Joe Torre, Paul O’Neill, Goose Gossage and Tino Martinez will be honored w/ plaques in Monument Park. Torre’s #6 will be retired, too.
— Jack Curry (@JackCurryYES) May 8, 2014
In addition to Torre, Goosage, Martinez and O’Neill, Yankees say Bernie Williams will be part of recognition series in 2015.
— Jack Curry (@JackCurryYES) May 8, 2014
Torre is obvious. Bernie I get too. I mean, he’s no National Baseball Hall of Famer in my mind, but he has a non-ridiculous argument and he is certainly well-qualified for a team-specific Hall of Fame. He was really the face of the Yankees’ return to dominance back in the 90s, even if Jeter later came to define that dynasty. I’ll even make allowances for Paul O’Neill. I think that stretches things a bit, but fans loved that constantly-annoyed man an awful lot, so good for him and them.
Tino, though, I really don’t get. He was never the best player on any of those teams -- his best year was the non-World Series year of 1997, but even then Bernie was better -- and he was cast over the side when Jason Giambi became available. Our own Matthew Pouliot notes that Martinez is 52nd all-time among Yankees position players in Baseball-Reference’s version of WAR. To make up for that you gotta be a pretty big fan favorite, I think. And unless I’ve missed something, Martinez doesn’t tend to pump up Yankees fans. Indeed, the most love I recall him receiving was retro-love once Giambi sorta went bust in New York and some people wished Tino was back.
Monument Park is the Yankees’ own Hall of Fame and they can put anyone they want in it. But if you’re gonna put Tino Martinez in it, forgive the rest of us if we don’t speak about it in the hushed tones Yankees people do. It was one thing when it was Mantle, DiMaggio and all of those other guys, but Tino Martinez makes it a somewhat less-than-elite club, does it not?