This Week in Yankees History August 4th-10th
Aug 3, 2024 16:26:19 GMT -5
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This Week in Yankees History August 4th-10th
August 4th
1879-Former Yankees Reserve Catcher (1918) and MLB Coach (1918-1919) Paddy O’Connor was born. (1879-1950)
Reserve Catcher Paddy O’Connor had appeared in 1 game for the 1918 Yankees, going 1 for 3 before becoming an MLB Coach for the team for the 1918-1919 AL seasons. He had previous played in the NL with the Pirates and Cardinals. He had played 1 season with the 1915 Pittsburgh Rebels (Federal League).
1905-The Yankees field a unique battery: Doc Newton Pitching and Mike "Doc" Powers Catching, but only Mike Powers is a real-life Doctor. The Yankees would beat the St. Louis Browns by a score of 7-3.
1910-Former Yankees OF George “Tuck” Stainback (1942-1945) was born. (1910-1992)
On December 4,1941, the Tigers would send INF Boyd Perry and OF Tuck Stainback to the Yankees to complete an earlier deal made on September 8,1941. On September 8,1941, the Tigers sent Players to be Named Later to the Yankees for Minor League 3B Billy Hitchcock. Tuck’s best Yankees season was in 1943, hitting .260 in 71 games. Tuck appeared in 2 World Series with the 1942-1943 Yankees, playing in 7 games, while only hitting .176. Overall, as a Yankee player, Tuck would hit .252 with 5 HRs and 47 RBIs in 211 games for the team. On April 28,1946, he was release by the Yankees, when the team had their regular players come back from WWII military service. The Athletics would sign him as an MLB Free Agent for the 1946 AL season, where he would finish out his 13-year MLB playing career.
1920-Former Yankees Minor League P Bob Keegan was born. (1920-2001)
Before the start of the 1946 AL season, pitcher Bob Keegan was signed as an MLB Amateur Free Agent by the Yankees. The 25-year-old Keegan, a native of Rochester, NY, who had also attended Bucknell Univ. When he was fresh out of the Army Air Corps; where he had been a Navigator on a B-24 Bomber during World War II. The Yankees had assigned him to their Class A club, the Binghamton Triplets (EL), where he had posted a 5-6 record with a 3.87 ERA in his 1st pro season. Keegan had struggled, while pitching in the Yankees farm system from 1946 to 1951. Bob, only had 2 seasons above .500 in those years, going 8-6 in 1948 in a split season with the AAA Kansas City Blues (AA) and the AAA Newark Bears (IL) and 14-9 in 1951 with AAA Kansas City Blues again and the AAA Syracuse Chiefs (IL). It appears that the Syracuse club knew a good thing when they saw it. On April 3,1952, they had purchased Keegan from the Yankees. For the 1952 AAA Chiefs, the right-hander went 20-11 with a 2.64 ERA. Before the 1952 IL season was hardly over, when Syracuse had sold Bob to the White Sox. Bob would finish his MLB Pitching career with a 40-36 record with a 3.66 and 5 saves in 135 games. In 1954, he was named to the AL All-Star Pitching Staff.
1925-Every player in each team's lineup has at least 1 putout in the Indians-Yankees game.
1928-The Yankees had purchased Pitcher Fred Heimach from the AA St. Paul Saints (AA) for $20,00 Cash and Other Considerations. With the 1928-1929 Yankees, Fred will post a 13-9 record with a 3.77 ERA and 4 saves in 48 games. On March 25,1930, Fred was purchased by the AA Toledo Mud Hens (AA) from the Yankees. In July of 1930, the Mud Hens will sell Fred to the Dodgers.
1929-At Yankee Stadium, the Yankees take the opening game of a doubleheader from the visiting Indians, winning by a score of 12-0. Yankees Starter Tom Zachary wins his 7th straight game of the season. In the 2nd game, after trailing 6-5 with 2 outs in the top of the 9th inning, the Tribe scores an AL record-tying 9 runs, to win the game by a score of 14-6.
1932-Former Yankees Pitcher Jim “Mummy” Coates (1956,1959-1962) was born.(1932-2019)
Before the start of the1952 AL season, after dropping out of school at age 16, the Yankees had signed right-hander Pitcher Jim Coates as an MLB Amateur Free Agent. The 6' 4" pitcher was assigned to the Olean Yankees (PONY League) in his 1st pro season. Jim would respond with a 13-15 record with a 3.19 ERA. The slender pitcher was in the Minor Leagues for the next 5 seasons, sharpening his game for his 1956 MLB Pitching debut. His best season came in 1955, when he went 14-8 with a 2.95 ERA in a split season with the Class A Binghamton Triplets (EL) and the AA Birmingham Barons (SA). This performance earned Jim his 1st stop at Yankee Stadium in 1956, where he had appeared in 2 games, he would pitch 2 innings, after spending the season with the 1956 AAA Richmond Virginians (IL). He back at AAA Richmond for the 1957-1958 IL seasons, where he went 22-23 over the 3-season run. In 1958, he had broken his arm and pitched in only 8 games that season before making the Bronx for good in 1959. From 1959 to 1962, Jim worked as a Spot Starter and Reliever for the Bronx Bombers. In 1960, he was selected to the AL All-Star Team in the 1st of 2 MLB All-Star games. He would finish the 1960 AL season with a 13-3 record with a 4.28 ERA and 1 save in 35 games. In the 7th game of 1960 World Series against the Pirates, in the 8th inning Jim failed to cover at 1B on play, causing an inning ending double play to be missed which allowed the Pirates to extend the inning and scoring more runs.
In the Yankees 1961 MLB Spring Training Camp, several of the veteran Yankees players blamed him for the loss of the World Series Game 7, not young Reliever Ralph Terry. The lanky Virginian would enjoyed his finest moment in Game 4 of the 1961 World Series, when the Yankees beat the Reds 7-0. Coates would relieve veteran Starter Whitey Ford in the 6th inning because of a foot injury. He would respond with 4 shutout innings allowing only 1 Reds hit, getting credit for a save. During the 3 World Series (1960, 1961 and 1962) that Coates was with the Yankees, he would finish with a 0-1 record with a 4.15 ERA, while appearing in 6 games. He would finish his Yankees Pitching career with a 37-15 record along with a 3.84 ERA and 12 saves in 167 games. On April 21,1963, the Yankees would trade Jim to the Senators for lefty hurler Steve Hamilton. He hadn’t made any appearances for the 1963 Yankees. The right-hander would also make MLB stops with the 1963 Reds and the 1965-1967 Angels during his MLB 9 seasons pitching career.
Jim Coates was especially tough at Yankee Stadium. Of pitchers with at least 20 wins, Jim had the highest winning percentage (.794) at the "House That Ruth Built" going 27-7 during his Yankees pitching career. He is also the last Yankee Pitcher to win both games of a doubleheader. He had the reputation of knocking down batters. He threw with a side-arm delivery and turned his head away from the batter at the last second. It was downright nasty. Jim said: "If you have to knock a batter down, you knock him down." Coates would finish up his 9-season MLB career run with a 43-22 record with an even 4.00 ERA with 17 saves in 247 games. After being cut loose from the Angels, Jim would drop down to the AAA PCL; where he would finished up his 15-year Minor League run with the AAA Hawaii Islanders at the age of 37 in 1970. His pitching record in the Minor Leagues shows a 131-104 record with a 2.81 ERA and 17 saves in 383 games. Overall, he would spend 19 active seasons in pro baseball (1952-1970). Jim Coates was an unforgettable character. Jim Bouton in his book Ball Four wrote of his skeletal former teammate. "Coates could pose as the illustration for an undertaker's sign. He has the personality to match..." Jim was also known as the only pitcher, who could sleep with his eyes open and pitch with them closed. Jim's nickname, to his Yankee teammates was "Mummy.”
1932-Yankees Catcher Bill Dickey returns to the Bronx Bombers starting lineup after his month's suspension for fighting at home plate in a game. He had punched Carl Reynolds in the face, breaking the player’s jaw. Bill hits a Grand Slam HR and 3 singles, as Yankees beat the White Sox by a score of 15-3.
1934-Former Yankees Manager (1989) and MLB Manager and Player Dallas Green was born. (1934-2017)
As an MLB Pitcher, Dallas Green had pitched for the Phillies, Senators and the Mets finishing with an overall 20-20 record with a 4.26 ERA in 185 games. After his MLB playing career had ended, he became the Assistant Farm Director for the Phillies from 1970 to 1972. He was the Director of Player Development from 1973 to 1974 and Scouting Director from 1975 to 1979. Green went on to later manage the 1980 Phillies to the World Series Championship. He became General Manager of the Cubs from October 1981 to 1987. Green also managed the 1989 Yankees and later the 1993-1996 Mets. Green would spend the 2000s as a Senior Advisor to the GM of the Phillies. He still held that title as of 2011. The 1989 Yankees were 56-65 in 5th place in the AL East, when Team Owner George Steinbrenner fired him. Green didn’t like Steinbrenner’s continuing interference with player transactions with the team. He was replaced by the Yankees front office with their AAA Columbus Clippers (IL) Manager Bucky Dent.
1939-Former Yankees Pitcher Robert “Bob” Meyer (1964) was born.
Before the start of the 1960 AL Season, the Yankees had signed Pitcher Bob Meyer as an MLB Amateur Free Agent. For the 1964 Yankees, Bob had a 0-3 record with a 4.91 ERA in 7 games. On June 12,1964, Bob was purchased by the Angels from the Yankees. He later would pitch for the A’s, Pilots and the Brewers.
1944-Former Yankees Reserve OF Elisha “Camp” Skinner (1922) had passed away. (1897-1944)
Reserve OF Camp Skinner had appeared in 27 games for the 1922 Yankees, while hitting just .182. On January 30,1923, OF Camp Skinner was traded by the Yankees along with OF Norm McMillan, Pitcher George Murray and $50,000 Cash to the Red Sox for veteran AL Starter Herb Pennock.
1952-The Yankees would sell veteran Pitcher Bob Hogue to St. Louis Browns for Cash. On July 31,1951, Bob was purchased by the Yankees from the Browns. At the time of trade, Bob was 3-5 with a 5.32 ERA and 4 saves in 27 games for the Yankees. Overall, he went 4-5 with a 4.61 ERA and 4 saves in 34 games with the 1951-1952 Yankees, before being sent back to St. Louis. Bob had appeared in 2 games of the 1951 World Series for the Yankees against the Giants; he had pitched 2 scoreless innings in relief with no decisions.
1953-Yankees Starter Vic Raschi sets an MLB record by driving in 7 runs in a Yankees 15-0 victory over the Tigers, still the record for most runs driven in by a Pitcher in 1 game. Raschi singled in 2 runs in 2nd inning, doubled home 3 more runs in the 3rd inning and then capped it off with 2-run single in the 8th inning. His Yankee teammates responded to his hitting feat by filling up his locker to the roof with bats after the game.
1962-Former Yankees Pitcher Roger “The Rocket” Clemens (1998-2003, 2007) was born.
On February 18,1999, veteran AL Starter Roger Clemens was traded by the Blue Jays to the Yankees for INF Homer Bush, Reliever Graeme Lloyd and Starter David Wells. Roger would post an 83-39 mark with a 4.01 ERA in 174 games with the Yankees. Overall, he was 5-5 in World Series play. With the Yankees, he went 3-0 in 6 games for the team. His best Yankees season was in 2000, when Roger went 20-3 with 3.51 ERA in 33 games for the team. After the 2003 AL season, Roger would leave the Yankees signing with his hometown Houston Astros along with Yankees MLB Free Agent Starter Andy Pettitte. In 2007, he would return to the Yankees during the mid-season, posting a 6-6 record with a 4.18 ERA in 18 games.
1963-After missing 61 games of the 1963 AL season, Yankees All-Star Slugger Mickey Mantle returns to the Yankees lineup as a Pinch-Hitter for Bronx Reliever Steve Hamilton. The Orioles are leading the game by the score of 10-9 in the 7th inning, when the stiff-legged Mantle golf’s a line drive to tie the game at 10-10. The emotional Yankees win it by a score of 11-10, after the Orioles had taken the opener of the doubleheader by a score of 7-2.
1964-Kansas City A’s Starter John O’Donoghue gives up his 3rd HR to Mickey Mantle this 1964 AL season, but that's all of the Yankee runs that he allows in the game, as the A’s tops the visiting Yankees by a score of 5-1.
1966-Former Yankees Pitcher Jeff Johnson (1991-1993) was born.
The Yankees in the 6th round of the 1988 MLB Amateur Player Draft had selected hurler Jeff Johnson. For the 1991-1993 Yankees, Jeff would post an 8-15 record with a 6.62 ERA in 38 games. In September of 1993, the Yankees would release Jeff. He would be signed by the Indians as an MLB Free Agent, but he never returned to pitch in the MLB. He was a Minor League Pitching Coach for the Pirates organization.
1972-Yankees CF Bobby Murcer's Grand Slam HR in the 7th inning clinches the Yankees 9-4 win over the Brewers. Murcer also scores twice on walks in the game.
1973-Yankee veteran Reliever Lindy McDaniel hurls 13 innings of near perfect relief and comes out a winner, when 2B Horace Clarke’s 13th inning HR gives the Yankees a 3-2 victory over the Tigers. Bronx hurler Fritz Peterson had started the game, but he departed in the 1st inning with a muscle pull.
1975-Former Yankees Minor League and MLB Pitcher Eric Milton was born.
Pitcher Eric Milton was drafted by the Yankees in in the 1st round (20th) of the 1996 MLB June Amateur Player Draft from Univ. of Maryland (College Park, MD). While a Minor League Pitcher in the Yankee's system, Eric Milton got a tattoo of the Yankees logo on his pitching shoulder. He never got into an MLB game with the Yankees. He was traded along with 3 other Minor League players (including INF Cristian Guzman, 1B/OF Brain Buchanan, Pitcher Danny Mota) for Twins 2B Chuck Knoblauch. As an MLB pitcher, Eric would post an 89-85 record with a 4.99 ERA and no saves in 271 games.
1978-Orioles Starter Mike Flanagan hands Yankees Ace Ron Guidry his 2nd loss of the 1978 AL season by stopping the Yankees by a score of 2-1.
1980-The Yankees had purchased veteran MLB 3B Aurelio Rodriguez from the Padres. He had played in 89 games for the 1980 Padres, while hitting just .200. He would give the Yankees another 3B, while regular 3B Graig Nettles was on the DL with hepatitis. Currently, Eric Soderholm was hitting .322 for the team, but not as a defensive 3B as Rodriguez was in the MLB. He would hit .220 with 3 HRs and 14 RBIs in 52 games for the 1980 Yankees.
1983-While warming up in the Outfield before the 5th inning of a Yankees 3-1 win over the Blue Jays game at Toronto's Exhibition Stadium, Yankees OF Dave Winfield accidentally kills a seagull with a thrown ball. After the game, Winfield is brought to the Ontario Provincial Police station on charges of cruelty to animals. He is forced to post a $500 bond before being released. The charges will be dropped the following day.
1985-On “Phil Rizzuto Day” at Yankee Stadium, The Scooter’s Yankees Uniform No. 10 is retired and a plaque is dedicated to honor him.
1985-Veteran MLB starter Tom Seaver, now with the White Sox becomes the 17th MLB Pitcher to win 300 games. Seaver pitches the White Sox to 6-hit, 4-1 victory over the Yankees on “Phil Rizzuto Day” at Yankee Stadium as a crowd of 54,032 New Yorkers cheer him on.
1989-Hard-luck Starter Blue Jays Dave Stieb loses a perfect game, when Yankees OF Roberto Kelly doubles with 2 outs in the 9th inning. He finishes the game with a 2-1 victory, a 2-hitter. It is the 3rd time that Dave Stieb has lost a No-hitter with 2 outs in the 9th inning.
1991-Former Yankees Minor League P Corey Black was born.
Corey Black was a 4th-round choice of the Yankees in the 2012 MLB Amateur Player Draft. Barely a year later, on July 26, 2013, he was traded straight up to the Cubs in return for veteran OF Alfonso Soriano. In the deal the Yankees also agreed to take on $6.8 million of the $24.5 million left on Soriano's MLB player contract. Black began his pro career with the GCL Yankees in 2012, then he was promoted to the short season Class A Staten Island Yankees (NYPL) after only 1 game and he would ended the season with Class A Charleston RiverDogs (SAL). Between the 3 stops, he had posted a 2-2 record with a 3.08 ERA in 12 games as a Starter, while pitching 52 2/3 innings and striking out 50 batters against 15 walks. He was assigned to the Class A Tampa Yankees (FSL) to start 2013 season, he had gone 3-8 with a 4.25 ERA in 19 starts, when he was traded to the Cubs.
1992-Former Yankees Pitcher Domingo German (2017-2023) was born.
On December 19, 2014, Pitcher Domingo German was traded by the Marlins along with P Nathan Eovaldi and 1B/OF Garrett Jones to the Yankees for P David Phelps, INF Martin Prado and Cash. On December 2, 2015, the Yankees had granted him MLB Free Agency. On December 11, 2015, he was signed as an MLB Free Agent with the Yankees. During the 2017 AL season, he would appear in 5 games for the team with no record, before being sent back to AAA Scranton (IL). He had made another 5 relief outings for the Yankees early in 2018, when he was tabbed to make his 1st MLB career start on May 6th, filling in for an injured Jordan Montgomery against the Indians. It was a beauty, as he pitched 6 hitless innings, walking 2, while striking out 9 Tribe batters before leaving after having reached his pitch count limit. The game was still scoreless at that point, but Yankees Relievers Dellin Betances and Jonathan Holder gave up 4 runs over the next 2 innings, but the Yankees managed to score 3 runs in the bottom of the 8th and then 4 runs in the 9th off of Tribe Relievers Cody Allen and Dan Otero. A comeback capped by a walk-off 3-run HR by fellow Yankees Rookie Gleyber Torres off of Reliever Otero. With Montgomery undergoing season-ending surgery, he began to take a regular turn as a starting pitcher, but results were poor at 1st, as he gave up at least 4 runs in each of his next 4 starts, losing 3 of them. He finally recorded his 1st win on June 14th, when he allowed 3 runs in 6 innings in defeating the Rays by the score of 4-3, thanks once again to Torres, who hit a 3-run HR to propel the Yankees to a come-from-behind win. In 2019, he was called up to the Bronx, becoming a Starter, when injuries hit the Yankees Pitching staff. He would post a 18-4 record with a 4.03 ERA in 27 games before he was suspended by the MLB for Domestic Violence issues. On January 2, 2020, MLB issued its ruling: a suspension of 81 games. With those he had already missed, he would have to sit out the 1st 63 games of the 2020 season. Then the Coronavirus Pandemic had intervened, shortening the 2020 MLB season to 60 games, meaning there was no way he would be able to pitch until 2021, although he could have been eligible to pitch in the postseason, as he had already missed the 2019 one. He took it hard, sending a message to his fans on July 17th stating, in Spanish: "I'm done with baseball. Thanks everyone". Immediately, reporters started speculating that he was retiring, but he corrected this with another message a few hours later, explaining that he was frustrated at not being able to be with his teammates this season, and that "Baseball is my life and I promise I am not walking away."
