My Yankee autograph project ... #70-74

[Matsuicollector]

Alrighty. Got a little bit behind here. Here's the next couple

#15 Andrew Brackman



Brackman played both baseball and basketball for NC State and was drafted by the Yankees in the 1st round of the 07 draft. Later in 07 he underwent Tommy John surgery, but was still considered a top prospect, especially with his size (6'10"). While he was still able to strike hitters out when he returned from TJ surgery in 09 (8.7 K/9), he struggled mightily with his command (6.4 BB/9) and posted a 5+ ERA. He potched very briefly for the Yankees in 11 out of the bullpen, tossing 2.1 innings or scoreless ball for a career MLB ERA of 0.00. He struggled in the minor leagues in '12 and '13 for the reds and White Sox organizations. He reportedly quit baseball last season in attempt to resurrect his basketball career overseas.

#16 Andy Beal



Beal was darfted by the Yankees in the 5th round of the 00 draft. In 14 games started in 2000, he went 9-3 with a 2.34 ERA for Staten Island. He struck out 87 batters in 92 1/3 innings while walking only 17. He pitched well up through the Yankees minor league system until landing in AAA in 03, where he began to struggle. He was released by the Yankees in 05. This is Beal's only Yankee uni auto.

#17 Andy Cannizaro



Cannizaro was drafted by the Yankees in the 7th round of the 01 draft. In 05 he had a brief callup with the Yankees, helping to rest Jeter at SS. He had a hit in his first MLB at bat and homered is in a later game. He signed with the Rays in 08, but only made one appearance at the major league level that year before being trade to the Indians, where he spent the rest of his career at their AAA affiliate until retiring in 09. In the minor leagues he swung a decent bat, posting a career .272 AVG, but was never able to hit for much power with a .351 SLG

 

[Matsuicollector]

#18 Andy Carey



Carey was signed by the Yankees in 1950 and made his major league debut in 52. He played 3B with the Yankees until the 1960 season, when he was traded to KC early on in the year for Bob Cerv. He would play a couple more seasons retiring after the 62 season with the Dodgers. He had a career .260 batting average, with 64 home runs, and 350 RBIs. He led the league in triples in 1955 with 11. Carey was a 2 x WS chamption in 56 and 58, making a couple nice defensive plays to help preserve Don Larsen's WS perfect game in 56 (In the second inning he knocked down a Jackie Robinson hit, allowing SS Gil McDougald to get Robinson at first in time; In the eighth he robbed Gil Hodges of a line drive hit). This is Carey's only Yankee uni auto.

 

[Lancemountain]

really enjoying the thread

 

[dano7]

Enjoying this thread also. Realize that I didn't have a Carey auto. I'm working on obtaining one. I also realized that he had a card in the 1955 Topps Doubleheaders, which I just purchased. Thought I had all of the Yankees in that set already.
DANNY

 

[Matsuicollector]

I'm glad you guys are enjoying the thread! The Yankees have such a rich history with so many great players so it has been alot of fun collecting.

Also, glad I could help you out Danny. Carey was one I picked up within the past year as I didn't know he had an auto out there for a while.

 

[Matsuicollector]

Here's another Andy:

#19 Andy Morales



Morales defected from Cuba and was signed by the Yankees in 01. In his first season in AA he hit .231 with one HR in 48 games. However, the Yankees attempted to void his contract when it was discovered that he had underreported his age and they released him midway through the 01 season. Morales signed with the Boston Red Sox in 02 with a .231 AVG and 0 HR in 16 games. That was his last season of professional ball. This is his only Yankee uni auto.

 

[Topnotchsy]

Loving this thread!

 

[Matsuicollector]

Loving this thread!

Good to hear! Up next is a well known guy

#20 Andy Pettitte


Dual w/Jeter



Pettitte was drafted by the Yankees in the 22nd round of the 1990 draft. He would go on to become one the Yankees "Core Four," earning 3 AS appearances and 5 WS titles. Pettitte was the only member of the "Core Four" to leave and return, spending 04-06 with the Astros. He retired after the '10 season, only to come back in '12 and pitch 2 more years. He had some injury issues in his last 2 years, but otherwise continued to pitch well. His best season was in 96, his 2nd year in the league, where he lead the league in wins going 21-8 and finished 2nd in Cy Young voting. For his career he went 256-153 (.626 winning %) with a 3.85 ERA and 2448 Ks. Pettitte was especially known for his performance in the post season, holding the record for most postseason wins with 19. In 01 he was the ALCS MVP, winning 2 games and posting a 2.51 ERA against the Mariners .

