There is not a hotter MLBbro these days than Washington Nationals shortstop, CJ Abrams. Recently our MLBbro shared his Mount Rushmore of current shortstops that shine on the field. One of them is a MLBbro and of course he added himself.
CJ Abrams lists his Mount Rushmore of active shortstops
Himself Mookie Betts Elly De La Cruz Bobby Witt Jr.
MLBbro.com came up with our own Mount Rushmore of shortstops. While Abrams was listing current shortstops, we went ahead and compiled an All-Time list.
The combination of professionalism, the evolution of the position and an underrated aspect to the list… longevity and loyalty to one franchise got these four MLBbro shortstop icons the spotlight.
Maury Wills:
The fact that this MLBbro icon is not in the Baseball Hall of Fame is just as big a travesty as Barry Bonds being blacklisted from the honor. Even though he was nominated by the Golden Era committee in 2014, he still didn’t make the cut. Wills brought the art of the stolen base.
His story of maximizing his skills to overcome the fact that many teams (including the Dodgers at the beginning) didn’t believe he had the physical tools to play professional baseball.
He won six straight stolen base titles.
His 104 steals in 1962 was a record until fellow MLBbro Lou Brock tallied 118 in 1974.
Won the NL MVP award AND All-Star MVP in the same season!
Maury Wills sadly never got the call for the Hall of Fame before passing in 2022 at the age of 89. But the essence of the MLBbro battling the undercurrent of the system of racism puts him on this list.
Ernie Banks:
While the aforementioned Maury Wills used his craftiness and speed to make this list under peculiar circumstances, Ernie Banks brought power to the city of Chicago and became the first MLBbro since Jackie Robinson to put fans in seats (also read: the only reason to watch Chicago Cubs baseball). Before Banks came on to the scene, the shortstop position never knew power.
Ernie Banks played 19 years for a terrible Chicago Cubs team that never made the playoffs. Mr. Cub created his legacy in 1957-60 collecting back-to-back NL MVP awards in 1958-59. The resume tells it all…
14 time All-Star (1955-62, 1965, 1967, 1969), Gold Glove winner in 1960, and Hall of Fame Inductee in 1977.
Hitting slash of .274/.330/.500…2,583 hits…512 homers…1,636 RBI.
Ozzie Smith:
There is a theme going on here if anyone has noticed. Maury Wills is on the list for the intangibles of playing the game of baseball. Ernie Banks brings offensive firepower that brought box office influence to the shortstop position. Now let’s discuss the MLBbro icon that brought defensive wizardry to the position. Who else but…
The Wizard of Oz…Ozzie Smith!
He is the greatest defensive shortstop ever. He is one of one. There can’t be an all-time discussion without his name being mentioned. His range, athleticism and ability to get the ball away quickly landed him 13 Gold Gloves, a .978 fielding percentage and a 43.4 defensive WAR. He was a part of the MLBbro crew in St.Louis that lit up the base paths to the tune of 580 steals.
The Wizard’s .262 career average with 2,460 illustrates the work he put in to be a solid hitter.
Derek Jeter:
This MLBbro icon took all of the ingredients of the previous players on this list and with the addition of marketing and business in a huge city of New York with the Yankees changed the landscape of how athletes make money in endorsements.
While his stats don’t pop out like Babe Ruth, Aaron Judge or Reggie Jackson, the ability to be consistently there in the big moment on five World Championship Yankees teams makes him an icon that transcends to all MLB greats.
His clutch play is embedded in the DNA of the Yankees franchise and his leadership and respect will lead on as long as MLB is in business.
LOS ANGELES – Heroes get remembered, but legends never die. This group of New York Yankees MLBbros is getting remembered for heroics that have made them legends forever.
Dave Winfield was honored on April 24th in New York for his incredible accomplishments while wearing the pinstripes with a mural a few blocks away from Yankee Stadium.
The mural, titled “Exhibiting Possibilities: Legendary Yankees” was collaborated by The Bronx Children’s Museum, The Players Alliance, the Yankees and Bronx Terminal Market in order to feature historically great Yankee Black baseball players.
Congratulations to Dave Winfield, Aaron Judge, CC Sabathia, Willie Randolph, Reggie Jackson and Derek Jeter on their inclusion in the “Legendary Yankees” mural in the Bronx.
In a collaboration between the Players Alliance and the Bronx Children’s Museum, this vibrant mural by… pic.twitter.com/AzqnunBvgA
“It’s a special honor. I have a legacy, a history, a relationship with the Bronx, New York and baseball. When they told me that they wanted to do this exhibit and that I would be a part of it, it’s very special.” Winfield had to say.
