This Week in Yankees History

March 23rd - March 29th

March 23rd

1941 - Yankees All Star CF Joe DiMaggio, a contract hold out and late arrival in spring training, plays his 1st spring exhibition game.

1942 - The Dodgers re-obtained Stanley “Frenchy” Bordagaray (1941), buying the veteran 1B from the Yankees. On January 27, 1940, Frenchy was sent by the Reds to the Yankees to complete an earlier deal made on August 5, 1939. Reds sent players to be named later and $40,000 to the Yankees for Vince DiMaggio. They sent Frenchy Bordagaray and Nino Bongiovanni on January 27, 1940, to the Yankees to complete the trade. Frenchy would hit .260 in 36 games for the Yankees.

1944 - Former Yankees DH George “Boomer” Scott (1979) was born. George hit .318 in 16 games for the Yankees in 1979.

1969 - Former Yankees back-up C Chris Turner (2000) was born. Chris was a back up catcher who played in 37 games, hitting .236 for the Yankees during the 2000 season.

1989 - Yankees P Charlie Hudson (1987-88) is traded to the Tigers for INF Tom Brookens. Charlie went 17-13 in 63 games with 2 saves for the Yankees.

1990 - Howard Spira is arrested for extorting money from Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, who paid Spira $40,000 in January.


March 24th

1891 - Former Yankees P Ernie Shore (1919-1920) was born. (1891-1980) On December 18, 1918, Ernie was traded by the Red Sox along with Dutch Leonard and Duffy Lewis to the Yankees for Frank Gilhooley, Slim Love, Ray Caldwell, Roxy Walters, and $15,000. He went 7-10 in 34 games for the Yankees.

1925 - Former Yankees 1B Richard Kryhoski (1949) was born. Richard was signed by the Yankees in 1946. He batted .294 in 54 games during the 1949 AL season for the Yankees. On December 17, 1949, he was traded by the Yankees to the Tigers for 1B Richard Wakefield (1950).

1930 - Former Yankees C Bob Tillman (1967) was born. He went .254 in 37 games. On December 7, 1967, Bob was traded by the Yankees along with P Dale Roberts to the Atlanta Braves for INF Bobby Cox, who would become a Yankees Coach and MLB manager.

1933 - Yankees All Star Slugger OF Babe Ruth, another victim of America’s Great Depression, takes a pay cut of $23,000 from his 1932 contract salary of $75,000.

1972 - Former Yankees P Steve Karsay (2002-2005) was born. Steve went 6-4 in 91 games with 12 saves as a Yankee.

1982 - Current Yankees non-roster P Heath Phillips was born.

1996 - At Tampa's Legends Field, Yankees INF Tony Fernandez (1995) fractures his right elbow in a game against the Astros, and is placed on the 60-day disabled list.


March 25th

1920 - In a spring training game between the Yankees and Dodgers, a sweeping inside curve ball throw by Dodgers P Jeff Pfeffer hit 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.

1922 - Yankees released veteran OF Ping Bodie (1918-1921), he retired from MLB.

1932 - Former Yankees INF/OF Woodson “Woodie” Held (1954) was born. Woodie appeared in 4 games with the Yankees in 1954. He was unable to break into the regular Yankee infield or outfield. On June 15, 1957, he was traded to the A’s along with INF Billy Martin, P Ralph Terry, and OF Bob Martyn for P Ryne Duren, Outfielder’s Jim Pisoni and Harry ”Suitcase” Simpson. He would play with the A’s, Indians, Orioles, White Sox, Angels and Senators during his MLB Career.

1935 - The Yankees purchased starting P Pat Malone from the Cubs. Malone had led the NL in wins in 1929, with 22, and in 1930 with 21 (115 in a 7-year span), but Malone will only post a 19-13 record with the Yankees for the next 3 seasons.

1955 - Former Yankees OF/DH/1B (1982) and Coach, MLB Manager Lee Mazilli was born. On August 8, 1982, Lee was traded by the Rangers to the Yankees for shortstop Bucky Dent. Lee hit .266 in 37 games for the Yankees, before being traded to the Pirates. On December 22, 1982, Lee was traded by the Yankees to the Pirates for P Tim Burke, minor leaguers Don Aubin, John Holland and Jose Rivera.

1975 - Former Yankees P Adrian Hernandez (2001-2) was born Adrian was signed by the Yankees as an amateur free agent player in 2000. The Yankees were hoping that he would become a younger El Duque, he wasn’t just going to be, just posting a 0-4 record in 8 games with the team before he was released.

