The Giants were losing 10-5 and fading in the pennant race. Snider singled off of Cubs pitcher Lindy McDaniel.

With 2 outs, Willie Mays homered. The last moment of Duke Snider's career he greeted his one time counterpart at home plate.

Farewell Duke.

A glorious era of baseball is getting a little more faint.