of course the "free agent market" if you will (unsigned young talent) was vastly different back then and they basically the same thing as they do now... but I believe he is referring to Gehrig, Joe D., Whitey Ford, The Mick and most of the others being "home grown" talents... but yeah, they still bought every one of them, they just did it with them before they were stars
and he is right, Cashman and the Yanks are making every effort to grow from within... I think they finally learned their lesson... at least to THAT degree
There have been a number of cradle to grave Yankees like Gehrig, Rizzuto, Ford, Mantle, Munson, Mattingly, Jeter and Rivera. And many that played their first pro game under a Yankee minor league contract such as Skowron and Murcer. But The Yankee Clipper wasn't one of them. The Yankees bought Joe D from the San Franciso Seals in 1934. The Seals wanted 100K an unheard of sum for a minor league player in those day. NY paid $25K and a bunch of players. He didn't play for NY until '36.
There was a time that NY had a top ranked farm system but they ALWAYS bought talent, right from the start (see Jack Chesbro NY Highlanders). Herb Pennock was bought from the Boston Red Sox. As was Red Ruffing. The two of them were the backbone of the Yankees pitching staff in the 20's. Think about it, Ruth, Pennock, and Ruffing all courtesy of the BoSox. Home Grown, huh?
I grew up less than 30 minutes from The Stadium. I've seen a lot of Yankee baseball, read a lot about them as a kid, and learned even more from semi-pro player grandfather who hated the Yankees with a passion. Quite a few ball players from the Yankees, Dodgers, and Giants rented houses in my suburban town when I was a kid. I used to get fielding tips from Jerry Coleman.
The Yankees bought Maris from the K.C. A's long before Free Agency existed. The Superchief Allie Reynolds came from Cleveland, Lopat from the ChiSox , Mize from St Louis, Randolph from the Pirates and so on.
The Yankees have always had some home grown talent but they've always bought talent. That was one of the primary reasons they were so hated. Even before George they were willing to buy what they couldn't produce. And more times than not they bought well (Holtzman not included).
