After smashing 165 homers during his first nine years in the bigs with the Yanks, Moose Skowron was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers for pitcher Stan Williams on November 26, 1962. Williams was a more valuable member of the pitching staff in New York in the next two years than his 10-13 win-loss mark might lead one to believe. Skowron’s output, on the other hand, fell to four homers, 19 rbi’s, and a .203 ba on the left coast in 1963. Then in something of a win/win for faithful Yankee fans, Moose would recover to have four decent years with the White Sox, once he was no longer playing for the rival Dodgers.
Catfish Hunter met with Charley Finley and an arbiter on November 26, 1974, in a meeting that had to do with Hunter’s breach-of-contract claim. Hunter would win his freedom and use it to sign with the Yankees in another month.
On November 26, 2019, the Yankees signed free agent second baseman Wendell Rijo to a minor league contract.
On November 26, 2018, the Yankees claimed righthander Parker Bridwell off waivers from the Anaheim Angels; and then designated infielder Ronald Torreyes for assignment.
Clyde King was named Yankee Manager on November 26, 1980. Clyde died from heart trouble in November 2010.
When Red Sox slugger Jackie Jensen won the American League Most Valuable Player Award on November 26, 1958, he outpointed Bob Turley of the Yankees and Cleveland’s Rocky Colavito. And Mike Schmidt won the NL Award unanimously on the same day, in 1980.
The American League named co-Rookies of the Year on November 26, 1979, as Minnesota’s John Castino and Toronto’s Alfredo Griffin split the votes evenly. Fred Lynn of the Red Sox won the AL Award on the same day in 1975. Pete Rose took 17 of 20 votes in taking the NL prize on November 26, 1963; while the Dodgers’ Jim Lefebvre prevailed on that same day in 1965.
Super baseball fan and cartoonist Charles Schulz was born on November 26, 1922.
One claim to fame as the first city to host a baseball game in an enclosed field is that of the city of San Francisco, which held one at the corner of 25th and Folsom on November 26, 1868.
Players Who Have Died This Day
November 26 is yet another day when no Yankee players have died.
The list of noteworthy nonYankee players who have died on November 26 includes two righthanded pitchers, a lefty-hitting catcher, a lefty-hitting outfielder, and a first baseman/second baseman. Bill Doak (1954) won 169, lost 157, and saved 16 games mostly with the Cardinals and the Dodgers from 1913-1928; and Emil Kush (1969) posted all of his 21-12-12 mark with the Cubs around World War II from 1941-1949. Outfielder Eddie Burke (1907) cleared 30 fences good for 410 rbi’s from 1890-1897 with the Giants and the Reds; infielder Lew Fonseca (1989) hit 31 home runs and drove in 485 runs for the Reds, the Indians, and the White Sox from 1921-1935; and backstop Tom Haller (1997) blasted 134 long balls good for 504 rbi’s for the Giants, the Dodgers, and the Tigers from 1961-1972.
Players Born This Day
November 26 is the second consecutive day that a Yankee Hall of Famer was born, after Joe DiMaggio yesterday. Lefty Gomez (1908) played almost every game in his big-league career with the Yankees, as he posted a 189-101 record in the Bronx from 1930-1942. He was purchased by the Boston Braves in January 1943, and he subsequently started — and lost — one game for the 1943 Washington Senators. He also managed to save six games in Pinstripes, and boasts a 6-0 mark in games during five World Series.
After being drafted in the sixth round in 1990 by the Yanks, young Sam Militello (1969) showed early promise, but injuries cut short his career after a 4-4 mark in 1992-1993.
Jay Howell (1955) struggled to a 3-8 record with the 1982 and 1983 Yanks, but in 1984, he turned in a 9-4, seven-save season. Howell arrived in New York in an August 1982 trade that also garnered Bill Caudill from the Chicago Cubs to New York for Pat Tabler. Then Howell was packaged with Tim Birtsas, Stan Javier, Eric Plunk, and Jose Rijo in a December 1984 blockbuster to the Oakland Athletics for Rickey Henderson, Bert Bradley, and cash.
And southpaw Larry Gura (1947) struggled under an unhappy (with him) Billy Martin in posting a 12-9 win-loss record in the Bronx in 1974 and 1975, and got his finest revenge by pitching effectively for the Yanks’ main rival at the time, in Kansas City from 1976 through 1985. The Yanks got Gura with cash from the Texas Rangers for Duke Sims in May 1974, and traded him to the Kansas City Royals for Fran Healy exactly two years later.
It’s fitting perhaps that Jhonny Nunez (1985) celebrates his birthday on November 26, one day after Nick Swisher, as Jhonny was traded with Jeff Marquez and Wilson Betemit to the Chicago White Sox for Swisher in late 2008. The Yanks had acquired Nunez in a trade with the Washington Nationals for Alberto Gonzalez a year earlier. Jhonny posted no record in five games for the White Sox in 2009.
The career of lefthander Matt Tracy (1988), who pitched in one game for the Yankees in 2015, to no record, has been a Tale of Two Cities. Tracy was drafted by the Marlins in 2010, but did not sign; but he did sign with the Yanks once they drafted him in 2011. Then Miami claimed Nick off waivers on April 18, 2015, only to have the Yanks reclaim him in the same manner four days later. His ’15 appearance with New York is his sole big league game so far.
Surprisingly new to the Yankee roster in 2022 was veteran infielder Matt Carpenter (1985), who had hit 155 home runs with 574 rbi’s for the Cardinals from 2011 through 2021. Seemingly aged out through a few poor seasons, he was signed by the Yankees to a contract and came through with dynamic power numbers until he succumbed to injury. Matt hit 15 home runs with 37 rbi’s in 47 games. Matt went yard five times with 31 rbi’s in 76 games for the Padres in 2023.
Although Garton Del Savio (1913) never played for the New Yorkers, and to all reports finished his life as a fan of the rival Red Sox, he was originally signed by the Yanks. Del Savio was one of baseball’s oldest survivors until he passed away on November 9, 2006 at the age of 92. He played four games at shortstop for the 1943 Phillies, managing a hit and a walk with no strike outs in 12 plate appearances.
Other birthdays: Hall of Fame outfielder Hugh Duffy (1866), who played predominantly with the Boston Braves during his 1888-1906 big-league stay; Eddie Miller (1916); Bob Elliott (1916); Minnie Rojas (1933); Jeff Torborg (1941); Richie Hebner (1947); Jorge Orta (1950); Bob Walk (1956); Mike Moore (1959); Harold Reynolds (1960); Chuck Finley (1962); Brian Schneider (1976); John Parrish (1977); Jeff Fulchino (1979); Matt Garza (1983); Corey Brown (1985); Josh Smoker (1988); Hector Velazquez (1988); Yoshi Tsutsugo (1991); Corey Knebel (1991); Kyle Waldrop (1991); Ryan Walker (1995); and Cal Raleigh (1996).