The mural includes five other Yankee MLBbro legends throughout the team’s history, including Reggie Jackson, Willie Randolph C.C. Sabathia, Derek Jeter, and Aaron Judge.
“We hope that every boy or girl that sees these murals will have their own dreams of greatness on the field and, more importantly, in their communities. We will continue to support the storytelling of excellence surrounding the Black players in our game, and we look forward to continuing to honor our history, particularly our history of Black players,” MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said during the unveiling of the mural.
Winfield played for the Yankees from 1981-1990, where he was an All-Star for all but the last two seasons of his stint in the Bronx. He also won five Gold Gloves and five Silver Sluggers in that decade.
His first eight seasons of his career were spent in San Diego playing for the Padres, where he is also a member of the team’s Hall of Fame and has his No. 31 retired. He also played for the Angels, Blue Jays, Twins, and Indians, and was later inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2001, his first year of eligibility. He was inducted as the first Padre player ever in Cooperstown.
Even with the unforgettable accomplishments he had in his first 18 seasons with the Padres and Yankees, Winfield didn’t win a World Series title until 1992, in his one year with Toronto, when he was 40.
During his one season there, he hit the game-winning two-run double in the 11th inning of Game 6 of the World Series that clinched the title, forever earning him the nickname “Mr. Jay.”
Over the course of his career, he batted .283, with 465 home runs, 1,833 RBI, a career on-base percentage of .353, and a slugging percentage of .475. He also has 3,110 career hits, which is 23rd all time. He was a 12-time All-Star, seven-time Gold Glove winner, and a six-time Silver Slugger award winner throughout the entirety of his playing career.
One of three athletes ever to be drafted in four different leagues, there was truly no one like The Wave. His consistent productivity throughout each stage of his career, plus everything he’s done post-retirement for his community and the game of baseball, truly makes him one of one.
When the New York Yankees opened Spring Training in February of 1996, the bitter taste of their 1995 ALDS loss to the Seattle Mariners was still burning in the mouth of the proud franchise and their followers.
Up 2-0 in the series, New York would lose three straight road games and be sent home for the winter. During the offseason, they parted ways with manager Buck Showalter, shifted Gene Michael into a role as the team’s VP and director of scouting, and hired Bob Watson as GM.
On the heels of owner George Steinbrenner’s suspension from baseball, Watson and Michael had been slowly rebuilding the team with a mixture of homegrown talent, trades and modest free agent signings.
New York won 88 games in 1993, had the AL’s best record when the 1994 players’ strike hit in August and used a 26-8 finish to claim the AL’s first-ever wild-card berth in 1995.
One of Watson’s first moves was to hire Joe Torre as Showalter’s replacement. Dubbed “Clueless Joe” by the media at the time of his hire, the move would later be looked at as one of the many right buttons Watson pushed while becoming the club’s first black GM.
The early remnants of the “Core Four” were already on the roster and making contributions. Outfielder Bernie Williams, along with pitchers Andy Pettitte and Mariano Rivera had become stalwarts.
But there was one other piece added to the roster as well.
The team’s No. 1 draft pick from 1992, shortstop Derek Jeter was brought up at the end of the 1995 season. A year later, the sixth overall pick became the team’s starting shortstop when incumbent Tony Fernandez fractured his right elbow during spring training.
Other key acquisitions during the off season were first baseman Tino Martinez from Seattle to replace the retired Don Mattingly, outfielder Tim Raines from the Chicago White Sox, and former Cy Young Award winner Dwight Gooden.
The former Met was suspended for the 1995 season after a positive drug test while serving a prior suspension. After pitching poorly in April and nearly getting released, he was sent down to the minors where he worked on his mechanics and soon returned with a shortened wind-up.
Gooden’s early woes were reflective of New York’s struggles as well. While New York won on Opening Day in Cleveland behind Jeter’s first MLB homer, the Yankees started slowly, winning just 11 of their first 21 games.
However, they won nine of 10 as April turned to May and moved into first place for good.
One of the biggest wins came on May 14th when Gooden no-hit the Seattle Mariners 2-0 at Yankee Stadium. It was the first by a Yankee right-hander since Don Larsen’s perfect game in the 1956 World Series and the first by a Yankee right-hander during the regular season since Allie Reynolds’ second no-hitter in 1951.
As soon as the calendar flipped over to June, though, things really started clicking for New York. Ripping off three wins in a row to start the month – and four in a row dating back to May – the Yankees would ride their hot offense to an 18-11 record.
The Yankees then carried that success into July, as they started the month by winning nine out of ten games leading up to the All-Star break. However, Watson did not stand pat with the roster during the month.
