Bill Skowron and Team Loyalty
The Yankees' Original Moose: We'd Have Gone For The Money
Sep 24, 2007
Many fans that started following the game in the 1950s and 1960s bemoan the “fact” that player loyalty today is almost nonexistent. “Players are interested only in money. They play for whatever team pays them the most. In the old days, players cared about their teams," they lament. Those fans are confusing team loyalty with team identification.
If We Played Today, We'd Do The Same Thing
A few years ago at an autograph show, Bill Skowron, who played for the Yankees, Dodgers, Senators, White Sox, and Angels from 1954-1967, referring to the players of his era, succinctly stated, “If we played today, we’d do the same thing.” Bill “Moose” Skowron is identified with the Yankees despite having played for several other teams. The “Moose” was just as “loyal” to his other teams as he was to the Yankees.
Skowron Was A Powerful Hitter
Skowron was a powerful right-handed hitter with excellent power to the opposite field who had some excellent seasons with the Yankees. He played for them from 1954-1962, averaging .294 and hitting about 20 home runs a season. Bill scored the only run in Game 7 of the 1962 World Series, and usually hit fifth in the Yankees’ lineup, behind Mickey Mantle, who hit third, and Yogi Berra, who batted fourth.
Going To Different Cities In Search of Money
Today’s players have freedom of movement not afforded before free agency. The result has not been a decrease in team loyalty, something that always was tenuous at best, but rather an increase in the confusion about which team is a particular player’s “team.” Never before in the history of the game have so many gone to so many cities in search of so much money.
Greats Identified With One Team
Lou Gehrig, Walter Johnson, Ted Williams, Stan Musial, Joe DiMaggio, Bill Dickey, Roberto Clemente, Mickey Mantle, Tony Gwynn, and George Brett are among the greats identified with a single team, but more and more players are playing for more and more teams for more and more money. One consequence has been that many of today’s greats have played for at least two teams. Is Roger Clemens Red Sox or a Yankee? Is Alex Rodriguez a Mariner, a Ranger, or a Yankee? How many fans associate Paul Konerko with the Dodgers or Jermaine Dye with the Braves? Remember when Kansas City had an outfield of Johnny Damon, Carlos Beltran, and Jermaine Dye?
Mariano Rivera, Jorge Posada, and Andruw Jones
Many players are still identified with one team. Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, and Jorge Posada are usually the first mentioned, but Andruw Jones, Chipper Jones, John Smoltz, Brandon Webb, Carsten Charles Sabathia, and Albert Pujols have spent their entire major league careers with one team (Smoltz never pitched for Detroit), but that may change for some of these players. Rivera, Posada, and Andruw Jones could be free agents after the 2007 season. If they leave the team with which they spent their entire career, they will still be identified with that team. They will be as loyal to their next team, while playing for that team, as they are to their present team. There is no blame. There is nothing wrong in what they might do. Ownership tries to give a player as little money as possible. The players try to get as much money as they can. Players from the past would not have acted any differently. Ask Bill Skowron.
