This Week in Yankees History
June 13th - June 19th
June 13th - June 19th
June 13th
1913 - The New York Yankees notch their 13th win of the 1913 AL season at this incrediibily late date. They had already lost 36 games.
1921 - Babe Ruth of the Yankees hit a 460 FT HR into the CF bleachers in the Polo Grounds, for the 1st HR ever hit to that spot. Ruth added his 21st HR of the 1921 AL season also he pitched 5 innings in the 13- 6 win over the Detroit Tigers giving up 4 runs, but striking out Ty Cobb. The next day, Babe Ruth will hit 2 more HRs, his 6th and 7th in 5 games in a 9-6 win over Detroit.
1924 - A riot by 18,000 fans at Detroit caused a forfeiture of a game to the Yankees. The trouble occurred, when Tigers P Bert Cole hit Yankees OF Bob Meusel with a pitch. Bob Meusel charged the mound, swung at Cole and missed, but was followed a bench clearing brawl. Ty Cobb and Babe Ruth got into it. Meusel and Ruth were both ejected from the game. When they went out on field to get their gloves, fans poured out onto the playing field. Umpires not able to restore peace with the crowd, ruled forfeit of the game. Yankee players Babe Ruth and Bob Meusel were fined $1,000 each, while Ty Cobb received a formal reprimand. The Yankees were leading the game by a score of 10-6, when the incident occurred.
1937 - Joe DiMaggio hits 3 consecutive HRs in the 2nd game of a doubleheader at St. Louis. The game ended in an 8-8 tie with the game called because of darkness. Rules allowed the all records from the game to count. The Yankees won the 1st game by a score of 16-9, when they scored 7 runs in the 9th inning to break a 9-9 tie with the St. Louis Browns.
1939 - The New York Yankees obtained INF Roy Hughes from the St. Louis Browns for OF Joe Gallagher. Roy Hughes never plays for the Yankees at the MLB level.
1948 - An ailing Babe Ruth made his final appearance at Yankee Stadium. With the crowd of 49,641 fans singing Auld Lang Syne, and members of the 1923 Yankees team (the 1st to play in the stadium) looking on, the New York Yankees retired Ruth's uniform No. 3 during ceremonies that also commemorated the 25th anniversary of Yankee Stadium. Fewer than 2 months later, the 53-year-old Babe Ruth will die from throat cancer.
1972 - Former Yankees P Darrell May (2005) was born. On July 2, 2005, Darrell May was traded by the San Diego Padres along with P Tim Redding and cash to the New York Yankees for P Paul Quantrill. He went 0-1 in 2 games for the 2005 Yankees.
1975 - The New York Yankees purchased veteran shortstop Ed Brinkman from the Detroit Tigers for cash. He played 44 games for the Yankees before retiring as an active MLB player.
1978 - Roy White hits a HR from each side of the plate during a Yankees 5-3 win at Oakland. It was the 5th time in Roy White’s Yankees career does this feat.
1979 - Former Yankees minor league C David Parrish was born. David was the son of former MLB C Lance Parrish. David never appears with the Yankees at the MLB level.
2000 - Former Yankees P Bobby Tiefenauer (1965) passed away (1929-2000). Bobby went 1-1 in 10 games for the Yankees, after being acquired from the Milwaukee Braves for Yankees P Tom Dukes.
2003 - Roger Clemens reached his 300th MLB career win and became the 3d pitcher in MLB history with 4,000 strikeouts, leading the Yankeesover the St. Louis Cardinals to a 5-2 victory in an inter-league game. Cardinals batter Edgar Renteria became his 4,000th victim in the 2nd inning. Clemens, the 21st pitcher to make it to 300, allowed 2 runs in 6 2-3 innings and struck out 10 batters, raising his total to 4,006. Clemens joined Nolan Ryan (5,714) and Steve Carlton (4,136) in the select 4,000-strikeout club.
