This Week in Yankees History

February 24th - March 1st

February 24th

1948 - The White Sox trade P Ed Lopat to the Yankees for C Aaron Robinson, Pitchers Bill Wight and Fred Bradley. Lopat will star for 7 seasons in pinstripes, winning 21 in 1951 and going 16-4 in 1953. Eddie would be part of the Yankees starting rotation of Reynolds, Raschi and later Ford that won 5th straight World Championships.

1974 - Former Yankee INF Mike Lowell (1998) was born. Mike was drafted by the Yankees in the 20th round of the 1995 amateur player draft. Mike appeared in 8 games batting .267. With Scott Borias starting at 3rd base, Mike was expendable. On February 1, 1999, Mike was traded by the Yankees to the Marlins for pitchers Mark J. Johnson, Ed Yarnall, and Todd Noel.

1976 - Former Yankee P Randy Keisler (2000-01) was born. Randy was drafted by the Yankees in the 2nd round of the 1998 amateur player draft. Randy went 2-2 in 14 games before being released by the Yankees. He criticized the Yankee management in their handling of young pitchers.

February 25th

1940 - Former Yankees 1B/3B /OF Danny Cater (1970-71) was born. As a Yankee, he hit .301 and .276, after coming from the A’s in the Al Downing trade. He was traded to the Red Sox for P Sparky Lyle in March of 1972

1941 - Yankees sell 1st B Ellsworth “Babe” Dahlgren to the Braves for undisclosed amount of cash. Babe replaced Lou Gehrig at 1st base when his famous consecutive games played streak ended during the 1939 AL season at Detroit.

1944 - Former Yankees Manager (1990-91) and Coach (1985), Stump Merrill was born. In 1985, he was a 1B coach for Yogi Berra, but was replaced when Billy Martin took over the team. Stump was a manager in the Yankees farm system for from 1978-1990, before replacing Bucky Dent as manager in 1990. He went 49-74 (1990) and 71-91 in 1991. In 1992, he was replaced by Buck Showalter. From 1993-2004, Stump was once again a Yankee minor league manager.

1963 - Former Yankees OF Paul O’Neill (1993-2001) was born. On November 3, 1992, Paul was traded by the Reds along with Joe DeBerry to the Yankees for OF Roberto Kelly. He was a member of the AL All Star team 4 times. He appeared in 4 World Series with the Yankees. His best season was in 1994, when he won the AL Batting Crown with a .354 BA.

1994 - The Veterans Committee elects former Yankees long-time shortstop Phil Rizzuto (1941-42, 1946-1956) to Baseball’s HOF. Phil won the 1950 AL MVP award and the 1951 Babe Ruth Award. Long-time Red Sox rival HOF Ted Williams said that Phil could beat you with his glove or bat.


February 26th

1896 - Former Yankees P Rip Collins (1920-21) was born. He went 25-13 in 64 games before being traded to Red Sox in 1921.

1933 - Former Yankee 1st/OF/Catcher Johnny Blanchard (1955, 1959-1965) was born. He was signed by the Yankees, as an amateur free agent in 1951. His best season was in 1961, when he hit .305 with 21 HRs with 54 RBIs in 243 at bats under 100 games. During July 1961, Johnny hit 4 HRs in 4 consecutive appearances during a 3 game series. He appeared in 5 World Series with the Yankees hitting .345. On May 3, 1965, John was traded by the Yankees along with P Rolland Sheldon to the Athletics for C Doc Edwards.

1935 - The Yankees release longtime star OF Babe Ruth, freeing him to sign a $20,000 contract with the Braves of the NL. Ruth's new contract with the Braves also gives him a share of the team's profits. In 1934, Ruth had endured one of his worst seasons with the Yankees-at least by his lofty standards-with a .288 batting average, 22 HRs and 84 RBIs. In 1935, he will play just only 28 games for the Braves, before announcing his retirement on June 2 at the age of 40. Ruth will hit the final 3 HRs of his MLB career on May 25 against the Pirates, giving him a final MLB HR career total of 714. His last HR will clear the right field grandstand at Forbes Field and will travel an estimated 600 feet.

1968 - Former Yankees 1B J. T. Snow (1992) was born. He was drafted by the Yankees in the 5th round of the 1989 amateur player draft. He appeared in 7 games batting .143. He refused the Yankees request to learn how to play the outfield, since Don Mattingly was at 1B. His refusal to switch positions resulted in a trade to the Angels for P Jim Abbott.

1971 - Former Yankees reserve OF Matt Luke (1996) was born. Matt was drafted by the Yankees in the 8th round of the 1992 amateur player draft. He appeared in 1 game with no at bats before being picked up on waivers in 1997 by the Dodgers.

1991 - Bill Veeck, the colorful owner of the Browns, Indians and White Sox (twice) and Yankees great 2B Tony Lazzeri are elected to the HOF by the Veterans Committee.


