CUE THE MUSIC!!!
Patty Smyth – “The Warrior” (Official Live Video) – YouTube
This is over ten years too late, but fantastic that it’s finally happening.
Paul O’Neill wasn’t just a New York Yankees star, but he truly lived up to his nickname. Think of ’90s pro wrestler Mick Foley. He put his body on the line so many times, jumping onto everyone on top of literally anything. Paul O’Neill was no different, chasing and diving after every ball even as he reached his late 30s.
Four World Series rings in the Bronx. The 1994 AL batting title.
Unquestionable grit and leadership that hasn’t been matched since, except maybe
Derek Jeter. This is well-deserved, so expect the Yankees faithful to pack Yankee Stadium on August 21. Paul O’Neill always commanded that type of audience, and now he will one last time. To this day, his farewell chant in Game 5 of the 2001 World Series gives people chills.
How does Paul O’Neill’s career stack up to other Yankees retired number hopefuls?
Paul Andrew O’Neill is a former right fielder and Major League Baseball player who
won five World Series while playing for the Cincinnati Reds (1985–1992) and New York Yankees (1993–2001). In a 17-year career, O’Neill compiled 281 home runs, 1,269 runs batted in, 2,107 hits, and a lifetime batting average of .288. O’Neill won the American League batting title in 1994 with a .359 average, and was also a five-time All-Star,
playing in 1991, 1994, 1995, 1997, and 1998.
O’Neill is the only player to have played on the winning team in three perfect games.
He was on the field for the Cincinnati Reds for Tom Browning’s. He caught the final
out (a fly ball) in David Wells’ perfect game and he made a diving catch in right field
and doubled to help the Yankees win during David Cone’s perfect game in.
Early life
A Columbus, Ohio, native and Brookhaven High School graduate, O’Neill and his family were fans of the Reds. On a visit to the Reds’ Crosley Field shortly before it closed, six-year-old Paul had his picture taken wearing a Reds batting helmet and holding a toy bat. Over his shoulder could be seen Roberto Clemente of the opposing Pittsburgh Pirates.
Like Clemente, O’Neill would become a right fielder and wear uniform number 21.
His older sister is Molly O’Neill, a noted chef and cookbook author who was a food writer for the New York Times in the year 2000.
Paul O’Neill Born February 25, 1963, in Columbus, Ohio, he was a Major League Baseball player who won five World Series while playing for the Cincinnati Reds (1985–1992) and New York Yankees (1993–2001). During his 17-year career, O’Neill racked up 281 home runs, 1,269 runs batted in, 2,107 hits and a lifetime batting average of .288.
O’Neill won the American League batting title in 1994 with a .359 average and was also
a five-time All-Star (1991, 1994, 1995, 1997, and 1998).
Bleeding Yankee Blue: EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: PAUL O’NEILL
Paul O’Neill’s No. 21 journey started with Clemente and ended in Monument Park
On a visit to the Reds’ Crosley Field shortly before it closed, six-year-old Paul had his picture taken wearing a Reds’ batting helmet and holding a toy bat. Over his shoulder, Roberto Clemente (of the opposing Pittsburgh Pirates) could be seen in the background. After retiring from his Major League Baseball playing career, he authored a book entitled Me and My Dad: A Baseball Memoir. The book goes into a subject that O’Neill has rarely discussed: his relationship with his father who instilled in him a love for the game of baseball.
Like Clemente, O’Neill would become a right fielder and wear uniform number 21. O’Neill is fondly remembered by Yankee fans as the “heart and soul” of the team in the 1990s and Yankee owner George Steinbrenner labeled him as a “Warrior” due to his passion for the game. Since his retirement after the 2001 World Series, his number 21 was worn only once when relief pitcher LaTroy Hawkins briefly wore the number to start the 2008 season.
On April 16, 2008, Hawkins switched to number 22 in response to the disapproval of many Yankee fans.
Baseball Career
O’Neill was drafted by the Cincinnati Reds in the 4th round of the 1981 Major League Baseball Draft. O’Neill made his major-league debut on September 3, 1985, and singled in his first at-bat. He also played in Puerto Rico’s winter league with the San Juan Metros and the Mayaguez Indians from 1985 to 1986.
Paul O’Neill on kicking ball blooper from 1989 (mlb.com)
In a 1989 game against the Philadelphia Phillies at Veterans Stadium, O’Neill fielded a base hit, couldn’t hold onto it, and kicked it, left-footed, back to the infield, to prevent baserunner Steve Jeltz from scoring. Jeltz scored on a passed ball anyway, however,
the incident is remembered as one of the all-time baseballs “bloopers.”
