On this day in Yankee history...
1980: Chien-Ming Wang is born.
1995: The longest strike action in sports history ends ~ in a courtroom. A U.S. District court order handed down by future SCOTUS justice Sonia Sotomayor forbids owners from implementing new financial working conditions in the wake of the impasse in negotiations. The court decides that conditions will revert to the old rules from the previous season. Because of the timing of the court order, 18 games will have to be trimmed from the major league schedule.
2011: The Yankees have a successful opening, beating Detroit 6-3 at home. Curtis Granderson, whose health was a concern before the start of the game because of a strained right oblique muscle, makes a diving catch of a line drive hit by Will Rhymes in the 1st, then breaks a 3-3 tie with a solo homer off Phil Coke in the 7th. Mark Teixera had earlier hit a three-run blast to tie the score in the 3rd. New Yankee starting catcher Russell Martin scores twice in his debut in pinstripes as Joba Chamberlain picks up the win and Mariano Rivera the save.
On this day in Yankee history...
1955: The Yankees sell pitcher Ewell Blackwell to the Kansas City A's. Blackwell, who was injured in 1954, will pitch in only two games for the Athletics this season before retiring.
2001: Dwight Gooden announces his retirement. A four-time All-Star and Cy Young Award winner, Gooden posted a 194-112 record with a 3.51 ERA and 2293 strikeouts over a 16-season career.
2013: 'Bullet' Bob Turley dies at the age of 82.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Bob_Turley
On this day in Yankee history...
1966: Former Yankee relief ace Wilcy Moore dies at the age of 65.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Wilcy_Moore
1975: The Yankees release Mel Stottlemyre, who is suffering from a torn rotator cuff. The pitcher compiled a 164-139 record and a 2.97 ERA as well as 40 shutouts in an eleven-season major league career, all with New York.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Mel_Stottlemyre
1984: The Yankees trade one of the key members of their last World Championship teams when they dispatch Graig Nettles to the San Diego Padres for pitcher Dennis Rasmussen and a player to be named later. Nettles, who angered George Steinbrenner by criticizing him in his book 'Balls', will hit 20 home runs and help the Padres reach the 1984 World Series.
On this day in Yankee history...
1919: Vic Raschi is born.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/raschvi01.shtml
1927: In a final exhibition game between the previous World Series' opponents, the Yankees score four runs in the 1st inning off Grover Cleveland Alexander and the Cardinals. Then, Alexander shuts down the Yankees until leaving in the 8th, and
the Cardinals score two in the 9th to win 6-4. Both teams use their
regular lineups ~ the only teams to make no starting changes from last
year's teams. The four runs off Alexander are the first the 40-year-old
veteran has allowed in 15 innings of spring training work.
1961: In their first meeting since Pittsburgh's dramatic World Series win over New York, the Bucs, behind would-be World Series goat Bob Friend, beat up the banged-up Bombers 9-2. The game's first run comes in the bottom of the 2nd on Roberto Clemente's bases-empty bomb over the left-field fence. Pittsburgh go up 3-0 in the 3rd on Dick Stuart's two-run shot, likewise to left field. By the 7th, the Bucs have built
their lead to 8-0 before the Yankees can push across their initial tally.
Today's win boosts the Bucs' Grapefruit League-leading record to 13-5, while miring New York ever more deeply in the pre-season cellar.
1970: In this first (and last?) 'Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial All-Star Baseball Classic', with all proceeds going to the late Dr. King's Southern Christian Leadership Conference and a memorial center planned for Atlanta, the East, managed by Joe DiMaggio, scores a 5-1 victory over the West. The losers are skippered by ex-Dodger Roy Campanella, confined to a wheelchair since a 1958 auto accident, A crowd of 31,694 watches the charity event at Dodger Stadium.
1988: The Yankees waive knuckleballer Phil Niekro four days shy of his 47th birthday.
2003: Three days prior to Opening Day, the YES Network claims Cablevision has pulled out of a proposed deal signed 17 days ago which would have provided televised Yankees games to nearly three million cable subscribers in the New York City metropolitan area. According to a YES press release, the giant cable television company failed to sign a
finalized version of the hand-written document that both parties
exchanged on March 12th, but Cablevision president, James L. Dolan, said when YES sent him a revised typewritten draft on two days later, the document contained alterations that he found unacceptable.
