Marcus Stroman in Yankees Limbo

The eastern end of Long Island has produced its share of excellent Major League Baseball players over the years. The greatest of them was Carl Yastrzemski, the son of a Bridgehampton farmer, who — playing for the Boston Red Sox in the 1960s — achieved stardom by being a three-time batting champion, an 18-time all-star and winner of the Triple Crown. That’s an honor that happens when a baseball player leads his league in home runs, batting average and runs batted in all in the same year. It’s only been done one other time since.

Yastrzemski of course is in the Cooperstown Hall of Fame. He’s lived most of the rest of his life up in Maine, and there recently learned that a New York State historic marker was erected in his honor on the sidelines of the ball field behind Bridgehampton High School where he once played.

Since Yastrzemski’s days, the East End has waited in vain for someone to follow in Yaz’s footsteps. A few have made it to the majors, and perhaps the most recent hopeful has been Marcus Stroman, who pitched in the starting rotation last season for the New York Yankees. He grew up the son of a Suffolk County Police Officer in Patchogue, then held off going to the Major Leagues in order to finish college at Duke. In 2023, playing for the Chicago Cubs, he was selected for the All-Star Game for a second time, having first earned the honor in 2017.

Thus the powers that be at the Yankees decided to take him on for 2024, joining Judge, Stanton, Soto, Cole and others in a march, as it eventually happened, to the World Series.

Stroman was over the Moon at the idea of coming to the Yankees. He would be coming home. He was given a whole lot of money to be sure — $12 million a year for three years — but mostly, for him, it seemed to be more about being selected to be part of a team that is, historically, by far, the most successful team that ever played this game. While some franchises brag about winning the World Series two or three times, the Yankees total is 27. Nobody else is even close.

Indeed, there has been something very special about how Stroman pitches. Most pitchers up on the mound look down at the batters, standing, on average, about six foot three. Many of them can throw a fastball at 100 mph. Some are good. Some are not.

Stroman stands five foot seven. He is currently the smallest pitcher in baseball. His fastball, when he unleashes it, averages a mere 89 mph. But he is a David slaying the Goliaths. With an array of seven different kinds of pitches, (most pitchers have four), he clips the corners of the plate with incredible accuracy. Others have done this too, and, indeed, Stroman can only weave this magic before tiring through five or six innings. But during that time, staring down the batters with intense concentration, he is fun to watch. Or was, at least until last year in mid-August.

Something changed about that time. He’d go two or three innings, then get in trouble which on past days he previously could have pitched his way out of. Over several games in a row, he was pulled early and sent to the showers. And eventually, the Yankees, far ahead in their league, decided whatever plagued Stroman might be contagious and potentially disrupt the Yankees’ momentum. As a result, they removed him from the lineup. When the Yankees reached the World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Stroman was not even included in the roster.

The Dodgers humiliated the Yankees in a five-game fiasco. Would it have been different if Stroman had pitched? We’ll never know. But it couldn’t be worse.

Over this past winter, Stroman, his girlfriend Shannon and their young son spent time at home in Tampa, Florida, where Stroman has a private wine cellar of about 400 bottles from around the world. He was getting ready to report for Spring Training three weeks ago when he learned that the vacation home he owns in Malibu, California was completely destroyed by fire. This was surely a bitter setback for him.

He met with reporters after his first day at Spring Training a week ago. Over the winter, the Yankees have bolstered their roster with several new pitchers, among them Max Fried. They will pitch in a five-man rotation this year, and Stroman is not expected to be one of them.

Nevertheless, Stroman has remained optimistic. He is a devoted practitioner of Transcendental Meditation and exudes confidence. And he told  reporters he will not pitch from the bullpen. He will be a starter, in the rotation and that is that.

This statement came as a surprise to Yankee manager Aaron Boone who afterwards said that “he is not planned for the rotation,” but like everything in baseball “anything can happen.”

Meanwhile there is another Yastrzemski now playing MLB. He is Mike Yastrzemski, an outstanding center fielder for San Francisco although not up there with his legendary grandfather. Furthermore young John is not from Eastern Long Island. He grew up in Andover, Massachusetts.

For 30 years after Carl retired from baseball, a high school classmate of Carl’s named Billy dePetris ran a restaurant in Bridgehampton called Billy’s Triple Crown Bar and Grille. Photographs, souvenirs, uniforms, spikes and letters from various parts of Carl’s career were prominently on display — including a letter from the Brooklyn Dodgers to join their team – awards, bats and balls, and outfielder gloves that Carl wore. A huge black and white photograph on one wall captured young Billy pitching to Carl in a high school game. Billy was also a star athlete at Bridgehampton. Even was invited to spring training at one of the teams. But there, he threw his arm out and that ended things for him.

DePetris, after several marriages, adventures, cooking experiences and divorces, packed up his souvenirs and left the area, heading south into retirement to run another Billy’s Triple Crown Bar and Grille, but this time in Kissimmee, Florida. His restaurant in Bridgehampton today is the longtime French favorite Pierre’s.

There’s another young East Ender out there somewhere, waiting to grow up and shoulder the superstar status achieved by Carl Yastrzemski.

And Stroman isn’t done. It could still happen.