June 14th: Flag Day
1925 - Former Yankees 1B Fenton “Muscles” Mole (1949) was born. He appeared in 10 games for the Yankees during the 1949 AL season, hitting just .189.
1928 - Former Yankees minor league INF Herb Plews was born. The New York Yankees signed Herb Plews as an MLB amateur free agent in 1950. He never appeared with the Yankees at the MLB level. On February 8, 1956, Herb was traded by the Yankees along with a player to be named later, along with C Lou Berberet, OF Richard Tettelbach, and P Bob Wiesler to the Washington Senators for P Mickey McDermott and INF Bobby Kline. The Yankees would later send minor league OF Whitey Herzog on April 2, 1956 to the Senators to complete the trade.
1932 - The New York Yankees pull a rare triple steal led by Ben Chapman on 3B during a 7-6 win over the Cleveland Indians. The Yankees had the bases loaded, when Chapman broke for home plate and the other Yankee base runners also moved up.
1933 - Lou Gehrig's consecutive-game streak stays intact, even though he and Yankees manager Joe McCarthy were thrown out of a game. Manager Joe McCarthy was suspended for 3 games but Gehrig's streak, now at 1,249 consecutive games continues.
1934- New York Yankees starter Johnny Boaca allows 1-hit, a 3rd inning single by the Browns OF Sammy West, during the Yankees 7-0 win at St. Louis.
1936- The New York Yankees obtained OF Al “Jake” Powell from the Washington Senators for OF Ben Chapman. Several racial remarks made by Ben Chapman during the 1936 AL season cause embarrassment to the Yankees management forcing a trade. Ben Chapman was the manager of the 1947 Philadelphia Phillies, who taunted Brooklyn Dodgers player Jackie Robinson with racial slurs.
1939 - The New York Yankees recalled P Spud Chandler from the minors. Spud will go 3-0 in 11 games for the Yankees in 1939.
1946 - The New York Yankees sell veteran 3B Hank Majeski to the Philadelphia A’s for cash. On May 25, 1941, Hank was purchased by the Yankees from the Boston Braves. Hank appeared in just only 8 games for the Yankees in 1946, hitting just .083.
1953 - The New York Yankees sweep the Cleveland Indians in a doubleheader by scores of 6-2 and 3-0, before a crowd of 74,708 fans to extend their winning streak to 18 games.
1956 - The New York Yankees obtained P Ed Burtschy, OF Bill Renna and cash from the Kansas City A’s for OF Lou Skizas and 1B Eddie Robinson. The Yankees sent both players received from the A’s to the minors.
1961 - The New York Yankees obtained veteran starter Bud Daley from the Kansas City A’s for P Art Ditmar and OF/1B/3B Deron Johnson. Bud Daley would help out the Yankees pitching staff. Art Ditmar was a sore-armed pitcher, who had won 15 games for the team in 1960. While Deron Johnson was blocked at 3B by Clete Boyer and at 1B by Bill “Moose” Skowron, Deron couldn’t crack the Yankees starting regular outfield of Mickey Mantle-Roger Maris-Yogi Berra/ Hector Lopez, either.
1961 - The New York Yankees traded veteran P Danny McDevitt to the Minnesota Twins for veteran reserve INF Billy Gardner.
1969 - The New York Yankees obtained Detroit Tigers OF Ron Woods for INF/OF Tom Tresh.Tommy was at the end of his MLB career, never having to fully recover from his collision with Yankees shortstop Ruben Amaro Sr. during the 1966 AL season that seriously injured both of his knees.
1977 - The New York Yankees starter Don Gullet wins his 5th straight start as the Yankees win a 6-5 come-from–behind victory over the Minnesota Twins.
1978 - The New York Yankees obtained OF Jay Johnstone and minor league OF Bobby Brown from the Philadelphia Phillies for P Rawly Eastwick. Jay would hit .262 as a pinch hitter for the 1978 Yankees.
