Yankee Position Players Who Pitched

Occurrence. Date: Name, usual position. Pitching performance on that day.

1. 1908: Hal Chase, 1B. Pitched to 1 batter and got him out. I have no further information, not even an exact date. This is the same Hal Chase who was accused of throwing multiple games and ultimately banned from baseball, one of the most disreputable characters in the game's history.

2. May 11, 1909: Charles "Butch" Schmidt, 1B. Pitched 5 innings, finishing the game. 8 runs, but only 4 earned. 10 hits, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts. Later won a World Series with the 1914 Boston Braves.

3. June 1, 1920: Babe Ruth, RF. Appropriate that he's Number 3 here. He made 5 appearances as a pitcher for the Yankees, after having been a really good pitcher for the Red Sox from 1915 to 1918. But by 1919, he was almost a full-time pitcher, so this counts.

On June 1, 1920, he started, pitched 4 innings, gave up 4 runs, 2 earned. According to the rules of the time, he got credit for the win. On June 13, 1921, he started, pitched 5 innings, gave up 4 runs, 3 earned, hit 2 home runs, and got the win. On October 1, 1921, he pitched 4 innings of relief, and got the win, despite allowing 6 runs and causing the game to go into extra innings.

All 3 of those appearances were home games at the Polo Grounds. (The original Yankee Stadium didn't open until 1923.)

He didn't pitch again until September 28, 1930, another late-season performance, a complete-game victory over the Red Sox, who, knowing the former Sox start might bring in a huge crowd, asked the Braves to borrow Braves Field, instead of playing it at Fenway Park.

His mound finale was another end-of-season job, October 1, 1933, his only outing as a Yankee pitcher at Yankee Stadium. He was shaky, but he went the distance in a 6-5 win over the Red Sox.

Then it didn't happen for the Yankees again for 33 years -- and then it happened on back-to-back days.

4. August 25, 1968: Rocky Colavito, RF. The Bronx native starred for the Cleveland Indians and the Detroit Tigers, but was only a Yankee for the last 3 months of a career that saw him hit 374 home runs and showcase a rifle arm in right field.

He pitched most of the 4th inning, plus all of the 5th and the 6th, against the Tigers at Yankee Stadium, allowing no runs on a hit and 2 walks, striking out 1, and ended up the winning pitcher as the Yankees won, 6-5 at Yankee Stadium. He had previously pitched 3 innings in a 1958 game for the Indians, and in 5 2/3rds career innings pitched, his ERA was 0.00.

5. August 26, 1968: Gene Michael, SS. The very next day, "Stick" went 3 innings, in relief of Al Downing, against the California Angels, and allowed 5 runs -- none of them earned. Ironically, it was the man substituting for him at shortstop that day who made an error that led to a 4-run 8th inning: Ruben Amaro Sr., father of the current Philadelphia Phillies' general manager. (A mark and his son, Ruben Amaro Jr., also played for the Philadelphia Phillies.)

Stick allowed 5 hits, but no walks, and struck out 3. The Yankees lost, 10-2. This was the last time a position player pitched for the Yankees at the old Stadium.

6. August 6, 1991: Alvaro Espinoza, SS. The last long-term Yankee shortstop before ol' What's His Name, he got 2 outs in the 8th inning of a 14-5 loss to the Chicago White Sox in Chicago.

7. July 18, 1996: Mike Aldrete, OF. The last player to wear Number 20 on a Yankee title team other than Jorge Posada, he pitched the last inning of a 16-4 loss away to the Milwaukee Brewers. It was his last season in the majors, but he got a ring.

8. August 19, 1997: Wade Boggs, 3B. The Yankees were in the middle of what used to be a traditional bad August trip to the Coast -- some of them were "Borg roadtrips," where we lost seven of nine and resistance was futile -- losing 12-4 to the Anaheim Angels (as they were then known), when Joe Torre brought Boggs in to pitch the 8th inning. He threw 16 knuckleballs and didn't allow a run.

He would also pitch a scoreless inning for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

9. April 13, 2009: Nick Swisher, RF. The Yankees got off to a rough start in their 1st season in the new Yankee Stadium, before losing badly in 2 of their 1st 3 games in it. This was a 15-5 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field, after trailing 9-0 after just 2 innings.

Swish pitched the 8th and final Yankee inning in the field, and allowed a hit and a walk, but no runs. Meaning that, at that point, he was the Yankees' best pitcher of the season. Things did settle down, and the Yankees won the World Series.