After a strong spring, he finally made his return to the mound on April 4, 2021, when he started the Yankees' 3rd game of the season against the Blue Jays. He went only 3 innings, giving up 3 runs on a pair of HRs by Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Randal Grichuk, he was charged with a 3-1 loss. In his 2nd start on April 10th, he lasted 4 innings and gave up another pair of long balls, to Austin Meadows and Randy Arozarena. He was charged with another loss, 4-0. After the game, he was sent down to the team's Alternate Training Site. It was only a brief absence as he returned on April 22nd, when he picked up his 1st win of the season, a 6-3 victory over the Indians, after which he took his regular turn in the starting rotation. Within a month, he had improved to a 4-2 record, 3.05 ERA with a win on May 20th, but he then hit a prolonged hard patch, as did the Yankees as a team; as he failed to win any of his next 7 starts, meanwhile his ERA rose to 4.50. On July 7th, he had a memorable day, although maybe for the reasons he would have liked, as he was pulled from a scheduled start on the road against the Mariners, because he had to undergo an emergency root canal treatment. He then became a poster boy for the wonders of modern dentistry when he was still used in the game, pitching 3 innings in relief during which he struck out 5 batters in a 5-4 Yankees win. On June 28, 2023, he would throw a Perfect Game against the Oakland A’s. On August 2:, 2023, the Yankees would announce that “Domingo Germán has agreed today to voluntarily submit to inpatient treatment for alcohol abuse,” the Yankees said in a press release today. “He will be placed on the restricted list for the time that he is away from the club. It is critical that Domingo completely focuses on addressing his health and well-being. We will respect his privacy as he begins this process.” He will not pitch for the team again in 2023. He would finish the 2023 AL season with a 5-7 record along with a 4.56 ERA in 20 games. His current Yankees pitching career record is a 31-28 mark with a 4.41 ERA in 112 games. Players on the restricted list aren’t paid or credited with MLB service, so Germán will forfeit what remains of this year’s $2.6MM salary (roughly $838K). He’d been on track to surpass 5 years of service this season, but it seems likely to now fall a bit shy of that mark. He’ll be eligible for arbitration again during the upcoming offseason. On November 6, 2023, German was granted his MLB Free Agency by the Yankees. On March 16, 2024, he was signed as an MLB Free Agent with the Pirates.
1997-Current Yankees Minor League INF/OF Jahmai Jones (2024) was born.
Jahmai Jones was drafted by the Angels in the 2nd round of the 2015 MLB Amateur Player Draft. He was ranked by Baseball America as the Angels' #2 prospect after the 2015 season and their #1 prospect after the 2016 season. Although, Jahmai was a highly-rated prospect, his minor league career during 2015-2019 was spotty. Granted, he started at age 17, but during the 5-year period he had a batting line of .258 along with 96 stolen bases. However, when he came up to the MLB in 2020, he made the most of his opportunity, appearing in 3 games and going 3-for-7, with 2 runs and 1 RBI. He had just turned 23 years old, so he was still quite young. Indeed, the Orioles saw some potential in him, as, following the season, they traded veteran starting P Alex Cobb to the Angels on February 2, 2021, in order to add Jahmai to their roster. He played just 26 games for the Birds that season, hitting .149 without a HR and 3 RBIs, then was out of the big leagues for all of 2022 and the start of 2023. He had signed with the Dodgers as free agent in July of 2022, but then was released on July 1, 2023 without having returned to the majors, when he opted out of his contract. Two days later, he was signed as a free agent by the Brewers and immediately added to the MLB roster. That same day, he hit a 3-run double as a pinch-hitter in the 7th inning against the Cubs, tying the game at 6-6, before Brewers went on to win, 8-6, having erased a 6-run deficit. He went 2 for 10 in 7 games for the Brewers with no HRs and the 3 RBIs. He went to spring training with the Brewers in 2024, but was placed on waivers at the end of February and was claimed by the Yankees. He made the team as a utility player, but saw very little action in the 1st couple of weeks, with no starts and only 3 1/3 innings in the field until he finally got an opportunity to start a game on April 20th, at 2nd base against the Rays. He hit his 1st MLB career HR on May 12th in what was only his 7th at-bat of the season, when he got a rare opportunity to start in left field against the Rays; he connected off of P Tyler Alexander in the 3rd inning. On August 2, 2024, he was outrighted to AAA Scranton. For the 2024 Yankees, he had appeared in 33 games, while hitting .238 with 1 HR and 4 RBIs.
1998-Yankees Darryl Strawberry's Pinch-Hit Grand Slam HR is the big blow in Yankees 9-run rally in the 9th inning, as the Yankees come from behind to defeat Oakland by a score of 10-5 in the 2nd game of a double header. It is his 2nd Pinch-Hitter Grand Slam HR of the 1998 AL season, setting a new AL record and tying the NL mark held by his former Mets Manager, Davey Johnson and Mike Ivie, who both set the mark in 1978. The Bombers also win the 1st game of the twin bill by a score of 10-4.
2007-Yankees 3B Alex Rodriguez hits his 500 MLB Career HR. He becomes the youngest player in MLB history to reach the 500 MLB Career HR mark. His 3-run HR shot in the 1st inning off of Royals Starter Kyle Davies leads the Yankees to a 16-8 pounding of the Royals at Yankee Stadium.
2010-On the 3rd anniversary of his 500th MLB career HR, Yankees Alex Rodriguez hits the 600th MLB career HR of his MLB playing career off of Toronto's Shaun Marcum, becoming the youngest player - and only the 7th all time - to reach the MLB HR milestone. The Yankees win the game by the score of 5-1 and with the Rays 2-1 loss to the Twins, regain a share of 1st place in the AL East.
2018-The Indians had traded veteran MLB Reliever George Kontos to the Yankees for Cash. He would appear in 1 game for the team with no decisions. He had previous pitched for the 2011 Yankees, while appearing in 8 games with no record along with a 2.35 ERA. Kontos was drafted by the Yankees in the 2006 MLB Amateur Player Draft. On April 4, 2012, he was traded to the Giants for Reserve Catcher Chris Stewart. After 2018 AL season had ended, George was granted MLB Free Agency by the Yankees. He would be signed by the Nationals to a Minor League deal.
2018-The Blue Jays had traded 3B Gio Urshela to the Yankees, who would assign him to the AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (IL). He doesn’t appear with the 2018 Yankees, but he will become a key-part of the 2019 Yankees infield, when injuries occur early in the season. He would finish the 2019 AL season as their Yankees Starting 3B, by hitting .314 BA with 21 HRs and 74 RBIs in 132 games. He will start the 2020 AL season as the Yankees starting 3B
2023-The Yankees have announced they’ve granted minor league Pitcher Tanner Tully his player release to pursue a player contract with the NC Dinos of the Korea Baseball Organization.
August 5th
1867-Former HOF Yankees Team Owner Jacob Ruppert (1915-1939) was born. (1867-1939)
The son of a brewing magnate, Jacob Ruppert, also called Colonel Ruppert or Jake, was already a well-known figure in New York City, when Ruppert and his Business Partner Colonel Tillinghast L’Hommedieu Huston purchased the New York Yankees from Team Co-Owners Frank Farrell and William Devery in January of 1915. Ruppert had briefly served in the National Guard, earning the title “Colonel.” Also, he had served in 4 terms in Congress from 1899-1907. In 1918, he would hire Miller Huggins to become Yankees Manager over his partner’s objections. In 1919, Jacob Ruppert had purchased the land in the Bronx on which Yankee Stadium would eventually be built and open in April of 1923. In 1920, the Yankees would purchase OF/P Babe Ruth from the Red Sox. In some accounts, Ruppert was known to dislike the Babe for his drinking and off-field behavior. Also, in the winter of 1920, he had hire former Red Sox GM/Manager Edward Barrow to become the new Yankees General Manager. In May of 1923, he would buyout his Business Partner Colonel Tillinghast L’Hommedieu Huston to become the sole owner of the Yankees. He would owned the Yankees until his death in January of 1939, overseeing the franchise during one of its most glorious eras, during which the team won 9 AL pennants and 6 World Series titles. His estate headed by long time Yankees General Manager Edward Burrow will run the Yankees until when the club is sold to new Team Co-Owners, Del Webb, Dan Topping and Larry MacPhail in 1945. In December of 2013, Jacob Ruppert was voted into the Hall of Fame as an MLB Team Owner.
1872-Former Yankees Pitcher Merle “Doc” Adkins (1903) was born. (1872-1934)
In 1902, hurler Doc Akins went 1-1 for the 1902 Red Sox. In 1903, Doc Adkins went 0-0 with a 7.71 ERA in 2 games for the Yankees. Later, he would practice medicine in Durham, N.C. He was a Medical School graduate of John Hopkins Univ.
1899-Former Yankees Pitcher Sam Gibson (1930) was born. (1899-1983)
Sam Gibson went 0-1 with a 15.00 ERA in 2 games with the 1930 Yankees. Before joining the Yankees, he had pitched for the 1926-1928 Tigers. In 1931, he would pitch for the AA San Francisco Seals (PCL), while posting a 28-12 record with a 2.48 ERA in 41 games. In 1932, he was back in the MLB with Giants, posting a 4-8 record with a 4.85 ERA in 41 games. From 1933 to 1946, he would pitch in the Minor Leagues.
1904-The Highlanders would beat the Indians by a score of 5-0, to send the 1904 AL pennant race into a virtual 3-way tie. New York is 1st (.614) with Chicago (.613) and Cleveland (.611) close behind.
1905-The Highlanders 1B Hal Chase has an MLB record 38 putouts in a doubleheader sweep versus the visiting Browns. The Highlanders would sweep the doubleheader of the St. Louis Browns by scores of 3-1 and 6-5.
1923-Against the St. Louis Browns, Yankees slugger Babe Ruth again bats right-handed. After the Babe hits his 26th and 27th HRs off of P Ray Kolp, Reliever Elam Vangilder takes no chances with Ruth and walks him intentionally in the 11th inning and again in the 13th inning. Ruth bats righty against Vangilder. Bob Meusel's single wins the game for the Yankees by the score of 9-8.
1934-While 3 Yankees teammates stand watching a fly ball by Philadelphia A’s Slugger Jimmie Foxx drops in for a double, the only A’s hit given up by Yankees Starter Lefty Gomez in the 3-1 win by the Yankees over Philadelphia.
1935-In a rain-soaked game between the Yankees and the Red Sox at Fenway Park, Yankees 1B Lou Gehrig leaves in the 4th inning with another lumbago attack. The teams engage in stalling and hurry-up tactics because of the wet weather conditions, as a result AL President Heydler fines both team’s Managers, Red Sox Joe Cronin and Yankees Joe McCarthy $100 each. The Yankees will win the game by the score of 10-2 with Yankees Starter Red Ruffing picking up the win.
1940-Former Yankees Minor League INF Ossie Chavaria was born.
In 1959, INF Ossie Chavaria was originally signed by the Cubs. During the winter of 1959, he was traded to the A’s. He would reach the MLB in 1966 with Kansas City. He played for the team in 1967. Overall, he had appeared in 124 games for the A’s, while hitting .208 with 2 HRs and 14 RBIs. On December 5,1969, Ossie was traded by the Oakland A’s along with 1B/3B Danny Cater to the Yankees for veteran Starter Al Downing and Catcher Frank Fernandez. He didn’t appear with the team at the MLB level. He would play for the Yankees AAA team, the Syracuse Chiefs (IL) appearing in 241 games, while hitting .265 with 15 HRs and 89 RBIs. On December 6,1971, he was traded by the Yankees to Mexico City Tigers (MXL) for 3B Celerino Sanchez.
1946-The Yankees had sold Pitcher Jake Wade to the Senators. Wade had spent 1945 AL season in the Navy. For the 1946 Yankees, he had a 2-1 record with a 2.29 ERA in 13 games. Wade would appear in 6 games for the Nats in his last active MLB season.
1946-In another MLB roster move, the Yankees had sent veteran Pitcher Marius Russo to their AA club, the Kansas City Blues (AA). During the 1939-1941 AL seasons, Russo had posted a 45-32 record with a 3.13 ERA and 6 saves in 120 games; before spending 2 years in the Army. He had pitching arm surgery in the winter of 1945. In 1946, he had posted a 0-2 record with a 4.34 ERA in 8 games for the team. He would never return to pitch for the Yankees at the MLB level.
1946-The 2nd Game of the 1946 Mayor’s Trophy series is held at Yankees Stadium. A crowd of 25,067 fans see the Yankees edge the Giants by the score of 3-2. A 3rd game for the 1946 series will not be played since the Bronx Bombers lead the series 2-0. The Yankees score the game–winner in the bottom of the 9th inning and there was an altercation between Giants 1B Babe Young and AL Umpire Art Passarella on the final play. Young screamed that the AL Umpire had robbed the NL by calling Yankee base-runner Joe DiMaggio safe at home on a sacrifice by Gus Niarhos. In the 1st inning, Yankee hurler Joe Page broke Giants 1B Johnny Mize’s hand with a pitch. The Giants slugger would be out of action until September 13th, then he promptly broke a toe on his return. The winning pitcher for the Yankees was Cuddles Marshall, while Pitcher Woody Abernathy took the lost for the Giants, even though he held the Yankees batters hitless for 6 innings, he would allow just 4 Bronx hits in total and 2 of the runs that he had allowed were unearned.
1959-At Yankee Stadium, AL All-Star CF Mickey Mantle breaks up a scoreless pitching duel between the Tigers Starter Don Mossi and Yankees Starter Bobby Shantz by belting an 8th inning HR with 1 on. The Yankees will win the game by a score of 3-0.
1963-Former Yankees Reserve Catcher Herb Compton (1945) had passed away.(1911-1963)
On November 1,1944, Catcher Herb Compton was drafted by the Yankees from the Pirates organization in the 1944 MLB Rule 5 Player Draft. Herb had appeared in 36 games for the 1945 Yankees, while hitting just .192 with No HRs and 12 RBIs. He had appeared in 50 games for their Yankees AAA team, the Kansas City Blues (AA), while hitting .250. At the end of the 1945 AL season, Herb would leave the Yankees Minor League organization.
1966-Former Yankees Pitcher Jerry Nielsen (1992) was born.
The Yankees in the 18th round of the 1988 MLB Amateur Player Draft had selected Pitcher Jerry Nielsen. For the 1992 Yankees, Jerry had posted a 1-0 record with a 4.58 ERA in 20 games. On December 6,1992, Jerry was traded by the Yankees along with Minor League 1B J.T. Snow and P Russ Springer to the Angels for MLB Starter Jim Abbott. He would appear in 10 games for 1993 Angels, before leaving the MLB.
1968-Former Yankees 1B/DH John Olerud (2004) was born.
Veteran 1B John Olerud hit .280 with 4 HRs and 26 RBIs in 49 games for the Yankees before being injured in the 2004 AL Playoffs against the Red Sox. After 2004 AL season ended, the Yankees would grant him MLB Free Agency. He would finish out his MLB playing career with the 2005 Red Sox.
1977-Former Yankees INF/OF Eric Hinske (2009) was born.
On June 30, 2009, INF Eric Hinske was traded by the Pirates along with Cash to the Yankees for 2 Minor League Players: Casey Erickson and Eric Fryer. Hinske would appear in 39 games for the 2009 Yankees, while hitting .274 with 7 HRs and 38 RBIs. In November of 2009, he would leave the Yankees as an MLB Free Agent. He would sign with the Braves, who had offered him more playing time than the Yankees could.
1978-Former Yankee Minor League OF Jamal Strong was born.
On April 9, 2007, OF Jamal Strong was signed as an MLB Free Agent with the Yankees. He was originally signed by the Mariners. He had played 28 games for the team, while hitting just .228. Strong was signed by the Yankees. He did not appear with the team at the MLB level. He would spend the 2007 season split between the AAA Scranton (IL) and the AA Trenton Thunder (EL). On October 29, 2007, the Yankees would grant Strong his MLB Free Agency. In 2008, he would play for the Independent team, the Long Island Ducks (AL), before leaving pro baseball.
1983-AL President Lee MacPhail suspends Yankees Manager Billy Martin for the 2nd time in the 1983 MLB season because of continuing abuse of AL Umpires. Martin is suspended for 2 games for calling Umpire Dale Ford, "a stone liar" after a July 31st game with the White Sox. He earned a 3-game suspension earlier this season for kicking dirt on AL umpire Drew Coble.
1984-“Lou Piniella Day” is celebrated at Yankee Stadium. The former Yankees Outfielder (1974-1984) is honored by the team and fans.
1991-Former Yankees Pitcher Ben Heller (2016-2020) was born.
On June 8, 2013, Ben Heller was selected by the Indians in the 22nd round of the 2013 MLB Amateur Player Draft. On July 31,2016, Ben was traded by Indians along with 3 Minor League Players: Pitchers J.P. Feyereisen and Justus Sheffield and OF Clint Frazier to the Yankees for veteran MLB Reliever Andrew Miller. In 2016, Ben had appeared in 10 games for the team, while posting a 1-0 record with a 6.43 ERA in 10 games. In 2017, he went 1-0 with 0.82 ERA in 9 games. In 2018, he had Tommy John surgery on his pitching arm. He was on the 60 DL for the rest of the 2018 AL season. For the 2019 AL season, he has started his rehab pitching in the Yankees Minor League system. He did pitch for the team in 2019, while appearing in 6 games with no decisions and a 1.23 ERA. In 2020, he would appear in 6 games with a 3.00 ERA and no decisions. On February 12, 2021, Ben was released by the Yankees. He would finish his Yankees pitching career with a 2-0 record with a 2.59 ERA in 31 games. He would sign a Minor League contract with the 2021 Diamondbacks.