1978 - The Yankees repeatedly rally to defeat the Seattle Mariners by the score of 10-9 in 11 innings. Yankees trailed into 8th inning, when Cliff Johnson’s pinch-hit HR ties the game. The Yankees then spotted the Mariners an extra inning lead before; reserve OF Paul Blair hits a 2-out, 3-run HR in the 10th inning to win the game.
June 15th - Old MLB Trade Deadline Day
1912 - Former Yankees 1B Ellsworth “Babe” Dahlgren (1937-1940) was born. Babe replaced Lou Gehrig at 1st base, when his ALS illness forced him to stop playing at Detroit in 1939. On February 17, 1937, Babe was purchased by the Yankees from the Boston Red Sox. He appeared in 327 games for the Yankees hitting .248 with 27 HRs and 163 RBIs. On February 25, 1941, Babe was purchased by the Boston Braves from the New York Yankees.
1916 - Former Yankees OF Edward “Bud” Stewart (1948) was born. In March of 1947, Bud was acquired by the Yankees and began the 1948 season in New York after hitting .358 for the Kansas City Blues (American Association) the previous year. After just 6 games with the Yankees, Ed was traded to the Senators for OF Leon Culberson and $20,000.
1923 - Former Yankees OF Alfred “Allie” Clark (1947) was born. Al Clark was signed by the New York Yankees as an MLB amateur free agent in 1941. In 1947, Al appeared in 24 games for the Yankees, hitting .373. On December 11, 1947, Al was traded by the Yankees to the Cleveland Indians for veteran hurler Red Embree.
1926 - The New York Yankees obtained OF Roy Carlyle (1926) on waivers from the Boston Red Sox. He hit .385 in 35 games for the Yankees in 1926.
1928 - Former Yankees minor league player (1955-1958) and Manager (1968-1974) Gene Hassell was born. Gene played the infield in the New York Yankees minor league system with the Denver Bears (1954-1959). He was a minor league Manager for the New York Yankees organization at Johnson City, Manchester and Kinston teams from 1968-1974.
1935 - The Cincinnati Reds returned P Dan MacFayden to the Yankees upon the expiration of the “try-out” period allowed for in the deal, which sent him to the Reds in 1934. The Yankees return around and sell him to the St. Louis Browns for cash.
1943 - Former Yankees P Al Closter (1971-1972) was born. Al went 2-2 in 16 games with the Yankees, before being sent to the Atlanta Braves in the Pat Dobson trade.
1950 - The New York Yankees obtained P Joe Ostrowski, Tom Ferrick and Sid Schacht and 3B Leo Thomas from St. Louis Browns for veteran INF George “ Snuffy” Stirnweiss, OF Jim Delsing, P Don Johnson, P Duane Pillette and $50,000 cash. Tom Ferrick would help the 1950 Yankees bullpen by going 8-4 with 9 saves. Joe Ostrowski would become a valuable long man for the Yankees, going 9-7 in 27 games with 3 saves (1950-1953.)
1951 - The New York Yankees obtained P Bob Kuzava and Bob Ross from the Washington Senators for hurlers Fred Sanford, Bob Porterfield and Tom Ferrick. Bob Kuzava would go 8-4 with 5 saves for the Yankees. In World Series play, Bob had 2 saves in 3 games. Trading Bob Porterfield was a rare Yankees trade mistake; he would recover from his back problems, winning 22 games in 1953 for the Senators. Sanford and Ferrick were ineffective with Senators.
1951 - The New York Yankees obtained veteran P Stubby Overmine from the St. Louis Browns for P Tommy Byrne and $25,000 cash. Stubby went 1-1 in 1951, before being traded back to Browns. Tommy Byrne would return to Yankees in 1954, from the Seattle (PCL) and he would enjoy 4 good seasons with the Yankees, before retiring from MLB.