10. June 30, 2012: Dewayne Wise, OF. This was the 1st time it happened for the Yankees at the new Stadium, in a 14-7 loss to the White Sox.

Wise throws lefthanded, so it's surprising that Joe Girardi didn't pitch him over and over and over again to pitch to 1 lefty batter and then take him out for a righthander. Of course, he had Boone Logan for that, to every Yankee Fan's dismay. Wise got 2 outs in the 9th, without allowing a run.

11. May 15, 2013: Alberto Gonzalez, IF. Got the last out of a 12-2 loss to the Seattle Mariners.

12. April 19, 2014: Dean Anna, SS. Another whacked-out move that couldn't possibly have been in Girardi's Binder Full of Strategies, he allowed the last 2 runs of a 16-1 battering from the Rays in St. Petersburg. As with the last day on this list, the shelled starter was Ivan Nova.

13. May 23, 2015: Garrett Jones, 1B. Got the last 2 outs of a 15-4 home throttling at the hands of the Texas Rangers.

14. August 25, 2015: Brendan Ryan, 3B. Coming 47 years to the day after Colavito's mound appearance, in a 15-1 home disaster inflicted on us by the Houston Astros, he pitched the 8th and 9th innings, pitching to 8 batters, allowing 2 hits, no walks, and no runs. 

Brendan Ryan Stops the Bleeding, But a Lot of Blood Lost

Brendan Ryan is a classic good-field-no-hit infielder, a jack of all trades and master of none.

Last night, in the Yankees' game against the Houston Astros, he added pitching to his trades. Maybe he finally got a bachelor's degree in one, if not a master's.

He pitched the 8th and 9th innings, pitching to 8 batters, allowing 2 hits, no walks, and no runs. A good performance.

That was the only positive from last night's game, as bad a game as the Yankees have played in the modern era. Ryan stopped the bleeding, but a lot of blood was lost.

Ivan Nova started, and he got the 1st 2 outs of the game, then allowed walk, RBI triple, walk, RBI double, 2-RBI double, RBI single, walk, before finally getting out of the inning. The Astros had hung a 5 on the board before the Yankees even got to bat.

Actually, after that, Nova got the Astros out 1-2-3 in the 2nd and the 3rd, and stranded 2 runners in the 4th. But he allowed a double and a home run to start the 5th. That's when Joe Girardi decided to take him out, and brought in Nick Rumbelow. He allowed 2 more runs in the inning.

Then Girardi looked in his Binder Full of Strategies, and brought in Chris Capuano. Trusting Chris Capuano to stop a team that's already scored 7 runs off you is like electing a Tea Partier as your State's Governor. He pitched well in the 6th, and got the 1st out in the 7th, but then the inevitable happened, and he allowed 6 more runs.

That's when Girardi brought Ryan in. This is what it's come to for Chris Capuano: Brendan Ryan is a better pitcher. (He might as well be a pitcher: Since becoming a Yankee in September 2013, he's batted .196.)

Jacoby Ellsbury led off the bottom of the 9th with a single to right. Chris Young was hit by a pitch. Brett Gardner grounded into a force play that got Ellsbury to 3rd. Greg Bird grounded out, scoring Ellsbury. But Stephen Drew struck out to end the comeback. (Go ahead and laugh.)

Astros 15, Yankees 1. WP: Dallas Keuchel (15-6). No save (as if). LP: Nova (5-6).

The series concludes this afternoon. Michael Pineda returns from the Disabled List, and Collin McHugh starts for the Astros in this rubber game.

The Yankees scored 1 run in the 1st game, the Astros none; the Yankees scored 1 run in the 2nd game, the Astros 15. Good thing this stuff isn't decided on aggregate. Today, "rubber game" means the Yankees need to bounce back big-time.

Get to Know Didi Gregorius

According to Andrew Marchand of ESPN New York:

The Yankees on Friday announced that they have acquired Gregorius from the Diamondbacks in a three-team trade that also involves the Tigers. Right-handed pitcher Shane Greene was traded from the Yankees to Detroit, while Arizona received left-handed pitcher Robbie Ray and minor league infielder Domingo Leyba from the Tigers.

Gregorius hit .226 with six homers and 27 RBIs in 80 games with the Diamondbacks in 2014. Greene was 5-4 with a 3.78 ERA as a rookie last season.

The Yankees would have Gregorius and Brendan Ryan as shortstops on their roster.