2001-Former Yankees and Padres OF Dave Winfield, Twins OF Kirby Puckett, Pirates 2B Bill Mazeroski and Negro League Star Hilton Smith are inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY. Despite Yankees Team Owner George Steinbrenner’s money offers to Winfield to go in the Hall as a Yankee, but Winfield selects his original MLB team, the San Diego Padres for his Hall of Fame entry hat.
2011-The Yankees and Red Sox tied atop the AL East standing, meet for a 3-game series at Fenway Park. New York takes the opener by the score of 3-2, thanks a to a big performance by its bullpen. After Starter Bartolo Colon comes out in the 5th inning, with his team trailing by the score of 2-0. Bronx Relievers pitch 4 1/3 scoreless innings and the Yankees score 3 runs in the top of the 6th inning off of Red Sox Starter Jon Lester for the win. Yankees RF Nick Swisher drives in the winning run with a double; Yankees Reliever Boone Logan picks up the victory, while Yankees Closer Mariano Rivera picks up the save.
2013-The MLB hands out 13 suspensions in the Biogenesis Laboratories Scandal, in one of the largest disciplinary actions in MLB history. Yankees 3B Alex Rodriguez is suspended for 211 games, until the end of the 2014 MLB season, but he decides to appeal, the only one of the 13 players to do so. Seven MLB players are handed 50-game suspensions that effectively end their 2013 MLB seasons, while 5 Minor Leaguers are also disciplined. Ironically, Rodriguez plays his 1st game of the 2013 AL season for the Yankees following off-season hip surgery; he goes 1 for 4 and is mercilessly booed by the fans as the Yankees lose to the White Sox by the score of 8-1 in Chicago.
2018-The Red Sox complete a 4-game sweep of the Yankees thanks a stunning 9th-inning comeback against Bronx Closer Aroldis Chapman, who allows 3 runs by walking the bases loaded with 2 outs, then allows a 2-run single to J.D. Martinez and sees the tying run score on an error by 3B Miguel Andujar. Andrew Benintendi then gives Boston a 5-4 win with a run-scoring single in the 10th. Boston now has a lead of 9 1/2 games after the 2 teams were neck-and-neck until late June.
2019-With a 9th-inning single by Orioles batter Jonathan Villar, he hits for the cycle in the game, although he is unaware of his hitting feat until 1B MLB Coach Arnie Beyeler tells him why the Orioles fans are cheering him inordinately; given the O's are about to lose the game by the score of 9-6 to the Yankees. In the game, the Orioles set a record by allowing multiple HRs - 5 in this case - for the 10th straight game, something never done before. Ironically, barely a week earlier, they had set a record by becoming the 1st team to hit multiple homers in 10 straight games! Meanwhile the Yankees had 4 HRs in the game, that were hit by C Austin Romine, Outfielders Brett Gardner and Mike Tauchman and 1B Mike Ford. Veteran Reliever Adam Ottavino picks up his 5th win of the season, while Bronx Closer Chapman gets his 30th save of the 2019 campaign.
2020-Former Yankees INF Horace Clarke (1965-1973) had passed away. (1939-2020)
In 1958, the Yankees had signed INF Horace Clarke as an MLB Free Agent. Mislabel by the sports media as a symbol of failure during the Yankee decline years (1965-1975). Fellow Yankee teammate OF Bobby Mercer describes him as “A 100% player. He wanted to play every day.” Horace led the AL 2B in assists for 6 straight seasons (1967-1972). In 1967, he had led the AL 2B in fielding. Horace led the league in bats in 1969 and 1970 AL seasons. His best Yankees player season was in 1969, when he would hit .285 with 4 HRs and 48 RBIs. Although, he only hit 27 HRs in his MLB playing career, his 1st 2-HRs were Grand Slam HRs. During the 1970 AL season, he had ruined 3 no-hit game bids in 1 month by AL Pitchers Joe Niekro, Sonny Siebert and Jim Rooker. As Yankees player from 1965 to 1974, Horace had appeared in 1,820 games, while hitting .257 with 2 HRs and 300 RBIs. He had stolen 151 bases for the team. In 1974 Yankees MLB Spring Training camp, he had lost his starting 2B job to Yankees former starting Shortstop Gene Michael, who was moved to 2B by Yankees Manager Bill Virdon; while Jim Mason took over at shortstop, Clarke starting the 1974 AL season as a reserve infielder for the team. On May 31, 1974, Horace Clarke was sold to Padres. He would end his MLB playing career that season playing for the Padres, finishing with a lifetime MLB BA of .256 with 27 HRs and 304 RBIs. "I know I got a lot of criticism for playing Horace Clarke as much as I did, but he was a lot better ballplayer than anyone gave him credit for. He did a lot of things good but nothing great, and that was his problem... besides, I didn't have anyone else." – Former Yankees Manager Ralph Houk (1966-1973)
August 6th
1903-Former Yankees Pitcher (1942-1945) and Long-time MLB Pitching Coach Jim “Milkman” Turner (1949-1959,1966-1973) was born. (1903-1998)
Jim Turner had spent 51 consecutive years in pro baseball. He began his pro pitching career in the Minor Leagues in 1922. He would finally reach the MLB in 1937 with the Boston Braves, when he won 20 games as a Rookie. On July 16,1942, Jim Turner was traded by the Reds along with INF Joe Abreu and Cash to the Yankees for Minor League OF Frankie Kelleher. Jim “Milkman” Turner would post a 11-9 record with a 3.44 ERA and 19 saves in 88 games for the 1942-1945 Yankees. He would lead the AL Relievers in 1945 with 10 saves. Overall, as an MLB Pitcher, Jim had posted a 69-60 record with a 3.22 ERA and 20 saves in 231 MLB games. In addition to his 9-season MLB Pitching stint, Turner had compiled a 204-132 record with a 3.85 ERA in the Minor Leagues. He had led the 1929 Piedmont League with 25 wins. Turner earned his "Milkman" nickname because of his off-season job of delivering milk. After his MLB playing career ended, he would manage the 1946 Beaumont Exporters (TXL) for the Yankees, then 1947-1948 AA Portland Beavers (PCL). He was the Yankees MLB Pitching Coach under Yankees Manager Casey Stengel from 1949-1959. In the winter of 1959, the Yankees front office fired Jim Turner as their MLB Pitching Coach, taking the blame for the team’s 3rd place finish due to the poor pitching staff performances. Former Yankees 1950’s Starter Eddie Lopat would replace him as the team’s AL Pitching Coach for the 1960 AL season. Jim would go back to work for the Reds organization. In 1960, he would manage the AA Nashville Vols (SA). Then Jim would spend the next 5 seasons as the Reds MLB Pitching Coach, including 1961 Reds NL Championship team before returning to the Yankees in May of 1966 to be Manager Ralph Houk’s MLB Pitching Coach, staying until the end of the 1973 AL season. In the Fall of 1973, Turner would retire from baseball.
1914-Former Yankees Minor League P Tommy Reis was born. (1914-2009)
Tommy Reis had pitch in the MLB briefly with the 1938 Phillies and Braves, while appearing in just 8 games, while posting a 0-1 record. On October 27,1938, the Boston Bees (aka Braves) would send Pitcher Johnny Babich, INF Bobby Reis and Pitcher Tommy Reis to the Yankees to complete an earlier deal made on August 10,1938. On August 10th, the Bees would send Players to be Named Later, INF Gil English, Catcher Johnny Riddle and Cash to the Yankees for INF Eddie Miller. From 1939-1946, Tommy Reis would toil in the Yankees organization, while posting a 68-60 pitching record for their 2 top AA teams: Newark Bears (IL) and the Kansas City Blues (AA). He would never would appear with the Yankees at the MLB level.
1916-Former Yankees Baseball Executive Michael Burke (1965-1973) was born. (1916-1987)
Mike Burke was President of the New York Yankees during the period when CBS was the team's owner in the late 1960s and early 1970s; a low-light in franchise history according to most fans. However, this was only one chapter in a very colorful life for him. From a middle class family, he attended a private school on a football scholarship, which also got him into the Univ. of Pa. He tried out unsuccessfully for the Philadelphia Eagles of the NFL after graduating. He then joined the Navy after a brief stint selling marine insurance. He was soon transferred to the Office of Special Services, the predecessor of the CIA, to work behind enemy lines. He had missions to Algeria and Sicily in 1942 and 1943, preparing for the Allied invasion of Italy, including the exfiltration of an Italian admiral who was a leader in the development of torpedo technology. He later parachuted into France to help the French Resistance and received a number of medals for his service. After the war, he had worked briefly in Hollywood, advising on movies based on his war experiences. He had looked unsuccessfully for more permanent work in the industry. In 1948, he began working for the C.I.A. in Europe under the cover of being an executive for Warner Bros. Upon his return to the U.S., he turned a friendship with Henry Ringling North, whom he had met in Europe, into an executive position for the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, which was bleeding money, in a fight with corrupt employees, which eventually turned into a full-out conflict with Jimmy Hoffa and the Teamsters union. He would leave that job to work for CBS, becoming director of its European operations before returning to America as VP for Diversification - a big deal when conglomerates were all the rage in corporate America. After CBS had purchased 80% of the Yankees for $11.2 million as part of that campaign in 1964; he would replace Dan Topping as team President on September 19, 1966 when Topping sold the remaining shares to CBS for an additional $2 million. As mentioned, CBS's ownership corresponded with a downturn in the team's on-field fortunes. The 1st home game after Burke's installation, on September 22nd, was seen by the smallest crowd in Yankee Stadium history – 413 fans. They did not reach the World Series a single time during this period and even finished in last place once - and ownership was proving to be a distraction for the media conglomerate. CBS President William S. Paley gave Burke an ultimatum in 1972: either buy the team himself or find an outside buyer, which he did by recruiting George Steinbrenner and his group of investors. Incredibly, CBS would lose money on the deal, as the sale was for $10 million. In April of 1973, he would leave his position as Team President, when the sale was completed, pushed out in favor of veteran MLB Baseball Executive Gabe Paul, who was from Cleveland, OH. He was a long-time friend of Steinbrenner's. He had been expecting to be kept on, but it turned out that promises from Steinbrenner were not to be taken as cash. He was rumored to be a candidate to become the Commissioner of Baseball after the sudden resignation of William Eckert in 1969 (prompted by a cabal of owners of which he was part); instead, the position when to NL Lawyer Bowie Kuhn. One of his major achievements as the Yankees President was to convince NYC Mayor John Lindsay to take over Yankee Stadium - which had somehow ended up being owned by Rice Univ. of Houston, TX. It was becoming derelict - under eminent domain and undertake major renovations, which took place in 1974 and 1975. This prevented a possible move to NJ, which was a serious possibility by then. After leaving the Yankees, Burke became President of Madison Square Gardens and of the NBA’s Knicks. He himself had a small 5 % ownership stake in the Yankees, received as a finder's fee for getting Steinbrenner to purchase the team, which he sold for $500,000 in 1981. After that, he would retire on an estate that he had bought in Ireland, from where his grandparents had come and that is where he would passed away from cancer in 1987
1919-Former Yankees Minor League OF Leon “Lee” Culberson was born. (1919-1989)
In 1943, Outfielder Lee Culberson came up to the MLB with the Red Sox, then he was traded to the Senators. On May 13,1948, Leon Culberson was traded by the Senators along with $20,000 Cash to the Yankees for OF Bud Stewart. He didn’t appear in an MLB game with the Yankees. He would play for the 2 Yankees AAA clubs, the 1948 Newark Bears (IL) and the 1949 Kansas City Blues (AA) before moving to the Giants organization.
1929-After the visiting Senators out-slug the Yankees by a score of 13-11, New York earns a split by making the 2nd game by the score of 8-0 on 2 HRs by Babe Ruth. The 1st is a Grand Slam HR in the 5th inning, his 26th HR of the 1929 AL season. Yankees Starter Fred Heimach scatters 3 Nats hits to earn the nightcap win. Nats batter Buddy Myers has 4 hits, including 3 doubles in the opener, paces a 14-hit Nats attack. Also, Durst, Cronin and West would hit HRs for the Senators.
1937-In a 10-inning game, Indian Outfielders have no chances against the Yankees. In the 10th inning, Joe DiMaggio hits a drive which 3B Odell Hale deflects into foul territory. One Umpire calls it foul, so the Indians LF fails to chase after the ball. But the other Umpire overrules the 1st, allowing the winning run to score because of the OF's idleness. The AL League office will uphold the Indians protest of the game.
1938-Former Red Sox and Yankees Pitcher George Pipgras (1923-1924,1927-1933) joins the AL Umpiring Staff.
1943-Former Yankees Pitcher Jim Hardin (1971) was born. (1943-1991)
On May 28,1971, Pitcher Jim Hardin was traded by the Orioles to the Yankees for hurler Bill Burbach. For the 1971 Yankees, Jim went 0-2 with a 5.08 ERA in 12 games. He never fully recovered from arm injuries that made him an effective starter with the mid-1960’s Orioles. He would finish his MLB Pitching career with the Braves. Jim Hardin died on March 9, 1991 when his Beechcraft Beech 35-C33A airplane crashed in Key West, FL. Shortly after taking off from Key West Intl Airport. The propeller of his aircraft failed due to fatigue, the engine stalled and the plane crashed, while Jim attempted to perform an emergency landing. It came to rest in a parking lot of the TGI Fridays Restaurant (which was under construction) located at 2710 North Roosevelt Blvd. Jim is one of 3 Yankee players, who have died in aviation accidents, including All-Star Catcher Thurman Munson (1979) and Pitcher Cory Lidle (2006.)
1945-Former Yankees Pitcher Andy Messersmith (1978) was born.
On December 7,1977, veteran MLB Starter Andy Messersmith was purchased by the Yankees from the Braves for $100,000. He was recovering from a broken elbow injury that occurred during the 1977 NL season. He had posted a 5-4 record for the 1977 Braves. As a Yankees hurler, Andy would go 0-3 with a 5.64 ERA in 6 games. He had suffered a shoulder injury, while running into 1B Cliff Johnson during a play in an MLB spring training game. In fall of 1978, Yankees would release him. Andy would sign with the Dodgers for the 1979 NL season.
1946-Former Yankees Hall of Fame 2B Tony Lazzeri (1926-1937) had passed away. (1903-1946)
Tony Lazzeri was epileptic; his untimely death in 1946 resulted from a fatal fall down the stairs, likely caused by an epileptic seizure. Tony Lazzeri would set what were then organized baseball records with 60 HRs and 222 RBIs for the 1925 AA Salt Lake City Bees (PCL) along with a .355 BA. On August 1,1925, Tony was traded by the Bees to the Yankees for Players to be Named Later and $50,000 Cash. The Yankees would send 2B Mack Hillis, Frank Zoellers (Minors) in March of 1926 and Curt Fullerton on March 23,1926 to the Bees to complete the trade. Tony had a lifetime BA of .293 with Yankees. He had appeared in 7 World series with the Bronx Bombers hitting .262 with 4 HRs with 19 RBIs. His best Yankee season was in 1929, when he would hit .354 with 18 HRs and 106 RBIs. Tony had 7 100 RBI Seasons (1926,1927,1929,1930,1932,1933 & 1936). He was on the 1st AL All-Star team in 1933. On October 15,1937, Tony was released by the Yankees, upon his request to retire from MLB. Then he would come back to play for the 1938 Cubs, then the Dodgers and finishing up with 1939 Giants. In 1991, Tony was elected to Baseball Hall Of Fame. Quote: "(Tony) not only was a great ballplayer, he was a great man. He was a leader. He was like a manager on the field." Former Yankees Player and Long-time 3B MLB Coach Frankie Crosetti.
1949-The Yankees would sell Reserve 1B Jack Phillips to the Pirates for Cash. He was hitting .302 with 1 HR and 10 RBIs for the 1949 Yankees at the time of his trade to the Pirates. Overall, as a Yankees Reserve player, Jack had hit .295 with 2 HRs and 12 RBIs in 62 games. Jack was sold to the Bucs to clear an MLB 25-man roster spot for Yankees Starter Bob Porterfield, who was being called-up from their AA Club, the Newark Bears (IL) to pitch in a critical series against the Red Sox.
1954-Former Yankees 1B/DH Ken Phelps (1988-1989) was born.
On July 21,1988, 1B/DH Ken Phelps was traded by the Mariners to the Yankees for a Player to be Named Later, OF Jay Buhner and Minor League P Rich Balabon. The Yankees would send Minor League P Troy Evers on October 12,1988 to the Mariners to complete the trade. The Yankees had drafted Ken in 1974 MLB Amateur Player Draft, but he did not sign with the team. For the 1988-1989 Yankees, Ken would hit .224 and .249 with 14 HRs. On August 30,1989, Ken was traded by the Yankees to Oakland for Minor League P Scott Holcomb.
1955-Former Yankees Reliever Ron Davis (1978-1982) was born.
On June 12,1978, hurler Ron Davis was sent by the Cubs to the Yankees to complete an earlier deal made on June 10,1978. The Cubs would send a Player to be Named Later to the Yankees for veteran hurler Ken Holtzman. On June 12,1978, they would send Minor League P Ron Davis to the Yankees to complete the trade. As a Yankees Reliever, Ron would post a 27-10 record with a 2.93 ERA and 22 saves in 144 games. Closer Rich Gossage and Ron Davis team-up to give the Yankees a power bullpen 1-2 duo for several AL seasons. On April 10,1982, the Yankees along with 2 Minor League players: P Paul Boris and INF Greg Gagne, the Yankees had traded Ron Davis to the Twins for MLB Shortstop Roy Smalley. In 1981, Ron was named to the AL All-Star team. He had appeared in the 1981 World Series, posting a 0-1 record against the Dodgers. Ron’s son, Ike Davis was an MLB player with the Mets and Yankees.
1961-All-Star Slugger Mickey Mantle leads the Yankees to a doubleheader sweep of the Twins by going 5-for-9 with 3 HRs and a double. His 4 RBIs gives him an even 100 for the 1961 AL season. His HR total for the season is now at 43. In the opener, Mantle's had 2 HRs off of his favorite AL Pitcher Pedro Ramos, but it is Johnny Blanchard's HR in the 10th inning that ties the game at 6-6. In the 15th inning, Yogi Berra hits a bases loaded grounder and just beat the throw at 1st to give the Yankees the win. The Yankees win the nightcap by a run as well, when Clete Boyer drives in Mantle in the 9th inning to break a 2-2 tie. The Yankees now lead the Tigers by 2 1/2 games in the 1961 AL pennant race.
