Bring Up Pitchers? We Don't Have to Bring Up Any Pitchers.

We begin in the 1950s and the names are Vic Raschi, Tommy Byrne, Whitey Ford, Bob Grim, Johnny Kucks, and Tom Sturdivant. In the 1960s the names included Mel Stottlemyre, Ralph Terry, Bill Stafford, Jim Bouton, Al Downing, Fritz Peterson, and Stan Bahnsen. The 1970s included Ron Guidry and Doc Medich. The 1980s had Dave Righetti, and finally, the 1990s had Andy Pettitte, Sterling Hitchcock, and Ramiro Mendoza. In more than fifty years, a time in which the team has won 14 World Championships, the Yankees farm system has produced few great starting pitchers.

It is difficult to select the best Yankees starting pitcher of all time, but Whitey Ford would be a good start. He was signed by the Yankees and worked his way through the farm system. Ron Giudry had some excellent seasons, and his 1978 season might have been the greatest in Yankees history. Guidry came up through the farm system, as did Vic Raschi, who won twenty-one games each year from 1949-1951. Mel Stottlemyre, who helped win the 1964 pennant, won twenty games twice, and was a pitching mainstay during the Yankees’ lean years.

But after those four, there is a huge dropoff. Tommy Byrne had a checkered career, could not pitch strikes until he was in his mid-thirties, and spent a lot of time in cities such as St. Louis, Chicago, and Washington before returning to help win the 1955 pennant.

Bob Grim was American League Rookie of the Year in 1954, winning twenty games and losing only six, but he developed arm trouble and helped briefly as a relief pitcher in 1957 before being sent to Kansas City. Johnny Kucks, Tom Sturdivant, and Bill Stafford contributed but had short careers and never reached their potential due to injury.

Ralph Terry had some fine seasons, but except for 1962, he was never more than a good pitcher. The same could be said for Jim Bouton, Al Downing, Fritz Peterson, and Stan Bahnsen.

Bouton won twenty-one games in 1963 and followed that with eighteen wins, but that was it. He never won more than four games in any one season after his two big years. Downing never won more than fourteen games in any one season and was shipped off to Oakland in 1970.

Fritz Peterson is one of the most underrated of all Yankees pitchers. He won twenty games in 1970, had a 3.30 lifetime E.R.A., and would have been more appreciated had he pitched for better Yankees team. Bahnsen was Rookie of the Year in 1968, winning seventeen games and losing twelve. He followed that up with a poor sophomore year and, after two more decent seasons, he was sent to the White Sox, where he won twenty-one games in 1972. His career deteriorated after that great season with Chicago.

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