A broadcaster quipped: “The Cincinnati Bengals are on the phone!”
>The Reds’ last World Series winning manager, Lou Piniella.
From ESPN.com:
Aug. 21, 1990. Riverfront Stadium. Dutch Rennert called Barry Larkin out at first
at the end of the fifth inning. Reds manager Lou Piniella comes out to argue the call.
He throws his hat down. Rennert ejects him on the spot.
But wait, there’s more. Piniella pulls up first base and throws it, and, dissatisfied with his first toss, picks it up and hurls it again, sending it flying and rolling all the way into short right.
“I just saw it (the base) laying next to my feet,” Piniella said after the game.
“That just happened. You come in here and say to yourself, ‘What the hell is a 47-year-old man doing that for?’ I don’t know. It’s frustrating. The bag was lying there, and I grabbed it. Dutch Rennert is a fine umpire, and I didn’t want to show him up.
I’ll talk to him tomorrow before the game.”
REDS` PINIELLA VOWS NO REST FOR THE BEST – Chicago Tribune
Lou Piniella, who wanted O’Neill to change his swing to hit more home runs.
Cincinnati Reds History | thesportsnotebook.com
Wire to Wire Reds – Bing video
The Reds would go on to win the 1990 World Series defeating the heavily-favored A’s in four games – all in Piniella’s first season with the Reds. Incredibly, Sweet Lou and the Reds would part ways just two years later after the 1992 season. Piniella would go on to have successful runs with the Mariners, Devil Rays, and Cubs. Piniella retired today to be with his ailing mother – and you can watch his tearful press conference here.
Lou – thanks for throwing the base, smashing the bubble game machine, kicking the dirt, fighting with Dibble, and a Wire-to-Wire World Championship. O’Neill also clashed with Reds manager Lou Piniella, who wanted O’Neill to change his swing to hit more home runs.
Should Sweet Lou Piniella be in the Hall of Fame? – Cooperstown Cred
Paul O’Neill and the trade that changed everything – Pinstripe Alley
Hitting or Raging, O’Neill Is a Dandy Yankee – Los Angeles Times.
November 3, 1992:
Eighteen days after being named General Manager of the Cincinnati Reds,
Jim Bowden trades right fielder Paul O’Neill and minor league first baseman
Joe DeBerry to the New York Yankees for outfielder Roberto Kelly.
Bowden later laments this as the worst trade he ever made.
O’Neill went on to win four World Championships with the Yankees (in addition to the 1990 championship with the Reds) and become known as “The Warrior” for the Yankees. In eight seasons with the Reds, O’Neill batted .259 with 96 home runs. In nine seasons with the Yankees, O’Neill batted .303 with 185 home runs and he won the American League batting title with a .359 mark in 1994.
With the 1990 Reds World Championship team, O’Neill had batted .270 with 16 homers. He hit .471 in the 1990 National League Championship Series. In Bowden’s defense, O’Neill had a poor 1992, with his power production dropping by almost half from 1991
(36 doubles and 28 homers became 19 doubles and 14 homers) and he had turned 29 years old, the approximate age when many players begin their decline phase.
Meanwhile, Kelly wasn’t long for Cincinnati. After batting .280 in six seasons with the Yankees, Kelly batted .313 for the Reds in 125 games 1993-94, but couldn’t stay healthy and was dealt to the Atlanta Braves for center fielder Deion Sanders during the 1994 season. Kelly played for seven teams over the next six seasons, concluding a 14 year
career with a .290 batting average and 124 home runs. During his time with the Reds,
he preferred to go by “Bobby” Kelly rather than Roberto.
On November 3, 1992, the Reds traded O’Neill to the Yankees for Roberto Kelly. O’Neill beat himself up after being traded by the Reds to The Yankees because he felt he somehow let his Hometown Team Down. However, In 1994, with O’Neill winning the batting title, the Yankees led the East division by six and a half games when the players’ lockout ended the season. The next season, the Yankees made the playoffs for the first time in 14 years and did so in every season for the remainder of O’Neill’s career.
Yankees: Revisiting Paul O’Neill’s breakout 1994 season (yanksgoyard.com)
Paul O’Neill On Seinfeld.
In 1995, while still a player for the Yankees, O’Neill was featured in a cameo role on the NBC sitcom Seinfeld. In the episode entitled “The Wink,” O’Neill is approached by Cosmo Kramer in the Yankees’ locker room and is told by Kramer that he must hit two home runs in the same game so that Kramer can retrieve a birthday card signed by all the Yankees from a little boy who wasn’t supposed to get it in the first place. O’Neill replies that this is very difficult and that he is not usually a home run hitter; he then asks Kramer,
“How’d you get in here anyways?”