1963-Yankees veteran Starter Stan Williams throws a 1-hitter against the Senators beating them by the score of 1-0; while only giving up a double to INF Don Blasingame. He strikes out 11 Senators batters in the game, while only issuing only 1 Nats walk. Bronx Bombers Shortstop Tony Kubek’s triple scores the Yankees lone run in the game.
1965-Former Yankees Reserve C/DH Johnny Ramos (1991) was born.
On June 2,1986, Catcher Johnny Ramos was selected by the Yankees in the 5th round of the 1986 MLB Amateur Player Draft. As a Reserve C/DH, Ramos had appeared in 10 games for the 1991 team, while hitting .310 with No HRs and 3 RBIs. He would continue to play in the Yankees organization until 1993, later he was in the Padres and Blue Jays systems before retiring from the game. He is currently an Assistant Baseball Coach at Univ. of Tampa.
1965-After hitting 7-for-11 against the White Sox, Mickey Mantle loops a HR off of Pitcher Mickey Lolich, but the Tigers still top the visiting Yankees by a score of 5-4. The Yankees will win tomorrow and Mickey will add another HR.
1971-The Yankees would kayo Orioles Starter Pat Dobson in the 4th inning, by beating the Birds by a score of 12-3. This loss would end Pat Dobson's winning streak of 12 games, his 9 consecutive complete games and his consecutive scoreless innings streak of 23 innings.
1974-Former Yankees Reliever Luis Vizcaino (2007) was born.
On January 9, 2007, Reliever Luis Vizcaino was traded by the Diamondbacks along with Minor League P Steven Jackson, INF Alberto Gonzalez and P Ross Ohlendorf to the Yankees for MLB All-Star Starter Randy Johnson and Cash. Luis would post an 8-2 record with a 4.30 ERA in 77 games for the 2007 Yankees before leaving the team for MLB Free Agency in the Fall.
1979-After delivering a eulogy at Thurman Munson's funeral in Ohio, Bobby Murcer, a teammate and close friend of the deceased Yankees Captain and Catcher, drives in all the runs in the Yankee 5-4 comeback victory over the Orioles at Yankee Stadium. The Yankees Outfielder hits a 3-run HR and wins the game with 2-run single in 9th inning.
1981-As a result of the nearly 2-month interruption in play because of the strike the MLB Team Owners elect to split the 1981 MLB season into 2 halves, with the 1st-place teams from each half in each division (or a wild-card team if the same club wins both halves) meeting in a best-of-5 divisional playoff series. The last time the MLB played a split season was 1892. The A's, Yankees, Phillies, and Dodgers suddenly find themselves guaranteed MLB Playoff spots as 1st-half division champions in their leagues.
1996-Darryl Strawberry strokes 3 HRs off of P Kevin Tapani in the Yankees 9-2 victory over the White Sox. In doing so, he becomes just the 8th MLB player to hit 3 HRs in a game in both leagues. The others to do it were Babe Ruth, Johnny Mize, Dave Kingman, Cory Snyder, Darnell Coles, Claudell Washington and Larry Parrish.
2000-The Mariners would defeat the Yankees by the score of 11-1. Former Yankees Reserve OF Stan Javier goes 5-for-6 for the Mariners, including a double.
2001-Former Yankee Minor League OF Roy Mantle had passed away. (1936-2001)
The younger brother of Yankees HOF Mickey Mantle, OF Roy Mantle had played 3 seasons of Minor League ball in the Yankees organization. With the 1955 Monroe Sports, he had hit .272 with 6 HRs. He was a Cotton States League All-Star. In addition to Mickey, Roy had a twin brother Ray Mantle, who was his teammate during part of his Yankees Minor League playing career.
2003-Three weeks after trading for veteran All-Star Reliever Armando Benitez from the cross-town Mets, the Yankees would trade the much-maligned Closer to the Mariners. In return, the Yankees get back 36-year-old Reliever Jeff Nelson for his 2nd tour with the Bronx Bombers.
2009-After losing the 1st 8 contests between the 2 teams for this 2009 AL season, the Yankees finally beat their heated rivals, the Red Sox by the score of 13-6 before a capacity crowd at New Yankee Stadium. The Bronx Bombers would feast off of Red Sox veteran Starter John Smoltz, still struggling to regain his form after missing all of the 2008 AL season. Reliever Billy Traber, who was recalled earlier in the day from AAA Pawtucket (IL), lighting up the 2 Red Sox pitchers for 13 runs on 18 hits in 7 combined innings. Bronx Bomber Sluggers Johnny Damon, Jorge Posada, Melky Cabrera and Mark Teixeira all go deep for the Yankees, while the Boston’s batting line-up fails to take full advantage of 12 walks issued by 5 Yankee pitchers.
2010-The Red Sox may be reeling from injuries this season, but their rivalry with the Yankees endures. Today, they beat their nemesis by the score of 6-3 at New Yankee Stadium, taking advantage of a dropped pop-up by Yankees Catcher Francisco Cervelli that allows Boston to score 3 runs in the 2nd. Ryan Kalish hits his 1st MLB HR, a 2-run shot off of Yankees Starter Javier Vazquez to put the game away in the 6th inning. Red Sox Starter Clay Buchholz is the winner, while Red Sox DH David Ortiz, also hits one out for the Sox, as well as Mark Teixeira for the Yankees. Derek Jeter lines a single ahead of Mark Teixeira HR in the 1st inning for his 2,873rd MLB hit, tying Babe Ruth on the MLB All-time list.
2011-The Red Sox would defeat the Yankees by the score of 10-4 in the 2nd game of a 3-game series at Fenway Park, to tie the 2 teams in 1st place in the AL East. Red Sox CF Jacoby Ellsbury hits a 3-run HR off of Yankees Starter CC Sabathia and drives in 6 runs to power the Red Sox. Sabathia is 0-4 against Boston this season, meanwhile he is 16-2 against all other teams in the AL.
2012-At Detroit, Tigers Ace Justin Verlander racks up 13 Yankee strikeouts to beat the Bronx Bombers by the score of 7-2, a MLB career-best and the most in the AL this season.
August 7th
1886-Former Yankees INF (1913) and HOF MLB Manager James “Bill” McKechnie was born. (1886-1965)
On April 13,1913, the Yankees had purchased INF Bill McKechnie from the Braves. In 45 games for the 1913 Yankees, Bill would hit only .134. He would leave the team in 1914, to play for the Indianapolis team in the rival Federal League. He would have a long successful career as an MLB Manager in the NL with the Pirates, Cardinals, Braves and the Reds, while appearing in 4 World Series (1925,1928 and 1939-1940). Bill faced his old team the Yankees in the 1928 and 1939 World Series and lost. In 1962, he was elected to Baseball’s Hall Of Fame as a Manager.
1915-Another Hall of Famer player takes a turn on the mound, as the St. Louis Browns George Sisler pitches to 2 Yankees in the 6th inning, hitting 1 batter and walking the other. The Browns-Yankees game is called at the end of 10 innings with the score tied at 4-4.
1929-Former Yankees Pitcher Don Larsen (1955-1956) was born. (1929-2020)
Before the start of 1947 AL Season, Pitcher Don Larsen was signed by the St. Louis Browns as an MLB Amateur Free Agent. With the 1955-1959 Yankees, Don Larsen would post a 45-24 record with a 3.50 ERA and 3 saves in 128 games; after coming to the Bronx in the big 17-Player trade with the Orioles in the winter of 1954. In 1954 with the Orioles, Don had posted a 3-21 record with a 4.37 ERA in 29 games. The Yankees had obtained Starters Don Larsen and Bob Turley from the Orioles in the trade to rebuild their Yankees starting rotation for the 1955 season. Larsen would begin the 1955 season with the AAA Denver Bears (AA) by going 9-1 in 13 starts, before returning to the Bronx with the Yankees. His success continued in the Bronx, as he went 9-2 with a 3.06 ERA in 13 games. However, he struggled in that year's World Series against the Brooklyn Dodgers, starting Game 4 and taking the loss after giving up 5 earned runs in 4 innings of work.
His greatest moment as a Yankees Pitcher was his Perfect Game against the Dodgers in Game #5 the 1956 World Series at Yankee Stadium. In 1956, Don would win the Babe Ruth Award and the 1956 World Series MVP Award. In 1957, Larsen had another solid season, winning 10 games before going 1-1 in a World Series loss to the Milwaukee Braves. He would win 9 more games for New York in 1958 and added 1 more in a World Series triumph over the Braves. In his last season, Don would win 6 games for the Yankees in 1959. In World Series play, Don would record a 3-1 mark in 7 games for the Yankees. In 1959, Don had won 6 games for the Yankees. On December 11,1959, Don was traded by the Yankees to the Kansas City A’s along with veteran OF Hank Bauer, Reserve 1B/OF Marv Throneberry and OF Norm Siebern for OF Roger Maris, Veteran INF Joe DeMasteri and 1B Kent Hadley. Don would appear in 1 more World Series in 1962, as a member of the Giants, working out of their bullpen against his former Yankee teammates. He had posted a 1-0 record with a 3.86 ERA in 3 games in relief with the Giants. His final World Series Pitching record was a 4-2 mark with a 2.75 ERA and 1 save in 10 World Series games. Don would finish his MLB Pitching career with an 81-71 record along with a 3.78 ERA and 23 saves in 412 games. He had started out his MLB pitching career with 1953 St. Louis Browns, 1954 Orioles, then the 1955-1959 Yankees, 1960-1961 A’s, 1961 White Sox, 1962-1964 Giants, 1964-1965 Colt 45s./Astros, he would return to the 1965-1966 Orioles before finishing his MLB Pitching career with the 1967 Cubs, appearing in just 3 games.
1929-For the 2nd game in a row, Babe Ruth hits a Grand Slam HR as the Yankees roll to a 13-1 victory over the Athletics in the Opener. Mickey Cochrane’s HR in his 1 at bat for the A's only run as the Yankees score 10 runs in the 1st 2 innings. Bronx Starter George Pipgras is the winner for the Yankees. The Mackmen would take the nightcap by a score of 4-2, as Starter George Earnshaw goes 8 innings for the victory.
1938-Yankees Starter Red Ruffing’s no-hit bid ends in the 9th inning, when Indians OF Roy Weathery doubles with 1-out, but the Yankees still win the game by a score of 7-0.
1945-Former Yankees Reserve OF Bobby Veach (1925) had passed away. (1888-1945)
On May 5,1925, OF Bobby Veach was traded by the Red Sox along with Pitcher Alex Ferguson to the Yankees for hurler Ray Francis and $9,000 Cash. For the 1925 Yankees, he had appeared in 56 games, while hitting .353. On August 9,1925, Bobby was a Pinch-Hitter for Yankees Slugger Babe Ruth. On August 17,1925, Bobby was selected off waivers by the Senators from the Yankees. In 18 games with the Nats, he would hit .243 with No HRs and 8 RBIs. In the 1925 World Series, Bobby went 0 for 2 for the Senators in the 1925 World Series.
1948-Before a crowd of 66,000 fans, Yankees Starter Vic Raschi (14-4) allows only 4 Tribe singles, while stopping the Indians by a score of 5-0. Joe DiMaggio has a pair of doubles, as he drives in 3-runs and swipes home on the front end of a double steal.
1949-Line-up juggling is a Casey Stengel Manager’s forte as his Yankees suffer injury after injury this AL season. Against the St. Louis Browns, 13 different Yankees score a run in the 1st game of doubleheader, which Yankees win the game by a score of 20-2; while the 2nd game ends in 2-2 tie.
1954-The Yankees had waived veteran Pitcher Bob “Sarge” Kuzava (1951-1954) to the Orioles. At the time of the trade to Baltimore, Bob had posted a 1-3 record with a 5.45 ERA and 1 save in 20 games, as a Spot Starter and Long Reliever for Yankees Manager Casey Stengel. For the 1951-1954 Yankees, he had posted a 23-20 record with a 3.39 ERA and 13 saves in 104 games. His best Yankees season was in 1951 by having an 8-4 record with a 2.40 ERA and 5 saves in 23 games. On June 15,1951, he had been traded by the Senators to the Yankees for 3 Pitchers; Bob Porterfield, Fred Sanford and Tom Ferrick. Bob had appeared in 3 World Series (1951-1953) with the Yankees with no decisions and 2 saves in 3 games, while posting a 2.08 ERA.
1954-Former Yankees DH/OF Steve Kemp (1983-1984) was born.
In the winter of 1982, OF Steve Kemp was signed as an MLB Free Agent with the Yankees. He would hit .264 with 19 HRs and 90 RBIs in 203 games for the Yankees. On December 20,1984, Steve was traded by the Yankees along with INF Tim Foli and Cash to the Pirates for INF Dale Berra, P Alfonso Pulido and Minor League OF Jay Buhner.
1955-After a 12-17 record in July, the Yankees are in a 4-team AL Pennant race. Tiger’s Starter Frank Lary beats the Yankees by a score of 4-2 in the game opener, then Yankees would earn a critical 3-2 10th-inning victory on a Mickey Mantle HR off of Tigers hurler Babe Birrer in the 2nd game of the doubleheader. The Yankees would finish the day in a virtual tie with the White Sox, a half-game ahead of the Indians and 11 ½ games ahead of the Red Sox.
1956-The Red Sox would fine Ted Williams $5,000 for spitting at Boston fans, as the Red Sox edge the Yankees in 11 innings on Williams's bases-loaded walk. It is Williams's 3rd spitting incident in 3 weeks. The spitting started after the crowd of 36,350 fans, a record for night games at Fenway Park, started booing the Splendid Splinter for muffing Yankees Slugger Mickey Mantle's windblown flyball in the 11th inning. Immediately thereafter, the jeers turn to cheers when Williams redeems himself with a leaping grab of Yankees Slugger Yogi Berra's drive against the Fenway Park scoreboard. The Splinter, however, is not so easily appeased. Thus, the fickle Fenway patrons find themselves the target of Teddy's spittle repeatedly as he makes his way towards the Red Sox dugout. Before the game, former Yankees player, now a Red Sox RF Jackie Jensen had to be restrained by his Boston teammates from going into the stands after a heckler. In 1955, Jensen had challenged a fan to come out of the stands.
1957-Yankee veteran RF Hank Bauer hits his 2nd consecutive leadoff HR against the Senators, as the 1st-place Yankees lose to the Nats by a score of 3-2.
1962-Veteran Yankees Shortstop Tony Kubek, in his 1st at bat after returning from active duty in the Army Reserves, homers in a 14-1 Yankees rout of the Twins. In his 1st game back with the Bombers, Kubek would play LF, before returning to his regular starting Shortstop position in the next game with Rookie Shortstop Tommy Tresh moving to LF for the rest of the 1962 season.
1964-Orioles Starter Steve Barber along with veteran Reliever Harvey Haddix beat the Yankees by a score of 2-0 to boost the Orioles back into 1st place in the AL pennant race.
1967-Former Yankees Pitcher Jason Grimsley (1999-2000) was born.
On January 26, 1999, the Yankees had signed veteran hurler Jason Grimsley as an MLB Free Agent. He would post a 10-4 record with a 4.41 ERA and 2 saves in 118 games before being released by the team during the 2000 AL season.
1968-The A's Joe Keough makes his MLB Player debut with a 1st-at bat HR in a 2nd-game 4-3 win over the Yankees. The Yankees had won the opener the doubleheader by a score of 3-0.
1972-Ron Allen hits 3-HRs as the Yankees beat the Dodgers 8-3 in the annual Hall of Fame game played at Doubleday field in Cooperstown, NY. The contest is preceded by inductions of 8 new Hall Of Fame members, which included 2 Yankee players; Catcher Yogi Berra and Pitcher Lefty Gomez.
1973-The Yankees had obtained Reliever Wayne Granger from the Cardinals for 2 Players to be Named Later and Cash. On September 12,1972, the Yankees will send Minor League AAA P Ken Crosby to the Cardinals. The 2nd player was not sent; as the 2 teams had agreed to a cash settlement, instead. Wayne would go 0-1 with a 1.76 ERA in 7 games for the 1973 Yankees. In March of 1974, the team would release him during their 1974 MLB Spring Training Camp.
1977-Bronx Starter Mike Torrez snaps a 3-game Yankees losing streak with his 3rd straight victory. The Yankees will win 20 of their next 23 games over Western Division AL opponents.
1978-Former MLB players 3B Eddie Mathews, Pitcher Addie Joss, MLB Baseball Executive and Co-Team Owner Larry MacPhail Sr. are inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame at Cooperstown. Larry MacPhail Sr. was one of the Co-Owners of the Yankees (1945-1947), who had bought the team from the Jacob Ruppert Estate. Also, Larry had been the GM of the Reds and the Dodgers before joining the Yankees. From 1945 to 1947, he was the Yankees President and General Manager replacing long-time Yankees President/GM Edward Barrow (1920-1945). After the end of the 1947 World Series, he would sell his team interest in the Yankees to his 2 Co-Business Partners Del Webb and Dan Topping Sr.
1983-The New York Yankees honor long-time All-Star OF Bobby Murcer by giving him a special day at the Yankee Stadium.
1984-Former Yankees Pitcher Wade LeBlanc (2014) was born.
On June 3, 2014, Reliever Wade LeBlanc was selected off waivers by the Yankees from the Angels. He had appeared in 1 game with the team with no record. On June 15, 2014, he was granted MLB Free Agency by the Yankees. Wade would sign with the Angels to finish the 2014 AL season. On January 17, 2018, he was signed as an MLB Free Agent by the Yankees. On March 22, 2018, Wade was released by the team. On March 25, 2018, he was signed as an MLB Free Agent by the Mariners, who converted him into Starter for the team during the 2018 AL season.
1984-The White Sox and Yankees would split a doubleheader with Chicago’s 6-3 win in Game 1 stopping New York's 8-game winning streak. Former Yankees Minor League hurler LaMarr Hoyt is the winner for the White Sox. Veteran Bronx Starter Ron Guidry strikes out 13 White Sox batters to win the nightcap by a score of 7-0. The Gator finishes with a flourish, striking out the side on 9 pitches in the 9th inning.
1989-Current Yankees Reliever Tommy Kahnle (2017-2019, 2023-2024) was born.
