This Week in Yankees History

January 20th - January 26th

January 20th

1907 - Former Yankee OF Jesse Hill (1937) was born. On January 19, 1932, he was traded by the Hollywood (PCL) to the Yankees for Myles Thomas, George Quellich, and cash. He would hit .293 in 107 games in 1937, before being sent to the Senators.

1912 - Former Yankee P Frank Makosky (1937) was born. He went 5-2 in 26 games with 3 saves.

1921 - Yankees obtain OF Bob Roth from Senators for OF Duffy Lewis and P George Mogridge. Roth hit .283 in 1921 and was released.

1926 - Yankees obtain 1B Spencer Adams from Senators for cash. He hit .120 as a reserve INF in 1926.

1931 - Joe Sewell, who was released by the Cleveland after the previous season, signs with the Yankees. The future HOF shortstop will finish his 14-season career in 1933. He will hit .302 for the Yankees in 1931.

1936 - Former Yankee reserve C Jesse Gonder (1960-61) was born. (1936-2004) Jesse appeared in 17 games for the Yankees as a reserve catcher before being sent on December 14, 1961 to the Reds for veteran relief P Marshall Bridges.

1965 - Former Yankee 1B/DH Kevin Maas (1990-1993) was born. He was drafted by the Yankees in the 22nd round of the 1986 amateur player draft. Kevin hit .231 with 65 HRs with 164 RBIs in 384 games with the Yankees before being released in 1993.

1977 - The Yankees obtained veteran OF Paul Blair from Orioles for OF Elliot Maddox and Rich Bladt. Blair will prove a fine defensive addition to the Yankees.

2000 - The 30 MLB owners vote to give all their Internet rights to the Commissioner's office. Bud Selig is expected to parcel out monies in equal amounts. The Yankees lose their great web site to MLB's cookie cutter web site format. Gone are Eddie Layton’s organ playing and Bob Shepard’s “Welcome to Yankee Stadium” greeting.

January 21st

1916 - The Yankees buy P Nick Cullop from the Kansas City Packers (FL), INFer’s Joe Gedeon from the Salt Lake Bees (PCL), and Germany Schaefer from Newark Peppers (FL). Schaefer will announce that he is changing his nickname to "Liberty" because of the war. He noticed that "sauerkraut" had been renamed "liberty cabbage".

1938 - OF Joe DiMaggio begins a contract holdout that will last for nearly 3 months. After meeting with Yankees owner Jacob Ruppert and GM Ed Barrow, DiMaggio rejects a 1-yr offer of $25,000. DiMaggio counters by asking for $45,000. The holdout will last until April 20, 2 days after the start of the season.

1941 - Former Yankee P Rick Beck (1965) was born. Rick was signed by the Yankees as an amateur free agent in 1962. He was drafted by the Phillies from the Yankees organization in 1962. Beck was repurchased by the Yankees in 1965. He appeared in 3 games posting a 2-1 record with 2.14 ERA before going into the Army for 2 years. He never returned to ML.

1946 - Former Yankee reserve C and MLB Manager Johnny Oates (1980-81) was born. John appeared in 49 games hitting only .190.

1955 - The BWAA passes over Yankees CF Joe DiMaggio in his 1st year of eligibility and elects P Dizzy Dean and OF Al Simmons to the HOF. Joe finishes 8th place in the voting.

1960 - Former Yankee P Andy Hawkins (1989-1991) was born. A free agent signing, Andy went 20-29 in 66 games before being released by the Yankees in 1991.

1971 - No player receives three-fourths of the necessary votes to be elected into the HOF, with Yogi Berra (242) and Early Wynn (240) coming the closest. Berra and Wynn will be elected in 1972.

January 22nd

1881 - Former Yankee C/1B Ira Thomas (1906-07) was born. Ira appeared in 124 games with Yankees before being sent to Tigers.

1913 - The Giants give the Yankees permission to use the Polo Grounds for the 1913 season only, as the lease on the Hilltop grounds has expired. The Yankees will remain as tenants through 1922.

