Old Yanks: Where are they now?

Remember the Glory Days of the 1990s? Remember when Scott Brosius manned third, Chad Curtis manned left and Glenallen Hill manned the disabled list? Those were the days.

Over the last decade or so, a lot of players — some much, much better than others — have passed through the Bronx. Except for those who stick with the team in one capacity or another and those that are big names, most fans never hear from or think of the Mike Gallegos and Charlies Hayeses of the world once they leave the Bronx. Baseball is fleeting; it’s easy, as Mike recently noted, to make a lot of money, but it’s not so easy to stick around.

So let’s check in with some of our old fan favorites and Yankees who are lost to the sands of time. I’ve put together a rather random selection of Yanks from the 1990s who have faded from view. If anyone’s missing, leave a request in the comments.

Scott Brosius: Brosius retired at 34. He was ready to stop playing but not ready to give up the game. He is now the head coach at Linfield College, a DIII school in Oregon. (Brosius’ coaching bio is here.)

Glenallen Hill: Where have you gone, Glenallen Hill? In his 40 games with the Yanks, Hill turned in an OPS of 1.113 while hitting 16 home runs. It was impressive. He’s now the Rockies’ first base coach.

Mike Gallego: Gallego held down the back-up infield spot for a few years in the mid-1990s, hitting .262/.347/.383 during that stretch. I guess you could say he was Miguel Cairo ten years earlier. He is now the Rockies’ bench coach.

Alvaro Espinoza: Before Mike Gallego came Alvaro Espinoza. He was pretty bad at hitting and is now the infield coach down at Scranton.

Chad Curtis: Ah, Mr. Way-Too-Serious. Chad Curtis made a name for himself by picking a fight in the media with Derek Jeter following a bench-clearing incident in Seattle. While the Yanks tried to mix it up with the Mariners, Jeter and A-Rod, then on Seattle, were joking around. Chad didn’t like it, and the Yankees liked Jeter more than they liked Curtis. So at the end of 1999, Curtis left for greener pastures. He is now the athletic director and weight training expert of the NorthPoint Christian Schools. I would not want this man as my gym teacher in high school.

Roberto Kelly: The man who launched the Yankee dynasty. On November 3, 1992, Roberto Kelly unknowingly launched the Yankees on a march toward history when he found himself sent to Cincinnati in exchange for Paul O’Neill. Kelly would return to the Yanks for an unmemorable stint in 2000. After a few years of managing at the Minor League level, Kelly is returning to the Majors this year as the Giants’ first base coach.

Charlie Hayes: We all know this one: “Hayes, in foul territory. Hayes has room. And he makes the catch.” Charlie ended the 1996 World Series with a catch in foul territory and stuck around the Bronx for a disappointing 1997 campaign. He is now the owner of the Big League Baseball Academy in Texas and could really use some help with Web design.

Cecil Fielder: His estranged son is in the news in Milwaukee these days, but Fielder garnered headlines a few years back for domestic disputes and a gambling addiction. He was just named manager of the Atlantic City Surf and is sporting a rockin’ goatee as seen in this picture.