Baseball trades on the twin virtues as a sport of character and characters. Our pastime spawned the player/patriot icon, from Ted Williams to Bob Feller, while the game’s most iconic player, Babe Ruth, was renowned for training on beer, hot dogs and late nights.
And no team has more characters in their archives than the Yankees. From Ruth to Mantle; from to Whitey to Yogi in the early years; and then onto to Reggie Jackson, Mickey Rivers, David Cone and Paul O’Neill.
Lost in their outsized contours and personalities was someone who often played like Superman but had the countenance of Clark Kent.