August 11 – Happy Birthday Bubba Crosby

I wanted Bubba Crosby to make it as a Yankee because I really liked his name. He thrilled us all with a home run in his first Yankee at bat versus the White Sox reliever, Shingo Takatsu. But with a starting outfield of Hideki Matsui, Bernie Williams and Gary Sheffield and subs like Kenny Lofton and Ruben Sierra on the 2004 Yankee roster, I knew I wouldn’t be seeing his very cool moniker too often in that season’s box scores. Joe Torre did get Bubba into 55 games during his first year in pinstripes, however it was mostly as a defensive replacement in the late innings. Crosby had only 58 plate appearances that year and hit a woeful .151.

Still, New York’s front office held onto him that offseason and with Lofton gone from the 2005 roster, Crosby did see more playing time in his second Yankee season. In 76 games and 103 plate appearances, the native of Houston, TX hit a more decent but punchless .276. In 2006, when starting left fielder Hideki Matsui broke his wrist in early May, Joe Torre turned to Melky Cabrera to replace Godzilla, which instantly put a dark cloud over Crosby’s future as a Yankee. Sure enough, the Yankees released him in October of 2006 and though he would later sign with Cincinnati and then Seattle, he has never again appeared in another big league game.

The Yankees originally acquired Crosby along with Scott Proctor from the Dodgers in the July 2003 trade that sent Robin Ventura to Los Anegels. Bubba shares his August 11th birthday with the same Yankee outfielder who beat him out as Matsui’s replacement.