 

[Matsuicollector]

Next up is #21 Anthony Claggett



Claggett was drafted by the Tigers in the 11th round of the 05 Draft. The Yankees acquired him from Detroit, along with Humberto Sánchez and Kevin Whelan, in exchange for Gary Sheffield after the 06 season. He worked his way through the Yankees minor system, and pitched well out of the bullpen after being converted from a starter to reliever. In 09, pitching for AAA team, he posted a 3.09 ERA. He got called up in August of 09 and had a rough debut giving up 11 hits, including 2 HRs, and 8 runs in 1 & 2/3 innings. He was sent back down to AAA shortly thereafter. In Sept of 09 he was DFA'd and then claimed the the Pirates. He pitched an inning for the Pirates late that season, giving up a solo HR. He spent the '10 and '11 season pitching in the Pirates organization. He has since been playing in the independent leagues, going back to starting and in '13 went 9-6 with a 3.11 ERA.

 

[Matsuicollector]

Here's a few recent maildays worth of stuff. Next guy up will be one of these newcomers

 

[Matsuicollector]

#22 Alan Horne



Horne was drafted in the 11th round by the Yankees in the 05 draft. He had previously been drafted out of high school in the 1st round by the Indians with the 27th pick, but elected to go to college. He showed some promise early on. In 07 for AA Trenton he went 12-4 with a 3.11 ERA and struck out 165 in 153 innings. He also won the Eastern Pitcher of the year Award. He struggled with injuries in 08 and 09, and was sidelined for all of '10 with surgery for a rotator cuff tear. He attempted to come back from the injury in the '11 season, but the shoulder was still a problem. He would have needed another shoulder surgery but decided to retire from baseball after 7 seasons in the Yankees minor league system.

 

[Matsuicollector]

Next up is #23 Art Ditmar



Ditmar was signed by the Philadelphia A's in 48, but did not play in the majors until the 54 season due to military service. In 57, a 13-player trade/fleecing, brought Ditmar, Bobby Shantz, Clete Boyer and others in exchange for Rip Coleman, Milt Graff, Billy Hunter, Mickey McDermott, Tom Morgan, Irv Noren and Jack Urban. He would become a 1x WS champion with the Yankees in 58, pitching 3.2 innings of scoreless ball. In 59 he would have his best season, going 13-9 with a 2.9 ERA and led the league with a 1.03 WHIP. However, that year the Yankees would again advance to the WS and Ditmar started games 1 & 5, but gave up 6 runs in a total of 1 & 2/3 innings (He lasted only one-third of an inning in Game 1 and one and one-third innings in Game 5). In 61 he was traded with Deron Johnson back to the A's for pitcher Bud Daley. He would play out the remaining season and then play 6 games with the A's in 62 before being released. For his career, he would go 72-77 with a 3.98 ERA. Another interesting factoid was that Ditmar sued Anheuser-Busch for $500,000 for tarnishing his reputation after a Budweiser TV commercial of the 1980s incorporated the original radio broadcast of the 1960 World Series Game 7, with announcer Chuck Thompson incorrectly naming Ditmar instead of Ralph Terry as the pitcher off whom Bill Mazeroski hit his legendary home run.

 

[Matsuicollector]

Up next is a fairly new member to the yankees organization:

#24 Austin Aune



Aune was drafted in the 2nd round of the '12 draft at the age of 18. He signed with the Yankees instead of going to TCU as a quarterback. He had a decent first year at the plate as a SS in Rk ball, batting .273. However, he committed 15 errors at his position. Last year he was converted to an outfielder and struggled, batting only .192. However, he is still very young and has time to turn it around.

 

[Lancemountain]

nice additions and great writeups!

 

[Matsuicollector]

Missed a day, so here are a couple more Austin's

#25 Austin Jackson


Jackson was drafted by the Yankees in the 8th round of the 05 draft. He made his way through the Yankees minor league system, making it to AAA in 09 and was named the yankees top prospect at the time. That year he hit .300 and had 24 stolen bases. He was bound to see playing time with the Yankees in the '10 season, but ended up being traded to the Tigers in the deal that brought Curtis Granderson to the Yankees. He got the call up to play with the Tigers in '10, playing 151 games and finishing with a .293 batting average, 10 triples, 4 home runs, and 41 RBI, and finished 2nd in AL RC of the Year voting (winner was Neftali Feliz). In 2011 he won the Fielding Bible Award as the best fielding center fielder. He has proved to be a reliable leadoff man for the Tigers, and at the age of 27, still has the potential to become a multiple all-star type player.


