Prime 9 - New York Yankees

The 12th installment in the "Prime 9" series - spotlighting the 9 best players per team from the 1966-70 time period.

For the series backstory and team rankings, click here.

The Yankees won 398 games between 1966 and 1970. After losing more games than they won from 1966-69 (including a last-place finish in 1966), in 1970 they won 93 games, a 13-game improvement over 1969.

Stars of the 1960s: Mickey Mantle

Continuing with my "Stars of the 1960s" series, today's batter is Mickey Mantle.

Unlike with Willie Mays, Topps saw fit to use a new photo each year for Mantle's cards.  You'll notice that the '66 card is a recent reprint.  The 1967 card was my first Mantle card, and I can still recall the feeling I had that day "Look!  A Mickey Mantle card!"  I was never a Yankees fan, but always a Mantle fan. (Who wasn't?)


In the summer of 2009, my son and I were driving from Pennsylvania to Arizona. While in Missouri and Oklahoma, we would occasionally get off the interstate and check out some sights on old Route 66. As we entered the extreme northeast corner of Oklahoma, we decided to get off the interstate and drive the half-mile up into Kansas (just to say we were in Kansas).

When we picked up Route 66 and drove back into Oklahoma, the first town we entered was Commerce. Driving down the main street, they have banners hanging from the street lights proclaiming it as the hometown of Mickey Mantle. What an unexpected treat, and completely by accident!

Mickey Mantle Day - 1969

I found this button a few weeks ago at a nearby antique shop. It's a 4-inch pin commemorating Mickey Mantle Day on June 8, 1969 (just about 2 years after Whitey Ford retired). Mantle had retired during spring training that year, after 18 seasons in Yankees' pinstripes.

I've never been a Yankees fan, but (like just about every kid from my generation, I would guess,) I've always been a Mickey Mantle fan.

A few days later, I found out it was a re-issue made in the 1980s, but that's ok.

Yankees' All-1960s Team (Pitchers)

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Last week I posted a column about the All-1960s Yankees' Batters. Here now is the pitching staff.



Pictured above are the top 6 pitchers (by innings pitched), plus #9 (Steve Hamilton) and #10 (Hal Reniff).

I don't have a card for #7 Bill Stafford, and I have bypassed 1968 Rookie of the Year Stan Bahnsen for 2 reasons: He only had 2 significant seasons with the Yankees in the 1960s (whereas all the other pitchers had at least 4), and I also wanted to have some relief pitchers represented (Hamilton, Reniff).

(Click to enlarge)

This chart shows innings pitched and games started for those pitchers who had 200 or more innings pitched for the Yankees in the decade. Next to their name is the number of years with the Yankees (in the 1960s), and the number of significant years (50 or more innings pitched in a season).

(see: Whitey Ford, Ralph Terry, Jim Bouton, Hal Reniff)

(If anyone wants the entire list of 62 players, send me an email through my profile page.)
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Yankees' All-1960s Team (Batters)

These are the top players at each position during the 1960s for the Yankees, the team America loved (well, maybe not everybody).

Although the decade ended badly for the Yankees, it started off as per usual, with 5 trips to the World Series in 5 years. Then the wheels started falling off.

Here are the players who made at least 20 starts for the team during the 1960s (click to enlarge):



Long-time Braves manager Bobby Cox made the all-rookie team in 1968!

(see: Elston Howard, Bobby Richardson, Tom Tresh, Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris)
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