1957 - The New York Yankees obtained P Ryne Duren and OF’s Jim Pisoni and Harry “Suitcase” Simpson from the Kansas City A’s for P Ralph Terry, INF/OF Woodie Held, INF Billy Martin and OF Bob Martyn. Ryne would become the Yankees bullpen closer (1958-1960), while battling drinking problems. Ralph Terry would return to the Yankees during the 1959 AL season. Billy Martin would never be the same player as he was with the Yankees, bouncing from team to team in both leagues. Woodie Held would become the starting shortstop for the Cleveland Indians during the late 1950’s and early 1960’s.
1958 - The New York Yankees obtained hurlers Virgil Trucks and Duke Maas from the Kansas City A’s for P Bob Grim and OF Harry “Suitcase” Simpson. Trucks went 2-1 in 25 games before retiring from MLB. Duke Maas went 7-3, in 1958, then posted a 14-8 mark in 1959 and went 5-1 in 1960, before going to the Angels in the 1960 AL expansion team player draft. He returned to Yankees in April of 1961 in a trade with the Angels, but injury to his pitching arm made him ineffective and he didn’t pitch again in the MLB.
1958 - Former Yankees 3B Wade Boggs (1993-1997) was born.The former AL All star 3B Wade Boggs was signed as a MLB free agent by the Yankees in 1992. He hit over the .300 mark in 4 of the 5 AL seasons, that he played for the Yankees.
1966 - The New York Yankees sell veteran starter Bob Friend to the New York Mets for cash. He was washed up. On December 10,1965, Bob was traded by the Pittsburgh Pirates to the Yankees for P Pete Mikkelsen and cash. He went 1-4 in 12 games for the 1966 Yankees.
1968 - The New York Yankees signed MLB free agent veteran OF Rocky Colvaito, after his release by the Dodgers. Rocky would appear in 39 games for the Yankees, just hitting .220 with 5 HRs with 13 RBIs. Also he pitched in 1 game for the Yankees in relief getting the victory. The Yankees asked him to come back in 1969 as a relief pitcher and pinch-hitter, but Rocky decided to retired from MLB.
1968 - The New York Yankees sell veteran reliever John Wyatt to the Detroit Tigers for $30,000. After being obtained from the Boston Red Sox, John had appeared in 7 games with the Yankees posting a 0-2 record. He had been a star in the Negro Leagues before signing with the Kansas City A’s during the 1950’s.
1972 - Former Yankees 1B/DH Tony Clark (2004) was born. Tony was signed as a MLB free agent in 2004. Tony hit .221 with 16 HRs and 49 RBIs for the Yankees.
1972 - Former Yankees P Ramiro Mendoza (1996-2002, 2005) was born. Ramiro Mendoza went 54-34 with 20 saves in 277 games with the New York Yankees. Ramiro was one of the key bridges in the Yankees bullpens to Yankees Closer Marino Rivera.
1972 - Current Yankees All Star starter Andy Pettitte was born.The New York Yankees signed Andy as an MLB amateur free agent in 1991. His Yankees career pitching record is currently at 199-110 mark in 394 games. Andy was won 21 games in a season for the Yankees twice in his MLB career.
1974 - The New York Yankees purchased P Rudy May (1974-1976, 1980-1983) from the California Angels for cash. Rudy would go 54-45 with Yankees in 2 tours with the team. His best Yankees season was in 1980, Rudy went 15-4, leading the AL in ERA with a 2.46 mark.
1976 - The Oakland A’s owner Charlie Finley sold 3 of his All Star players at the MLB trade deadline. OF Joe Rudi and P Rollie Fingers were sent to the Boston Red Sox for $1 million apiece and starter Vida Blue to the New York Yankees for $1.5 million. Three days later, CommissionerBowie Kuhn will void the moves, saying they are "not in the best interests of baseball." This was one of the worst baseball decisions made by Kuhn, who had numerous run-ins with AL team owners Charlie Finley and George Steinnbrenner.
