Max Fried has been everything the New York Yankees have needed him to be.
Especially when Gerrit Cole was hurt during the spring, it became clear that the Yankees needed their new lefty to be their ace. And he has been that and then some.
On Tuesday night, just by taking the mound for their first postseason game, Fried joined an exclusive Yankees franchise history list.
Fried becomes the ninth player in Yankees history to start the first postseason game in his first season with New York, according to NY Yankees Stats.
The first to ever do it? Bullet Joe Bush in the 1922 World Series.
MORE: Tarik Skubal claims his crown as the best pitcher in MLB
The others: Spec Shea (1947 WS), Don Gullett (1977 ALCS), Jim Beattie (1978 ALCS), David Cone (1995 ALDS), CC Sabathia (2009 ALDS), James Paxton (2019 ALDS), Gerrit Cole (2020 ALWC).
Let's do a quick history lesson on Bullet Joe Bush while we're here.
His full name was Leslie Ambrose Bush.
He was born in Minnesota and spent time with the Philadelphia Athletics and Boston Red Sox before joining the Yankees for that 1922 season.
That year was his best MLB season, as he went 26-7 with a 3.31 ERA.
In Game 1 of that 1922 World Series, Bush gave up three runs in seven innings but took a tough-luck loss to the New York Giants.
Bush ended up also pitching for the Pittsburgh Pirates, St. Louis Browns, Washington Senators and New York Giants.
He lived to age 81 and died in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, as a three-time World Series champion.
Fried wouldn't mind adding a few rings to his collection in the Bronx.
More MLB News:
- Yankees' Anthony Volpe is 1st shortstop in MLB history to do this
- Alex Bregman joins a cool century club for the Red Sox
- Cubs' Seiya Suzuki outdoes Mike Schmidt to make new kind of MLB history
- Guardians' hitter shattered a glass camera lens in the middle of a playoff game