On this day in Yankee history...
1879: Miller Huggins is born.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Miller_Huggins
1941: The Yankees sell pitcher Steve Sundra to the Wshington Senators. Sundra, who posted a 11-1 record in 1939, slipped to 4-6 in 1940.
2013: The Yankees place starting pitcher Phil Hughes on a crowded disabled list, where he joins teammates Mark Teixera, all of whom will miss Opening Day.
On this day in Yankee history...
1936: Red Ruffing signs a one-year contract for $12,000.
1937: On the advice of Ty Cobb, Joe DiMaggio reduces the weight of his bat from 40 ounces to 36 ounces.
1951: In an exhibition game at the University of Southern California, Mickey Mantle propels a home run estimated at 654 to 660 feet. The shot clears Bovard Field and then goes the width of a practice football field before landing. Mantle has two homers, a bases-loaded triple, and drives in seven runs as the Yankees flunk the Trojans 15-1.
2005: Former Yankee pitcher Marius Russo dies at the age of 90.
On this day in Yankee history...
1920: In a spring training game between the Yankees and the Brooklyn Robins, a sweeping inside curve thrown by Robins' pitcher Jeff Peffer hits Chick Fewster, striking the Yankees' shortstop behind the ear and flattening him.
Fewster revives 10 minutes later but soon loses the ability to speak.
Taken to the hospital with a skull fracture and a blood clot on his
brain, Fewster will recover slowly and return to play in mid-season.
1935: The Yankees purchase starting pitcher Pat Malone, who led the NL in wins in 1929 with 22, and in 1930 with 21 (115 in a seven-year span). But Malone will only post a 19-13 record with the Yankees over the next three seasons.
1955: Lee Mazzilli is born.
2010: The Yankees release pitcher Chad Gaudin, who was competing for the team's fifth starter position, and, failing
that, was expected to make the staff as a long reliever. Phil Hughes, who shone as a set-up man in 2009. is announced as the winner of the fifth starter competition, while Joba Chamberlain returns to the bullpen. Gaudin will sign a minor league deal with Oakland on March 28th, but will be back in the Bronx before the end of the year.
2011: The Yankees send pitcher Sergio Mitre to the Brewers in exchange for outfielder Chris Dickerson. Mitre is expected to take the place of the injured Zack Greinke in the Milwaukee rotation when the season begins. Dickerson serves as
insurance for the Yanks, who are concerned over a rib injury to starting CF Curtis Granderson, but unfortunately, he will pull a muscle in his first game for his new
team. Mitre's departure means that three pitchers are now competing for
the last two spots in the Yanks' starting rotation: rookie Ivan Nova and veterans Bartolo Colon and Freddy Garcia. They also sign veteran hurler Kevin Millwood to a minor league contract as further insurance in case the trio fails
to perform up to expectations, but his services will not be required as
all three will pitch well.
On this day in Yankee history...
1933: As a Great Depression austerity measure, Babe Ruth takes a $23,000 pay cut from his previous year's salary of $75,000.
1990: Starlin Castro is born.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/castrst01.shtml
1996: Yankees infielder Tony Fernandez fractures his right elbow in an exhibition game against the Astros, and is placed on the 60-day DL. The injury opens a place in the Opening Day lineup for a highly touted rookie named Derek Jeter.
2013: The Yankees acquire veteran OF Vernon Wells from the Angels, adding a much-needed major league bat to a line-up depleted by injuries and departures via free agency. However, Wells is still owed $42 million for the last two seasons on his huge multi-year contract, and has put up dismal OBPs since the Angels acquired him from Toronto
two seasons ago; as part of the deal, the Angels will remain on the
hook for the majority of the money owed him. The deal will officially be
completed in two days, with the Yankees giving up two low-level minor
league players in return for Wells.
On this day in Yankee history...
1941: Joe DiMaggio, a holdout and late arrival at spring training, plays his first exhibition game of the year.
