Yogi Berra was taken to a Florida hospital Thursday after a fall in the New York Yankees’ spring training clubhouse.
I wonder if the call immediately went out to Whitey Ford to get ready to take his place as the “Greatest Living Yankee.”
Fortunately, Berra, 85, appears to be OK and was reportedly back in the clubhouse Friday. The “Greatest Living Yankee” is a unique unofficial title and sort of illustrates the undeniable — yet frustrating — royalty that goes with being a New York Yankee.
We may debate and designate the greatest player of a particular franchise, but there is rarely any distinction between the greatest player in the history of a team and the greatest living player for that organization.
No one is referred to as the “Greatest Living Redskin.” There is never any debate about the “Greatest Living Wizard,” though there may be some discussions taking place about “Worst Living Wizard” — it is such a wider pool to chose from.
But this is a title that has become part of the Yankee lore. Google the phrase and 278,000 entries come up.
This tradition started with the late and great Yankee public address announcer, Bob Sheppard, who would introduce Joe DiMaggio as the “Greatest Living Yankee” at old-timers’ games.
Though it is not clear when Sheppard started this tradition, DiMaggio held the title for quite some time — arguably since he retired in 1951 until he died in 1999.
Poor Mickey Mantle, who would have been next in line, never got the chance to be referred to as the “Greatest Living Yankee,” since he passed away four years before DiMaggio.
Berra has held the unofficial title since DiMaggio died. The Hall of Famer was one of the top three hitting catchers in the history of the game, swatting 358 home runs, driving in 1,430 runs and batting .285 while behind the plate for much of his 19-year career. Berra was a three-time American League MVP and has 10 World Series rings.
His apparent successor is Ford, Berra’s battery mate. The 82-year-old lefthander is also in Cooperstown with one of the greatest winning percentages of all time, a career 236-106 record with a 2.75 ERA over 16 seasons.
After Ford, it gets a little dicey.
Many would say Reggie Jackson then becomes the “Greatest Living Yankee.” I know Jackson is identified with the Yankee franchise, but the facts are that he spent just five of his 21 seasons as a Yankee. He spent nine seasons on the Kansas City/Oakland Athletics and had his best years in that uniform.
I would think to be considered the greatest living player would require more than a five-year stint with the team.
After Jackson, the crown probably goes to a player still in uniform — Derek Jeter, who is going into his 17th season, all with the Yankees, and is on the verge of passing 3,000 hits this year.
Here’s someone who will never have that title — Alex Rodriguez. A-Rod is entering his eighth season as a Yankee — longer than any other organization now in his career — and had far more impressive numbers over that time than Jackson or perhaps anyone else for that matter — 268 home runs and 841 RBI over seven juiced-up, for the most part, seasons.
A-Rod could live 100 years, and he will never be the “Greatest Living Yankee.”
Examiner columnist Thom Loverro is the co-host of “The Sports Fix” from noon to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday on ESPN980 and espn980.com. Contact him at [email protected].
