September 11 is a tough day to write about, in any sense. I’ll just share one meaningless and one poignant Yankee memory. I was looking forward to going to the Stadium THAT day because I had sat through a two-hour-plus rain delay on the evening of 9/10/01. After a long wait above a very wet field on which no new rain fell during most of the delay, they called the Yankee game vs. the Red Sox. Needless to say, I never got to the 9/11 Yankees/White Sox tilt. And one of the most touching “Portraits of Grief” from the Times that I read was of the gentleman who was from Chicago, but had married and started his family in New York. He imbued a love of the game into his four daughters and was scheduled to take all four to that night’s game against his beloved White Sox before he perished in the World Trade Center. Continue reading →
Things were going well in the September 9, 2025, game vs Detroit in the Bronx, as early home runs by Aaron Judge and Cody Bellinger gave the good guys a 2-0 lead, but a two-run jolt from Parker Meadows off Will Warren tied matters in the fifth. Warren was replaced after six, but Fernando Cruz and Mark Leiter blew it up in a nine-run frame in the 12-2 Tigers win. Continue reading →
A struggling Yankee ballclub seemed truly snakebit on September 8, 2023, when Luis Severino, who had been battered in outing after outing, pitched effectively until he hurt himself striking out Andruw Monisterio leading off the fifth inning. He left in a 2-2 tie, but back-to-back 3-run uprisings against the pen resulted in an 8-2 Yankee loss to the visiting Brewers. Continue reading →
The Toronto/Yankees tilt in the Bronx on September 7, 2025, could have been played for just three innings, because the score entering the top of the fourth, 4-3 Yankees, was the same as the final score. Ben Rice‘s first-inning three-run home run was the big blow, and Max Fried went seven for the win. Continue reading →
It’s only sporting to lead this day’s events off with the surpassing of one of the Yankees’ most dearly held records. On September 6, 1995, Cal Ripken, Jr., played in his 2,131st game, taking the place of the beloved Iron Horse, Lou Gehrig, in the record books. Judge for yourselves, but despite having a lot of trouble with this earlier in life, I have to acknowledge that Cal handled the long years reaching the number, and the moment overcoming it, with a lot of class. Besides, the recently dearly departed Yankee hero Phil Rizzuto urged support for Cal in his later years. Good enough for me. Continue reading →
It really could have been an emotional night for a several-year Yankee fan when the Yanks jumped up on visiting Minnesota 2-0 through three on homers from Aaron Judge, and Marwin Gonzalez on September 5, 2022, when ex-Yank Gary Sanchez tied matters with a two-run shot in the fifth. But a second Judge jolt and a Isiah Kiner-Filefa drive propelled the Yanks to a 5-2 win. Continue reading →
If you could have written up how a successful bullpen day started by an Opener would go, you could look at the 4-1 Yankee victory over the Rangers in the Stadium on September 4, 2019. Two innings from Chad Green, then three from Luis Cessa, got the Yankees past midgame with a 3-0 lead, on Aaron Judge and Gleyber Torres home runs, both off ex-Yankee Lance Lynn. Continue reading →
Not only did Giancarlo Stanton hit an early home run against the visiting Orioles on September 3, 2021, that helped send the 2-2 contest to extra innings, it was his single in the bottom of the 11th that drove in Aaron Judge with the game winner in the 3-2 victory. Nestor Cortes made the start, and Clay Holmes was the winning pitcher. Continue reading →
The hits Jordan Montgomery surrendered to the first four Rays up on September 2, 2020, including two-run jolts from Randy Arozarena and Mike Brosseau, all but wrapped up what would be a 5-2 Tampa final. A late Clint Frazier home run and DJ LeMahieu rbi single were too little, too late. Continue reading →
The Yankees and the Tigers went to the ninth inning scoreless on September 1, 1961, in front of the biggest American League crowd of the year, with Whitey Ford opposing Don Mossi. The 65,000+ in Yankee Stadium thrilled to the Yankees’ 1-0 victory in this battle for first place, as two-out hits in the bottom of the ninth from Elston Howard, Yogi Berra, and Moose Skowron plated the game winner. Continue reading →