1952: Former Yankee pitcher Steve Sundra dies of cancer at the age of 42.
1974: The Yankees purchase outfielder Elliott Maddox from the Texas Rangers for $60,000. Maddox will prove to be a great defensive outfielder as well as hitting .303 this year.
1988: Dellin Betances is born.
1990: Gambler Howard Spira is arrested for extorting money from George Steinbrenner, who paid Spira $40,000 in January. The Commissioner will suspend Steinbrenner because of his relationship with the unsavory character.
2012: Joba Chamberlain dislocates his ankle while playing on a trampoline with his son. Already recovering from Tommy John surgery, he undergoes emergency surgery for an open dislocation. Doctors report
that he lost so much blood that there was concern for his life and that
he will need to stay hospitalized for several days. While the injury is
thought to be season-ending, Joba will be back pitching for the Yankees
on August 1st.
On this day in Yankee history...
1962: At spring training, Roger Maris declines to pose with Mets coach Roger Hornsby because the Hall of Famer criticized him in his book My Wars with Baseball.
1972: In one of the best trades in franchise history, the Yankees acquire reliever Sparky Lyle from the Red Sox in exchange for 1B/OF Danny Cater. In seven seasons with the Yankees, Lyle will post a 57-40 record with 141 saves and a 2.41 ERA, win a Cy Young award, and help the team to three pennants and two championships.
Also on this day, Cory Lidle (d. 2006) is born.
1991: At Sotheby's in New York, a 1952 Topps card of Mickey Mantle goes for $49,500, tripling the pre-auction estimate, while a baseball signed by Babe Ruth and 11 other players at the 1939 Hall of Fame induction ceremony, sells for $20,900.
2012: New Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine gets an early introduction to the fierce rivalry with the Yankees. After the Sox tie a Grapefruit game at 4-4 on a squeeze bunt by Jason Repko in the bottom of the 9th inning, Valentine has reliever Clayton Mortenson on the mound ready to pitch the 10th when Joe Girardi announces that his team is leaving Fort Myers immediately to take a bus back to their base in Tampa. Girardi later justifies his last-minute decision by the fact that he
has used all of the pitchers he had planned to bring into the game, but
Valentine is still irked.
2015: Yankee prospect Jose Pirela runs into the center field fence at full speed in trying to chase down a drive off the bat of the Met's Juan Lagares. He suffers a concussion and has to be taken to hospital, but escapes
more serious injury. Meanwhile, Lagares circles the bases with an inside-the-park home run.
2017: Former Yankee manager Dallas Green dies at the age of 82.
On this day in Yankee history...
1936: Joe DiMaggio runs his spring training record to 12 for 20, in an 11-2 Yankees victory over the newly-named Boston Bees. Before the next game is played, the prize rookie is left unattended with his foot in a diathermy machine. The resulting burn ends his spring training and delays his major league debut until May.
1986: The Yankees announce that their most celebrated off-season acquisition, 26-year-old pitcher Britt Burns, will not pitch at all this season because of a chronic deteriorating
hip condition. He will never pitch again in the major leagues.
On this day in Yankee history...
1961: The Yankees announce that the team will oppose any plan enabling the new National League expansion franchise in New York to use Yankee Stadium. This decision leaves the old Polo Grounds as the only viable option for the NL's new team, the New York Mets, who will begin play in a year's time.
1984: Hall of Fame pitcher Stan Coveleski, who finished his career with the 1928 Yankees championship team, dies at age 94.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/covelst01.shtml
On this day in Yankee history...
1974: In a five-player, three-team deal involving the Indians, the Togers and the Yankees. pitcher Jim Perry joins his pitching brother Gaylord in Cleveland. Detroit send Perry to the Indians and Ed Farmer to the Yankees, who send Jerry Moses to Detroit, while Cleveland ship Rock Sawyer and Walt Williams to the the Bronx. This season will mark the Perrys' first as teammates during their major league careers.
1989: With Dave Winfield sidelined, the Yankees trade catcher Joel Skinner and a minor leaguer to the Indians for Mel Hall. Winfield will miss all of the season after undergoing back surgery next week for central disc herniation.