Tommy Kahnle had starred for Lynn Univ. in the 2009 Division II College World Series, winning Most Outstanding Player in the tourney as Lynn won it. He did not allow a run in 12 2/3 postseason innings. He led the team in strikeouts and ERA as a sophomore. The Yankees made him the highest pick in school history, when they took him in the 5th round of the 2010 MLB Amateur Player Draft. He made his pro debut with the Staten Island Yankees that summer and was nearly unhittable (3 Sv, 1 R, 3 H, 5 BB, 25 K in 16 IP). With the 2011 Charleston RiverDogs, he was 3-5 with 2 saves and a 4.22 ERA, but he had whiffed 112 batters in 81 IP (he also walked 49 batters). He had tied D.J. Mitchell for 5th in the Yankee system in Ks despite being solely a Reliever; the next Reliever was Pat Venditte with 88. Tommy had split the 2012 season between the Class A Tampa Yankees (2-1, 6 Sv, 2.45 ERA) and the AA Trenton Thunder (0 R in 2 IP). In 2013, he remained hard to hit but was wild with AA Trenton Thunder (1-3, 15 Sv, 2.85 ERA in 46 G). Then the Rockies would take the hard-throwing (98 mph fastball) reliever with the 4th pick of the 2012 MLB Rule 5 Player Draft. On April 3,1913, Kahnle would make his MLB Pitching debut with the Rockies giving up a run in 1 2/3 innings of relief in a game against the Marlins. He became the 1st MLB player from Lynn Univ., when he relieved Franklin Morales with a 5-3 lead with 1 runner on and 1 out in the 6th. He would pick up his 1st MLB win on April 5th against the Diamondbacks; he had pitched 1 2/3 innings in relief of Starter Jorge de la Rosa; he was the beneficiary of his teammates erasing a 4-0 deficit to win the game by a score of 9-4.
He would post a 2-1 record with a 4.19 ERA in 54 games as a Reliever as a Rookie, while logging 68 2/3 innings. In 2015, he was not as effective, pitching 36 times with a record of 0-1 with an ERA of 4.86 in 33 2/3 innings, but he did record his 1st 2 saves as an MLB hurler. Also, he would pitch 21 times for the AAA Albuquerque Isotopes (PCL) by going 1-3, with a 4.67 ERA and 6 saves. On November 24th, he was traded to the White Sox in return for Minor League P Yency Almonte. Kahnle pitched only 29 times in his 1st season with the 2016 White Sox, going 0-1 with a 2.63 ERA and 1 save. He would spend the 1st half of the 2016 season shuttling between the Windy City and the AAA Charlotte Knights, where he was 1-1 with a 3.00 ERA and 7 saves in 33 games. However, he was with Chicago for the entire 1st half of 2017, posting a 1-3 record with a 2.50 ERA in 37 games. Having demonstrated that he was a useful MLB reliever, he was included in a traded meant to strengthen 2 areas of needs with the 2017 Yankees, accompanying fellow Reliever David Robertson and 3B Todd Frazier to the Bronx in return for MLB Reliever Tyler Clippard and 3 Minor League Prospects - P Ian Clarkin, Outfielders Tito Polo and Blake Rutherford. He would post at 1-1 record with a 2.70 ERA in 32 games for the team. He had pitched well in the 2017 AL Postseason play for the Yankees. He was at AAA Scranton for the start of the 2018 season to work on his pitching speed issues. He did come back up to the MLB level, appearing in 9 games, while posting a 1-0 record with a 6.30 ERA. In 2019, he enjoyed a successful season as a member of Yankees bullpen with a 3-2 record and a 3.67 ERA, while appearing in 72 games. Tommy would miss the 2020 AL season due to Tommy John Surgery. In the fall of 2020, he was granted MLB Free Agency by the team. Tommy would sign an MLB Free Agent deal with the Dodgers. In 2023, he would sign a new MLB player contract with the Yankees, he is currently working out of the Yankees 2024 bullpen.
1998-Yankees Rookie OF Shane Spencer gets 5 hits, including 2 doubles and 2 HRs, while driving home 3 runs and scoring 4 in the Yankees 14-2 pasting of Royals in the 2nd game of a doubleheader. Also, the Yankees would win the opener by a score of 8-2.
2000-The Yankees had obtained veteran OF/DH Jose Canseco from the Devil Rays. The move, which mystifies even Yankees Manager Joe Torre, is presumably designed to keep the high-priced slugger away from other AL East rivals. Jose would appear in 37 games for the club, while hitting .243 with 6 HRs and 19 RBIs. In the 2000 World Series, he went 0 for 1 for the Yankees. In the Fall, the team would grant him MLB Free Agency.
2003-Former Yankees Pitcher Mickey McDermott (1956) had passed away. (1923-2003).
On February 8, 1956, veteran Pitcher Mickey Dermott was traded by the Senators along with INF Bobby Kline to the Yankees for a Player to be Named Later, Catcher Lou Berberet, INF Herb Plews, OF Dick Tettelbach and Pitcher Bob Wiesler. On April 2,1956, the Yankees would send Minor League OF Whitey Herzog to the Senators to complete the trade. For the 1956 Yankees, Mickey would post a 2-6 record along with a 4.24 ERA in 23 games. He had appeared in 1 game of the 1956 World Series for the Yankees against the Dodgers, with no record. In February of 1957, Mickey was sent to the Kansas City as part of the Bobby Shantz trade. Overall, while pitching in the MLB for 12 seasons, Mickey had a 69-69 record with a 3.91 ERA in 291 games. Later, he was an MLB Pitching Coach for the Angels.
2009-The Yankees and Red Sox are locked in a scoreless tie for 14 innings until Yankees 3B Alex Rodriguez hits a game-winning HR in the 15th inning off of Boston Reliever Junichi Tazawa, who is making his MLB Pitching debut for the team, resulting in a 2-0 Yankees win. Tazawa had taken the place of veteran Starter John Smoltz on Boston’s MLB 25-man roster. Smoltz was DFA earlier in the day after being roughed up in yesterday's 13-6 slugfest by the Yankees. Former Marlin teammates Pitchers Josh Beckett and A.J. Burnett set the tone for the game by pitching 7 and 7⅔ scoreless innings respectively for their teams.
2011-The Red Sox win the rubber match of their 3-game series against the Yankees by the score of 3-2 to recapture 1st place by a game in front of the Bombers in the AL East. Josh Reddick ends the game with a run-scoring single in the 10th inning, after the Sox rally against Yankees Closer Mariano Rivera to tie the game in the 9th inning. The Yankees take a 2-1 lead on HRs by Eduardo Nunez and Brett Gardner, but Marco Scutaro leads off the 9th inning with a double - his 4th hit of the game – then he scores on a sacrifice fly to send that the game into extra innings. Also of note, veteran Jorge Posada is benched tonight amid talk that his job as the Yankees' starting DH may be in jeopardy.
2016-At a press conference, Yankees DH Alex Rodriguez announces that he will play his final MLB game on August 12th. Then he would retire with a year and half still left on his huge MLB Player contract. A-Rod has been benched for the past month, or so as his skills have badly eroded and unless he goes on an unlikely power spree in his final week. He will fall just short of 700 MLB HRs mark, although he is still 4th on the All-time MLB HR list. His active MLB player retirement announcement comes 2 days after his Bronx teammate All-Star 1B Mark Teixeira had stated that he would retire at the end of the 2016 AL season.
2017-Former Yankees DH/1B (1983-1985) and MLB Manager Don Baylor had passed away from Multiple Myeloma Disease. (1949-2017)
Don Baylor had played 19 seasons in the AL. He would hit 338 MLB HRs. Don would win the 1979 AL MVP Award. Also, he was an MLB Manager for 9 seasons. A versatile player, Baylor had finished as high as 2nd in the league in HRs (1978) and as high as 4th in the AL in stolen bases (1976). He led the AL once in sacrifice flies and 8 times in being hit-by-pitch. He is 4th on the All-Time MLB list for most hit-by-pitch, until Craig Biggio would pass him. Baylor had held the modern record for the most hit-by-pitch. In 1986, Baylor would log a 30/30 season - 31 HRs and 35 HBP. He is the only Outfielder in MLB history, who never doubled off or doubled up a runner. His MLB career double play total was zero. Everybody else who has played 500 or more games had at least 2. On December 1,1982, Don was signed as an MLB Free Agent by the Yankees. He would appear in 420 games with the Bronx Bombers, while playing 1B and DH. He would hit .267 with 71 HRs and 265 RBIs. On March 28,1986, Don was traded by the team to the Red Sox for OF/1B/DH Mike Easler. In the last 3 seasons of his MLB playing career, Baylor would appear in the World Series each season, each time with a different AL team (1986 Red Sox, 1987 Twins and then the 1988 A’s). After his MLB active playing days were over, Baylor was a Brewers MLB Coach in 1990. In 1992, Don was a member of the Cardinals MLB Coaching staff. In 1993, he would become the Manager of the new NL Expansion Team, the Colorado Rockies, a job he would hold for 6 NL seasons. After spending 1999 season as an Braves MLB Coach. Baylor was Skipper of the Cubs for 2 and a half seasons, beginning in 2000. Next, he would spend the 2003 and 2004 seasons on the Mets MLB Coaching staff. In 2005, Don was a Mariners MLB Coach. Then he would rejoin the Rockies as Hitting Coach in 2009. In 2011, Don was Hitting Coach of the Diamondbacks, keeping the position until the end of the 2013 NL season. In 2014, he would move to the Angels as their MLB Hitting Coach. In his 1st game back with the Angels, on Opening Day on March 31,2014, he was given the honor of catching the ceremonial 1st pitch thrown by Vladimir Guerrero, who had signed a 1-day contract to retire as a member of the Angels. The choice was appropriate, given Baylor and Guerrero were the only 2 Angels ever to win the AL MVP Award. However, Baylor then suffered a freak injury as he moved to catch Guerrero's slow toss, buckling his leg and fracturing his femur. He had to be evacuated to a hospital to receive medical attention. He had to undergo an operation with a metal plate being inserted to hold up the bone. The Angels would promote Assistant Hitting Coach Dave Hansen to replace him during his recovery and brought up Minor League Hitting Instructor Paul Sorrento to the MLB club to assist Hansen. Baylor was able to resume his duties midway through the season and stayed on for a 2nd season in 2015, after which he was let go. In 2003, Don Baylor was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma, a form of Cancer that attacks plasma in the bone marrow, when he was a Mets MLB Coach. This condition is usually fatal within 5 years of a diagnosis. However, he managed to beat the disease for many years and became a major fundraiser for research against the condition, particularly in trying to put together a database of patients in order to help doctors and researchers track trends and share information. He was working with former MLB Pitching Coach Mel Stottlemyre Sr., also a Multiple Myeloma survivor, on the fundraising efforts, with the 2 mindful of fellow MLB Coach Vern Ruhle, who had died of the disease at 55, a few years earlier. In 2017, Baylor would pass away from the disease.
2019-At Camden Yards in Baltimore, the Yankees put up some record numbers in completing a sweep of the Orioles with a 14-2 win. The Bombers would homer 5 times, to make it 16 during the 3-game series tying a record set by the 1977 Red Sox. They have gone 10-0 at the Orioles' home this season, while hitting an astonishing 43 long balls. They have hit 52 dingers against the O's which is already a record for most against 1 team in a season with another 4 games left to play at New Yankee Stadium and 11 different New York players have had a multi-HR game against the Birds. In the 5th inning, slumping Orioles Slugger Chris Davis nearly comes to blows with Manager Brandon Hyde in the dugout, he is immediately replaced by a pinch-hitter in the bottom of the frame; as it is possible his tenure with the team has come to an end
2023-The Yankees announced a slate of roster moves prior to tonight’s game, most notably designating one-time top pitching prospect Deivi García for assignment and placing lefty Carlos Rodón on the 15-day IL with a strained hamstring. Also, New York would reinstated Reliever Jonathan Loáisiga from the 60-day IL- hence the need for a 40-man spot and recalled lefty Reliever Nick Ramirez from AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
2023-The Yankees have signed veteran Pitcher Zach McAllister to a minor league deal over the weekend, per an announcement from their AAA Scranton affiliate. McAllister is already active in the organization, having pitched a scoreless inning for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Saturday. McAllister, 35, who had opted out of a minor league deal with the D-backs last week. He hasn’t pitched in the MLB since 2018, but he was a steady presence on Cleveland’s pitching staff for 6 seasons, logging a combined 3.84 ERA with roughly average strikeout/walk rates in 529 innings working between the starting rotation and their bullpen from 2012-2017. The minor league deal with the Yankees is something of a homecoming for McAllister. New York had selected him in the 3rd round of the 2006 MLB Amateur Player Draft, but they would trade him to Cleveland in 2010 as a player to be named later in return for MLB OF Austin Kearns. He would never appear in an MLB game with the Yankees before being traded. This reunion will give him another opportunity to do so in the season’s final couple months.
August 8th
1897-Former Yankees Pitcher Ken Holloway (1930) was born. (1897-1968)
On June 30,1930, veteran hurler Ken Holloway was purchased by the from the Indians. He had an MLB pitching record of 64-52 in 9 seasons with the Tigers and Indians. In 9 seasons with the Tigers and Indians, he had a 1-1 record with the 1930 Indians. With the 1930 Yankees, Ken will post a 0-0 record with a 5.24 ERA and 1 save in 16 games. On November 28,1930, Ken was traded by the Yankees along with Minor League P Jack Hopkins and Cash to AA Baltimore Orioles (IL) for Minor League C Thomas Patten and P Jim Weaver.
1904-In Cleveland‚ with the Naps ahead of Highlanders by the score of 7-1 in the 4th inning‚ OF Dave Fultz and Manager Clark Griffith argue a strike call with Umpire Silk O'Loughlin. When they refuse to go back to the Highlander’s bench‚ Silk orders a policeman to escort them off the playing field. Tomorrow‚ Silk will throw out P Jack Powell and have the police escort 2B Jimmy Williams off the field. Both Griffith and Williams will receive suspensions from the American League office. Highlander Co-Owner Frank Farrell vows Umpire O'Loughlin will not be allowed to enter Hilltop Park again.
1913-The Yankees had obtained 3B Fritz Maisel (1913-1917) from the AA Baltimore Orioles (IL) for 3B Ezra Midkiff and OF Bert Daniels. He was the Yankees 1st great base stealer, leading the AL in 1914 with 74 steals. In 5 seasons with the team, he will have a total of 184 stolen bases. As a Yankees player, Fritz had appeared in 502 games, while hitting .243 with 6 HRs and 132 RBIs. Prior to the start of the 1918 AL season, Fritz will be traded by the Yankees to the St. Louis Browns along with Pitchers Urban Shocker, Nick Cullop and Catcher Les Nunamaker for Browns 2B Del Pratt and Veteran Pitcher Eddie Plank. He was the 3B for the AA Baltimore Orioles (IL) from 1911 to 1913 and 1919 to 1928. He would manage the team from 1929 to 1932. From 1954 to 1967, Fritz would scout for the MLB Baltimore Orioles. In 1959, he was elected to the International League Hall of Fame.
1913-In his last start of the 1913 AL season, St. Louis Starter Earl Hamilton pitches the Browns to a 6-4 win over the Yankees. Hamilton is 3-0 against the Yankees this season‚ with 2 of them being 1-hitters.
1918-Former Yankees Pitcher Marlin Stuart (1954) was born. (1918-1994)
On July 4,1954, Pitcher Marlin Stuart was selected off waivers by the Yankees from the Orioles. For the 1954 Yankees, he would post a 3-0 record with a 5.40 ERA and 1 save in 10 games. Marlin had previously pitched in the MLB for the Browns, Tigers and the Orioles before joining the Yankees in 1954 for his final MLB season. Also, Stuart had appeared in 6 games with the AAA Kansas City Blues (AA), while posting a 2-2 record in 6 games before finishing up the season with the Yankees. In 1955, he will pitch for the AAA Denver Bears (AA) in 2 games with no decisions. In 1956, he would spend his last pro baseball season in the White Sox organization. He would finish his 1949-1954 MLB Pitching career with a 23-17 record along with a 4.65 ERA and 12 saves in 196 games.
1920-The Yankees would lose shortest game in AL history by the score of 1-0 that was played in just 1 hr and 13 minutes to the Tigers behind Starter Howard Ehmke. Yankees CF Ping Bodie added to embarrassment by falling for the hidden ball trick, when Yankees had runners on 1st and 2nd with no outs in 5th inning.
1924-Yankees Slugger Babe Ruth has a pair of HRs - his 37th and 38th of the 1924 AL season, plus a triple and 2 walks‚ but it is not enough as the Yankees fall to Indians by the score of 10-8. Bronx hurlers Joe Bush and Bob Shawkey do the bleeding. Tribe hitter George Myatt's 2-run HR is the difference in the 3-run 9th inning. Also, Myatt has a single and double in the game
1925-Former long-time Yankees Broadcaster Frank Messer (1968-1985) was born. (1925-2001)
Frank Messer was a baseball broadcaster who most famously was the play-by-play announcer for New York Yankees games for 18 seasons. A World War II veteran, he would begin his broadcasting career working in the minor leagues, including as the broadcaster for the AAA Richmond Virginians from 1954 to 1963. In 1964, he would join the Baltimore Orioles broadcast team. In 1968, after Joe Garagiola had left to join the NBC-TV Network, he would become part of the Yankees' radio broadcast team alongside former players Jerry Coleman and Phil Rizzuto. His arrival filled a gap as the team did not include an actual sportscaster after the firing of veteran MLB announcer Red Barber following the 1966 AL season by CBS, Inc. In addition to working games, Messer would serve as the emcee of various high-profile events held at Yankee Stadium, including Old Timers Games; the retirement of Mickey Mantle's Uniform number in 1969. When Jerry Coleman moved to the West Coast to work for the Angels then the newly-formed San Diego Padres after that season and was replaced for 1 year by Bob Gamere. However, in 1971, the Yankees would formed the 1st integrated broadcast crew in MLB history, when they had hired former MLB player Bill White to join Rizzuto and Messer. The team would stayed together until the end of the 1985 AL season, although various others such as Dom Valentino, Fran Healy and Bobby Murcer, who would joined them for short periods as they had to cover both radio and TV broadcasts. The group also regularly worked postseason games, as the Yankees were regular participants from 1976 to 1981. Among famous games which he worked was Game 5 of the 1976 ALCS, ended by Chris Chambliss' walk-off HR; the 1983 Pine Tar Game with the Royals; and Dave Righetti 4th of July no-hitter against the Red Sox that same year. He was abruptly dismissed following the 1985 season (his last game had been Phil Niekro's 300th win) and he was reassigned to a meaningless front office job. He was allowed to leave the Yankees organization to join the Chicago White Sox broadcast team in 1986 and 1987; a then he would work for the CBS Radio network until retiring in 1991.
