April 3rd

 On this day in Yankee history... 



1872: Willie Keeler is born in Brooklyn. A remarkable hitter, 'Wee Willie' will hit over .300 16 times in 19 seasons (7 of them with the NY Highlanders, his longest stint with any one club), hit over .400 once, and will finish with a .341 career BA, currently 14th on the all-time list. He will be elected to the Hall of Fame in 1939. 

 

1980: Jerry Priddy, a utility infielder for the 1941 championship team, dies in Los Angeles at the age of 60. 

 

 

1987: Jay Bruce is born. 

 

  1998: The Yankees offer the San Diego Padres  a choice of one from a list of players for the negotiating rights to Japanese pitcher Hideki Irabu. The list includes Brian Boehringer, David Weathers, Chris Cumberland, Andy Fox and Matt Luke. The Yankees also offer one player from a list of five minor leaguers, plus $3 million. The Padres are talking to several other teams beside the Yankees. 

 

 

 

 2009: The new Yankee Stadium is inaugurated with an exhibition game between the Bronx Bombers and the Cubs. The Yankees carry the day, 7-4. 

 

 http://mlb.mlb.com/news/boxscore.jsp?gid=2009_04_03_chnmlb_nyamlb_1 

 

 

2018: Didi Gregorius sets a franchise record for shortstops by driving in 8 runs in a game, as the Yankees roll over the visiting Rays. 

 

  

                   https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/2018/B04030NYA2018.htm

 

 

April 2nd

  

On this day in Yankee history... 


 1918: The Yankees  purchase first baseman 'Tioga' George Burns from the Tigers and immediately trade him to the Philadelphia A's for Ping Bodie. 

1931:  At Engel Stadium in Chattanooga, TN, Miss Jackie Mitchell strikes out Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig in an exhibition game. The 17-year-old girl, a member of the Chattanooga Lookouts roster, also walks Tony Lazzeri in the local lub's 14-4 loss to the Yankees. In 1933, Mitchell will pitch for the House of David team. 

1957: Hank Steinbrenner is born. 

1997: Tino Martinez leads the Yankees to a 16-2 romp over the Mariners at the Kingdome. The former M's first baseman hits three home runs ~ a solo job, a two-run dinger and a three-run shot. With the game out of reach and the crowd chanting his name, he has two opportunities to hit a grand slam, but fails to become the first player to hit home runs for the cycle. He ends the game going 4 for 6 with seven RBI, a walk and five runs scored. 

                          http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1997/B04020SEA1997.htm  






2001: On Opening Day, Roger Clemens becomes the all-time American League career strikeout leader, passing Walter Johnson. Royals infielder Joe Randa is his 3,509th victim. Passing Johnson, Clemens now takes over the seventh spot in major league history. 

                     http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/2001/B04020NYA2001.htm 




2003: Todd Zeile hits a home run in his first at-bat for the Yankees, becoming the only major leaguer to hit round tripper for ten different teams. In addition to homering with the Yankees, Zeile had also gone deep for the Cardinals, Cubs, Phillies, Orioles, Dodgers, Marlins, Rangers, Mets and Rockies. He will add the Montreal Expos to the list before the end of the year. 

               http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/2003/B04020TOR2003.htm 

 

April 1st

 On this day in Yankee history... 

 

1939: Phil Niekro is born. 

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




2001: Andy Pettitte breezes to a win as the Yankees rout the Blue Jays in Toronto 10-1 for their first April Fools Day victory in franchise history. 

                       http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/2003/B04010TOR2003.htm





2008: The Yankees set a major league record by winning their 11th straight home opener. Oddly, the record had been held by the 1945-54 Pittsburgh Pirates, a club which lost 100 or more games three times in that period. The Yankees beat the Blue Jays 3-2. Chien-MingWang allows two runs in 7 innings for the win over Roy Halladay. Derek Jeter also sets a record by starting his 12th consecutive Yankee opener at shortstop, surpassing the mark held previously by Phil Rizzuto. 

                   
                       http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/2008/B04010NYA2008.htm 


 

2014: The Yankees and the Astros are the last two teams to open their season, meeting before a crowd of 42,117 at Minute Maid Park. The game does not follow the expected script as the Astros, coming off three straight 100-loss season and having lost their last 15 games in 2013, defeat the Bronx Bombers 6-2. Scott Feldman pitches 6 2/3 scoreless innings, while Jesus Guzman and L.J. Hoes homer against Yankee starter C.C. Sabathia. 