#26 Austin Krum



Krum was drafted by the Yankees in the 9th round of the 07 draft. He made it to AAA for the first time, at the age of 25, in 2011, but hit only .246/.328/.308 in 64 games. He was released before the '12 season and did not play that year. He then joined an independent Atlantic League team in '13 and hit .274/.330/.349 in 130 games.

 

[Matsuicollector]

Well, my future in-laws are in town so haven't had a chance to update the post. Let's try and catch up a little shall we. I'll do 3 today, and 3 tomorrow

#27 Austin Romine



Romine was drafted by the Yankees in the 2nd round of the 07 draft. He worked his way through the Yankees system showing good defensive ability and at times the ability to swing a good bat, though he has never really developed any power. Going into the 09 season, he was rated the Yankees' 4th best prospect and became the 2nd best prospect in 10. In 09, he was the Florida State League Player of the Year and in '10, he played in the All-Star Futures Game. Romine made his major league debut with the Yanks at the end of the '11 season when Martin and Cervelli were both dealing with injuries. He missed most of the 2012 season with back problems, but has been up and down between the major leagues and AAA since. In 155 big league at bats, he has gone .200/.247/.277. For his minor league career, he has gone .279/.334/.412. While he may never become an everyday starting catcher, he appears to have the ability to be a solid backup. Romine's father previously played to the Red Sox and his brother for the Tigers.


#28 Ben Gamel



Gamel was drafted by the Yankees in the 10th round of the '10 draft at the age of 18. He played well in A/A+ but struggled a bit at the plate last year when he was promoted to AA. He started the '14 season in AA and hasn't yet found his stroke. Gamel is still only 22 and has some time to turn it around.

#29 Bernie Williams


Triple/5, gypsy /25


Williams was signed as a free agent from Puerto Rico in 85 at the age of 17. Williams made his MLB debut in 91 to replace the injured Roberto Kelly. He was up and down between the majors and minors in the 91 and 92 season but became the everyday CF in 93. However, early that 93 season he got off to a slow start and was almost traded to the expos for Larry Walker. That trade fell through and he managed to stick with the Yankees until 95 when he started to turn it on. That season he hit.307/.392/.487 with 18 HR and 82 RBIs. In 96 he played even better, going .305/.391/.535 with 29HRs and 102 RBIs. Williams would finish his career with a .297 BA, .381 OBP, .477 SLG, 287HRs, and 1257 RBIs and be a 5x All-star, 4x Gold-Glove Winner, and 1x Silver slugger winner. He also finished his career as a top-10 Yankee in many statistical categories including doubles, walks, hits, extra-base hits, HRs, and RBIs.
More importantly he was a key component to the Yankees incredible decade of success, becoming a major part of their 4 WS wins. In my opinion, and I'm sure those of others, there should really be a "Core Five" as Bernie was another home grown guy who was just as important to those teams. In his first post-season experince in 95, he batted .429 in an ALDS loss to Seattle. In 96, he batted .467 in the ALDS against Texas. In the ALCS against Baltimore, hit hit .474 with 2 HRs including an 11th inning walk-off in game 1 of that series, earning him the ALCS MVP. In the WS he had a team leading 4 RBI, including a clutch homer in the eighth inning of Game 3, which helped capture the team's first championship since 1978. Bernie's post-season success would continue throughout his carrer. He holds the career postseason record for RBI (80) and is second all-time for postseason home runs (22), doubles (29), total hits (128), total bases (223), and runs scored (83), and third in post-season games played (121).

 

[Matsuicollector]

Another 3 to catch up

#30 Bert "Campy" Campaneris



Campaneris was signed as a free agent in 61 by the A's. He made it up to the big leagues as a SS in 63. He played with the big league club from 64-76, becoming one of the key figures of the back-to-back-to-back WS winning A's from 72-74. In 76 he singed with the Rangers, and was traded to the Angels in 79, mainly playing as a platoon SS/reserve infielder. In 82 he played with the Mexican leagues but then played one last year in the majors in 83, signing with the Yankees. That year he batted a career high of .322 over 60 games. Over his career he hit .259/.311/.342, was a 6 time all-star, and led the league in SBs 6 times. This is Campy's only Yankee uni autograph, so there aren't too many of them out there.


