On this day in Yankee history...
1929: Babe Ruth marries
actress and model Claire Merritt Hodgson. The ceremony is held at five
o'clock in the morning on Opening Day to avoid crowds.
1939: On
the morning of Opening Day in Washington DC, U.S. President Franklin D.
Roosevelt and the Yankees visit Abner Doubleday's grave at Arlington
National Cemetery. Roosevelt is also scheduled to throw out the first
pitch at Griffith Stadium, but the game is rained out, and Vice
President John Nance Garner will do the honors four days later.
1951:
Mickey Mantle plays his first major league game. With Joe DiMaggio
still ensconced in center field, the rookie touted as the Commerce Comet
makes his Yankee debut in right. Mantle will single and drive in a run
as the Yankees blank the Red Sox 5-0.
http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1951/B04170NYA1951.htm
1953: Mickey Mantle clears
the bleachers at Griffith Stadium with a 565-foot home run off Chuck
Stobbs. The shot comes in the 5th inning of a 7-3 Yankees victory over
the Washington Senators. It is believed to have been the longest home
run in Griffith Stadium history.
http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1953/B04170WS11953.htm
On this day in Yankee history...
1929: The
Yankees become the first team in major league baseball to permanently
feature numbers on the backs of their uniforms. The numbers correspond
to each player's position in the batting order. The numbers also allow
fans and broadcasters to identify the players more easily.
2014: The
Yankees sweep a doubleheader from the Cubs behind strong performances
from two newcomers. In the opener, Masahiro Tanaka strikes out 10 and
allows only two singles on bunts in 8 innings in a 3-0 win, and in the
nitecap Michael Pineda gives up four hits over 6 innings for a 2-0 win
that completes the double blanking. It is the first time a team has two
shutouts in one day since June 26, 1988.
http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/2014/B04161NYA2014.htm
http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/2014/B04162NYA2014.htm
On this day in Yankee history...
1886: Pitcher Leonard 'King' Cole is born.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/coleki01.shtml
1976: The
Yankees defeat the Twins 11-4 in the first game at the newly-renovated
Yankee Stadium. Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, Whitey Ford, and the widows
of Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig take part in pre-game ceremonies at the
Stadium, which had been closed for the 1974 and 1975 seasons.
http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1976/B04150NYA1976.htm
1998: The
first-ever AL-NL doubleheader ends up a good day for New York. The
Yankees are forced to come to Shea Stadium after a beam fell into the
stands at the ballpark in the Bronx on April 13th. They earn their first
victory in Queens in 22 years as they defeat the Angels 6-3. Former
Mets star Darryl Strawberry, the all-time home run leader at Shea, adds
to his total with a shot into the left field bleachers. In the
regularly-scheduled night game, the Mets beat the Cubs 2-1. The Yankees
draw a crowd of 40,743, a dramatic
contrast to the gathering of 16,012 who show up for the Mets game at
night.
http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1998/B04150NYA1998.htm
On this day in Yankee history...
1910: In
the season opener before 25,000 at New York's Hilltop Park, the Red Sox
sport collars on their uniforms, becoming the last major league team to
wear the accoutrement. Boston send the Highlanders into extras before
the game is called at the end of 14 innings with the score 4-4. Ed
Cicotte starts for Boston, with Joe Wood relieving in the 8th inning.
Hippo Vaughn goes all the way for New York, retiring Boston batters in the 4th and 12th innings on four pitches. He needs just three pitches in the 10th.
http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1910/B04140NYA1910.htm
1955: Elston Howard
becomes the first black player in Yankee history. The 26-year-old
catcher/outfielder makes his debut against the Red Sox at Fenway Park, a
single with one RBI in the visitors' 8-4 loss.
http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1955/B04140BOS1955.htm
1967: Red Sox pitcher
Billy Rohr makes a memorable debut by no-hitting the Yankees for eight
and two-thirds innings. Elston Howard spoils Rohr's masterpiece with a
two-out single in the 9th, but the Sox still win 3-0. Despite his
impressive debut, Rohr will win only
two more games in his major league career.
http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1967/B04140NYA1967.htm
2004:
A day after Yankee teammate Mike Mussina earned his 200th career
victory, Kevin Brown reaches the same plateau, beating the Tampa Bay
Devil Rays 5-1. It is the first time in major league history that
members of the same
pitching staff have won their 200th career victory in consecutive
starts.
http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/2004/B04140NYA2004.htm
2008: Alex
Rodriguez moves up to a tie for 15th on the all-time major league hom
run leader list, even with Ted Williams and Willie McCovey. A-Rod hits
his 521st career homer as part of a 4-for-5 day; Andy Sonnanstine allows
the shot. The Yankees go on to top the Rays 8-7.
http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/2008/B04140TBA2008.htm
2011: At
a news conference during which he announces that pitcher Pedro
Feliciano is lost for the season because of impending shoulder surgery,
Yankees GM Brian Cashman lashes out at former manager Joe Torre for his
handling of pitchers. He blames Torre for chronically overusing
relievers such as Scott Proctor, thereby ruining their careers.
Feliciano led the National League in
games pitched three consecutive years while with the Mets prior to
joining the Yankees, although Torre had nothing to do with that.
On this day in Yankee history...
1970: Plaques honoring Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle are dedicated at Yankee Stadium. The plaques are located in center field and will eventually be moved to Monument Park beyond the left field fence when the stadium is renovated in mid-decade.
2013: The Yankees turn only their second triple play since 1969 in defeating the Orioles 5-2. With two men on in the 8th, Manny Machado hits a hard grounder to Robinson Cano. The play then goes 4-6-5-6-5-3-4 as Alexi Casilla is caught in a rundown between
second and third, and Machado is erased when he attempts to take second
during that time. It is the first time that a triple killing has taken
that particular circuitous route.
http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/2013/B04120NYA2013.htm
On this day in Yankee history...
1917: Red Sox ace Babe Ruth pitches a three-hitter in shutting down the Yankees on Opening Day in a 10-3 win. Ruth's performance marks the start of good things to come. He will win 24 games this year, while leading the AL with 35 complete games.
http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1917/B04110NYA1917.htm
1954: To make room for promising rookie outfielder Wally Moon, the Cardinals trade longtime great Enos Slaughter to the Yankees in exchange for four minor leaguers, including future NL Rookie of the Year Bill Virdon.
1980: Mark Teixeira is born.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Mark_Teixeira