1977 - Former Yankees P Brett Jodie (2001) was born. Brett was drafted by the Yankees in the 6th round of the 1998 amateur player draft. He went 0-1 in one game with the Yankees, before being traded to the Padres on July 30, 2001 along with P Darren Blakely (minors) to for veteran P Sterling Hitchcock.


March 26th

1913 - Former Yankees P Bill Zuber (1943-46) was born. Bill went 18-23 in 66 games with the Yankees before finishing up his career in 1947 with the Red Sox.

1936 - Starting P Red Ruffing accepts a $12,000 contract from the Yankees.

1937- On the advice of Hall Of Fame great Ty Cobb, Yankees CF Joe DiMaggio reduces the weight of his bat from 40 ounces to 36 ounces.

1949 - Former Yankees P Roger Hambright (1971) was born. Roger was brought up from AA ball by the Yankees in 1971, going 3-1 in 18 games out of the Yankee bullpen.

1951 - In an exhibition game at University of Southern California, Mickey Mantle propels a HR 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 2-HRs, a bases loaded triple, and drives in 7 runs as the Yankees flunk the Trojans, by a score of 15-1.

1952 - The Cardinals purchased INF Gene Mauch from the Yankees. Gene never played for the Yankees at the MLB level. He later became a MLB manager with the Phillies in 1960. Also he managed the Twins, Expos and Angels during his long MLB manager career.


March 27th

1879 - Future HOF Yankees Manager and MLB player Miller Huggins is born in Cincinnati, Ohio (1879-1929). A 2B adept at getting on base, Huggins will led the NL in walks 4 times, score 100 or more runs 3 times, and regularly collect 30 or more stolen bases and an on base percentage near .400.

He will start as a player-manager with the Cardinals before heading to the Yankees in 1918. Huggins will led the Yankees to 6 AL pennants and 3 World Series titles, and his "Murderers' Row" club, which won 110 games before sweeping the 1927 World Series, has been considered one of the greatest teams history. He died during the 1929 AL season on September 25, 1929 from exhaustion and blood poisoning.

Miller Huggins was selected to the Baseball HOF by the Veterans Committee in 1964. His Yankee manger career record was 1,067-719 .596 (1918-1929), 4th on the Yankees all time Managers wins list.

1910 - Former Yankees P Steve “Smokey” Sundra (1936, 1938-40) was born. Steve went 20-11 in 77 games with Yankees before being traded to the Senators in 1941. The Yankees had obtained him in the Johnny Allen trade with the Indians in 1935.

1941 - The Yankees sell P Steve Sundra to the Senators. Sundra, who had posted an 11-1 record in 1939, slipped in 1940 season with a 4–6 mark.

1946 - Former Yankees C/DH/INF Bill Sudakis (1974) was born. Bill hit .232 in 89 games with the Yankees in 1974.


March 28th

1919 - Former Yankees P Vic “Springfield Rifle” Raschi (1946-1953) was born.
Vic was signed by the Yankees as an amateur free agent in 1941. Vic was one of main starters along with Allie Reynolds and Eddie Lopat during the Yankees 5 straight World Championship run of 1949-1953. He won 120 games as a Yankee starter with 24 shutouts and 99 complete games. He won 21 games each, 3 seasons for the Yankees from 1949-51. In February of 1954, he was sold to the Cardinals for $85,000 by Yankees GM George Weiss, as a signal to stop other veteran Yankee stars from staging salary holdouts. Vic lasted less than 2 seasons with the Cardinals, pitching under .500 baseball. He finished up his MLB career in 1955, splitting time with the Cardinals and the A’s.

1923 - Former Yankees P Bob Kuzava (1951-1954) was born. After being obtained from the Senators, Bob worked out of the Yankee bullpen going 8-4 with 5 saves in 1951. Over all his Yankee pitching career record was 23-20 with 33 saves in 111 games. In 1954, he was waived to the Orioles.

1927 - In a final spring exhibition match between the 1926 World Series' opponents, the Yankees score 4 runs in the 1st inning off of Cardinals P Grover Cleveland Alexander. Then, Alexander shuts down the Yankees until leaving in the 8th inning, the Cardinals score 2 in the 9th inning to win 6-4. Both teams use their regular lineups - the only teams to make no starting changes from last year's teams. The 4 runs off of Alexander are the 1st, the 40-year-old veteran has allowed in 15 innings of spring training work.

1968 - Former Yankees INF Jose Vizcaino (2000) was born. On June 20, 2000, Jose was traded by the along Dodgers with cash to the Yankees for C Jim Leyritz. He hit .276 in 73 games for the Yankees in 2000. Jose had the game-winning hit in Game 1 of the 2000 Subway World Series between the Yankees and Mets. He left the Yankees to sign as a free agent with the Astros,
after the 2000 World Series.

