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Monahan highlight’s Old Timers’ Day rookies

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The Yankees announced the roster for this year’s Old Timers’ Day, with retired and long-time trainer Gene Monahan highlighting the crop of first timers. Early-1990s manager Stump Merrill will also make his Old Timers’ Day debut, as will Sterling Hitchcock, Matt Nokes (!), and Tanyon Sturtze. Standbys like Yogi Berra, Reggie Jackson, Rickey Henderson, Whitey Ford, Bernie Williams, and Paul O’Neill will be there as well. No Jorge Posada though, I figured he’d take at least year away first.

Old Timers’ Day is this Sunday, July 1st. The ceremonies are scheduled to begin at 11:15am ET before the Yankees take on the White Sox that afternoon.

After 49 years, Gene Monahan to step down

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Gene Monahan collects his 2009 World Series ring. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan)

Gene Monahan, the longest-tenured trainer in the game, will step down at the end of the season, the Yankees announced today. Monahan, who missed Spring Training last year to undergo extensive treatment for cancer, has been with the organization since 1962 and has served as the club’s head trainer continuously since 1973.

“Gene Monahan embodies all the very best virtues that this organization strives to uphold,” Hal Steinbrenner said today in a statement. “His devotion to his craft, passion for the game of baseball and tireless work ethic are only a few of the qualities that have made him a bedrock within this franchise for nearly 50 years. Gene has made a lifetime’s worth of sacrifices and contributions in order to best serve the Yankees, and our entire organization will always be grateful.”

Monahan got his start with the Yankees while still a senior in high school in Fort Lauderdale. In 1962, he served as the club’s bat boy and clubhouse attendant and then began a journey through the organization. He started out as a trainer with the Class-D affiliate in Fort Lauderdale, and throughout his time with the Yanks, he worked toward a degree in athletic training from the University of Indiana. He made the jump to Double-A in 1965, and after four years there, he was promoted to Triple A Syrcause. He and George Steinbrenner both arrived in the Bronx in 1973.

As the longest-tenured head train in the game, Monahan has been honored of late. He and assistant trainer Steve Donohue were named “Best Athletic Trainers” by the Professional Baseball Athletic Trainer Society last year. He is also a member of the New York State Athletic Trainers’ Association Hall of Fame.

Last spring, as the Yanks’ trainer battled cancer of the throat and tonsils, Wayne Coffey of the Daily News profiled his life and career with the Yankees. After 49 years with the club confronting countless injuries and his own personal battle, Monahan deserves all the rest he can find in retirement. The organization won’t be the same without him.

Gene Monahan and his battle

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For the first time in nearly five decades, the Yankees started a season without head athletic trainer Gene Monahan there to deal with the aches and pains and injuries. Monahan had his own ailment to deal with – cancer of the throat and tonsils. Wayne Coffey detailed not just Monahan’s fight today, but also his time with the Yankees. From when he joined the organization at a bat boy in 1962 to when he became head trainer to all the times George Steinbrenner fired him. It gets RAB’s highest level of recommendation.

The good news is that after surgery and 30 rounds of radiation treatment, Monahan is close to returning. He set a target date of June 1st, and after spending the last several months taking care of himself, he can get back to doing what he loves: taking care of others.

On the importance of a healthy ballclub

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The Yankees may miss team trainer Gene Monahan, right, more than they realize. (AP Photo/Paul J. Bereswill)

Gene Monahan hasn’t missed a Spring Training since the mid-1960s, and he has served as the Yankee head trainer since 1973. But last week, in news that slipped a bit under the radar, the Yankees announced that Monahan was battling a significant illness and would be missing Spring Training and some of the regular season this year.

“I miss not being around my professional family already, but I’m battling,” Monahan said in a statement. “The New York Yankees have gone above and beyond in this most difficult time. I couldn’t do this alone, but with the support and love of my immediate family, my family within our organization and the dedication and expertise of many fine doctors, I look forward to resuming my role with the team this season.”

Many Yankee fans didn’t know what to make of this news. We all know who Gene Monahan is, but we generally don’t see him unless something is wrong or someone is hurt. We don’t see the work he puts in behind the scenes making sure his players are healthy enough to face the rigors of a 162-game schedule. We don’t see the pre- and post-game stretching or the countless massages, ice packs and heat baths Monahan oversees. We simply see him jog out and fetch someone we don’t want to see getting fetched.

A recent series of posts at Beyond the Box Score, though, can help us understand Monahan’s — and the rest of the team’s medical staff’s — impact on the Yankees. Last week, Jeff Zimmerman explored the percentage of team payroll lost to the DL and found the Yanks to be among the league’s best in this category. Looking at totals from 2002-2009, Zimmerman found that the Yanks lost $175 million of the $1.46 billion they spent over those eight seasons. The 12 percent loss is good for 25th lowest in all of baseball.

In terms of total DL trips, the Yankees fare a bit worse. They’ve sent 57 players to the disabled list and find themselves with 11 teams ahead of them who have seen fewer trips to the DL. The Yanks’ 6,107 DL days are 11th highest in the league. The Yankees, then, appear to be losing their cheaper players to longer disabled list stints and also, Carl Pavano.

To put a win value on these DL numbers, colintj at BTB ran some WAR calculations and determined that DL time can lead to a difference, on average, of seven wins lost to injury between the healthiest team, which loses around 2 WAR per season, and the least healthy team which loses around 9 WAR per season. Over the span of the study, the Yanks have lost 6.49 WAR per 162 games — or 0.45 above the average WAR lost per 162 games — to injury. In other words, the team’s medical staff is great at keeping the high-priced guys on the field but seemingly average at keeping the Yankees healthy overall.

In a sense, health is one area that has seen little study in the age of sabermetrics. Because health can be there one day and gone the next, it’s nearly impossible to predict who will lose time to an injury and for how long this player will be gone. Last year, A-Rod missed far less time than expected due to his own ability to heal while Chien-Ming Wang missed nearly the entire season with various ailments. Now with Monahan out, we’ll be able to see how healthy the Yanks can be without their long-term head trainer. In a division in which every win will be important come the pennant stretch, an X-factor such as this one could very well tip the balance of AL East power.

Gene Monahan ill, will miss Spring Training

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Via George A. King III, longtime Yankees’ trainer Gene Monahan is going to miss his first Spring Training in 48 years due to a “significant illness that possibly could sideline him for the beginning of the regular season.” Monahan is getting treatment now, which could last for several weeks. Assistant trainer Steve Donohue is going to fill in for the time being.

Get well soon, Gene. You’ll be missed.