In a home game the Yankees seemed destined to lose on May 23, 2023, improved Baltimore took a 4-0 lead into the fourth. Even though the Yankees tied it on a Harrison Bader home run and Anhony Rizzo RBI double, the Orioles went ahead and led 5-4 going to the ninth, when Aaron Judge homered to tie it with one down. And once Baltimore failed to score in the top of the 10th, Anthony Volpe delivered Isiah Kiner-Falefa with a sac fly for a 6-5 Yankee win. Continue reading →
Well, if the triple play game ending 2-1 Yanks on May 21, 2022, wouldn’t be wisely called “Gleyber Day,” how about the 7-0 win over the Palehose on May 22? Sure, Gerrit Cole surprised us all by coaxing 13 ground ball outs with seven K’s through seven (the second batter of the game, Adam Eaton, hit the only Chicago fly ball until Yermin Mercedes flied out off Luis Cessa to end the game in the ninth), but the offense was driven by Torres, still playing shortstop to begin the season. Gleyber both homered and singled for two rbi’s each in the fourth and fifth frames. Continue reading →
It’s probably clueless to refer to a post about the May 21, 2021, 2-1 Yankee victory over the White Sox “Gleyber Day,” in light of what transpired in the ninth inning, but Gleyber Torres did drive in both runs, with a seventh-inning home run, and the third of three consecutive singles in the bottom of the ninth. It may have been Jordan Montgomery‘s best start, as he struck out 11 while allowing four hits over seven innings, but Nick Madrigal‘s eighth-inning rbi single off Jonathan Loiasiga cost him the win. The final was almost anticlimactic and felt preordained, once the Yanks finished off the top of the ninth behind Aroldis Chapman with a 5-4-3 triple play off the bat of Andrew Vaughn. Continue reading →
Filling in for the ineffective and injured Chien-Ming Wang, young righthander Phil Hughes got the win when the team battered Baltimore in the Bronx 11-4 on May 20, 2009. Another tradition survived the trip across 161st Street as all the predominantly white uniforms in the stands confirmed it was Fleet Week in New York. The big bat belonged to Robinson Cano, who had three hits with a homer, knocked in three runs, and scored two himself. Continue reading →
This is a baseball history column, and more specifically one focused on Yankee history. But being a Yankee is about excelling, so I need to start the May 19 installment with an acknowledgement of the record-smashing Belmont Stakes run by the thoroughbred Secretariat on this day in 1973, some 40 years ago. It was an astounding performance. Continue reading →
On May 18, 2013, the Yanks hosted their second annual “photo day” for season ticket holders before the 1 pm tilt vs. Toronto. Ringing the outfield warning track, a few thousand fans were able to greet, shake hands with, and have pictures taken with a host of Yankee players, and this one was made most special because Mariano Rivera was allowed to make his way around long beyond the expected time frame, greeting every fan who wanted to in his goodbye season. In the game that followed, David Phelps held the visitors to one run on six hits over seven innings in a 7-2 win. The source of the Yankee offense was no surprise, as Robinson Cano reached hard-throwing Brandon Morrow for two, two-run home runs; Travis Hafner added a two-run shot in the eighth. Continue reading →
It’s another day where a great candidate for top highlight is surpassed by an even better one. Does it help if I share that numero uno happened on Beanie Baby Day in the Bronx? It doesn’t seem possible, but the word “several” no longer applies in describing the multi-year anniversary of David Wells‘s Perfect Game, a 4-0 win over the Twins on May 17, 1998. Bernie Williams had a homer among his three hits, Latroy Hawkins manned the mound for the visiting Twins, and Boomer threw only 11 of 27 first-pitch strikes. Continue reading →
Rookie Mickey Mantle hit his first Stadium home run, knocked in four runs and scored three in an 11-3 thumping of the Indians on May 16, 1951. The Mick’s first Stadium victim was Cleveland’s Dick Rozek. Continue reading →
The greatest of events sometimes start off in the quietest ways. In a 13-1 hammering at the hands of the White Sox on May 15, 1941, Joe DiMaggio got a single in four trips against Ed Smith, but it was the first hit (and game) in Joe’s unprecedented (and unmatched) 56-game hitting streak. Continue reading →
It has to be a special highlight to top what happened on May 14, 1996, in this Yankee fan’s report, and it is, as today’s lead item is that Mickey Mantle hit his 500th home run off Baltimore’s Stu Miller on this day in 1967 in a 6-5 Yankee win. With that shot, The Mick became the sixth member of the 500-home run club. Continue reading →