1936-Former Yankees MLB Coach, Minor League Manager, MLB Player and Manager Frank Howard was born. (1936-2023)
Frank Howard had played in the MLB for 16 seasons playing in 1,895 games, while hitting .273 with 382 HRs and 1,119 RBIs. As an active MLB player, he had played for the Dodgers, Senators/Rangers and the Tigers during his MLB playing career (1958-1973). He would hit the final HR for the Senators and the 1st HR for the Rangers. He was 4-time MLB All-Star player. Frank had appeared in 1 World Series with 1963 Dodgers, hitting .300 with 1 HR and 1 RBI against the Yankees. Also, Frank had played pro ball in Japan, before knee injury in 1974 forced him to retire as an active player. He was an MLB Coach for the 1977-1980 Brewers and again in 1985-1986. Later, he was an MLB Manager for the 1981 Padres and the 1983 Mets. His MLB Manager record was a 93-133 mark in 226 games In 1989, Frank Howard was a Yankees MLB Coach, then again from 1990 to 1993. Howard would briefly manage in the Yankees farm system during the 2002 season with the AAA Columbus Clippers (IL).
1940-At Fenway Park‚ 27-year-old Tiny Bonham makes his MLB Pitching debut for the Yankees. He loses the game by the score of 4-1 to Boston’s Fritz Ostermueller. Bonham‚ brought from the AA Kansas City Blues (AA), where he had a 10-4 record with a 2.32 ERA in 16 games to replace the sore-armed veteran starter Lefty Gomez. He will still end the 1940 AL season with a 9-3 mark‚ along with 10 completed games. He will toss 3 shutouts in 12 games. His ERA will be 1.90, but Indians Starter Bob Feller will lead the AL at 2.61, although some will consider Bonham to be the AL ERA title-holder.
1948-At Municipal Stadium in Cleveland‚ a crowd of 73‚484 fans watch the Indians and Yankees square off for a doubleheader. Trailing in the opener‚ an ailing Lou Boudreau hits a bases-loaded pinch single in the 7th inning to tie the game‚ while veteran Negro League hurler now with the Tribe, Satchel Paige wins it in relief by the score of 8-6. Tribe Starter Steve Gromek goes 7 innings in the nightcap to give the Indians a 2-1 win over Yankees Rookie Starter Bob Porterfield‚ who was making his MLB Pitching debut.
1952-Former Yankees Minor League Pitcher (1975-1978) and MLB Baseball Executive Doug Melvin was born.
Doug Melvin had pitched in the Minor Leagues for 6 seasons, going 29-19 with a 3.43 ERA. He spent 1972-1973 seasons in the Pirates farm system. He had missed the 1974 season due to injury. Then Doug would play in the Yankees organization from 1975-1978. Melvin worked with the Yankees Front Office as a Baseball Operations Assistant from 1983-1984. Also, he was the Yankees Director of Scouting in 1985. In 1987, he would move to the Orioles organization as the Special Assistant to former GM Roland Hemond before being named the Orioles Assistant GM and Director of Player Personnel, which he held from 1988-1993. Then Melvin was General Manager of the 1994-2001 Rangers. Also, he had worked as a Consultant in the Red Sox Minor League Operations Department before being hired by the Brewers in 2002. At the end of the 2015 NL season, Melvin would step down as GM of the Brewers.
1953-Two Yankees Southpaws Whitey Ford and Bob Kuzava hurl 1-0 and 3-0 shutouts against the White Sox. Veteran hurler Bob “Sarge” Kuzava gives up only Bob Boyd's double in the 9th inning for 1-hitter.
1954-The Yankees spot the host Tigers a 4-run lead‚ tie it up‚ then watch as Detroit wins it 10-8 in 10 innings. Mickey Mantle has 1 HR off of Tiger hurler Billy Hoeft‚ he just misses on a titanic opposite field drive that curves foul before leaving the stadium.
1956-Yankees Slugger Mickey Mantle's opposite field HR off of Senators Starter Camilo Pascual in the 1st inning of the game, jump starts the Yankees to a 12-2 win over the Nats. Mantle is now 9 games ahead of Babe Ruth's 1927 60 HR record pace.
1957-Former Yankees Pitcher Ray Fontenot (1983-1984) was born.
On October 8,1979, Pitcher Ray Fontenot was sent by the Rangers to the Yankees to complete an earlier deal made on August 1,1979. The Rangers had sent Players to be Named Later, MLB OF Oscar Gamble and Minor League OF Amos Lewis to the Yankees for Players to be Named Later and MLB OF Mickey Rivers. On October 8,1979, the Rangers would send 2 hurlers Ray Fontenot and Gene Nelson to the Yankees to complete the trade. On October 8,1979, the Yankees would send 3 players to the Rangers, who were Minor League Pitchers: Bob Polinsky, Neal Mersch and Mark Softy to complete the trade. For the 1983-1984 Yankees, Ray would post a 16-11 record with a 3.51 ERA in 50 games. On December 4,1984, he was traded by the Yankees along with OF/INF Brian Dayett to the Cubs for 2 Pitchers Porfi Altamirano and Rich Bordi, OF Henry Cotto and MLB Catcher Ron Hassey.
1960-Before an afternoon crowd of 48‚323 fans‚ the largest day crowd ever at Comiskey Park in Chicago‚ veteran lefty Starter Billy Pierce pitches a 4-hit victory over the Yankees, winning the game by the score of 9-1. Pierce faces just 31 Yankee batters in the game.
1967-On August 8,1968, the Yankees had purchased Catcher Bob Tillman from the Red Sox for $20,000 Cash. Bob would become the Reserve Catcher for Starting Catcher Jake Gibbs. For the 1967 Yankees, he will hit .254 with 2 HRs and 9 RBIs in 22 games. At the time of trade, he had only appeared in 30 games for the Red Sox, while hitting just .188. He had been Boston’s starting Catcher during the 1963-1965 AL seasons. During the winter of 1967, he is traded by the team to the Braves along with Minor League P Dale Roberts for Minor League 3B Bobby Cox.
1970-At the 1970 Old-Timers Day held at Yankee Stadium, the Yankees would honor former Hall of Fame Manager Casey Stengel (1949-1960). Casey Stengel's Yankees Uniform No. 37 is retired, then in the regular season game, the Orioles would beat the Yankees by a score of 4-2. Casey had told the Yankees Front Office that he didn’t want his uniform number retired; he wanted another younger Yankees player have the chance to wear the Number 37.
1972-The Yankees had signed a 30-year lease to play in city owned Yankee Stadium to commence in 1976. The plans called for 24-million-dollar remodeling of the stadium for 2 years. The actual cost ends up being close to 55 million dollars. The Yankees will play their home games at Shea Stadium during the 2-year remodeling of Yankee Stadium.
1973-Against the Rangers, Yankees Starter Fritz Peterson would injures himself, while fielding a bunt single hit by leadoff hitter Dave Nelson. He is replaced by Reliever Fred Beene, who then pitches 9 innings‚ allowing only 4 Ranger hits and winning the game by the score of 3-2 on Gene Michael's 2-out single in the 9th inning off of Rangers Starter Jim Merritt.
1982-The Yankees had traded Shortstop Bucky Dent to the Rangers for 1B Lee Mazzilli. The former 1978 AL Play-Off game hero was sharing the Yankees Shortstop position with newcomer Roy Smalley, who was acquiring by the team from the Twins before the 1982 AL Opening Day. Bucky was hitting only .169 with No HRs and 9 RBIs in 59 games for the team. Dent would finish his Yankees career with a .239 BA with 27 HRs and 201 RBIs in 695 games. He had played in 2 World Series for the team. In 1978, he was the 1978 World Series MVP, hitting .417 with No HRs and 7 RBIs against the Dodgers. Meanwhile Lee Mazzilli was a former Mets star, who had been traded to Rangers. He was hitting .241 with 4 HRs and 17 RBIs in 58 games for Texas. Lee will appear in 37 games for the 1982 Yankees, while hitting .266 with 6 HRs and 17 RBIs.
1982-Former Yankees Pitcher Ross Ohlendorf (2007-2008) was born.
On January 9, 2007, Pitcher Ross Ohlendorf was traded by the Diamondbacks along with Minor League P Steven Jackson, INF Alberto Gonzalez and P Luis Vizcaino to the Yankees for veteran All-Star Starter Randy Johnson and Cash. For the 2007-2008 Yankees, Ross would post a 1-1 record along with a 6.02 ERA in 31 games. On July 26,2008, Ohlendorf was traded along with Minor League OF Prospect Jose Tabata and P Jeff Karstens were dealt to the Pirates in exchange for 2 MLB Players; OF Xavier Nady and P Damaso Marte. Ross had pitched College baseball at Princeton Univ. under former Yankees Reserve Catcher Scott Bradley.
1989-The Yankees had claimed veteran Reliever Goose Gossage on Waivers from the Giants. The veteran Closer would appear in 11 games for the 1989 Yankees finishing with a 1-0 record with a 3.77 ERA and 1 save. He had appeared in 31 games for the 1989 Giants, while posting 2-1 record with a 2.68 ERA and 4 saves. After the 1989 AL season had ended, the Yankees would grant Gossage MLB Free Agency. He would be sign by the Daiel Hawks (JPL) for the 1990 season.
1989-Current Yankees 1B Anthony Rizzo (2021-2024) was born.
Anthony Rizzo was picked by the Red Sox in the 6th round of the 2007 MLB Amateur Player Draft. In 2007, He go 6 for 21 with a HR, walk and 6 runs in 6 games for Class A GCL Red Sox. In 2008, he would hit .373 in 21 games before being sidelined by Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and missing the rest of the season. Returning to good health in 2009, Rizzo would hit .298 in 64 games for the Greenville Drive, then hit .255 in 55 games for the Salem Red Sox. For the year, he had 37 doubles. He would lead Red Sox farmhands in OBP (.368). The Carolina League Managers rated him the best defensive 1B in the circuit. In 2010, Anthony Rizzo would reach AA level, he would split 2010 season between Salem (.248 in 29 G) and the AA Portland Sea Dogs (.263 in 107 G), while hitting 42 doubles and 25 HRs, while scoring 92 runs and driving in 100. He would lead Red Sox farmhands in doubles, HRs and total bases (255). He was then he was dealt along with former 1st-rounders Reymond Fuentes and Casey Kelly to the Padres for All-Star star slugger Adrian Gonzalez. He was sent to the AAA Tucson Padres (PCL) to begin 2011 season. He hit extremely well in the early going, confirming his status as a top prospect. In 52 games, he was hitting .365 with 20 doubles and 16 HRs, when he got the inevitable call to The Show. He would make his MLB player debut. He would reach base 3 times in 4 plate appearances, with a triple and a pair of walks, as the Padres won, 7-3. In his 1st at-bat, he struck out against Liván Hernández, but he would triple his next time up against the Cuban veteran. Two days later, he hit his 1st MLB career HR off of John Lannan; that HR was a prodigious blast, landing in the hard-to-reach the RF bleachers at PETCO Park. However, after that promising debut, he had struggled by July 21st, he was hitting only .143 in 98 at bats with 36 strikeouts; when the team decided to send him back down to AAA Tucson for more seasoning. He would end the season by hitting .331 in 93 games at AAA, while he had just hit .141 in 49 games with the Padres.
On January 6, 2012, Rizzo was traded to the Cubs along with P Zach Cates in return for P Andrew Cashner and OF Kyung-Min Na. It marked the 2nd time in 2 years that Jed Hoyer, now the Cubs' GM had traded for Rizzo. He had explained that he saw him as the team's 1B of the future. Thus, he had started the 2012 season in the AAA, hitting .342 with 18 doubles and 23 HRs in 70 games for the Iowa Cubs. They could not afford to keep Rizzo in the Minor Leagues, when he was hitting so well. He was called up to the team on June 26th, starting at 1B with LaHair moving to the outfield. He had 2 hits, including a double and an RBI in his debut. On June 30th, he hit his 1st HR as a Cub off of P J.A. Happ in a 3-2 win over the Astros. He went on to have an excellent month of July, earning Rookie of the Month honors in the NL by hitting .330, during which he hit 7 HRs and drove in 17 runs in 25 games. He would capped the month with a walk-off HR in the bottom of the 10th inning against the Cardinals on July 29th. He would finish the 2012 season by hitting .285 with 15 HRs and 48 RBIs in 87 games. He was named the 1B on the 2012 Topps All-Star Rookie Team.
On May 12, 2013, sensing that Rizzo was the real deal, the Cubs had signed him to a 7-year contract worth $41 million, indicating that he was one of the pillars around which the team would re-build. He had struggled a bit that season however, as his BA fell to .233, although he continued to display good power, with 42 doubles and 23 HRs. Also, he had scored 71 runs and drove in 80 and was generally the Cubs' biggest offensive threat in spite of the low batting average. In 2014, he would rebound, when he would hit .275 with 15 doubles and 20 HRs, while driving in 49 runs during the first half. He became an NL All-Star for the 1st time, the result of winning the NL's Final Man Vote. He would hit .286 with 32 HRs and 78 RBIs in 140 games. Rizzo confirmed his status as one of baseball's top young stars over the next 2 seasons; 2015 and 2016. He made the NL All-Star team both seasons. In 2016, he had won both a Gold Glove and a Silver Slugger Award at 1B. He led the NL with 701 plate appearances in 2015, the result of playing 160 games and usually hitting near the top of the line-up. He had hit .278 with 31 HRs and 101 RBIs that season. After taking an ofer in the NLWC Game against the Pirates that fall, he was 3 for 14 with a pair of HRs as the Cubs upset the Cardinals in the NLDS. In the NLCS, he was also 3 for 14, but with no extra-base hits as the Cubs were swept by the Mets.
In 2016, however, he was a key contributor to the Cubs' conquest of their 1st World Series title since 1908. In 155 games, he would hit .292 with 32 HRs and 109 RBIs, while scoring 94 runs. He went only 1 for 16 in the Cubs' NLDS win over the Giants, but then he had a pair of HRs and batted .320 with 5 RBIs against the Dodgers in the NLCS. In the World Series, he went 9-for-5 (.360), with 7 runs, 3 doubles, 1 HR and 5 RBIs, as one of the main contributors on offence for the Cubs. In 2017, like many of his teammates, Rizzo started the season slowly as he was hitting only .227 at the end of May. However, he was hitting with a lot of power and drawing plenty of walks, with an OBP just below .400 by mid-June. In one of his characteristically unconventional decisions, Manager Joe Maddon decided to insert him in the lead-off slot on June 13th; would trying to get more production from an area that had been troublesome all year. Anthony responded by homering in each of his 1st 2 games in the role. He connected off of Mets Zack Wheeler in his very 1st at-bat as the lead-off man, setting the tone for a 14-3 win, then he followed that the next day by pulling the same trick against Matt Harvey, although the Cubs had lost that contest, 9-4. After the game, he jokingly told the AP: "I am statistically the greatest leadoff hitter of all-time. I would like to retire there just to talk smack to everyone that tries to do it." On June 16th, he almost tied the MLB record with a 3rd straight HR to lead off a game, as his drive off of Pirates Trevor Williams was 1st called a HR before the Umpires reversed themselves and ruled it was a foul ball. Maddon, for one, did not agree, he was ejected arguing the call's reversal. For the season, he would hit .273 with 32 HRs, 99 runs and 109 RBIs. However, he struggled in the postseason - like most of the Cubs' hitters - going 4 for 20 (.200) with a double and a HR in the Cubs' win over the Nationals in the NLDS, but he was just 1 for 17 in the loss to the Dodgers in the NLCS. Following the MLB season, he was named the recipient of the Roberto Clemente Award in recognition of his charity work. He would start the 2018 season by hitting .219 in his 1st 6 games before going on the DL on April 9th because of tightness in his lower back. He then fell into a bad slump upon returning to action on April 17th as he finished the month with his BA at just .149 with 1 HR and 9 RBIs. Manager Joe Maddon decided to shake him up by having him hit 1st on May 1st, and he responded with a lead-off HR against the Rockies. He would end the 2018 season by hitting .283 with 25 HRs and 101 RBIs in 153 games, also winning his 2nd Gold Glove. The 2018 postseason was a big disappointment for the Cubs, however, as they were outset by the Rockies in the NLWC Game in extra innings. Rizzo went 1 for 4 in the loss. In 2019, Anthony had won his 3rd Gold Glove and had another good season, meanwhile the Cubs underperformed. He would hit .293 with 29 doubles, 27 HRs and 94 RBIs in 146 games, but for the 1st time in 6 years, he did not receive any support in the MVP vote, largely because of his team's missing out on the postseason. It was the other way around in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season: the Cubs played well, winning a division title in their 1st year under new Manager David Ross, but Rizzo had his worst season in quite a while, as he batted just .222 with 11 HRs and 24 RBIs in 58 games. He did win another Gold Glove, his 4th. In the postseason, the Cubs were upset in 2 games by the Marlins in the NLWC Series, as he was shut out in 8 at-bats. On July 29, 2021, Rizzo was traded being sent to the Yankees in return for 2 Minor League prospects; OF Kevin Alcantara and P Alexander Vizcaino. He was joining a team that had also underperformed, but that still fancied itself a contender in spite of some serious flaws in the team's construction. Rizzo's acquisition could correct 2 of these by adding a left-handed bat to a line-up dominated that was by righthanded power hitters and providing some top-notch defense at 1B; a position that had been a drag on the team given repeated injuries to starting 1B Luke Voit. On the same day, the Yankees had acquired another big lefty bat in OF Joey Gallo from the Rangers. For the Cubs, Rizzo was batting .248 with 14 HRs and 40 RBIs in 92 games at the time of his trade. He would immediately endear himself to the Bronx faithful by going deep for his new team in his very 1st game on the day of the trade, against Marlins P Zach Thompson in a 3-1 win. Rizzo would repeat the feat in the next game, going deep again, while reaching base 5 times in a 4-2 win. No player in Yankees history had ever reached base 8 times in his 1st 2 games before him. He continued to pile on the accomplishments, become the 1st Yankee ever to collect at least 1 RBI in his 1st 6 games with the team. In 49 games with the Yankees, he had hit .249 with 8 HRs and 21 RBIs to finish the year with a combined line of .248 with 22 HRs and 61 RBIs and 141 games. His stats with the Yankees were basically undistinguishable from those he had put up with the Cubs on a per game basis. On March 15, 2022, Rizzo would re-signed with the Yankees for 2-years at $32 million. This was far from a certainty as the Yankees were known to be pursuing another MLB Free Agent 1B in Freddie Freeman - but then so were a half dozen other teams. They therefore settled for the bird in the hand, with Rizzo having proven that he was a good fit during his time with them the previous season. On April 26th, he had the 1st 3-HR game of his career for the Yankees against the Orioles, in a 12-8 win. This gave him an MLB leading 8 HRs at that early point of the season. On June 16th, he hit a walk-off HR off of Rays Shawn Armstrong to give the Yankees a 2-1 win, their 7th straight and 14th straight at home - a record since New Yankee Stadium was inaugurated in 2009. The very next day, he hit a Grand Slam HR in a 12-3 win over the Blue Jays. Overall, he would hit .224 in 130 games, with 32 HRs, 77 runs and 75 RBIs. Generally he was the Yankees' 2nd-best hitter behind MVP Aaron Judge. In the MLB postseason, he went 5 for 12 with a double and a HR in the Yankees' win over the Guardians in the ALDS, 3 for 12, again with a double and a HR in their loss to the Astros in the ALCS. With a perfect sense of timing, on May 12, 2023, he homered twice on his bobblehead day at New Yankee Stadium to lead New York to a 6-5 in over the MLB-leading Rays. He was off to a good start at that point, and on May 20th hit his 11th homer of the season and drove in 3 runs, to give him 28 RBIs in 46 games, to go along with an average of .303. However, he went into a prolonged slump after that, not hitting a single long ball in his next 45 games, with only 11 RBIs, as his average sank to .244, corresponding with the Yankees going into a collective hitting slump in the absence of superstar Aaron Judge, sidelined by a toe injury. He finally snapped out of the funk on July 23rd when he homered and drove in a pair while going 4 for 4 in an 8-5 win over the lowly Royals. The HR came off of Jordan Lyles and snapped the 2nd-longest homerless drought of his career, while the 4-hit game was his 1st since the 2019 season. For his part, he credited a change of walk-up music - he used Taylor Swift's "...Ready For It?"- for the change of fortune. However, this was only temporary and on August 3rd, he went on the IL with post-concussion symptoms. He did not return as on September 5th, the Yankees announced that he was done for the season. In 99 games, he had hit .244 with 12 HRs and 41 RBIs for an OPS+ of 93, the 1st time he had been below 100 since his rookie season in 2011.