1976 - The New York Yankees obtained hurlers Ken Holtzman, Doyle Alexander and Grant Jackson, C Elrod Hendricks and minor leaguer OF Jim Freeman from the Baltimore Orioles for Yankees hurlers Rudy May, Tippy Martinez, Dave Pagan and Scott MacGregor and C Rick Dempsey. This was a classic Yankees trade for “today and forget about the future.” Alexander and Grant would be gone at the end of the 1976 AL season. Martinez and MacGregor were major improvements for the Orioles pitching staff, the type of pitchers that the Yankees would later need and didn’t have.
1977 - The New York Yankees obtained C/1B Cliff Johnson from the Houston Astros for Yankees minor leaguer players P Randy Neimann, INF Mike Fischlin and 1B/OF Dave Bergman. Johnson would DH and catch for the Yankees.
1977 - Former Yankees reliever Bret Printz (2003-2004) was born. On July 29, 2003, he was traded by the Arizona Diamondbacks along with John Prowl (minors) and OF/DH/1B David Dellucci to the Yankees for veteran OF Raul Mondesi and cash. Bret went 1-0 in 28 games for the Yankees. On March 29, 2005, Bret was traded by the Yankees to the Angels for reserve C Wil Nieves.
1978 - The New York Yankees obtained OF Gary Thomasson for Oakland A’s for minor league OF Dell Alston and INF Mickey Klutts. Gary would hit .276 in 51 games for Yankees, while filling in for the injured OF Mickey Rivers. In the spring of 1979, Gary was traded by the Yankees to the Dodgers for C Brad Gullen.
1978 - Former Yankees minor league P Zach Day was born. In 1996, Zach Day was drafted by the New York Yankees in the 5th round of the MLB amateur player draft. He never pitched for the team at the MLB level. Zach Day was one of the three young Yankee players traded to the Cleveland Indians as part of the Dave Justice trade.
1979 - Former Yankees P Matt Smith (2006) was born. On June 5, 2000, Matt Smith was drafted by the New York Yankees in the 4th round of the 2000 MLB amateur player draft. He appeared in 12 games with the 2006 Yankees with no decisions. On July 30, 2006, he was traded by the Yankees along with minor league players C.J. Henry, Carlos Monastrios and Jesus Sanchez to the Philadelphia Phillies for OF Bobby Abreu and P Cory Lidle.
1992 - Former Yankees P and MLB Coach Ed “Steady Eddie” Lopat (1948-1955) died (1918-1992). The New York Yankees obtained Eddie from the Chicago White Sox in February of 1948 for C Aaron Robinson, P Fred Bradley and Bill Wight. From 1948 to 1954, Eddie won 113 games for the Yankees as part of the Allie Reynolds, Vic Raschi, Whitey Ford (1950,1953) starting rotation that won 5 straight World Championships (1949-1953). Ed helped Whitey Ford with his MLB development, using an 8MM camera to study the pitcher’s movements. Eddie was known, as “The Junkman” would be started by Manager Casey Stengel in-between fastball starters Reynolds and Raschi, to throw off the opposition club’s hitters. Some Eddie’s Yankee career highlights are 113 wins with a .657 WP, 20 career shutouts, with 91 complete games. His Yankees career ERA was 3.21. In 1951, he was 21-9 for the Yankees. After retiring as MLB player, Eddie managed in the Yankees minor league system at Richmond (IL). He was the Yankees MLB pitching coach in 1960. He would later work for the Kansas City A’s as a Manager and General Manager, later work with the Montreal Expos in the front office.
2008 - New York Yankees starter Chien-Ming Wang, who is 8-2, after back-to-back 19-win seasons, breaks his right foot running the bases in an inter-league game against the Houston Astros, spoiling a 13-0 Yankees rout. Wang will miss the remainder of the 2008 AL season.
June 16th
1903 - The New York Yankees register their 1st shutout victory ever, 1-0 against the Chicago White Sox with Clark Griffith as the winning pitcher for New York.