In the ensuing game, O’Neill hits a home run and later appears to have hit a second; the apparent inside-the-park home run is scored a triple due to the other team’s error, so the little boy Kramer is trying to appease is not totally satisfied. Kramer manages to get the Yankee-signed birthday card back from the boy, but he has now promised the boy that O’Neill will catch a fly ball in his hat during the next game. (Interestingly, such an act would be illegal under Major League Baseball rules).
He was an integral member of the New York Yankees’ last dynasty, helping them to win the World Series in , , , and . He ended Game 5 of the 1996 World Series by robbing former Yankee teammate Luis Polonia of the Atlanta Braves of an extra-base hit, preserving a victory for the Yankees. O’Neill played Game 4 of the 1999 World Series just hours after his father died. The Yankees won the game and swept the Braves to win their 25th World Series Championship. O’Neill famously was his own worst critic, seemingly never satisfied with his own performance and known for his emotion on the field; when disappointed with his performance or angry with an umpire’s decision he would attack water coolers or toss bats on the field.
His tirades were both praised and criticized by the media and fans. O’Neill was involved in a brawl with Seattle catcher John Marzano. O’Neill had complained to the umpire that the previous pitch was high and inside. Marzano then hit the much bigger Paul O’Neill with a haymaker. The two grappled, and the benches cleared. On April 30, 1996, O’Neill was notable for hitting a long home run to Eutaw Street off Arthur Rhodes while playing at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. O’Neill is fondly remembered by Yankee fans as the “heart and soul” of the team’s dynasty in the 1990s. Yankee owner George Steinbrenner also labeled him as a “The Warrior.” He was given this nickname due to his passion and love for the game.
2001 World Series Game 5: Arizona Diamondbacks @ New York Yankees
In Game 5 of the 2001 World Series, O’Neill received a sendoff from New York fans. While standing in right field in the 9th inning with the Yankees down 2-0, the entire stadium chanted his name. When the inning ended, O’Neill was still being cheered. With tears in his eyes, he tipped his cap, and another roar went up from the crowd at Yankee Stadium.
The Yankees won the game 3-2, but lost the series 4 games to 3. Since his retirement
after the 2001 World Series, his number 21 has only been worn once, when relief pitcher LaTroy Hawkins briefly wore the number to start the 2008 season but, on April 16, 2008, Hawkins switched to number 22 in response to the criticism he received by many Yankee fans, all the more suggesting that number 21 may one day be retired for O’Neill.
Paul O’Neill Hated to Lose: A Look Back at the 1997 Playoffs
It occurred between World Championships, which might be the reason it is not mentioned when discussing the last Yankees‘ dynasty. But it was a performance that defined what the Yankees used to be. It ranks with the heroics of Mickey Mantle, Reggie Jackson, Bucky Dent and Chris Chambliss—except the Yankees lost.
Paul O’Neill’s Great Playoff Series
Paul O’Neill batted .421 in the first round of the 1997 playoffs against the Indians.
He hit a home run in Game One, he hit a game-winning grand slam in Game Three, and he refused to be the final out of the series in Game Five. It is only 25 years ago, but it might as well be 125 years ago, because the game and the attitudes towards not accepting defeat have changed so radically.
Paul O’Neill wanted to win, but he hated to lose so much, he would do anything to win.
As a character in The Wire once said, “You like to win. I don’t like to lose.
It’s not the same thing.”
The Yankees’ Last Gasp
The Yankees were trailing the Indians, 4-3 in the top of the ninth inning in Game Five.
The bases were empty, two were out, and Paul O’Neill was facing Jose Mesa.
O’Neill hit a deep drive to right center field that missed tying the game by about five feet.
As O’Neill rounded first, he had already decided that he had to get to second to put himself into scoring position.
It appeared that he would be thrown out at second, but despite being beaten by the throw, O’Neill slid away from Omar Vizquel’s tag, banging up his chin—but getting into second safely.
When Paul got up, his face was full of blood, yet all that mattered was that he had
given the Yankees a chance. When manager Joe Torre sent Scott Pose in to run for him, Paul objected passionately, but it did no good. Bernie Williams, the next batter, went after the first pitch, hit a fly ball to left, and the Yankees’ season was over.
Paul’s Passion
The 1997 playoff series against the Indians explained why Paul O’Neill threw his helmet, castigated himself, and lowered his head after striking out. Every game was the seventh game of the World Series, and every at bat was the fifth game of the 1997 playoffs. He might fail, but he never failed to try.