1995-Yankees' DH Ruben Sierra drives home 7 runs to lead the Yankees to an 11-4 win over the Orioles. Sierra's 3 hits include a single‚ double and HR.
1996-Veteran MLB Slugger Darryl Strawberry powers a pair of HRs to lead the Yankees to an 8-4 win over the White Sox. The former NL All-Star Slugger Strawberry now has 5 HRs in his last 9 at bats.
2005-Former Yankees Minor League Player, MLB player and Manager Gene Mauch had passed away. (1925-2005)
Gene Mauch was an Infielder, who was originally signed by the Dodgers during the mid-1940’s. On November 19,1951, Gene was drafted by the Yankees from the Braves organization in the 1951 MLB Rule 5 Player Draft. Gene never appeared with the Yankees at the MLB level. On March 26,1952, he was selected off waivers by the Cardinals from the Yankees organization. Later, Gene was MLB Manager for the Phillies, Expos, Twins and the Angels during his long MLB Manager career. He was the brother-in-law of former MLB Player Roy Smalley Jr. and the Uncle of former Yankees Shortstop Roy Smalley III.
2009-Former Yankees Minor League Manager (1961) and MLB Manager Cal Ermer had passed away. (1923-2009)
A former Minor League player, Cal Ermer had managed in the Minor Leagues for several MLB organizations for many seasons. Carl was a Manager in the Yankees Minor League system for 1 season. He would manage the AAA Richmond Virginians in 1961, finishing with a 71-83 record for 6th place finish in the International League. In 1962, he would move to the Twins organization. He would manage the Twins in 1967-1968, before returning to manage again in their Minor League system. Also, Ermer was a MLB Coach for the 1962 Orioles, 1970-1971 Brewers and the 1977 Oakland A's. He was an MLB Scout for the 1969 Twins,1963-1964 Orioles and the 1972-1973 Brewers.
2019-Playing his 1st game in his home ballpark of Rogers Centre in Toronto, Blue Jays Shortstop Bo Bichette extends his hitting streak since his debut to 11 games with a HR off of Yankees Starter Domingo German and then he doubles off of Bronx Reliever Shawn Green to set a MLB record with a double in 9 straight games as he now has 13 extra-base hits in his 1st 11 games. However, his efforts are no match for the slugging Yankees, who tee off against Jays hurler Thomas Pannone, including a 2-HR game by Gio Urshela, they would win the game by the score of 12-6. The Bronx Bombers have hit 19 HRs in their last 4 games, all on the road.
2022-One of the great comeback stories of the season comes to an unfortunate end as Yankees Matt Carpenter fouls a ball off his leg in a game against Seattle, breaking his foot. Carpenter was added to the Yankees' roster in May after being released by the Rangers' AAA affiliate. He batted below .200 in in his previous 2 MLB seasons with the Cardinals and almost saw his MLB playing career come to a full stop; but he found the fountain of youth in the Big Apple. He was batting .305 with 15 HRs and 37 RBIs in 128 at-bats at the time of the injury.
August 9th
1894-Former Yankees Shortstop John Mitchell (1921-1922) was born. (1894-1965)
On January 27,1921, Shortstop John Mitchell was traded by AA Vernon Tigers (PCL) to the Yankees for Pitchers Ernie Shore and Bob McGraw, Catcher Truck Hannah and a Minor League player. He would appear in 17 games for the 1921-1992 Yankees as a Reserve Shortstop, while hitting .262. On July 23,1922, John was traded by the Yankees along with Outfielders Chick Fewster and Elmer Miller, P/OF Lefty O'Doul and $50,000 Cash to the Red Sox for veteran 3B Joe Dugan and OF Elmer Smith.
1919-Former Reserve Yankees Catcher (1947-1954), Yankees Minor League Manager (1956-1957) MLB Coach (1955,1958-1960), Manager (1961-1963,1966-1973) General Manager (1964-1966), Ralph “The Major” Houk was born. (1919-2010)
In 1939, the Yankees had signed Catcher Ralph Houk as an MLB Amateur Free Agent. From 1947-1954, he was a Yankees Reserve Catcher, while appearing in 91 games, hitting .272 with No HRs and 12 RBIs. He had appeared in 2 World Series )1947 and 1952) with the team, while appearing in 2 games with 1 hit, batting .500. In 1955, Houk would become a Yankee MLB Bullpen Coach in 1955, before going to the AAA Denver Bears (AA) to manage in the Yankees farm system (1956-1957). In 1958, Houk would return to the Yankees as an MLB Coach under Manager Casey Stengel. In October of 1960, Houk would replace Casey Stengel as Yankees Manager, winning 3 AL Flags from 1961-1963 and capturing 2 World Championships (1961-1962). His Yankees Manager record was 309-176 with a .637 Pct. In October of 1963, he would become the Yankees new GM with Player-Coach Yogi Berra taking over as Yankees Manager. Yankees Co-Owner Dan Topping had chosen Yogi Berra as the Manager. After the 1964 World Series loss to the Cardinals, GM Ralph Houk would fire Manager Yogi Berra, despite winning 99 games during the AL season replacing him with ex-Cardinals Manager Johnny Keane. He would turn out to be failure with the veteran 1965-1966 Yankee teams. In May of 1966, Houk would replace Manager Johnny Keane, staying with the team in end of the 1973 AL season; resigning because of his communications problems concerning player moves with new Yankees Team Owner George Steinbrenner, who had promised him that he would spend money on MLB Free Agents to build a championship team again. Ralph Houk had been with the Yankees organization for since 1939 as an MLB player, then as a Minor League Manager, MLB Coach and Manager, working as the team’s GM from October of 1963 until May of 1966. Houk’s 2nd tour as a Yankees Manager had ended with a 635-630 record with a .501 Pct. He would later manage in the MLB again, with the 1974-1978 Tigers and then finishing with his long MLB manager’s career with the 1981-1984 Red Sox. Ralph finished with an overall MLB Manager record of 1,619-1,531 in 3,156 games. Then, he would work in the Twins front office in Player Development Department before retiring from baseball. Ralph Houk was called “The Major” from his WWII combat experience as an Army Ranger during the Battle of Bulge in Europe, in which he was awarded The Bronze Star and a field promotion to the rank of Major.
1919-Former Yankees Pitcher Fred Sanford (1949-1951) was born. (1919-2011)
On December 13,1948, Starter Fred Sanford was traded by the St. Louis Browns along with C Roy Partee to the Yankees for Catcher Sherman Lollar, P Red Embree, INF Richard Starr and $100,000 Cash. With the 1949-1951 Yankees, Fred would post a 12-10 record with a 4.18 ERA in 46 games. A lot was expected from the Utah native in the Bronx by the NYC sports media, had pitched well for poor Browns teams and especially against the Yankees. The NYC baseball fans were soon all over him when it was apparent, he wasn't going to succeed despite that he did have winning records of 7-3 and 5-4 in his 2 full seasons with the Yankees, but he wasn't used in either the 1949 or the 1950 World Series by Yankees Manager Casey Stengel. NY Daily News Sports Writer Joe Trimble dubbed him the "$100,000 Lemon." Sanford, who recalled that the 2 seasons with the World Champions "the worst 2 years of my life." On June 15,1951, he was traded by the team along with 2 hurlers: Tom Ferrick and Bob Porterfield to the Senators for veteran hurler Bob “Sarge” Kuzava. For the 1951 Yankees, Fred had posted a 0-3 record with a 3.17 ERA in 11 games. Overall, as a Bronx hurler, Fred had posted a 12-10 record with a 4.18 ERA in 66 games. He would post a 2-3 record in 7 games for the Nats before he was traded to the Browns; going 2-4 in 9 games and finishing his MLB pitching career. As an MLB hurler, Fred would post a 37-55 record with a 4.55 ERA and 6 saves in 164 games.
1925-Yankees Reserve OF Bobby Veach pinch-hits for Slugger Babe Ruth. This was only time in Babe Ruth’s Yankees playing career that another Yankee player had battled in his place. He would fly out; the Yankees would lose the game by the score of 4-3 in 12 innings.
1934-Former Yankees Pitcher Eli Grba (1959-1960) was born. (1934-2019)
In 1952, the Red Sox had signed Pitcher Eli Grba as an MLB Amateur Player. He didn’t appear with the Red Sox at the MLB level. On March 14,1957, he was traded by the Red Sox along with OF Gordie Windhorn to the Yankees for OF Bill Renna. He would spend the 1957-1958 seasons in the military. For the 1959-1960 Yankees, Eli Grba would post an 8-9 record with a 4.74 ERA and 1 save in 43 games, before being selected in the AL Expansion Team Player Draft as the #1 Draft Pick by the Angels in December of 1960. With the 1960 Yankees, he had appeared in 1 game of the 1960 World Series against the Pirates, but not as a Pitcher, but as a Pinch-hitter. His former Yankees Manager Casey Stengel working for the team as a Special Talent Advisor had recommended him to the Angels front office. He would lead the 1961 Angels starters in team wins with 11. With the Angels, he would post a 20-24 record with a 4.40 ERA and 3 saves in 92 games. His serious drinking problems had ended his MLB pitching career, he would pitch in in the Minor Leagues for several seasons before retiring from the game. Later, he would overcome his drinking problems, rejoining organized baseball. He would later work in the Brewers farm system as a Pitching Instructor. Also, he would become a Minor League Manager in the Angels farm system. He was honored by the Angels during their 50th anniversary celebration as the original Angel player.
1939-Yankees 3B Red Rolfe begins an 18-game scoring streak. The Penacook, NH native will score 30 runs during this period of time.
1940-Steve Sundra would post his 1st win of the 1940 AL season for the Yankees. The Yankees at 51-51 mark seem certain to be out of the running for their 5th straight AL Championship. However, they will go 37-15 the rest of the way and actually make the top for a few hours on September 11th. The Yankees will ultimately finish the season in 3rd place, after losing 3 straight games to the St. Louis Browns on September 15-16th.
1941-Former Yankees Reliever Paul Linblad (1978) was born.
On August 1,1978, Veteran MLB Reliever Paul Linblad was purchased by the Yankees from the Rangers. Paul will appear in 7 games for the 1978 Yankees with no record with an ERA of 4.42. After the 1978 AL season had ended, he was released to the Mariners.
1944-At Yankee Stadium, the St. Louis Browns win their 9th straight game for the 2nd time this season in a 3-2 win over the Yankees. They lead AL by 6 1/2 games. St Louis's other MLB team, the Cardinals, after winning 26 games in July, now leads the NL by 16 1/2 games. They will both meet in the 1944 World Series.
1946-Former Yankees Reserve C/DH Jerry Moses (1973) was born. (1946-2018)
On November 27,1972, Catcher Jerry Moses came to the Yankees in the Graig Nettles trade from the Indians. He would hit .254 in 17 games for the 1973 Yankees. On March 19,1974, Moses was traded as part of a 3-team trade by the Yankees to the Tigers. Detroit would send Reliever Ed Farmer to the Yankees. The Tigers would send veteran Starter Jim Perry to the Indians. The Tribe will send P Rick Sawyer and OF Walt Williams to the Yankees.
1948-Former Yankees Minor League P Gary Timberlake was born.
On June 7,1966, Pitcher Gary Timberlake was selected by the Yankees in the 2nd round of the 1966 MLB Amateur Player Draft. He would never appear with the Yankees at the MLB level. On October 15,1968, Gary was selected by the Seattle Pilots from the Yankees organization as the 48th pick in the 1968 AL Expansion Teams Player Draft (Royals and Pilots). Gary Timberlake had 2 games in the MLB at the age of 20, with the 1969 Seattle Pilots in their only season. He is immortalized as the youngest Pilot. He was soon thereafter called to active duty in the military. He would never returned to pitch in the MLB.
1948-The Yankees had waived Pitcher Karl Drews (1946-1948) to the St. Louis Browns. Karl had posted an 8-10 record with a 4.76 ERA and 2 saves in 52 games with the 1946-1948 Yankees. He will finish with a 3-2 record in 20 games for the 1948 Browns. His Grandson, Matt Drews had pitched in the Yankees Minor League system during the 1990’s, before being traded to the Tigers in the Cecil Fielder trade on July 31, 1996.
1949-Boston’s Dom DiMaggio's 34-game hitting streak is on the line against Yankees starter Vic Raschi. Hitless in his 1st 4 at bats, Dom hits a sinking line drive in the 8th inning that his brother Joe catches at his shoe tops. The Red Sox win the game by a score of 6-3 to move 5 1/2 games behind the Yankees. Dom had started his streak after going hitless against Yankees Starter Vic Raschi.
1967-Former Yankees OF Deion “Neon” Sanders (1989-1990) was born.
Outfielder Deion Sanders was selected by the Yankees in the 30th round of the 1988 MLB Amateur Player Draft. Deion would hit .173 with 5 HRs and 16 RBIs in 71 games before being released by the Yankees. On September 24,1990, he would be signed by the Braves.
1975-Former Yankees Reserve INF Mike Lamb (2004) was born.
On February 5, 2004, INF Mike Lamb was traded by the Rangers to the Yankees for P Jose Garcia. After the Yankees had acquired All-Star Shortstop Alex Rodriquez from Rangers, Mike became expendable, when the Yankees announced that A-Rod would become the Yankees regular 3B. On March 25, 2004, Mike was traded by the Yankees to the Astros for Minor League Player Juan DeLeon. In July of 2011, Mike had signed a Minor League contract with the Yankees. He would play at AAA Scranton, appearing in 53 games, while hitting .276 with 6 HRs and 26 RBIs. He did not appear with the 2011 Yankees at the MLB level. At the end of the season, he became an MLB Free Agent.
1978-At Yankee Stadium, the Bronx Bombers would rally for 5 runs in the 9th inning to beat the Brewers by a score of 8-7.
1985-In a 15-4 Tigers mauling of the Yankees, Bronx Catcher Rick Cerone takes the mound. Again, he walks 1 Tiger batter and allows no runs, the 2nd time in 3 weeks he's caught and pitched in the same game.
1986-Former Yankees Long-Time MLB Scout Tom Greenwade had passed away. (1904-1986)
Tom Greenwade was a noted MLB Baseball Scout for 50 years. He had signed Mickey Mantle and Elston Howard for the Yankees. Later, he would sign Bobby Murcer, who had replaced Mickey Mantle in the outfield. Also, he had scouted the Negro Leagues; he gave the Scouting Report to Dodgers Baseball Executive Branch Rickey that convinced Rickey that Jackie Robinson was his man. Greenwade had started out as a Minor League Pitcher for the 1923 Fort Smith Twins. Later, Tom would manage in the Minor Leagues for the St. Louis Browns, winning the Northeast Arkansas League Pennant with the 1940 Paragould Browns before Browns Team Owner Bill DeWitt made him an MLB Scout. Then he would move to the Dodgers Organization, when he followed Baseball Executive Larry MacPhail to the Yankees in January of 1945.
1991-Former Yankees Reserve INF Hank Majeski (1946) had passed away. (1916-1991)
On May 25,1941, INF Hank Majeski was purchased by the Yankees from the Boston Braves. From 1942 to 1945, he had served in the Coast Guard. In 1946, Hank would only appear in 8 games with the Yankees, while hitting just .083. On June 14,1946, Hank was purchased by Athletics from the Yankees for the waiver price of $7,500. He would become the A’s new starting 3B.
1992-Yankees Rookie Starter Sam Militello allows just 1-hit in 7 innings as he defeats the Red Sox by the score of 6-0 in his MLB pitching debut. The Yankees in the 6th round of the 1990 MLB Amateur Player Draft had selected Sam. For the 1991-1992 Yankees, his MLB pitching career record would be 4-4 with a 3.89 ERA in 12 games. He was bothered by pitching arm injuries that would end his pitching career.
1993-Former Yankees Pitcher Brady Lail (2019) was born.
Pitcher Brady Lail was selected by the Yankees in the 18th round of the 2012 MLB Amateur Player Draft. He had started with a 1.42 ERA in 12 2/3 innings his 1st pro season and followed that with a 5-1 record and a 2.92 ERA in 61 2/3 innings in 2013. He had his 1st double-digit victory season in 2014, by going 11-5. In 2015, he was 10-6. He had reached AAA Scranton for the 1st time that season. He was a Mid-Season All-Star in 2014 and 2015. Going into 2016 season, he was ranked the #19 prospect in the Yankees system by Baseball America. He had split the 2019 baseball season with Class A Tampa (FSL), AA Trenton Thunder (EL) and the AAA Scranton (IL). He had appeared in 1 game for the 2019 Yankees with no decision. On November 4, 2019, the Yankees would grant him MLB Free Agency.
