0
CAREER
1980-1989
1B
GAMES G
1 Don Mattingly 923
2 Bob Watson 160
3 Ken Griffey Sr. 129
4 Jim Spencer 100
5 Steve Balboni 72
6 John Mayberry 63
7 Dave Revering 57
8 Dave Collins 52
9 Dennis Werth 31
10 Roy Smalley 27
11 Gary Ward 26
12 Lee Mazzilli 23
13 Dan Pasqua 17
14 Butch Hobson 11
15 Jack Clark 10
16 Ken Phelps 9
17 Orestes Destrade 3
T18 Hal Morris 2
T18 Marshall Brant 2
T18 Rick Cerone 2
T18 Gary Roenicke 2
T18 Tim Foli 2
T18 Ron Hassey 2
T24 Mike Pagliarulo 1
T24 Joel Skinner 1
T24 Rex Hudler 1
T24 Barry Foote 1
T24 Aurelio Rodriguez 1
T24 Don Baylor 1
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ProfessorNo, that would be an almost impossible list to assemble unless you work for the Elias Sports Bureau. But here are some of the standouts who immediately come to mind:
1. Wally Pipp played for the Yankees from 1915 to 1925. He lost his starting job to Lou Gehrig on June 2, 1925, and Gehrig didn't leave the lineup until 14 years later.
2. Lou Gehrig was known as "The Iron Horse" because he set a longevity record, appearing in 2,130 consecutive games. He also put up Hall of Fame numbers with a career batting average of .340, 2721 hits, 493 home runs and 1,995 RBI.
3. Babe Dahlgren took over at first base in 1939 when a debilitating illness forced Gehrig's retirement.
4. Johnny Sturm played only one season at first base for the Yankees -- 1941 -- but New York won the World Series, beating the Brooklyn Dodgers in five games.
5. Buddy Hassett played first base for the Yankees in 1942. The team made it to the World Series for a second consecutive year, but lost to the St. Louis Cardinals in five games.
6. Nick Etten took over at first base for New York in 1943 and played there for four seasons. In his first season with the Yankees, he led the American League with 22 home runs. New York won the World Series that year, defeating the St. Louis Cardinals four games to one. In 1944, Etten led the league in RBI with 111. He was voted to the All-Star Game a year later.
7. George McQuinn played first base for New York in 1947 and 1948, In '47, at the age of 36, he hit .304 with 13 homers and 80 RBI, contributing to the Yankees' eventual world championship.
8. After McQuinn's retirement, the Yankees used longtime outfielder Tommy Heinreich and newcomer Joe Collins at first base. Heinreich retired after the 1950 season, and Collins played off and on at first until 1958.
9. Bill "Moose" Skowron platooned with Collins as the Yankees' first baseman from 1954-57. But the power-hitting Skowron became the No. 1 starter in 1958. He appeared in seven World Series with the Yankees and was selected to five American League All-Star teams. He was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers after the 1962 season, and earned a measure of revenge against his old team. In the 1963 Series, the Dodgers swept the Yankees in four games. Skowron paced Los Angeles with a .385 average and hit a home run in Game 2.
10. After Skowron was traded, first base was anchored by a flashy homegrown product. Joe Pepitone was born in Brooklyn and wound up playing in the last World Series involving the Yankees until the mid-1970s. In Game 4 of the 1963 Series, Pepitone became the goat when he missed an infield throw to first base. He always maintained he lost sight of the ball because of spectators wearing white shirts in the Dodgers Stadium crowd. The error led to the winning run for the Dodgers, who swept the Yankees in four games. Pepitone redeemed himself with a grand slam in Game 6 of the 1964 Series. The St. Louis Cardinals won the Series, however, in seven games. Pepitone was traded to the Houston Astros after the 1969 season.
11. Slowed by injuries, Mickey Mantle moved to first base in 1967 after having played in the outfield since 1951. He finished his career at first in 1968. Pepitone, who switched to the outfield when Mantle played first base, returned to his infield position in 1969.
12. Danny Cater, who previously had played for the Philadelphia Phillies, the Chicago White Sox and the Kansas City/Oakland A's, played first base for the Yankees in 1970 and 1971. He hit .301 in 1970 and .276 in 1970.
13. In 1972 and 1973, veteran Felipe Alou played the most games at first base for the Yankees. In 1973, he was joined on the team by his brother Matty. They previously had been teammates with their other brother Jesus when they played for the San Francisco Giants in the early 1960s.
14. In 1974, Chris Chambliss joined the Yankees after being traded from the Cleveland Indians. He became a symbol of the team's postseason resurgence when he hit a walk off home run against the Kansas City Royals, giving the Yankees a berth in the 1976 World Series. He was a member of New York's back-to-back world championship teams in 1977 and 1978.
15. Veteran Bob Watson, who played first base for the Yankees from 1980-1982, made his first postseason appearances with the team during those seasons. He batted .319 with seven runs batted in in the 1981 World Series, although the Yankees were defeated by the Los Angeles Dodgers, four games to two. He later won the 1996 world championship with the Yankees as their general manager.
16. A veteran All-Star slugger, John Mayberry played first base for New York in 1982 after being traded by the Toronto Blue Jays. The last home run of his career was at Yankee Stadium. Twenty-seven years later, he was present at the new Yankee Stadium when his son, John Jr., hit his first home run for the Philadelphia Phillies.
17. For some time, the Yankees projected that Steve "Bye Bye" Balboni would be their first baseman of the future. Balboni was made expendable, however, by the stellar play of Don Mattingly from 1983-1995. He won the 1984 American League batting title with a .343 average, then he was named the league's Most Valuable Player in 1985. He also won nine Gold Gloves for his defensive prowess. Mattingly never played in a World Series. Unluckily for him, his major-league career began after New York's appearance in the 1981 Series. The Yankees didn't return to the Series until the season after Mattingly retired.
18. Tino Martinez was the Yankees' first baseman from 1996 to 2001. During that period, the team appeared in five World Series and won four world championships. He was the runner up to Ken Griffey Jr. in the voting for the 1997 American League Most Valuable Player award. That year, Martinez batted .296 with 44 home runs and 141 RBI.
19. In 2002, the Yankees signed Oakland A's star and 2000 A.L. MVP Jason Giambi as a free agent. He generally put up good numbers despite some injuries. Chances are, he will be remembered most for acknowledging that he used performance enhancing drugs earlier in the decade.
20. The current Yankees first baseman is Mark Teixeira, who joined the Yankees as a free agent after the 2008 season. He put up big numbers in 2009, batting .292 and leading the American league in home runs with 39 (tied with Carlos Pena of the Tampa Bay Rays) and runs batted in with 139. That season, the Yankees won their first world championship since 2000.
Eric Chavez (2011-present)
Brandon Laird (2011-present)
Eduardo Nunez (2010-present)
Morgan Ensberg (2008)
Cody Ransom (2008-09)
Mark Bellhorn (2005)
Alex Rodriguez (2004-present)
Aaron Boone (2003)
Todd Zeile (2003)
Ron Coomer (2002)
Drew Henson (2002-03)
Robin Ventura (2002-03)
Scott Brosius (1998-01)
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