Considering the two reports that follow this one, Yankee land can utter a sigh of relief that the January 6, 2009 signing of first baseman Mark Teixeira worked out fairly well. Tex was not signed solely for his switch-hitting or power prowess, although it was hardly a surprise that he tied for the American League lead in home runs that year. A wizard at first base with his glove work, solid decision-making and stellar arm, Tex continued to give Yankee ownership and fans alike a good feeling that he signed, even though he has suffered significant injury issues the last few years. But Tex had a huge bounce back year in 2015, even if it, too, ended in injury. Hard-working Shelley Duncan was designated for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster, but Shelley would be back in the Yankee fold shortly, though he was onto Cleveland for 2010. Continue reading →
The politics, signing their new star, or whatever was getting in the way, so even though the Yanks had actually acquired Babe Ruth‘s baseball services from Boston in late December 1919, it wasn’t announced by the ballclub until January 5, 1920, but delaying the announcement of signings is a practice the club maintains to this day. They now had the best general manager (though Ed Barrow‘s title was “business manager”), the best manager in Miller Huggins, and the best player in the Babe. They added the Big Ballpark in the South Bronx for the ’23 season, and the rest is history. Continue reading →
Though few historians refer to it this way, the franchise that is the New York Yankees came into existence when the American League Baltimore Orioles ballclub was incorporated on January 4, 1901, with John McGraw as manager and part owner. McGraw would already be in New York piloting the National League Giants by the time the franchise was moved to the city on the Hudson River two years later to start the 1903 season, first as the Highlanders and later as the Yankees. Continue reading →
You’ll find few neutral opinions on the event that took place in Yankee history more than 40 years ago today, on January 3, 1973. That was the day that a group of investors headed by shipbuilder George Steinbrenner purchased the Yankee team from CBS for $10 million. Players and fans have come and gone, and mistakes have been made, but I’ll let the numbers do the talking when judging George’s ownership of the team: Seven World Championships and 11 American League pennants. Of course, we lost George in the summer of 2010, in a year rife with losses of beloved former Yankees. Continue reading →
When Casey Stengel‘s stint of managing the Brooklyn Dodgers ended in the winter of 1937 after a seventh-place finish and a three-year winning percentage of .453, he was replaced by Burleigh Grimes. But things did not look up in Brooklyn, as the record in Grimes’s two years was an overall .434, including another seventh-place result in 1938. And this was not the first time the two crafty vets shared an off-season transaction involving the Dodgers. Twenty years earlier on January 2, 1918 (though some give a date one week later), Brooklyn sent Stengel and infielder George Cutshaw to Pittsburgh for pitchers Grimes and Al Mamaux, and infielder Chuck Ward. Starting pitcher Grimes would star in Brooklyn through the 1926 season, going 178-131, while Casey’s playing career ended in 1925 after 31 homers and 243 rbi’s following that swap. The last legal spitballer in major league history, Grimes converted his great stats into a Hall of Fame entrance, while Stengel would ride his nine pennants and seven World Championships managing the Yankees in the fifties to earn his way into that select society. Continue reading →
Lee MacPhail began his baseball career as a business manager for Reading in the Interstate League in 1941, then graduated to the Yankee organization. He started with an 11-year reign as director of player personnel in 1948, proudly filling that role for a team that was winning nine pennants during the time. He then moved to Baltimore, and built a World Series winner there (1966) before returning to the Yanks as executive vice president until 1973. On January 1, 1974, he replaced Joe Cronin as president of the American League. And in other January 1 League news, Chub Feeney became president of the National League in 1970. Continue reading →
It was largely through the efforts of AL founder Ban Johnson that ownership of the Yankee franchise changed hands on December 31, 1914. Colonel Jacob Ruppert and Cap Huston paid Bill Devery and Frank Farrell $460,000 for it, and then built a winner. After the misstep of hiring Bill Donovan to manage the club (fifth-, fourth-, and sixth-place finishes in 1915-1917), Miller Huggins arrived behind the bench in 1918 and Babe Ruth on the bench two seasons later. The Yankees became the winning organization that inspires such deep feeling in fans of all stripes to this day. Continue reading →
A successful lefthanded hurler with a Perfect Game under his belt, Yankee fans were delighted when the team penned free agent Kenny Rogers to a four-year deal on December 30, 1995. And although his regular-season performance didn’t really rise to the level that the numbers show (18-15 in two years in the Bronx), his performance wasn’t disastrous until the 1996 postseason. Amazingly, although the Yanks fell behind by several runs early in each game the Gambler started, they showed enough resilience and won all three Series that year anyway. But after being owned by the Yanks ever since he was traded away, Kenny spun a back-breaking, multi-hit win against his old team in Detroit’s 2006 ALDS win. Continue reading →
With the signing of Andy Pettitte by the Astros in 2003, obvious parallels exist with the Red Sox signing of ex-Yank Ramiro Mendoza on December 29, 2002, but stark differences are apparent too. Both pitchers had plied their talents for the Bronx-based club only, both were with the team for the full Joe Torre-led run of success until their signing; both were effective while allowing lots of base hits. Pettitte had been more successful, it’s true, and his Yankee stay ended on a high, while Ramiro struggled in 2001 despite a very productive stay. But Yankee fans had to live with the fact that if Ramiro had a great following year, he would be doing it for the hated rival Red Sox. He didn’t though, aside from a brilliant July 5 start and win over the Yankees in the Bronx. His Red Sox numbers (3-5 and 2-1, 6.75 and 3.52 era’s) didn’t approach those he compiled in New York: 54-34 with 16 saves from 1996-2002. Unfortunately for Pettitte, another similarity he shared with Mendoza was his injury-plagued 2004 season. Mendoza, by the way, made his way back in the Yankee fold, though it did not work out. And now Andy returned to the Bronx as well, and a good thing too. Continue reading →
Not only was Tim “Rock” Raines a mainstay of the 1996 World Championship team, he was one of the most popular Yankees during his 1996 through 1998 stay. The Yankees acquired the speedy switch-hitting outfielder from the White Sox on December 28, 1995, for a player to be named later (in February 1996 minor leaguer Blaise Kozeniewski was sent to Chicago). Tim contributed 18 home runs, 118 rbi’s and 26 stolen bases to the Yankee cause in part-time duty, and had two particularly big days. On September 30, 1997, in the first game of the ALDS vs. Cleveland, he combined with Derek Jeter and Paul O’Neill on back to back to back home runs that carried the Bombers to victory (though the Indians would prevail in that series). And in a June 10, 1998, interleague tilt with the Montreal Expos, he became the fifth player in major league history to steal his 800th base. Sadly, Bernie Williams would be lost for a month in that same game injuring himself sliding. Continue reading →