1918 -The Yankees trade C Les Nunamaker, 3B Fritz Maisel, INF Joe Gedeon, and P Nick Cullop and Urban Shocker to the Browns in exchange for P Eddie Plank and 2B Del Pratt. Plank, a 300-game winner, retires, but Pratt gives the Yankees 3 good years of services at second. Shocker is the gem, posting 4 straight seasons of 20 or more wins in St. Louis. Maisel, who the Yankees refused to trade in early 1916 for either Red Sox Tris Speaker and cash or White Sox Shoeless Joe Jackson, will hit just .232 in 90 games and be gone.

1927 - Yankees release reserve C Hank Severeid. He retired. Hank hit .268 in 41 games in 1927 after being obtained from the Senators.

1929 - The Yankees announce they will put numbers on the backs of their uniforms, becoming the 1st baseball team to start continuous use of the numbers. The first numbers are based on positions in the batting order; thus, Babe Ruth will wear number 3 and Lou Gehrig number 4. In a few weeks, the Cleveland Indians announce that they, too, will put numbers on the uniforms. By 1931, all AL teams will use them. It will be 1933 before all NL players are numbered.

1941 - Yankees obtained 1B Nick Etten from the Phillies for C Tom Padden, P Al Gerhauser and cash.

1957 - Former Yankee OF Brian Dayett (1983-84) was born. He was drafted by the Yankees in the 16th round of the 1978 amateur player draft.Brian hit .276 in 75 games before being traded on December 4, 1984: along with P Ray Fontenot to the Cubs for P Porfi Altamirano, P Rich Bordi, OF Henry Cotto, and C Ron Hassey.

1982 - Free agent Reggie Jackson signs a 4-yr, nearly 4-million dollar contract with the Angels ending his 5-yr roller coaster ride with the Yankees.

1997 - All-Star 1B Don Mattingly officially announces his retirement at a media conference in Yankee Stadium.


January 23rd

1904 - The Highlanders send P Long Tom Hughes and Bill Wolfe to Washington for pitcher Al Orth. Hughes, who posted a 20-7 record with the Boston Pilgrims in 1903, came to New York in December swap with the Pilgrims, who received P Jesse Tannehill.

1916 - Former Yankee 1B Johnny Sturm (1941) was born.1st B Johnny Sturm made his big league debut with the Yankees in 1941 and hit .239 as the club's regular 1st baseman. In 1941 World Series, he got a hit in each of the 5 games played. After that season, he enlisted in the Army and served in World War II. During his time in the military, he lost the tip of his right index finger in a tractor accident. Sturm tried to make a comeback with the Yankees in 1946, but a broken wrist ended the attempt before he played in a game. After his playing days ended, he was a minor league manager who was largely responsible for discovering Mickey Mantle, when he gave the young player a tryout. He also spent time as a big league scout.

1918 - Former Yankee P Randy Gumpert (1946-48) was born. Randy went 16-4 in 72 games with 1 save with the Yankees.

1936 - Former Yankee P Don Nottebart (1969) was born. On October 21, 1968, Don was purchased by the Yankees from the Reds. He appeared in 4 games with no record in 1969.

1939 - Eddie Collins, Willie Keeler and George Sisler are elected to the HOF by the BWAA. Sisler set a ML season-record with 257 hits in 1920 and batted .420 in 1922 on his way to a .340 career average. Collins batted an even .333 for his career and stole 744 bases as a member of 4 World Series teams. Yankees Willie Keeler, who "hit 'em where they ain't", batted .341 and 2,932 hits. Willie’s Yankee lifetime BA was .293 (1903-1909).

1951 - Former Yankee OF Charley Spikes (1972) was born. He was drafted by the Yankees in the 1st round (11th pick) of the 1969 amateur player draft. Charlie appeared in 12 games hitting .147 before being sent to Indians in the Graig Nettles trade.