1925 - The New York Yankees signed veteran 1B Fred Merkle (1925-1926) after his release by the Chicago Cubs. Fred hit .266 for the Yankees in 8 games, before becoming a Yankees MLB coach.
1933 - Former Yankees P Ken Johnson (1969) was born. After being obtained from the Atlanta Braves, Ken went 1-2 in 12 games before being sold to the Chicago Cubs.
1945 - Boston Red Sox starter Dave Ferriss loses to the Yankees by the score of 3-2, after starting his MLB career with 8 victories, 4 of them shutouts.
1950 - The New York Yankees waived reserve C Gus Niarhos (1946-1950) to the Chicago White Sox. Gus appeared in 153 games, hitting .257 for the Yankees.
1953 - Duane Pillette of the St. Louis Browns ended the New York Yankees' win streak at 18 games and the St. Louis Browns' team record 14-game losing streak with a 3-1 victory at Yankee Stadium. Johnny Mize became the 93rd player in MLB history to get 2,000 hits, when he singled in the only Yankees' run in the 5th inning.
1962 - An injured Mickey Mantle returned after a 1-month layoff and hit a dramatic 3-run pinch-hit HR in the top of the 8th inning. Although Mantle's blast gave the Yankees a 9-7 lead, but the Cleveland Indians came back to score a run in the bottom of the 8th inning and won the game in the 9thinning by the score of 10-9, on a 2-run HR by 2B Jerry Kendall.
1975 - Former Yankees C Clint Courtney (1951) passed away of a heart attack. The Yankees signed him as an MLB amateur free agent in 1947. Clint appeared in only 1 game with the Yankees before being sold to the St. Louis Browns in 1951. He was one of the 1st modern catchers to wear glasses behind the catcher’s mask. Clint was the manager Richmond (AAA) for Braves at the time of his death.
1977 - New York Yankees starter Ron Guidry hurls his 1st complete game, a shutout over the Kansas City Royals as the Yankees win by a score of 7-0.
1994 - Former Yankees P Marlin Stuart (1954) passed away. On July 4, 1954, he was selected off waivers by the New York Yankees from the Baltimore Orioles. He went 3-0 in 10 games for the Yankees.
1996 - Legendary Hall Of Fame baseball broadcaster Mel Allen died at the age of 83. In 1939, Allen started doing play-by-play for both the Yankees (1939-1964) and Giants, and later narrated the long-running television show, “This Week in Baseball.” In 1978, Mel Allen received the Hall of Fame's Ford C. Frick Award for broadcasting excellence.
June 17th
1903 - Former Yankees P Benjamin “Big Ben” Shields (1924-1925) was born.
Ben went 3-0 in 6 games for the Yankees.
1917 - The Giants and Yankees played the 1st Sunday game in New York City for a war charity in front of 21,000 spectators at the Polo Grounds.
1918 - The Yankees play an 8-inning 5-5 tie with the Detroit Tigers, called because the team had to catch a train to Cleveland.
1936 - Red Ruffing of the Yankees set an AL record for pitchers by recording up to 10 total bases. Ruffing hit 2 HRs as part of a 4-hit day (2-singles), helping the Yankees to a 15-4 crushing of the Cleveland Indians.
1941 - Joe DiMaggio of the Yankees was credited with a hit in his 30th consecutive game when an easy grounder to shortstop bounced up and hit Luke Appling on the shoulder. The Chicago White Sox beat the Yankees by the score of 8-7.
1961 - Former Yankees reserve OF Vic Mata (1984-1985) was born. The New York Yankees signed Vic as an MLB amateur free agent in 1978. He appeared in 36 games for the Yankees hitting .312.
1977 - The Yankees open a 3-game series at Fenway Park, with starter Jim “Catfish” Hunter is bomber by four 1st inning HR’s by Rick Burleson, Fred Lynn, Carlton Fisk and George Scott. The Boston Red Sox win the game by a score of 11-1.