Mel Allen, the only Voice of the Yankees, used to tell fans that the Indians’ and White Sox‘ great pitcher, Early Wynn, would throw at his mother if she got too close to the plate.
It has been said that Paul O’Neill looks like he wouldn’t want to lose to his kids in a game of wiffle ball.
We Lost
George Steinbrenner said “He showed you do not give up. Ever. Ever.
A heart of a lion—that’s what you think of when you think of Paul O’Neill.
I wish I had 25 like him.” When Mr. Steinbrenner shook hands with O’Neill and congratulated him in the clubhouse for his great playoff-series performance, Paul’s response summed up what Paul O’Neill was all about. “It doesn’t matter. We lost.”
Intensity and the pursuit of excellence cannot be separated. Some individuals demonstrate their intensity, overtly, while others possess it just as deeply but hide it within themselves.
Whitey Ford, Derek Jeter, and Mariano Rivera were or are no less intense than Mickey Mantle, Billy Martin, or Whitey Ford, but in the attempts to make society increasingly “politically correct,” demonstrating intense feelings and emotions is frowned upon, which is too bad. Baseball needs more players like Paul O’Neill. There is nothing wrong in wanting to win at any cost.
References:
By BUSTER OLNEY. (1998, March 1). The Moment That Defines O’Neill: His Ninth-Inning Double Against the Indians Made Him a Yankee Hero BASEBALL Last-Gasp Double Defines O’Neill. New York Times (1857-Current file), p. SP1. Retrieved May 19, 2009, from ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851 – 2005) database. (Document ID: 116581613). Paul O’Neill at Baseball Library
Voices of the Game, Paul O’Neill
Starting after his retirement from baseball in 2001, O’Neill now serves as an analyst on the New York Yankees Pregame Show and the New York Yankees Post-Game Show, as well as a color commentator for the YES Network. O’Neill returned to Ohio to live with his family.
As a broadcaster, Paul O’ Neill’s greatest strength is his in-depth hitting analysis.
Listening to him as he offers insight into each at-bat in the Yankees lineup is a great way to learn about the art of hitting. Here’s some of what he has had to say about several Yankees who’ve had a slow start at the plate in 2021, as well as other observations he has shared with YES Network audiences this season.
“Contact makes things happen.”
O’Neill, a contact hitter himself, should know. While he doesn’t devalue home runs, O’Neill notices when a Yankee is trying too hard and pressing at the plate. He made his comment regarding contact during yesterday’s game against the Nationals, when Gleyber Torres was up with two strikes and the bases loaded in the 11th inning. Before the next pitch, Torres choked up on his bat and executed a swinging bunt grounder to win the game.
During Gleyber’s struggles in April, O’Neill pointed out that Gleyber’s weight was falling away from the plate during his swing, and how that weight shift was making it very difficult for him to drive the ball away. In trying to pull the ball, O’Neill explained, Gleyber’s swing “had gotten longer and longer,” and his first move [before swinging]
was opening up his stance and throwing off his mechanics. As O’Neill said,
“That’s not how you get out of slumps.” He has commended Torres’ hitting ability, too.
The way Torres is able to hit the ball to all parts of the field continues to impress O’Neill.
He has also praised Gleyber’s ability to make adjustments on counts with two strikes.
Clint needs to learn what pitches to expect
More than once this year, O’Neill has suggested that Clint Frazier’s reticence to swing stems from pitchers surprising him with a pitch he hadn’t expected to see. “He just saw a pitch on the inner half of the plate,” O’Neill told YES viewers on April 22. “The rest of the count will be soft stuff away and he should be anticipating it. As a hitter, you don’t mind seeing that.”
He went on to explain that he believes Clint is pressing mentally, which, in Paulie’s experience, leads a hitter to “fly open on everything.” In other words, Clint had a good pitch to hit, yet he ended up striking out. According to O’Neill, when a guy in the lineup is struggling, it’s often because he’s missing good pitches.
Odd and ends
O’Neill seems to identify with DJ LeMahieu’s approach at the plate and DJ, it seems, is a hitter after Paulie’s heart. O’Neill often comments on how LeMahieu is so good at staying inside, which allows him to drive the ball to left-center field. He’s good at covering the entire plate, and for him, that makes more pitches hittable.
O’Neill is often criticized for being too goofy on air, but when it comes to breaking down hitting, he provides incredible insight and is able to break down at-bats in impeccable detail.
On July 7, 2009, Paul O’Neill was inducted into the Irish American Baseball Hall of Fame (18 W. 33rd St. inside Foley’s NY Pub & Restaurant) in New York City along with longtime Los Angeles Dodgers owner Walter O’Malley, broadcaster Vin Scully, former player Steve Garvey, umpire Jim Joyce, and blind sports reporter Ed Lucas.