1970 - Former Yankee P Alan Embree (2005) was born. Alan went 1-1- in 24 games in 2005.

1970 - Former Yankee P Mark Wohlers (2001) was born. On July 1, 2001, he was traded by the Reds to the Yankees for P Ricardo Aramboles. He went 1-0 in 31 games.

1982 - Former Yankee minor league OF Wily Mo Pena was born. On April 5, 1999, he was signed as a free agent with the Yankees. Wily never appeared with the Yankees at the MLB level. On March 21, 2001, he was traded by the Yankees to the Reds for INF Drew Henson and OF Michael Coleman.

January 24th

1885 - Former Yankee 2B Earl Gardner (1908-12) was born. Earl played 5 seasons for Yanks, hitting .263 in 273 games.

1936 - Yankees obtained P Bump Hadley and OF Roy Johnson from Senators for OF Jesse Hill and P Jimmy De Shong. Hadley will go 49-31 in 5 years with the Yankees. Johnson will hit .265 as reserve OF before being sent to the Braves.

1953 - Former Yankee P Tim Stoddard (1986-1988) was born. Tim came to the Yankees in the Ed Whitson trade with the Padres. He posted a 10-6 record with 11 saves in 109 games.

1958 - Former Yankee P and Bullpen Coach Neil Allen (1985, 1987-88) was born. Neil went 7-4 in 56 games with 1 save in 2 tours with the team. He would later become the Yankees bullpen coach.

2000 - Yankees INF prospect D'Angelo Jimenez suffers a broken neck when a car he is driving in the Dominican Republic collides with a bus. Jimenez is not paralyzed but will miss the 2000 season. He figured to be the Yankees reserve infielder, taking over the role that Luis Sojo, now with the Pittsburgh Pirates, filled last season.

2006 - It is announced that more than 1,000 items of Joe DiMaggio memorabilia, including his 1947 AL MVP Award plaque and a signed photo of Marilyn Monroe, will be auctioned in May.

January 25th

1876 - Former Yankee P Fred Glade (1908) was born. Fred went 0-4 in 5 games in 1908 after coming from the St. Louis Browns.

1908 - Former Yankee P Roy Sherid (1939-41) was born. Roy went 23-24 in 87 games with 7 saves.

1918 - Former Yankee P Steve Roser (1944-46) was born. Steve went in 5-4 in 20 games with 1 save before being sold to Braves.

1943 -The Yankees sell future HOF P Lefty Gomez to the Boston Braves. Gomez will never pitch in a game for the Braves, who decided to release the veteran left-hander. Gomez will eventually sign with the Senators in May.

1945 - Larry MacPhail, Dan Topping and Del Webb purchase the Yankees for $2.8 million from the heirs of previous owner Jacob Ruppert. The new owners announce that Ed Barrow will remain in place as GM, but a month later they will install Larry MacPhail as GM.

1966 - Yankees veteran shortstop Tony Kubek announces his retirement due to a serious back problem. During a 9-yr career, Kubek was named to 3 AL All-Star teams and played on 7 Yankee pennant winners and 3 World Championship clubs. He was the AL ROY in 1957, hitting .297 in 127 games.

1999 - The Mets games this season will broadcast by WPIX, Channel 11, after being aired on WOR, Channel 9, since the club inception in 1962. The Yankees games, which had been aired for nearly 50 years on Channel 11, will now be seen on Channel 5, a FOX-TV affiliate.

1999 - Free agent OF Tim Raines is signed by the Athletics to a $600,000 contract. Raines hit .290 for the World Champion Yankees last season and has a .296 career batting average.

January 26th

1962 - Yankees All Star outfielder’s Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle sign contracts with Columbia Pictures to appear in “Safe at Home!” a movie that is to be shot during spring training. The movie will star Maris and Mantle as themselves and feature cameos by Whitey Ford, Yogi Berra and Yankees Manager Ralph Houk.

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(As always I'd like to thank Fw57Clipper51 for his great contributions)