Another former Met, outfielder/DH Darryl Strawberry was signed as a free agent on July 4th while toiling for the minor league independent St. Paul Saints. Slugging first baseman Cecil Fielder was acquired on July 31st from Detroit for outfielder Ruben Sierra and a minor leaguer.
They also reacquired third baseman Charlie Hayes from the Pirates on August 30th for a player to be named later. Even though the club struggled during the month (13-17), New York rebounded in a huge way in September going 16-11 with a +55 run differential for the month.
The Bronx Bombers were keyed by Fielder combined with a resurgent Strawberry to provide serious second-half pop at DH. Eventually, they would win the AL East by four games over the second-place Baltimore Orioles.
New York rolled over the Texas Rangers in a four-game Division Series, then beat the Orioles in a five-game ALCS, aided by 12-year-old fan Jefftey Maier snagging Jeter’s game-tying home run in the eighth inning of the opener.
The ALCS triumph was even more meaningful for manager Torre as it was his first Fall Classic after 4,110 games between his playing and managerial careers. He would also go against his former team, the Braves in the World Series.
The defending World Champions’ bats came out guns blazing to start the series, dropping a combined 16 runs on the Yankees in Games 1 and 2. The Hall of Fame duo of John Smoltz and Greg Maddux were just as good as their team’s bats, throwing 14 innings of one-run ball.
Despite being down 0-2 and going on the road to Atlanta, the Yankees stunned the baseball world to take four straight games. In keeping with their trend of playing close games throughout the playoffs, the margins of victory for the Yankees during the World Series were three runs, two runs, one run, and one run respectively.
In the clinching victory back in the Bronx, it was one of the acquired MLBbros that put an end to the Series. Atlanta fought to the end, stroking three singles off John Wetteland to cut New York’s lead to 3-2.
Mark Lemke stepped in, aiming to drive home Rafael Belliard from second base with the potential tying run. Lemke ran the count full, and the sixth pitch of the at-bat drifted foul, sending Charlie Hayes tumbling into the visiting dugout.
Hayes dislocated a finger but told no one, jogging back to his position. Lemke lofted the seventh pitch in a similar area, but this time it remained in play, soon to become October lore.
The series win – their 23rd World Series title and their first since 1978 – proved to be a prelude to a budding dynasty as the Yankees would start one of the most magical stretches in the franchise’s storied history.
And it was a group of prominent MLBbros that were right in the middle of it for the Pinstripes.
Not many baseball fans outside of the Boston Red Sox faithful (They are wired to think this way!) saw the New York Yankees possibly struggling to their worst record in this century.
To the Yankees faithful, conversations center around having enough talent to start a winning streak to nab a wild card spot to injuries all season, particularly reigning MLBbro MVP Aaron Judge.
While those are theories and hot takes, the reality surrounding the New York Yankees is that they are getting closer to missing the playoffs for the first time since the 2016 season with each passing day. An eight-game losing streak and nine losses in 10 games is not helping matters either.
Before the eventual series sweep against the Red Sox, Yankees manager Aaron Boone discussed a meeting that he was a part of with general manager Brian Cashman and team owner Hal Steinbrenner about the current status of the team and the future.
Aaron Boone said he met with Hal Steinbrenner and Brian Cashman a couple of days ago. He said they discussed the direction of the organization. He admitted that they’re all frustrated by the Yankees’ performance.
With discussions of bringing up young prospects from the minors, the Yankees might be waving the white flag, which is against the Yankees fanbase’s religion based on the franchise’s 27 World Series championships.
Based on how things are going for this franchise and their stellar reputation for winning, when September comes, the conversation will turn to who’s to blame for this abysmal season.
Right now, three names will be caught in the crossfire…
Hal Steinbrenner: Son of the late George Steinbrenner and current owner of the New York Yankees.
Can’t fire the owner as they say. The reason he is on this list is due to a statement he had in June…
Hal Steinbrenner said he is “a little confused” as to why Yankees fans are so angry in the third week of June: https://t.co/KOkpmoDOGw
With one of the highest payrolls in baseball with underwhelming results Aaron Judge or not, Steinbrenner’s statement will be replayed like a reality show the second the Yankees are officially eliminated from the playoffs. At least until there are follow up questions.
Brian Cashman: General manager of the New York Yankees since the 1998 season. His resume contains six American League pennants and four World Series Championships.
