#66 Allie Reynolds

#67 Allie Reynolds
Progress: none, 2nd of this card
How acquired: $5.01 on eBay
Condition: Fair

This is another pick up from the seller whose cards all smell like rubbing alcohol.  Again, I don't mind.  I paid a little more for this Reynolds, but I don't think I'll live to regret it.

Allie Reynolds is a name that should ring out more than it does.  I'd put him in the Hall of Fame if it were up to me.  Reynolds was the Yankee's ace prior to the emergence of Whitey Ford.  He won six World Series with the Yankees, putting together a World Series record of 7-2 with a 2.79 ERA in 9 starts, including 5 complete games, 2 shutouts, and 4 saves just for good measure.  He made the All-Star team his final three seasons in the MLB and five of his last six.  In 1952 Reynolds would post a record of 20-8 with a league best ERA of 2.03, and finish 2nd in MVP voting.  In 1954, his final year of pro-ball he went 13-4 while battling a back injury suffered when the Yankees charter bus crashed into on overpass in Philadelphia the previous season.  He finished with 182 career wins in a career that was cut short prematurely.  Reynolds stayed on the Hall of Fame Ballot for all his 15 years of eligibility, but never received more than 33.6% of the vote.  

I've said this for years, but the Yankee bias is a myth when it comes to the Hall of Fame.  I don't think there is any doubt that Yankees receive more attention than other players during their career's, but when it comes to Hall of Fame voting, I believe that "Yankee Bias" actually works against them.  

How many 2x MVP Award winners with 3x World Series Rings aren't in the Hall of Fame besides Roger Maris?  Typically being a 9x Gold Glove award winner is enough (right Ozzie Smith?), but if you toss in a MVP award, batting title, and 3x Silver Sluggers, and over 2,000 hits you should be fine, right?  Not so much for Don Mattingly.  How about a 6x World Series Champion, with an MVP Award, 9x All-Star, with the distinction of breaking the color line for the most historically significant franchise in the history of the game?  Take a hike Elston Howard, we need to save room for Craig Biggio and Bud Selig.  A 5x Gold Glover, with a CY Award, whose Yankee teams played in four World Series (and won two) and spent the better part of a decade as perhaps the best pitcher in baseball?  Not only can Ron Guidry go kick rocks, but so can all of his teammates from that "mini" Yankee Dynasty (which is only "mini" by Yankee Standards, right "Big Red Machine?").  So no Thruman Munson, Willie Randolph, Sparky Lyle, et al, the Hall needs space for the likes of Dave Concepcion and Tony Perez.  Their team won two world series, and thats more impressive for the Reds than it is for the Yankees.

So how about a guy that was the best player on a team that won four World Series and six AL Pennants.  Nah, lots of guys go one and done on the ballot while being the leader of four World Series Champions, so get lost Bernie Williams.  The anchor behind home plate and actual clubhouse leader who let Derek Jeter keep his hands clean, Jorge Posada?  Five Silver Sluggers at catcher just doesn't mean what they used to, and his five World Series Rings aren't going to impress anyone either.

So sure, the Kevin Maas, Hideki Irabu's, and Danny Tartabull's of the world are going to get more attention than they often merit during their active days in New York.  But if you want to end up in Cooperstown wearing a Yankee hat on your plaque, you better be prepared to have a little something extra on your resume to overcome that "Yankee Bias."