February 27th

1896 - Former Yankees reserve catcher (1931) and Coach (1932) Cy Perkins was born. Cy was a veteran catcher picked up from the A’s. He batted .255 for the Yankees. He would become a Yankees Coach on the 1932 World Championship team.

1907 - The Yankees acquire C Branch Rickey from the Browns in exchange for INF Joe Yeager. As noted by Lyle Spatz, Rickey will not play on Sundays, while new C Fritz Buelow will.

1912 - The Yankees announced that, they will begin to wear pinstriped uniforms.

1948 - Newly elected to the HOF are Yankees P Herb Pennock and Pirates Pie Traynor. Needing 91 votes for selection, Pennock, who died a month before, gets 94 votes, Traynor 93. Just missing are Al Simmons, Charlie Gehringer and Bill Terry. Herb Pennock was the GM for the Phillies at the time of his death, he had suffered a heart attack.

1953 - Former Yankees C/DH Ron Hassey (1985-86) was born. Ron came from the Cubs in 1984. In 1985, he hit .296 in 92 games. He was traded to the White Sox, but he was required in 1986, he hit .298 in 64 games.

1962 - Former Yankees P Greg Cadaret (1989-1992) was born. Greg came to the Yankees from the A’s in the Rickey Henderson trade. He went 22-23 with 7 saves as a Yankee, before being sold to the Reds.

1969 - Former Yankees P Willie Banks (1997-98) was born. Willie was signed as a free agent by the Yankees. He was a former NJ All State HS Pitching star, who had been originally signed by the Twins. He went 4-1 in 14 games with the Yankees, before being traded to D-Backs in 1998.

1985 - Veteran INF Toby Harrah, an original Texas Rangers member, is traded by the Yankees to Texas for OF Billy Sample and a player to be named later.

1988 - Former Yankees Coach (1984-85) and Minor League Manager Doug Homquist passed away. Holmquist managed for the Yankees in the minor leagues from 1978 to 1983. As the Yankees awarded World Series rings to their minor league managers as well, they gave Holmquist one. While managing in the minors, he worked with Willie McGee, Pat Tabler and Steve Balboni.


February 28th

1947 - Former Yankees INF Marty Perez (1977) was born. On March 14, 1977, Marty was traded by the Giants to the Yankees for OF Terry Whitfield. He appeared in 1 game with the team before being traded on April 27, 1977 by the Yankees along with P Dock Ellis and OF Larry Murray to the Athletics for P Mike Torrez.

1959 - Mickey Mantle of the Yankees ends his holdout after one day. Mantle agrees to a salary of $72,000 and a bonus of $2,000. He had been asking the Yankees for $85,000 after batting .304 with 42 HRs and 97 RBIs in 1958.

1970 - The Yankees acquired veteran INF Ron Hansen (1970-71) from the White Sox. Ron was at the end of his MLB career battling with back problems. He batted .297 in 59 games, before fading in 1971 to .207 in 61 games and being released.

February 29th

1924 - Former Yankees player, and President, Al Rosen (1978-79) was born. Al took over the Yankees GM duties after Gabe Paul left the team in 1977. His personnel moves including bringing in Bob Lemon as Manager during the 1978 AL East race, allowed the Yankees to catch the Red Sox and win the AL flag.

2000 - After being suspended yesterday by MLB for 1 year for testing positive for the use cocaine, Yankees OF/DH Darryl Strawberry is invited to join the Newark Bears during his suspension. The New Jersey franchise, which is a member of the Atlantic League, is located near Strawberry's Fort Lee home.

March 1st

1944 - Former Yankees P Ron Klimkowski (1969-70, 1972) was born. Ron came to the Yankees in 1967 in the Elston Howard trade with the Red Sox. He appeared in 48 games, going 6-8 with 1 save before being traded to the A’s for OF/DH Felipe Alou. He would return to the Yankees in 1972, going 0-3 in 16 games with 1 save.

1953 - Former Yankees reserve OF Larry Murray (1974-76) was born. Larry was drafted by the Yankees in the 5th round of the 1971 amateur player draft. He appeared in 20 games, going 2 for 12, before being traded to the A’s in the Mike Torrez trade during the 1977 season.

1969 - Yankees long time All Star OF/1B Mickey Mantle announces his retirement as a MLB player (1951-1968) in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. at the Yankees spring training camp. He is the last of the Yankee stars from the dynasty teams of 1949-1964 to retire.

1993 - Yankees owner George Steinbrenner is reinstated as general partner of the team. Commissioner Fay Vincent had banned Steinbrenner from day-to-day activities with the Yankees because of his relationship with convicted gambler Howie Spira.

1998 -The Yankees christen Legends Field, their new $30 million 31-acre complex in Tampa. The field has the exact dimensions of Yankee Stadium. On hand to see Phil Rizzuto toss out the 1st ball are former Yankees Whitey Ford, Catfish Hunter, Ron Guidry and Chris Chambliss, who then watch the new Yankees beat the AL Champions Cleveland Indians, 5-2.

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(as always I'd like to thank Clipper51 for his great contributions)