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NFT: RIP Jimmy Wynn the Toy Cannon has passed away

xman : 3/27/2020 1:30 am
had some amazing years.
Came to the Yankees at the end of his career  
torrey : 3/27/2020 1:44 am : link
Hit a home run first time up and never hit another.
RE: Came to the Yankees at the end of his career  
Poktown Pete : 3/27/2020 7:13 am : link
In comment 14851037 torrey said:
Quote:
Hit a home run first time up and never hit another.


Without looking it up and just going by memory, it was an inside the park job. He blasted the ball all the way to the monuments in dead center field and the outfielder had trouble catching up and finding the ball, which went behind them.
If I Recall  
LTIsTheGreatest : 3/27/2020 7:21 am : link
That was his only highlight with the Yanks. He didn't hit a lick after that.
I was at that game  
RetroJint : 3/27/2020 7:40 am : link
Think it was the Opener , against the Brewers . The ball went to center. I don’t recall it being inside-the-park. What I do remember is Catfish’s comment to him after the game: “ Man, you ain’t a Toy Cannon . You’re a real cannon !”

Yanks plugged in washed up power hitters at DH in that period . Jim Ray Hart , Carlos May. RIP Jim. Like Rusty they actually came up when Houston was the Colt 45ers .
I miss those old nick names. and that was one of the best.  
Victor in CT : 3/27/2020 8:41 am : link
Old readers of National Lampoon might remember "TF: The Bean Report" about farts. The Toy Cannon was the second best fart nickname after Mark "Boomer" Bomback LOL
RE: I was at that game  
bluepepper : 3/27/2020 9:44 am : link
In comment 14851078 RetroJint said:
Quote:
Think it was the Opener , against the Brewers . The ball went to center. I don’t recall it being inside-the-park. What I do remember is Catfish’s comment to him after the game: “ Man, you ain’t a Toy Cannon . You’re a real cannon !”

Yanks plugged in washed up power hitters at DH in that period . Jim Ray Hart , Carlos May. RIP Jim.
The DH was hyped as being able to prolong the careers of older players and some teams including the Yanks seemed to think it was a requirement that the guy had to be old or infirm to be a DH. Jimmy was definitely in that mold. He was cooked by the time the Yanks got him.

Had a nice career though and was one of those "if he played somewhere else" guys because the dome was tough on power hitters. Had maybe his best year with the Dodgers and my recollection is he was consensus MVP until he slumped late and Steve Garvey snagged it from him.
A criminally underappreciated player.  
Section331 : 3/27/2020 9:48 am : link
He played in an era that praised BA over OBP and OPS, where Wynn's numbers really stood out. He was a high walk, high SO guy when BB's were underappreciated, and K's overvalued. Good OF too. RIP.

RE: I was at that game  
Poktown Pete : 3/27/2020 1:43 pm : link
In comment 14851078 RetroJint said:
Quote:
Think it was the Opener , against the Brewers . The ball went to center. I don’t recall it being inside-the-park. What I do remember is Catfish’s comment to him after the game: “ Man, you ain’t a Toy Cannon . You’re a real cannon !”

Yanks plugged in washed up power hitters at DH in that period . Jim Ray Hart , Carlos May. RIP Jim. Like Rusty they actually came up when Houston was the Colt 45ers .

Retro, I could be a wrong about it being ITP as it was so many years ago.
I just remember he hit it a ton. I watched tons of Yankee games in the 70’s and don’t seem to recall anyone actually hitting one out dead center, even in the remodeled stadium. Again, 40 plus years can cloud a memory. If I can find out somehow, will post.
I was at the stadium for his last at bat  
Ron from Ninerland : 3/27/2020 7:08 pm : link
After he hit that one home run he struggled. In the game I was at he came up with one or two men on base. He worked a 3-0 count. He then swung at the next pitch and grounded out weakly. It was pretty obvious that he swung through a red light. The next day he was gone.
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