1978 - Ron Guidry of the Yankees struck out 18 batters in a 4-hit, in a 4-0 shutout of the Angels, to set an AL record for a left-handed pitcher in a single game. Guidry, who struck out 15 batters in the 1st 6 innings of the game, posted his 11th consecutive victory without a loss. The performance will help coin a new nickname for Guidry as the team's announcer, Phil Rizzuto, began to refer to him as 'Louisiana Lightning', inspiring a new Yankees tradition as the fans began to clap rhythmically, each time there was 2 strikes on the batter.
1979 - Former Yankees OF Duffy Lewis (1919-1920) passed away. Duffy Lewis was traded by the Boston Red Sox goes along with front-line P Ernie Shore and Dutch Leonard for New York Yankees P Ray "Slim" Caldwell, P Slim Love, C Roxy Walters, OF Frank Gilhooley and $15,000. The Boston Post reports, "It will take a lot to convince Boston fans that they got the best of this one". Duffy Lewis will hit .272 for the Yankees. On December 31, 1920, Lewis is traded by the Yankees along with veteran P George Mogridge to the Washington Senators for OF Braggo Roth.
1984 - Former longtime Yankees Bullpen Coach Jim Hegan (1960-1973, 1979-80) passes away (1920-1984). Jim’s son Mike Hegan played for the Yankees during the 1960’s and early 1970’s. Jim Hegan was a 5-time AL All Star catcher for the Cleveland Indians during the late 1940’s and early 1950’s. Jim was the Indians starting catcher from 1946-1956. He was a MLB scout for the Yankees for 2 years before retiring from baseball.
1985 - Former Yankees minor league INF Mitch Hilligoss was born. In 2006, Mitch was drafted by the New York Yankees in the 6th round of the MLB amateur player draft. He never played for the Yankees at the MLB level. On January 26, 2010, Mitch was traded by the Yankees to the Texas Rangers for OF Greg Olson.
1987 - Former Yankees player (1967-1968), MLB Coach (1968-1979) and Manager (1980), Richard Howser died from brain cancer at the age of 51. As player, he came to the Yankees at the end of his MLB career dealing with bad back problems. Upon his retirement as an active player in 1968, the Yankees hired him to be a MLB coach. In 1980, he led the Yankees to a 103-59 record in AL East before losing to the Royals in the AL Championship Playoffs. After leaving the Yankees, he managed the Kansas City Royals before being stricken by cancer.
June 18th
1918 - The New York Yankees score in every inning except for the 8th inning as they beat the Cleveland Indians by a score of 19-3.
1946 - The New York Yankees waived veteran P Bill Zuber (1943-1946) to the Boston Red Sox. Bill went 18-23 for the Yankees.
1975 - Former Yankees P Felix Heredia (2003-2004) was born. Felix went 1-2 as a Yankees reliever, before being traded to the New York Mets for veteran reliever Mike Stanton in 2004.
1976 - MLB Commissioner Bowie Kuhn voided the sales of Oakland A’s stars Vida Blue, Rollie Fingers and Joe Rudi. Kuhn ordered the players to return to Oakland, but A’s owner Charlie Finley will not allow the A’s manager Chuck Tanner to use any of them in a game until June 27.
1977 - Yankees OF Reggie Jackson and Manager Billy Martin became involved in a dugout confrontation that is seen on national television during a “Game of the Week” broadcast on NBC-TV being played at Boston’s Fenway Park. After Martin removed Jackson for loafing on a ball hit to the outfield, replacing him with reserve OF Paul Blair. Jackson questioned Manager Billy Martin actions in the Yankees dugout. The two were eventually separated by Yankees MLB coaches Elston Howard and Yogi Berra.
