May 6 – Happy Birthday Lute Boone

There have been 29 starting second basemen in Yankee franchise history. The current one, Robinson Cano has a chance to go down in history as the greatest Yankee second sacker of all time. That honor now belongs to the Hall of Famer, Tony Lazzeri, who started at second base for New York for twelve seasons. One of my favorites, Willie Randolph holds the record for most seasons starting at second base for the Yankees with thirteen. This is the ninth season Cano has started at that position for New York putting him one behind Bobby Richardson, who played there for nine seasons in the Bronx. The first second baseman in franchise history was a guy named Jimmy Williams, who held the job for seven straight seasons, until 1907. Today’s Pinstripe Birthday celebrant, Lute Boone was the starting second baseman for New York in 1914 and ’15.  He was a horrible big league hitter, averaging  just .209 during his four seasons in the Big Apple. He had much better success hitting in the American Association. That’s where he ended up after his big league career ended for good in 1918. He kept playing in that league until he was 40 years old and then he became an owner and player manager of his own minor league team.

Here’s a look at some key stats of my picks for the top five second basemen in Yankee franchise history:

Player                      Yrs Starting      G       H      R       HR    RBI       AVE    Rings
Tony Lazzeri              12                1659   1784  952   169   1154   .293     5
Willie Randolph          13                1694   1731  1027    48   549   .275     2
Robinson Cano           8+               1244  1499   738   185   735    .309      1
Joe Gordon                 7                 1000  1000   596   153   975    .271      4
Bobby Richardson       9                  1412  1432   643     34    390   .266      1

Lute Boone shares his May 6th birthday with this former Yankee reliever.