April 6th

On this day in Yankee history... 



1973: At Fenway Park, Ron Blomberg becomes the first designated hitter in major league history. In his first plate appearance, Blomberg walks with the bases loaded against Luis Tiant. He will end up with one hit in three at-bats. Meanwhile, Carlton Fisk hits two home runs (one a grand slam) to lead the Red Sox to a 15-5 victory over the Yankees.  

                     http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1973/B04060BOS1973.htm





1974: The Yankees defeat the Indians 6 - 1 at Shea Stadium. This is the Bombers' first game of a two-year period at Shea while Yankee Stadium is being rebuilt. 12-year-old Teddy Kennedy‚ Jr.‚ flanked by his father and Mayor Abe Beame‚ tosses out the first ball. Missing from the ceremony is George Steinbrenner, indicted two days earlier for illegal contributions to Richard Nixon's 1972 presidential re-election campaign. Graig Nettles' two-run homer in the 4th off Gaylord Perry opens the scoring and the Yanks tally 4 more times to win. Charlie Spikes scores the only Cleveland run in the 9th following a triple off starter and winner Mel Stottlemyre. Perry‚ who is warned once for an illegal pitch,  is the loser today‚ but he will win his next 15 decisions.  

                  http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1974/B04060NYA1974.htm 





2017: Bob Cerv dies at the age of 91. 

                             https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Bob_Cerv