                          http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/2014/04012014.htm

November 4th

 On this day in Yankee history... 

2001: In Game 7 of a classic World Series, the Arizona Diamondbacks rally for two runs in the bottom of the 9th inning to defeat the Yankees and the usually unbeatable Mariano Rivera 3-2. The four-year-old Diamondbacks, the youngest franchise to win a Fall Classic, end New York's string of three consecutive World Championships. Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling share Series MVP honours. The Arizona pitchers are the first multiple winners since the Dodgers trio of Ron Cey, Pedro Guerrero and Steve Yeager shared the award in the 1981 WS.  

                https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/2001/B11040ARI2001.htm   











2009: The Yankees defeat the Phillies 7-3 in Game 6, to win the 2009 World Series. Hideki Matsui drives in a record 6 runs to earn the MVP Award for the Series. 

                       https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/2009/B11040NYA2009.htm

November 3rd

 On this day in Yankee history... 


1934: Lou Gehrig is officially recognized as the winner of the American League Triple Crown, having hit .363 with 49 home runs and 165 RBI. He loses in the voting for AL MVP, however, to A's catcher Mickey Cochrane, who hit .320 with 2 home runs and 76 RBI.  

1942: Joe Gordon is voted AL MVP, beating out Ted Williams despite the latter's Triple Crown season. 

1955: The Yankees launch a tour of Japan and draw a record crowd of 64,000 when they play the first game against the All-Japan Stars in Osaka. Andy Carey slugs 13 home runs, and Elston Howard bats .468 on the 25-game trek. 

1992: The Yankees make one of their best trades ever by acquiring Paul O'Neill from the Reds for outfielder Roberto Kelly. O'Neill will help the Bronx Bombers win four World Championships. 

November 2nd

 On this day in Yankee history... 

1960: Roger Maris defeats Mickey Mantle for the AL MVP award by a vote of 225-222, the second-closest vote ever, after the Joe DiMaggio-Ted Williams race in 1947. 

     On the same day, George Weiss resigns as Yankee GM. 

1964: CBS becomes the first corporate owner of a major league team, buying eighty percent of the Yankees for $11,200,000. 

1995: The Yankees name Joe Torre as their new manager, replacing the recently departed Buck Showalter. Torre, a former Cardinals star and NL batting champion, will pilot the Yanks to four World Championships in his first five years with the team. 

2010: Clyde King dies at the age of 86. 

                                              https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clyde_King  

November 1st

 On this day in Yankee history... 

1978: Ron Guidry is the unanimous choice for the 1978 American League Cy Young Award. Guidry led the league in wins (25), winning percentage (.893), shutouts (9), and ERA (1.74). 

1979: After a disappointing season, the Yankees begin wheeling and dealing, acquiring outfielder Ruppert Jones from the Mariners and catcher Rick Cerone and pitcher Tom Underwood from the Blue Jays, giving up seven players, including popular first baseman Chris Chambliss, shortstop Damaso Garcia, outfielder Juan Beniquez, and pitchers Jim Beattie and Paul Mirabella. 

1988: Masahiro Tanaka is born. 

2001: The first major league game ever started in the month of November is a memorable one as the Yankees, for the second consecutive night, make a dramatic comeback in the bottom of the 9th to tie the game and go on to victory in extra innings in Game 5 of the World Series. In an amazing case of history repeating itself, Diamondbacks closer Byung-Hyun Kim is again victimized, this time by Scott Brosius, who hits a game-tying two-out two-run home run to knot the game at 2-2 in the 9th inning, as Alfonso Soriano hits a RBI single with Chuck Knoblauch scoring the winning run in the 12th to give the Yankees a 3-2 victory and a 3-2 lead over Arizona. 

                     https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/2001/B11010NYA2001.htm   










2009: The Yankees take a 3 games to 1 lead in the World Series, backing CC Sabathia to a 7-4 win over the Phillies. The Yanks score three runs off Brad Lidge with two outs in the 9th, after the Phillies had rallied to tie the game with homers by Chase Utley and Pedro Feliz.  

                             https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/November_1