#31 Bill "Moose" Skowron



Moose was signed as a free agent by the Yankees in 1950. He would make it up to the big leagues in 54, playing in 87 games and hitting .340/.392/.577. In the beginning, he was platooned at first base with Joe Collins, but from 1958 on he became the Yankees' full-time first baseman, and was a key member of 5 WS winning teams in the late 50's/early 60's. He was also an 8x all-star, all but one of which were with the Yankees. After the 62 season, he was traded to the Dodgers for Stan Williams. He had a rough season with the Dodgers, batting .203, but took revenge against the yankees in the WS, hitting .385 as the Yanks were swept. He then spent time with the Senators and White Sox and finished his career playing a year with the Angels. For his career he hit, .282/.332/.459, with 1566 hits, 211 HRs, 888 RBIs.

#32 Bill Virdon



Virdon actually signed by the Yankees in 1950, but was traded to the Cardinals in the deal that brought future HOFer Enos Slaughter to the Yankees at the end of his career. He was mainly known as a good defensive outfielder during his playing days (55–65) as a CF for the Cardinals and Pirates. He won the ROY in 55, was a WS champion with the Pirates in 1960 (against the Yankes) and won a gold glove in 62. He finished his career batting .267/316/.379. After his playing days he became a manager, managing the Pirates (1972–73), Yankees (1974–75), Astros (1975–82), and Expos (1983–84). He was the AL Manager of the Year in 1974, and NL Manager of the Year in 1980. His career managerial record was 995–921 (.519).

 

[Matsuicollector]

Up next is #33 Bobby Abreu



Abreu was signed by the Astros in 1990 out of Venezuela at the age of 16. He played sparingly with the Astros in the big leagues in 96 and 97 before ending up with the Phillies in 98 after the expansion draft. With the Phillies from 98-05 he would turn into a really good hitter and on-base guy with season averages of .307 BA, .400+ OBP, .500+ slugging, ~175 hits, ~25 HRs, 90+ RBIs and 100+ Walks. However, he would only be a 2x All-star, 1x Silver Slugger, and 1x Golg Glove winner during that time. In the middle of the 06 season, Abreu was traded to the Yankees along with Cory Lidle for the 05 1st round pick CJ Henry and a few other low-level prospects. Abreu would play well with the Yankees putting up 100+ RBIs in the 07 and 08 seasons. He then signed with the Angels in 09, missing out on the WS run with the Yankees that year. He played with the Angels from 09-mid 12 seasons where he was released and then signed with the Dodgers for the remainder of the season. He played well his first year with the Angels but his production dropped off significantly afterward. He did not play in the 2013 season, and currently is in the minor leagues with the Mets. For his career thus far he has a stat line of .292/.396/.477 with 2437 hits, 287 HRs, 1349 RBIs, and 399 SBs.

 

[Matsuicollector]

Starting this up again

#34 Bobby Cox



Before becoming one of the all-time great managers, Bobby Cox first tried to make it to the big show as a player. He first signed with the Dodgers in 59, but was never able to make it to the majors with them. He then bounced between the Cubs and Braves minor leauge systmes between 65-67. He was traded to the Yankee before the 68 season and would play 135 games for them at 3B. That season he hit .229/.300/.316. In 69 he would take on more of a reserve role, but again struggled at the plate going .215/.332/.292. He would hang around for a couple for years after that in the Yankees minor league system before switching his focus. As a manager he won 1 WS title, 5 NL pennants and 4 MOY awards, on his way to becoming the 4th winningest manager in MLB history.

 

[Matsuicollector]

Another All-star

#35 Bobby Murcer



Murcer was signed by the Yankees in 64 at the age of 18. He played sparingly in 65 and 66 before needing to take the 67 and 68 seasons off for military service. He then returned to the Yankees in 69 and put up 26 HRs. He continued to play at a high levels for the Yankees, earning AS appearances from 71-74. He also won a GG in 72. His best season for the Yankes was 71 when he put up 25HRs and a line of .331/.427/.543 and led the league with a .969 OPS. In 75 he was traded to the Giants for Bobby Bonds and would be an AS for the last time that season. After the Giants he p;layed for the Cubs before being traded back to the Yankees for Paul Semall in 79. He would end up playing 5 more seasons before retiring. He would finish his career with a .277 AVG, 252 HRs and 1,043 RBIs.