Paul O’Neill: Still a Jerk | The Good, the Bad, and the Barmes (wordpress.com)
Top Moments of Paul O’Neill’s Yankee career – Search (bing.com)
Paul O’Neill on Seinfeld – Search (bing.com)
Paul O’Neill on Seinfeld – Bing video
What Happened to Paul O’Neill? (Complete Story) (thecoldwire.com)
Add another plaque to the crowded wall of retired numbers at Yankee Stadium.
On Tuesday, the Yankees announced that they will retire Paul O’Neill’s No. 21 this season.
With his pregame ceremony on Aug. 21, O’Neill will become the 23rd player or manager to have their number retired. The outfielder-turned-broadcaster who won four World Series titles with the Yankees already had a plaque in Monument Park honoring his contributions to the team, but now he receives the franchise’s highest honor.
The Yankees have not retired a number since they hung Derek Jeter’s No. 2 in 2017.
With 21 now off the table, 11, 12, 14, 18, 19 and 22 are the only numbers under 28
that are neither retired nor worn by a current player or coach.
O’Neill played the final nine seasons of his career with the Yankees, helping them break their playoff drought in 1995 and later their World Series drought. He’d appear in five
total World Series with the Bombers in addition to his one with Cincinnati in 1990.
Over his nine years in the Bronx, the tenacious veteran hit .303 with a .377 on-base percentage and .492 slugging percentage. His .359 batting average during the strike-shortened 1994 season also won him a batting title. From 1993 to 2001, the entirety of his Yankee career, O’Neill was worth 26.7 Wins Above Replacement, making him the eighth-most valuable American League outfielder during that stretch.
In 304 postseason plate appearances with the Yankees, O’Neill hit .281 and socked 10 home runs, 14 doubles and drove in 34 runs in 76 games. At 37 years old, he had a strong case for MVP of the 2000 World Series, ultimately losing to Jeter. In that five-game triumph over the Mets, O’Neill slashed .474/.545/.789 with four of his nine hits going for extra bases, including two triples.
Early in his Yankee tenure, he also made a sterling defensive play to help seal the first World Series win of the dynastic run. In Game 5 of the 1996 series in Atlanta, O’Neill ranged deep into the gap to make a stabbing catch for the game’s final out, preserving
a 1-0 win.
Other memorable O’Neill postseason moments include his ten-pitch walk against Armando Benitez in Game 1 of the Subway Series (a game which the Yankees were losing until O’Neill sparked a rally) and winning the 1999 championship after his father passed away during the World Series.
While two short-lived Yankees (LaTroy Hawkins and Morgan Ensberg in 2008)
have worn 21 since O’Neill retired, the number has basically been on ice for years.
In 2017 when New Jersey native Todd Frazier was traded to the Yankees, he asked to wear the number specifically as a tribute to O’Neill. Instead, Frazier was given No. 29 after the equipment staff explained the potential controversy it could drum up, as both Hawkins and Ensberg were booed for having the audacity to wear an unretired number, even though Ensberg switched away from it during spring training.
Paul O’Neill’s No. 21 is going on a long list of retired Yankee numbers. (MATT CAMPBELL/AFP via Getty Images)
Rather than address the situation, O’Neill did not comment, turning a very minor story into a major headline. Now, with the number retirement becoming official, we can finally put the “Should anyone wear No. 21?” discussion to bed in favor of “Should No. 21 be retired at all?”
For what it’s worth, O’Neill does not rank in the franchise’s top ten in career batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, WAR, hits, doubles, home runs, RBI
or wRC+. All guests in attendance for the Aug. 21 game against the Blue Jays will not only get to witness the retirement ceremony, but they’ll also receive a commemorative “Paul O’Neill Day” ticket. Looking ahead, CC Sabathia’s No. 52 seems like the next in line for retirement, as the team has already kept that out of circulation since his final game in 2019.
Hartnett: ‘Warrior’ Paul O’Neill Injected Pride Back Into The Yankees (cbsnews.com)
Bleeding Yankee Blue: WHY PAUL O’NEILL BACKED THE YANKEE FAMILY
Ex-Yankee Paul O’Neill Gets Plaque At Monument Park! | SportsBata.com
In celebration of Paul O’Neill Day, 21 Yankees GIFs to remember #21.
The Yankees’ 25 Smartest Moves of the Past 25 Years
The 25 Best Yankees Games of the Past 25 Years
Top moments from O’Neill’s time as a Yankee
Paul O’Neill Stats | Baseball-Reference.com