Tommy Henrich is a part of the folklore of the New York Yankees, but with the legends that the Bronx Bombers have had, sometimes “Old Reliable” gets lost in the shuffle.

Henrich played his entire career in New York, first debuting in 1937, and helping them in the 1938 World Series win.  His breakout year was in 1941 when he had 31 Home Runs and won another World Series Championship.   Henrich was one of the many who lost time in baseball due to his participation in World War II, and he lost three years, but he came back to have the best run of his career.

Henrich would lead the American League in Triples in 1947 and 1948 and was also the league leader in Runs with 138 in 1948.  He would help the Yanks win the 1947 and 1949 World Series, and he was a huge part of those wins, batting .323 in the '47 Series and hitting the first walk-off Home Run in Game 1 of the ’49 Series.

Retiring after 1950, Henrich was a five-time All-Star and had 183 career Home Runs.

One of the more interesting characters of the game, David "Boomer" Wells, played 21 seasons in the Majors for nine different teams, three of which he had two stints.  Wells longevity allowed him to amass a record of 239-157 with 2,201 Strikeouts, but don't view him as a "compiler."

Wells was an excellent control pitcher who led the American League in BB/9 four times and was in the top ten in that stat 12 times.  He also led the AL in SO/BB once (1998), and again, he was in the top ten in that metric 11 times.  Wells, who threw a perfect game in 1998, would also finish third in Cy Young voting, and he would help his New York Yankees win the World Series.  Two years later, when he was with the Toronto Blue Jays, he led the league in wins and again finished third in Cy Young voting.

Over the course of his long career, he also played for Detroit, Cincinnati, Baltimore, Chicago (AL), San Diego, Boston, and Los Angeles.

In terms of actual importance in Baseball, Curt Flood is in the top ten, if not the top five, in the game.

When Flood challenged the reserve clause in Baseball, objecting to a trade to the Philadelphia Phillies.  It led to a lawsuit, and Flood sat out for an extended period, ultimately ending his career.  It also led to Free Agency, and every time a baseball player signs a big contract, they should get down on their knees and thank the baseball gods for Curt Flood, who never financially benefited from what he stood for. 

As a player, Flood was a star with an excellent St. Louis Cardinals team in the 1960s that won the 1964 and 1967 World Series championships.  Flood was an outstanding defensive Outfielder who won seven Gold Gloves.  Offensively, Flood batted over .300 six times and led the National League in Hits in 1964.  The three-time All-Star was also first in Singles three times.

The trade mentioned above to Philadelphia happened in 1970 when he was 32.  He played only a few more games with the Washington Senators in 1971, but his career was over.  Flood left with 1,861 Hits, and one of the most important legacies in Baseball.

The story of Howard Ellsworth "Smoky Joe" Wood is typical in that we have a power pitcher who was dominant for a short time, only for arm fatigue to cause an early end of his pitching career (though he would continue to play, but we'll get to that later)

Wood debuted for the Red Sox as a teenager in 1908, and in 1910, he went 12-13 with a 1.69 ERA.  The year after, he won 23 games and led the American League in FIP (2.13) and SO/9 (7.5), and he was viewed as one of the hardest throwers in baseball.  1912 would be his best season in the game, as he had a league-leading 34 wins against only 5 Losses.  He also posted an ERA of 1.91 and a career-best WHIP of 1.015.  That year, the Red Sox won the pennant and went on to win the World Series, where Wood went 3-1.

Wood remained an excellent pitcher over the next three seasons, but he did not bounce back as quickly and made only 64 appearances.  He would win the ERA Title in 1915 (1.49) but was unable to play in the 1915 World Series, which Boston would win.

That was it for Wood in Boston, as he sat out 1916 and would never pitch for the Red Sox again.  The Cleveland Indians would purchase his contract before the 1917 season.

It should be noted that Wood was an above-average hitting pitcher who batted .244 for Boston.  Because he was such a good hitter, he was able to continue playing (albeit in Cleveland) until 1922, where he had 432 Hits for the Tribe.