Courtesy of YES Network (and Baseball-reference:)
1. Ellsbury is the only Red Sox player to be part of the 30-30 club.
He hit 32 HR and 39 SB in 2011 with the Red Sox. It was the only year he hit more than 10 HR other than this year (16 with the Yankees.) There were only 38 people who did this: For the Yankees, Bobby Bonds did it in 1975 (32 HR 30 SB,) Alfonso Soriano did it in 2002 (39 HR 41 SB) and in 2003 (38 HR 35SB.) The next closest Red Sox was Nomar Garciaparra in 1997 (30 HR 22 SB) and Carl Yastrzemski in 1970 (40 HR 23 SB.)
2. He is 1 of 3 rookies to collect 4 hits in a World Series game.
I think YES used 'rookie' as someone in his debut year, not someone with rookie status. For example, Donnie Bush did it in 1909 and he was still a rookie, but debuted in September 1908. The other two 'rookies' were Freddie Lindstrom (1924) and Joe Garagiola (1946.) There were 65 players in total who hit 4 or more hits in WS with Pablo Sandoval being the most recent one in 2012.
3. Ellsbury is the first American Indian of Navajo descent to reach the Majors.
Kyle Lohse (Nomlaki Wintun) and Joba Chamberlain (Winnebago) are other American Indians playing in MLB.
4. For Halloween, he once dressed as Johnny Damon.
Johnny Damon was CF of the Red Sox when Ellsbury signed with the team in 2005. They were never teammates in the Majors.
5. His favorite player growing up.. Ken Griffey, JR.
Not a surprise as Ellsbury was born and raised in Oregon, only few hours away from Seattle.
1. A 10-year old Betances was in the bleachers for this: David Wells' perfect game (1998.)
That's the year I went to my first Yankee game, too! (David Cone didn't pitch a perfect game that day, though)
2. Drafted 254th overall in the 2006 draft, 270 picks ahead of current Yankees closer David Robertson.
In 2006, the Royals selected Luke Hochevar with the first pick. Other notable names include: Evan Longoria (TB, 3,) Clayton Kershaw (LAD, 7,) Tim Lincecum (SF, 10,) Max Scherzer (ARI, 11.) The Yankees selected Chamberlain and Kennedy in the first round, Betances in the 8th, Melancon in the 9th, and Robertson in the 17th.
3. He wears 68 because he is 6' 8".
I didn't know this! Pretty cool thing to know. 6' 8" is pretty big. according to therichest.com, there are currently only 6 players in mlb who are 6' 8" or taller; Chris Martin (COL, 6' 8",) Doug Fister (WSH, 6' 8",) Logan Ondrusek (CIN, 6' 8",) Johnny Hellweg (MIL, 6' 9",) Chris Young (SEA, 6' 10",) and Betances. In MLB, there were notable players who wore #68 include Josh Reddick, Craig Gentry, Joe Saunders, Yan Gomes, and Dioner Navarro. Betances also wore #61 in 2013 with the Yankees and now Shane Greene is wearing it.
4. 2014 MLB All-Star, 1947 was the last time a Yankees rookie pitcher made the All-Star team.
He didn't get to pitch, though.
5. Set the single-season franchise record by a Yankees reliever in 2014 for the most strikeouts. 135.
From 1901, there were only 14 pitchers with 135 or more strikeouts with 0 game started. The former franchise record holder was Mariano Rivera who struck out 130 in 1996. Betances' 135K is especially impressive because it was done only in 90.0 IP. That is 13.5 K/9. I hope Betances does the same for the Yankees next year and for many more years.
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