1981 - Current Yankees P Edwar Ramirez (2007) was born. On July 9, 2006, he was purchased by the Yankees from the Edinburg (United League). Edwar went 1-1 in 21 games with 1 save in 2007.

1988 - The Yankees waived veteran knuckleball P Phil Niekro, just four days shy of his 47th birthday.

2001 - The Yankees send OF/DH Glenallen Hill to the Angels for minor league P Darren Blakely.

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 nearly 3 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 12, but Cablevision president, James L. Dolan, said when YES sent him a revised typewritten draft on 2 days later, the document contained alterations that he found unacceptable.


March 29th

1917 - Former Yankees minor league OF Tommy Holmes was born. Tommy was signed by the Yankees as an amateur free agent in 1937. Unable to crack the Yankees starting outfield of Charlie Keller, Tommy Henrich and Joe DiMaggio, he was traded to the Braves in 1942 for 1B Buddy Hassett, OF Gene Moore and cash. He would have a very successful MLB career with the Braves.

1938 - Former Yankees Co-Owner Tillinghast L'Hommedieu Huston passed away (1867-1938). He was co-owner of the Yankees, along with Colonel Jacob Ruppert, from 1914-1923. They purchased the club from Frank Farrell and Bill Devery for $460,000. It was during this period that the team began to acquire the stars that would lead them to their 1st real success in the early 1920s, such as Carl Mays, Babe Ruth and others. In June of 1923, Houston sold his share of the team to Jacob Ruppert for $1,250,000.

This allowed Ruppert to become the sole owner of the Yankees. In 1937, he offered $1.7 million dollars to buy the Brooklyn Dodgers and planned to install lights for night games at Ebbets Field. His offer was refused by the current Dodger ownership.

1948 - The Yankees and Red Sox go 17 innings and end in a 2-2 tie during one of the longest spring training games ever played. The game lasted a total of 4 hours, 2 minutes.

1952 - Former Yankees P Bill Castro (1981) was born. Bill was signed as a free agent by the Yankees. He went 1-1 in 21 games with 1 save. On March 24, 1982, Bill was traded by the Yankees to the Angels for INF Butch Hobson.

1958 - Former Yankees INF Domingo Ramos (1978) was born. On May 27, 1975, Domingo was signed by the Yankees as an amateur free agent. He appeared in 1 game for the Yankees in 1978 with no hits. On November 10, 1978, he was traded by the Yankees along with C Mike Heath, Pitchers Sparky Lyle, Larry McCall, and Dave Rajsich, with cash to the Rangers for P Dave Righetti, OF Juan Beniquez, P Mike Griffin, P Paul Mirabella, and Greg Jemison (minors).

1959 - Former Yankees P Johnny Allen (1932-35) passed away. (1905-1959) Pitcher Johnny Allen was working as a bellboy in a hotel when he was discovered by Yankees super scout Paul Krichell. He reached the MLB with the Yankees in 1932. Johnny went 17-4 that season, leading the AL with a .810 winning percentage. He won 15 games in 1933, but after holding out for a pay raise and suffering a sore arm, he was traded to the Indians for Pitchers Monte Pearson and Steve Sundra following the 1935 AL season. Johnny’s Yankees career pitching record was 50-19 in 94 games.

1963 - Former Yankees Closer Wilcy Moore (1927-29, 1932-33) passed away (1897-1963). Wilcy Moore led the AL in 1927 with 13 saves and an ERA of 2.28, as his pitching record for the 1927 Yankees was 19-7. He saved game in the 1927 World Series as well as pitching a complete game in that Fall Classic. He is the 1st of many great Yankee closers. His final Yankee pitching career totals are a 36-21 record with 35 saves in 171 games.

1975 - Veteran All Star P Mel Stottlemyre Sr., suffering from a torn rotator cuff, is given his unconditional release by the Yankees. He compiled a 164-139 record and a 2.97 ERA as well as 40 shutouts in an 11-season MLB career with the Yankees (1964-1974). He will return to the team as a pitching coach under Manager Joe Torre. Former Yankees Manager Ralph Houk, now with the Tigers will give Mel a tryout with the team, but Mel doesn’t make it and retires from MLB.

1984 - The Yankees trade one of the key members of their recent World Championship teams, when they dispatch All Star 3B Graig Nettles to the Padres for P Dennis Rasmussen and a player to be named. Nettles, who had angered Yankees owner George Steinbrenner by criticizing him in his book, will hit 20 HRs and help the Padres reach the 1984 World Series.

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(As always I'd like to thank Clipper51 for his great contribution.)