Dock Ellis Passes
Posted by Steve Lombardi on December 20, 2008
Dock Ellis passed away yesterday. (Hat tip to BBTF.) Few realize this, but, while Ellis was best known for his days with the Pirates, he was a member of one of the best Yankees starting rotations in terms of wins. Via Baseball-Reference.com's Play Index Pitching Season Finder, here are the only Yankees teams where more than one starting pitcher had 17+ wins. As you can see, the 1976 trio of Catfish Hunter, Ed Figueroa and Dock Ellis were workhorses for Billy Martin that season.
Year Lg Team Number Players Matching +----+--+---------------------------------+------+-----------------------------------------+ 1927 AL New York Yankees 4 Wilcy Moore / Waite Hoyt / Herb Pennock / Urban Shocker 1923 AL New York Yankees 4 Sam Jones / Waite Hoyt / Joe Bush / Herb Pennock 2003 AL New York Yankees 3 Andy Pettitte / Roger Clemens / Mike Mussina 1976 AL New York Yankees 3 Catfish Hunter / Ed Figueroa / Dock Ellis 1963 AL New York Yankees 3 Ralph Terry / Jim Bouton / Whitey Ford 1951 AL New York Yankees 3 Allie Reynolds / Vic Raschi / Ed Lopat 1932 AL New York Yankees 3 Lefty Gomez / Red Ruffing / Johnny Allen 1928 AL New York Yankees 3 George Pipgras / Waite Hoyt / Herb Pennock 1924 AL New York Yankees 3 Waite Hoyt / Herb Pennock / Joe Bush 1922 AL New York Yankees 3 Bob Shawkey / Joe Bush / Waite Hoyt 1921 AL New York Yankees 3 Carl Mays / Waite Hoyt / Bob Shawkey 1920 AL New York Yankees 3 Carl Mays / Jack Quinn / Bob Shawkey 2006 AL New York Yankees 2 Chien-Ming Wang / Randy Johnson 2002 AL New York Yankees 2 Mike Mussina / David Wells 2001 AL New York Yankees 2 Mike Mussina / Roger Clemens 1998 AL New York Yankees 2 David Cone / David Wells 1980 AL New York Yankees 2 Ron Guidry / Tommy John 1979 AL New York Yankees 2 Tommy John / Ron Guidry 1978 AL New York Yankees 2 Ed Figueroa / Ron Guidry 1974 AL New York Yankees 2 Pat Dobson / Doc Medich 1969 AL New York Yankees 2 Mel Stottlemyre / Fritz Peterson 1968 AL New York Yankees 2 Stan Bahnsen / Mel Stottlemyre 1964 AL New York Yankees 2 Whitey Ford / Jim Bouton 1962 AL New York Yankees 2 Ralph Terry / Whitey Ford 1956 AL New York Yankees 2 Johnny Kucks / Whitey Ford 1955 AL New York Yankees 2 Whitey Ford / Bob Turley 1950 AL New York Yankees 2 Ed Lopat / Vic Raschi 1949 AL New York Yankees 2 Vic Raschi / Allie Reynolds 1948 AL New York Yankees 2 Vic Raschi / Ed Lopat 1938 AL New York Yankees 2 Lefty Gomez / Red Ruffing 1937 AL New York Yankees 2 Lefty Gomez / Red Ruffing 1936 AL New York Yankees 2 Monte Pearson / Red Ruffing 1934 AL New York Yankees 2 Lefty Gomez / Red Ruffing 1926 AL New York Yankees 2 Urban Shocker / Herb Pennock 1915 AL New York Yankees 2 Ray Caldwell / Ray Fisher 1910 AL New York Highlanders 2 Russ Ford / Jack Quinn 1906 AL New York Highlanders 2 Jack Chesbro / Al Orth 1905 AL New York Highlanders 2 Jack Chesbro / Al Orth 1904 AL New York Highlanders 2 Jack Chesbro / Jack Powell
R.I.P. Dock.
December 20th, 2008 at 5:04 pm
Semi-meaningless trivia: Waite Hoyt appears to be part of the most combinations above: 6
Whitey Ford has the most 17-win seasons for the Yankees, 7, but only had a teammate join him 5 times.