Take a look at the New York Yankees’ retired numbers, and you wouldn’t know they had some solid left fielders in their history. Of the 21 different numbers up in Monument Park, only six belonged to outfielders. Of those six, all made their bones in either right or centerfield.
Granted, Babe Ruth played both corner outfield positions and even some center in his career. But by the time he hit his prime years with the Yankees, he’d shifted to the right side almost exclusively.
In fact, save for more recent examples like Hideki Matsui and Brett Gardner, the Yankees haven’t really ever possessed a left fielder one could call a “franchise icon.