2007 - The New York Yankees signed Chinese catcher Zhenwang Zhang and pitcher Kai Liu. It is touted as the 1st time a MLB organization has signed Chinese players. This is not the case, as the Seattle Mariners had signed Chao Wang in 2001.
2009 - In a start delayed by rain for over 5 hours at New Yankee Stadium, Craig Stammen earns his 1st MLB career victory when the WashingtonNationals shut out the New York Yankees by the score of 3-0. It is the 1st homer-less game at the ballpark since it’s opening in April.
June 19th
1903 - Future Yankees Hall of Fame 1B Lou Gehrig was born in New York City. Gehrig will make his MLB debut with the Yankees in 1923. He will eventually become the Yankees everyday 1B, replacing Wally Pipp during the 1925 AL season.
1904 - The New York Yankees obtained OF Pat Dougherty from the Boston Red Sox for INF Bob Unglaub. Pat hit .273 for the Yankees in 234 games in 1904-1906.
1913 - The New York Yankees waived P Ed Klepfer to the New York Giants. He went 0-1 in 10 games for the Yankees in 1911 and 1913.
1918 - The New York Yankees purchased OF Ham Hyatt from the Boston Braves for cash. Ham hit .229 and was released by the team.
1941 - Joe DiMaggio of the Yankees hit in his 32nd consecutive game, en route to his record breaking MLB 56 hitting-streak, going 3-for-3, including a HR, against the Chicago White Sox.
1949 - Former Yankees reserve OF Gene Locklear (1976-1977) was born. Gene was obtained on July 10, 1976, when he was traded by the San Diego Padres to the Yankees for a player to be named later. The Yankeeswould send P Rick Sawyer on July 31, 1976, to the Padres to complete the trade. Gene only appeared in 14 games for the Yankees, spending most of his time at AAA.
1950 - Former Yankees reserve INF Fernando Gonzalez (1974) was born. He hit .215 for the 1974 Yankees in 51 games as backup infielder.
1961 - Yankees RF Roger Maris hit a 9th-inning HR off of Kansas City A's pitcher Jim Archer, his 25th HR of the 1961 AL season, putting him 7 games ahead of Babe Ruth's 60th HR pace in 1927.
1974 - Former Yankees 1B/DH Doug Mientiewicz (2007) was born.The Yankees signed Doug as a MLB free agent in January of 2007. He would appear in 72 games, hitting .277 before breaking his wrist for the 2007 Yankees.
1975 - The New York Yankees obtained OF Rich Coggins (1975-1976) from the Montreal Expos for cash. Rich hit .237 for the Yankees. On May 18,1976, he was traded by the Yankees along with P Ken Brett to the Chicago White Sox for OF/DH Carlos May.
1977 - Carl Yastrzemski (2), Bernie Carbo (2), and George Scott (1) of the Boston Red Sox hit five home runs in an 11-1 triumph over the New York Yankees at Fenway Park. The 5 home runs give the Red Sox a MLB record 16 in 3 games. Boston hit 6 homers on June 17th and 5 on June 18, also against the Yankees. The Yankees had no homers in the 3-game series.
1979 - At Yankee Stadium, a crowd of 36,211 fans showed up to witness the return of Billy Martin as Yankees manager in a 5-4 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays. Martin had been named to replace Bob Lemon the previous day, and began his 2nd stint as Yankee skipper a season earlier than previously announced.
2008 - Confusion erupts in a New York-Penn League game between the Staten Island Yankees and Brooklyn Cyclones. Switch-hitting Brooklyn DH Ralph Henriquez Jr. steps to the plate from the right side against Pat Venditte, the minor leagues' first ambidextrous pitcher of the century. Henriquez then decided he would hit left-handed and Venditte promptly switched his glove to the right hand. Henriquez again called time and switched sides. The shuffle continued several times before the umpires and managers decided that the batter must declare first from which side he will bat and that players can only switch once per at-bat. Venditte, throwing from the right side, winds up whiffing Henriquez on 4 pitches.