“Now Brian Cashman’s greatest quality as general manager, or one of his greatest qualities, would be I would say, that he is a survivor,” Ken Rosenthal said on his podcast called Fair Territory. “He will survive this. The question is what does he do to make things better? How does he turn this around? And if I’m Hal Steinbrenner, I’m saying to Brian Cashman, ‘Okay, you’re going to stay this is one bad year.’ One losing year at least, I know there have been other disappointing years recently, but ‘Brian you’ve got to tell me now, how are things going to change, because things have to change.’”
Like his boss, Cashman has to stand by a statement that will haunt him in a few weeks. After doing very little at the trade deadline, he stated that the team was “In it to win it”. Since August 1, the Yankees went 5-13.
Aaron Boone: Yankees manager since 2018. Led the team to over 100 wins in his first two seasons. No World Series appearances.
The Yankees manager probably will be gone particularly if Cashman survives. His management style has put him on the hot seat due to decisions with the bullpen, lineups, in-game adjustments (Basically everything the job entails!) while the losses pile up.
How can the MLBbros turn this around and more importantly…who will do it?
Replace Aaron Boone with Willie Randolph:
MLBbro.com had a list of MLBbro contenders for managerial jobs late last season and Willie Randolph was on the list. His managerial experience with the New York Mets makes him perfect for this situation.
He led the Mets to a NL East Division title before falling in a seven-game battle to the St. Louis Cardinals in the NLCS in 2005.
Willie Randolph is the first manager in MLB history to improve his team’s record by at least 12 games in his first two seasons with the team.
He’s a Yankees great so he is equipped to handle the pressure of turning this team around while understanding the culture of the fanbase to the front office. Something that is going to be important over the next few seasons as the team sheds bad contracts.
The Yankees are going to have to start developing young talent and for that to happen, they need a steady hand at manager to do so. Randolph is that guy.
Fire Brian Cashman and replace him with Derek Jeter (If he says no…go back and beg!):
They called the man “The Captain” …
Why Not Jeter?
The New York Yankees need a new voice and leadership and no one really on the planet can take over the front office and bring trust of the fanbase back quicker than Derek Jeter.
As the part owner and front office executive of the Miami Marlins, he was one of the franchise’s only bright spots. Now that he left for philosophical reasons (Jeter wanting to win and the team wanting to save money!), going to a team that has a blank checkbook and similar goals to building a team would be perfect for all parties involved.
Meanwhile the Yankees are mired in their worst losing streak since 1995. They could have their first losing season since 1992 all while having the second highest payroll in baseball. Time will tell if Cashman and Boone are released and if these qualified MLBbro icons get a chance.
As one of the most popular players during his MLB career, news that Yankee legend Derek Jeter was a member of an ownership group that purchased the Miami Marlins in 2017, was very intriguing to the sports world.
Marlins fans, and talking heads around the game were optimistic that the Hall of Fame shortstop would bring his five-ring, championship swag to a franchise suffering through seven consecutive losing seasons.
One of the greatest winners Major League Baseball has ever seen, hired to bring a struggling franchise back to relevancy. What could go wrong?
DJ assumed the role of CEO and immediately shook up the room, firing previous president David Samson.
Outside of a 2020 NLDS appearance, the tenure of Jeter was largely underwhelming, compiling a 218-327 record in four seasons at the helm, ultimately leading to his resignation.
Now, six years later, Samson took the time to let the world know how he really feels about Derek Jeter’s tenure as CEO.
Via: Front Office Sports Podcast:
“Derek Jeter was the perfect person to buy a team because he didn’t use his money.
And he had someone in the name of Bruce Sherman who let him do anything he wanted with absolutely no accountability. And if you can get that kind of job, you might as well go get it,” Samson said.
“He was able to bring in all his own people, and he thought that everything that I did was bad. So, he erased anything I had done, and figured he could do “Costanza”, which is the opposite day. Anything I did, he did the opposite and assumed it would work.
He assumed that he could get a bigger TV deal. He assumed he could get a big naming rights deal, that he’d get tons of season-ticket holders, that he would make the team a winning team.
And after four years, I think he realized that being a shortstop and being an executive are two totally different things.
… And I think he realized quickly that being a pitchman for Subway was probably going to be more up his alley than running the team every day and being accountable for that.”
It’s very clear Samson is no fan of “The Captain”. Jeter, well known for dodging public feuds during his career and could teach a public relations masterclass for athletes, likely won’t clap back publicly.
Despite Samson’s scathing critique, DJ’s reign wasn’t all bad.
Hiring Kim Ng, the first female GM in professional sports and overseeing the trade for MLBbro Jazz Chisolm Jr., from the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2019 were a few highlights.
The Miami Marlins, currently sit in third place in the NL East at 10-9 early this season.
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