1996-The Tigers would defeat the Bronx Bombers by a score of 5-3, as DH Ruben Sierra, who was traded 9 days ago from the Yankees, drives home all 5 Tiger runs with a double and 3-run HR.
1997-The Yankees would beat Twins Starter Brad Radke by the score of 4-1, stopping Radke's 12-game winning streak. Yankees Reserve INF Luis Sojo snaps the 1-1 tie in the 8th inning with a 2-run HR. Since 1950, only 3 pitchers have won 12 straight games.
1999-For the 1st time in MLB history, 5 Grand Slams HRs are hit in a single day. Cardinals Fernando Tatis, Expos Jose Vidro, Marlins Mike Lowell, Yankees Bernie Williams (against the Oakland A’s) and the Mariners Jay Buhner, all connect to set the MLB record.
2001-Yankee hurler Ted Lilly is suspended for 6 games for hitting Anaheim's Scott Spiezio in the head with a pitch in a game last Sunday. Yankees Manager Joe Torre rips into baseball's Dean of Discipline, Frank Robinson for the decision. The Umpires did not throw Ted Lilly out of the game, when the incident occurred.
2009-At New Yankee Stadium, the Yankees would complete a 4-game sweep of the Red Sox with a 5-2 victory. Both team’s starters Andy Pettitte and Jon Lester would keep the game scoreless for 6 innings until Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez leads off the bottom of the 7th inning with a HR. Victor Martinez gives Boston the lead with a 2-run HR shot off of Yankees Reliever Phil Coke in the 8th inning, breaking a 31-inning scoring drought. In the bottom of the 8th inning, Yankees batters Johnny Damon and Mark Teixeria hit back-to-back HRs against Red Sox Reliever Daniel Bard to put the Yankees ahead then Nick Swisher hits a 2-run single to seal the Yankees victory.
2015-At New Yankee Stadium, the Blue Jays would complete a 3-game sweep of the Yankees with a 2-0 shutout, to move within 1 1/2 game of 1st place in the AL East. Toronto Starter Marco Estrada pitches 6 1/3 innings, while Jays hitters Josh Donaldson and Jose Bautista hit solo HRs off of Bronx Starter Masahiro Tanaka. The Yankees score 1 run over the 3 game series, they are shut out in back-to-back games for the 1st time since May 12-13,1999, ending a MLB record streak of 2,665 games between the 2 instances.
2017-Former Yankees Reserve OF Danny Walton had passed away. (1947-2017).
On June 9,1971, the Yankees had obtained OF Danny Walton from the Brewers for INF/OF Frank Tepedino and OF Bobby Mitchell. Walton never turned out to be the power hitter that the Yankees were looking for. He would spend most of his playing time in the Yankees organization playing at the AAA level. He would appear in only 5 games for the team, while hitting just .143 with 1 HR and 2 RBIs. In the fall of 1972, he would be traded to the Twins for Reserve Catcher Rick Dempsey.
2018-Former Yankees Reserve INF John Kennedy (1967) had passed away. (1941-2018)
After being obtained from the Dodgers for Reserve OF/1B John Miller and Minor League P Jack Cullen. For the 1967 Yankees ,John had hit only .196 with 1 HR and 17 RBIs in 78 games before being purchased by the Seattle Pilots in November of 1968. He was not the answer to the Yankees infield problems. He had spent most of the 1968 baseball season playing with the AAA Syracuse Chiefs (IL).
2019-The Yankees had acquired Pitcher Joe Mantiply from the Reds for Cash Considerations. He was not placed on the Yankees 40-man MLB Roster. He was assigned to AAA Scranton (IL). Joe was a the 27th round pick in the 2013 MLB Amateur Player Draft by the Tigers. He will appear in 1 game with the 2019 Yankees, while posting a 1-0 record with 9.00 ERA. On November 4, 2019, the Yankees will grant him his MLB Free Agency. In January of 2020, he will be signed by the Diamondbacks.
2021-A wild game between the Royals and Yankees sees the Bronx Bombers come out on top, by the score of 8-6 in 11 innings, but not before the Yankees tie a record with 4 blown saves in the game, courtesy of Jonathan Loaisiga, Chad Green, Zack Britton and Clay Holmes. It also marks the 1st game in which both teams score at least a run in the 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th innings; they then both score in the 11th to make the line-score even more remarkable. The big blow comes courtesy of Yankees hitter Brett Gardner, with a bases-loaded double off of Royals Reliever Greg Holland in the 11th.
August 10th
1904-After pitching 30 complete games in a row, Yankees Starter Jack Chesbro is knocked out by the White Sox. For the 1904 AL season, he will win 41 games, while pitching 48 complete games out of 51 starts for the Highlanders. All are post-1900 records. His 455 innings pitched will be topped only by Ed Walsh's 464 innings in 1908.
1923-Former Yankees Pitcher Erwin “Bob” Porterfield (1948-1951) was born. (1923-1980)
Before the start of 1946 AL season, Pitcher Bob Porterfield was signed by the Yankees as an MLB Amateur Free Agent. While pitching for the Yankees, he was bothered by back problems; he would post an 8-9 record with a 5.06 ERA and 1 save in 40 games with the Yankees. On June 15,1951, he was traded by the team along with Pitchers Tom Ferrick and Fred Sanford to the Senators for veteran hurler Bob Kuzava. Once healthy, Bob would win 22 games with the Senators in 1953. His trade to the Senators was a rare mistake made by Yankees GM George Weiss.
1926-At Griffith Stadium in Washington, D.C., the Yankees had dropped a scheduled 7-inning game with the Senators by the score of 5-3. The game was shortening to 7 innings to allow the Yankees to meet travel requirements by train (aka getaway game).
1933-Former Yankees Reserve OF/P and Minor League Instructor Rocky Colavito (1968) was born.
On July 15,1968, the Yankees had signed veteran All-Star OF Rocky Colavito as an MLB Free Agent after being released by the Dodgers. Rocky would hit .220 with 5 HRs and 13 RBIs in 39 games. He would win a game pitching in relief for the Yankees during the 1968 AL season. The Yankees Front Office had asked him to come back as a Pitcher and OF/PH for the 1969 AL season; he chose to retire as an active MLB player. In 1969, Rocky was a Yankees Minor League hitting Instructor. After the 1969 minor league season had ended, he would leave the Yankees organization.
1934-Yankees Slugger Babe Ruth announces that 1934 AL season is definitely his final season as a regular MLB player. He says he will seek a managerial role and will pinch-hit for the 1935 MLB season. The Yankees will offer him a chance to manage the AA Newark Bears (IL), but he turns the offer down, citing that Ty Cobb and Tris Speaker, never had to manage in the Minors, yet they were given MLB Manager jobs. Ruth will be released by the Yankees. The Boston Braves will sign him for the 1935 NL season.
1935-Yankees OF George “Twinkletoes” Selkirk drives in 8-runs, 1 short of slugger Jimmie Foxx's AL record, with 2 HRs and a single.
1953-Former Yankees Reserve INF Tom Brookens (1989) was born.
On March 23,1989, INF Tom Brookens was traded by the Tigers to the Yankees for Pitcher Charles Hudson. For the 1989 Yankees, Tom will hit .226 in 66 games as a Reserve INF.
1957-Yankees Slugger Mickey Mantle blasts a 460-foot HR to become the 1st player to clear the CF hedge at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore as the Yankees beat the Orioles by the score of 6-3.
1964-Former Yankees Reserve INF Andy Stankiewicz (1992-1993) was born.
Andy Stankiewicz was selected in the 12th round of the 1986 MLB Amateur Player Draft by the Yankees. Andy hit .262 with 2 HRs and 25 RBIs in 132 games for the Yankees, as a Reserve INF. On November 27,1993, he was traded by the Yankees along with P Domingo Jean to the Astros for MLB Reliever Xavier Hernandez. After scouting for the Yankees, Stankiewicz would become an Asst. Baseball Coach at Arizona St. Univ. in 2007.
1965-At Yankee Stadium, Minnesota Starter Jim Kaat benefits from sloppy Yankees fielding as the Twins score 6 unearned runs to beat the Yankees by the score of 7-3.
1966-Former Yankees MLB Coach (1947-1948) and MLB Manager Charles “Chuck” Dressen had passed away from a fatal heart attack at the age of 68. (1898-1966)
Charlie Dressen had managed the Reds in the 1930’s; He would manage in the Minor Leagues before coming to the Yankees as an MLB Coach under Yankees Manager Bucky Harris for the 1947-1948 seasons. In 1949, he would replace Casey Stengel as the AAA Oakland Oaks (PCL) Manager, Stengel had moved up to the Yankees. He would manage the 1951-1953 Dodgers, winning the 2 NL pennants. He was fired by the Dodgers front office in 1954 for asking a 2-year managing contract. Future HOF Manager Walter Alston would replace Charlie as the Dodgers Manager. During the 1955-1957 AL seasons, Chuck will manage the Senators. Charlie will lead the Milwaukee Braves in 1960-1961. Then he moved back to the AL to manage the Tigers from 1963-1966. He was the Manager of the 1966 Tigers at the time of his death.
1966-Former Yankees OF Gerald “Ice” Williams (1992-1996, 2001-2002) was born.(1966-2021)
Outfielder Gerald Williams was selected by the Yankees in the 14th round of the 1987 MLB Amateur Player Draft. He had won the 1992 James P. Dawson Award as the best Yankees rookie in the MLB Spring Training Camp. Overall, Gerald would appear in 384 games with the Yankees, while hitting .241 with 18 HRs and 85 RBIs. On August 23,1996, he was traded by the Yankees along with P Bob Wickman to the Brewers for a Player to be Named Later, INF Pat Listach and Reliever Graeme Lloyd. The Brewers would later send P Ricky Bones on August 29,1996 to the Yankees to complete the trade. INF Pat Listach was returned to the Brewers on October 2,1996, because of injury questions. Gerald would play for the Yankees (twice), Brewers, Braves, Rays, Marlins and finishing his MLB playing career with the 2005 Mets. He had appeared in the MLB Post Season with the 1995 Yankees and the 1998-1999 Braves. He would play for the Braves in the 1999 World Series. Williams would finish his 14-season MLB playing career hitting .255, while slugging 85 HRs with 365 RBIs in 1,168 games.
1968-On Old Timers' Day 1968 held at Yankee Stadium, the Twins would stop the Yankees by a score of 3-2. The Yankees only runs are 2 solo HR shots by Mickey Mantle off of Twins Starter Jim Merritt. It is the Mickey's 46th 2-HR MLB career game.
1969-Three Yankee hitters Bobby Murcer, Thurman Munson and Gene Michaels would hit consecutive HRs in the 6th inning off of Royals Starter Lew Krause during a Yankees 5-1 win over the Expansion Royals.
1971-Former Yankees Reserve Catcher Sal Fasano (2006) was born.
On July 26, 2006, Catcher Sal Fasano was traded by the Phillies to the Yankees for Minor League Player Hector Made. After being obtained from the Phillies, Sal would hit .143 in 28 games for the Yankees as a back-up Catcher.
1977-Yankees Manager Billy Martin installs slugger Reggie Jackson as the club’s regular clean-up hitter in the Yankees starting line-up. The Yankees beat Oakland by a score of 6-3 as Ron Guidry out-pitches A’s Starter Vida Blue. Graig Nettles belts his 26th HR of the 1977 AL season. The Yankees will win 40 of final 53 games of the 1977 AL season with Reggie Jackson contributing with 13 HRs and 49 RBIs.
1979-Former Yankees Minor League 1B Dan Johnson (2013) was born.
MLB Free Agent Dan Johnson had signed with the Yankees for 2013, and there should have been a lot of opportunity for him to help out the team, what with starting 1B Mark Teixeira missing the 1st 2 months of the 2013 AL season with a wrist injury, and the Yankees turning to apparently over-the-hill veterans such as Lyle Overbay, Travis Hafner and Vernon Wells to play at the spots, where Johnson could lend a hand. However, the 3 MLB veterans hit well in the early going, and Johnson found himself yet again in AAA, starting at 1B for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees (IL). He would hit .253 with 21 HRs and 69 RBIs in 133 games. On August 30th, he would join the Orioles as an MLB Free Agent, he went 0 for 5 in 3 games for them.
1984-Former Yankees Pitcher Jeff Marquez (2011) was born.
Pitcher Jeffrey Marquez was the Yankees 1st round selection in the 2004 MLB Amateur Player Draft with the 41st pick. Marquez had previously pitched at Sacramento City College. After his signing, Marquez was assigned to the GCL Yankees. After 4 games (2 starts) Marquez put together a 2-0 record with a 0.63 ERA, he was promoted to the Class A short season Staten Island Yankees (NYPL). At Staten Island, Marquez went 2-4 with a 3.02 ERA. He spent all of the 2005 season with the Class A Charleston River Dogs (SAL), where he struggled with a 9-13 record, but he has only a 3.42 ERA. In 2006, Marquez was back in the Gulf Coast League for 2 games, taking a loss, before going up to the Class A Tampa Yankees (FSL). With Tampa, Marquez put up a 7-5 mark with a 3.61 ERA and 82 strikeouts. Baseball America ranked him as the 9th best prospect in the Yankees Minor League system in 2006. He started the 2007 season with the AA Trenton Thunder (EL). Jeff never pitched for the Yankees at the MLB level. On November 13, 2009, he was traded to the White Sox along with MLB INF Wilson Betemit in return for OF/1B/DH Nick Swisher. On June 8, 2011, Jeff was selected off waivers by the Yankees from the White Sox. He would appear in 3 games with the 2011 Yankees with no record. On November 2, 2011, the Yankees would grant him his MLB Free Agency.
1986-During “Billy Martin Day” at Yankee Stadium, the Bronx Bombers retire Uniform #1 to honor their former scrappy 2nd baseman and 4-time Manager.
1994-Former Yankees Pitcher Chance Adams (2018-2019) was born.
Chance Adams was drafted by the Yankees in the 5th round of the 2015 MLB June Amateur Player Draft. He would pitch in the Yankees Minor League system compiling a 35-12 record with a 3.98 ERA in 93 games, before being called up to the 2018 Yankees. He would post a 0-1 record with a 7.40 ERA in 3 games for the team. On May 25, 2019, he would recorded his 1st MLB career win in the 2nd game of a doubleheader sweep over the Royals, when he was called up from AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders to serve as the 26th man. It was a bullpen game in which Chad Green had pitched the 1st 2 innings then he followed him with 4 innings to earn credit for the 6-5 win. Then he was sent back to AAA Scranton (IL). On December 23,2019, Chance was traded by the Yankees to the Royals for Minor League INF Cristian Perez.
1995-Yankees' Catcher Mike Stanley hits 3 HRs and drives home 7-runs, but it's not enough to prevent the Yankees from losing to the Indians by a score of 10-9.
2000-Winning for the 1st time in 16 starts, veteran Starter David Cone ends the worst slump of his MLB pitching career as the Yankees beat the Oakland by the score of 12-6. Newly acquired DH/OF Jose Canseco hits a 3-run HR into the upper deck to help David Cone stop his skid.
2005-After being released from the hospital, an 18-yearold fan appears in NYC Court to face criminal charges of trespassing, reckless endangerment, and criminal mischief stemming from his 40-FT plunge last night from the upper deck of Yankee Stadium into the netting behind home plate. Team Owner George Steinbrenner called the incident ``... the only exciting thing that happened today,” after his struggling club loses to the 1st-place White Sox by the score of 2-1.
2009-The Blue Jays would end the Yankees' 8-game winning streak with a 5-4 win, thanks to 5 2/3 innings of scoreless work from its bullpen.
2011-Yankees CF Curtis Granderson, otherwise having a tremendous season, is embarrassed when he falls for the "play that never works", when the opposing pitcher fakes a throw to 3rd base, then throws to 1st base. Granderson is picked off by Angels Closer Jordan Walden to end the Yankees' 6-4 loss to the Halos. Yankees Manager Joe Girardi is philosophical about the blunder though: "Our aggressiveness has won us a lot of ballgames; tonight it cost us", adding that base runners were 15 for 15 in steal attempts against the Angels Closer this year.
2014-Former Yankees Pitcher Robert “Bob” Wiesler (1951,1954-1955) had passed away. (1930-2014)
Before the start of the 1949 AL season, Bob Weiser was a hard throwing left-hander, who was signed by the Yankees, out of high school in St. Louis. He would go on to lead his loop in strikeouts 3 seasons in a row. He was assigned to the Independence Yankees (KOML) his 1st pro season and helped his team to the league pennant and playoffs with a 12-11 record with a league-leading 240 strikeouts, while pitching 185 innings. Bob came right back 1950 season with the Joplin Miners (WA), helping his team to the 1950 league pennant, while leading the league with a 2.35 ERA and 277 strikeouts. Also, he was chosen for the league’s All-Star team. In 1951, Bob would pitch for the AAA Kansas City Blues (AA); he post a 10-9vrecord with a 2.92 ERA, again he would lead the league with 162 strikeouts in 194 innings. On August 3,1951, he was called to Yankee Stadium, losing his only 2 decisions in 4 games. Then Bob Wiesler was called up for Military Service, missing the 1952 AL season, while serving with the Army during the Korean War. He had stints with the 1954-1955 Yankees by posting a 3-2 record in 5 starts in 1954. He was 0-2 in 16 games in 1955. Overall, Bob would post a 3-6 record along with a 4.95 ERA in 26 games for the Yankees. On February 8,1956, he was traded by the Yankees along with a Player to be Named Later, C Lou Berberet, INF Herb Plews and OF Richard Tettelbach to the Senators for veteran P Mickey McDermott and INF Bobby Kline. The Yankees would later send Minor League OF Whitey Herzog on April 2,1956 to the Senators to complete the trade. Bob had a record of 3-12 for the 1956 Senators that season, then he would post a 1-1 record for the team in 1957. He would finish out his MLB Pitching career run with the 1958 Nats, with no decisions in just 4 appearances. This would finish out Wiesler's 6-season MLB pitching career, ending with a 7-19 record with a 5.74 ERA, while appearing in 70 games.
2023-The White Sox announced that they have claimed Pitcher Deivi Garcia off outright waivers from the Yankees. He has been optioned to their AAA club at Charlotte.