Gregorius, who is from the Netherlands, is known as a good defender, but there are questions if he will be able to hit consistently enough in the big leagues. In 191 games, he is a .243 career hitter.

Those are the basics. I've already seen people rave about this new shortstop. Given that starting pitching, if healthy, is actually a strength for the Yankees, I'm not going to miss Greene much.

But who is our new acquisition?

*

Mariekson Julius Gregorius was born on February 18, 1990 -- which will make him 25 years old next Opening Day -- in Amsterdam, the capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. (Note: Contrary to popular misconception, "Holland" is not interchangeable with "the Netherlands." Holland is only part of the country, just as England is only part of Great Britain.)

The Kingdom of the Netherlands includes territories in the Caribbean, including "the Country of Curaçao," which has a population of about 150,000. This is where Gregorius' parents are from, and where he maintains his residence, probably due to its proximity to North America. Although it is a very mixed society in terms of ethnicities, the overwhelming majority of residents, including the Gregorius family, identifies as "black." I mention this only for descriptive purposes, not to make a judgment, positive or negative.

Notable natives of Curaçao include former Yankees Andruw Jones and Hensley "Bam Bam" Meulens, Randall Simon, and Jurickson Profar, who played on their team that won the 2004 Little League World Series. They also include Gregory van der Wiel, a star player at soccer team Paris Saint-Germain. Curaçaoans play for the Netherlands in international competitions, including the Olympic Games, the World Cup soccer tournament, and the World Baseball Classic -- and, in the latter, the Dutch team relies heavily on their Caribbean players due to their ability to play in all seasons due to the climate.

Gregorius -- I can't find any reference to where the nickname "Didi" came from, but it clearly didn't come from "Mariekson," "Julius" or "Gregorius" -- is listed as being 6-foot-2 and 205 pounds, so he's in the modern "big shortstop" mode of Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, Nomar Garciaparra, and the pioneers of this role, Cal Ripken and Robin Yount.

He was signed by the Cincinnati Reds in 2007, and made his major league debut with him on September 5, 2012, at Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati. Batting 8th, playing shortstop, and wearing Number 25, he went 0-for-4, as Roy Halladay pitched very well for the Philadelphia Phillies, who beat the Reds, 6-2.

The Reds traded him to the Arizona Diamondbacks after the 2012 season, and he spent 2013 and 2014 with the Phoenix club, as their main shortstop. He wore Number 1 there, but that number is retired by the Yankees for Billy Martin; and 25 is worn by Mark Teixeira. So he'll need a new number as a Yankee.

He hit decently in 2013, but missed the 1st 2 months of the 2014 season due to injury, and never really got untracked with the bat. He's a lefthanded hitter, so Yankee Stadium should help him, but he hasn't shown much power. Granted, Chase Field is a pitcher's park, so it's not clear how much power he really has. So his hitting is a question mark.

He's a solid fielder, though, and versatile: In what amounts to 2 full seasons in the majors, he's played 173 games at shortstop, 11 at 2nd base and 2 at 3rd base.

I can't find much about his personal interests, although he appears to be something of an artist, and showed some respect for Jeter in a sketch he made public.

I can find no information as to whether he's married or has children. However, I also can't find any information about him being a disciplinary problem. Apparently, the reason the D-backs made the trade has nothing to do with him, and everything to do with needing pitching, as Greene had a good (though hardly great) rookie season for the Yankees and, at age 26, won't be a kid in their rotation.

So this sounds like a trade the Yankees could afford to make. Perhaps the line to use on Gregorius is the one Joe Torre used when Scott Brosius became the new 3rd baseman in 1998: Just field your position well, and I won't care if you hit .200. Which is about what Brosius hit the season before in Oakland. But he hit .300 for the Yanks, had nearly 20 homers and 100 RBIs, fielded like a genius, and was the MVP of the World Series.

Now, no one's expecting Didi to do anything like that in his first season in Pinstripes. But if he fields well, and hits, say, .250, and drives in 40 to 60 runs from the 8th or 9th spot in the order, I would take that, and I think Joe Girardi would take that, too.

Two things are certain: The New York-area tabloids are going to love his nice, short nickname, and we're going to see "DIDI" in headlines, especially on the back page; and Yankee broadcaster John Sterling is going to come up with someone catchy. It might be based on his nickname: "Didi-licious!" Or it might be based on his last name: "Gorgeous Gregorius!"

At the very least, he looks like an interesting player, and a better one than the man who looked until today like he'd be the Yankees' starting shortstop in 2015, Brendan Ryan.