Becoming Mr. October (9780385533126) by Kevin Reggie; Baker Jackson Page B
Authors: Kevin Reggie; Baker Jackson
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neither Rudi nor Grich was a good fit because they were both right-handed hitters, in a Yankee Stadium that still tilted toward lefties in those days. That was still a huge park back then, even after they made over the original Stadium—430 feet to left-center, I think, 417 to center.
I think they still would’ve been fine, but as it worked out, both of them got hurt with the Angels in 1977 and missed most of the season. Grich came back strong; Joe was never really the same player again. But if they’d signed one of them instead of me, who knows what would have happened?
Whatever the Yankees decided, it seemed like it would have nothing to do with me. That was another rule that first year of free agency: You could only sign a maximum of two players—unless you had lost more than two free agents yourself.
The Yanks had already signed Gullett, which left them with room for just one more, Grich or Rudi, they had to choose. But the Angels were allowed to sign three guys because they’d lost that many free agents, and they snapped up Joe Rudi very quickly. Then Don Baylor, who’d been traded for me just the year before, got out of Oakland and signed with them, too. That decided it for Bobby Grich, who George Steinbrenner was courting very heavily. Grich had been friends and teammates with Baylor since their minor-league days with Baltimore, so once Don went to the Angels, Bobby wanted to go there, too.
I later found out that Steinbrenner did everything he could to sign Grich. He even told Bobby the Angels had manipulated the market, and he was going to file a protest with the league commissioner, maybe go to court. He told Grich he’d win the protest, and then Bobby would be left out in the cold.
The Boss bluffed a lot, but he wasn’t very good at it. Bobby Grich signed with the Angels. The commissioner, Bowie Kuhn, turned down the protest, and George didn’t bother to take it to court.
All of a sudden all the guys the Yankees had been looking at were off the market.
All that was left was me.
I’m not sure who it was who first advised George to take a good look at me. I don’t know just how important Gene Michael was with the team at the time, but I know later, when he was very influential in the makeup of the roster, he always loved left-handed power for Yankee Stadium. So did Birdie Tebbetts, the former catcher, who had become another one of George’s “baseball people.”
Or maybe it was George himself. George Steinbrenner always said he wanted to bring a big name to the Yankees. What he understood was marquee value, showbiz value. He saw the full potential of having a name in New York. He saw the potential with me.
I said it at the time: George Steinbrenner went after me like a guy trying to hustle a girl in a bar.
He went after me just the way Charlie Finley did, more than ten years earlier. Even though I was aware of what he was doing, the game he was playing, I have to admit I was flattered. I was charmed. He just made me laugh.
He flew me into New York, had me to his apartment at the Carlyle hotel, and asked me what kind of money it would take to sign me. I laughed at him trying to get around my agent like that.
I told him right back, “I just wanted to meet you, see what kind of money
you’re
talking about.”
So then he told me, “Well, we don’t want to spend more than two million. I don’t think we can do business.”
That was the nerve he had, right there, trying to lowball me already. He laughed, too. That was George. He loved to compete, loved to negotiate.
When he saw I was onto him, he took me to the ‘21’ Club for lunch.And once we sat down at the table, we really got along pretty well, not like adversaries in a business deal. He really tapped a chord with me on certain ideas and philosophies he had. I could relate to all of it. His desire to win, his desire to build the franchise into a perennial champion. It might sound like “win at all costs,” but he also spoke about
I think they still would’ve been fine, but as it worked out, both of them got hurt with the Angels in 1977 and missed most of the season. Grich came back strong; Joe was never really the same player again. But if they’d signed one of them instead of me, who knows what would have happened?
Whatever the Yankees decided, it seemed like it would have nothing to do with me. That was another rule that first year of free agency: You could only sign a maximum of two players—unless you had lost more than two free agents yourself.
The Yanks had already signed Gullett, which left them with room for just one more, Grich or Rudi, they had to choose. But the Angels were allowed to sign three guys because they’d lost that many free agents, and they snapped up Joe Rudi very quickly. Then Don Baylor, who’d been traded for me just the year before, got out of Oakland and signed with them, too. That decided it for Bobby Grich, who George Steinbrenner was courting very heavily. Grich had been friends and teammates with Baylor since their minor-league days with Baltimore, so once Don went to the Angels, Bobby wanted to go there, too.
I later found out that Steinbrenner did everything he could to sign Grich. He even told Bobby the Angels had manipulated the market, and he was going to file a protest with the league commissioner, maybe go to court. He told Grich he’d win the protest, and then Bobby would be left out in the cold.
The Boss bluffed a lot, but he wasn’t very good at it. Bobby Grich signed with the Angels. The commissioner, Bowie Kuhn, turned down the protest, and George didn’t bother to take it to court.
All of a sudden all the guys the Yankees had been looking at were off the market.
All that was left was me.
I’m not sure who it was who first advised George to take a good look at me. I don’t know just how important Gene Michael was with the team at the time, but I know later, when he was very influential in the makeup of the roster, he always loved left-handed power for Yankee Stadium. So did Birdie Tebbetts, the former catcher, who had become another one of George’s “baseball people.”
Or maybe it was George himself. George Steinbrenner always said he wanted to bring a big name to the Yankees. What he understood was marquee value, showbiz value. He saw the full potential of having a name in New York. He saw the potential with me.
I said it at the time: George Steinbrenner went after me like a guy trying to hustle a girl in a bar.
He went after me just the way Charlie Finley did, more than ten years earlier. Even though I was aware of what he was doing, the game he was playing, I have to admit I was flattered. I was charmed. He just made me laugh.
He flew me into New York, had me to his apartment at the Carlyle hotel, and asked me what kind of money it would take to sign me. I laughed at him trying to get around my agent like that.
I told him right back, “I just wanted to meet you, see what kind of money
you’re
talking about.”
So then he told me, “Well, we don’t want to spend more than two million. I don’t think we can do business.”
That was the nerve he had, right there, trying to lowball me already. He laughed, too. That was George. He loved to compete, loved to negotiate.
When he saw I was onto him, he took me to the ‘21’ Club for lunch.And once we sat down at the table, we really got along pretty well, not like adversaries in a business deal. He really tapped a chord with me on certain ideas and philosophies he had. I could relate to all of it. His desire to win, his desire to build the franchise into a perennial champion. It might sound like “win at all costs,” but he also spoke about
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