Baseball players make millions of dollars today, while the guys who came before, relatively speaking, made a pittance. But the road from there to here was a journey of a lot of steps. Joe DiMaggio, who would for more than 30 years after retiring be known as “the greatest living ballplayer,” established a new plateau for major-league players on February 7, 1949, when he signed a $100,000 contract with the Yankees to play the upcoming season. It was the first ever six-digit contract in the League. Continue reading →
Blow the party horns; tug on the party hats. In descending order, Yankee fans, baseball fans, and spectator sports fans of all stripes should all rejoice, maybe even celebrate with a piece of cake. Babe Ruth, our very own revered and beloved Bambino, the Sultan of Swat, the man around whom so much of what we obsess about today originally began, was born on this day in 1895. Once acquired from the rival Red Sox by Business Manager Ed Barrow, he led the Yankees to the Promised Land with his booming bat, having already set a pretty high standard as a pitcher in Boston. He played from 1914-1935, the last year with the Boston Braves, and amassed 714 home runs and 2,213 rbi’s during that time. And there are five more Yankee birthdays this day (see below). Continue reading →
A tree may grow in Brooklyn, but on February 5, 1921, the New York Yankee baseball club purchased 20 acres in the South Bronx. This plot, across the Harlem River and within sight of the Polo Grounds they had shared with the Giants for almost 10 years, would be the location of Yankee Stadium. Continue reading →
In just one more sign that the eighties were not “The Glory Years,” on February 4, 1984, the Yanks traded righty reliever George Frazier, who looked a lot like a tall Ron Guidry until he threw the ball, and a young Otis Nixon, in his first year in the bigs, to Cleveland for Toby Harrah. Toby never really warmed to the opportunity to replace the traded and much beloved Graig Nettles. Harrah hit just .217 in 84 games and was shipped out a year later to Texas for minor leaguer Eric Dersin and outfielder Billy Sample. Harrah hit one home run, drove in 26 runs, and stole three bases in the Bronx, while Frazier split his 1984 season between Cleveland and Chicago (the Cubs) to a 9-5 mark. Nixon patrolled outfields for 15 years, through the 1999 season, with significant stopovers in Cleveland, Montreal, Atlanta, and Toronto. Harrah holds two odd (and unenviable) fielding records: He accepted no chances at shortstop in a June 25, 1976, doubleheader, a first and only occurrence for a major league shortstop. And on September 17, 1977, he played 17 innings in a game at third base without recording an assist. Continue reading →
In the early years of the Twentieth Century, the game of baseball continued to evolve. One sign of progress was the acceptance of some practices which were then gradually called into question, only to eventually be ruled illegal. The spitball was a famous example of this phenomenon, but a less heralded one was the emery ball, described in one source as “an illegal pitch in which the ball is filed with an emery board for better grip.” This pitch was most often associated with New York Highlander righthander Russ Ford, who introduced it in 1910. Russ put up some good numbers with the Yanks, going 73-56 with three saves from 1909-1913 before spending two years with the Buffalo Blues (later Buffeds) of the Federal League. But he really excelled right after he put his innovation into practice: He posted a 48-17 mark in 1910 and 1911. The American League banned Russ’s brainchild on February 3, 1915. Continue reading →
February 2 is a great Baseball Hall of Fame day, and by logical extension it’s a great day in Yankee history too. To start with, Babe Ruth was inducted into the very first class this day in 1936, along with Ty Cobb, Honus Wagner, Christy Matthewson, and Walter Johnson. (Some accounts report this event as having taken place on January 29 too.)
On February 2, 2023, the Yankees signed free agent righthander Justin Maese to a minor league contract. Continue reading →
Wally Pipp, who lost his first base job to Lou Gehrig and The Streak, was sold to the Reds on February 1, 1926. A Forgotten Man, so to speak, in the Yankee past, Pipp contributed a very impressive 80 home runs and 826 rbi’s in the Bronx from 1915-1925. Wally had been the Yankee Opening Day first baseman for 11 consecutive years. Continue reading →
January 31 is a big Hall of Fame day. First, there are several fairly prominent members who were born this day (see below). And Yankees inducted into the Hall this day include Joe Sewell, who was voted in in 1977, along with a few others. A shortstop with the Indians for a decade, Sewell was pounced upon by the Yanks when the Tribe released him. Although his Hall years were really his Cleveland ones, Joe came through with 19 homers, 186 rbi’s, and three stolen bases for the Bombers from 1931-1933. Continue reading →
Lefty Gomez, Eddie Lopat, Whitey Ford, Ron Guidry, all great Yankee lefty starters where they’re needed most: in the House That Ruth Built, with its short porch in right. But leading the way was Herb Pennock. Business Manager Ed Barrow knew what he was doing when he procured Herb from the Red Sox on January 30, 1923, just a few months before Yankee Stadium was to open. Barrow shipped infielder Norm McMillan, pitcher George Murray, and outfielder Camp Skinner to Boston for Herb, along with $50,000. Murray would post a 9-20 mark in Beantown, and McMillan and Skinner combined for 43 rbi’s, all but one from McMillan, who also chipped in with 13 stolen bases. Pennock would notch 162 wins in the next 11 seasons, appearing in four World Series with the Yanks (3-1), during which he posted a 5-0 record. And he saved two October Classic games, earning the last one in the Babe Ruth “Called Shot” game in Wrigley in 1932. Continue reading →
Two Yankee transactions from years ago that did not work out occurred on January 29. In 1943, the Bombers shipped second baseman Jerry Priddy and minor-league hurler Milo Candini to Washington for righthander Bill Zuber. Although Zuber posted an 8-4 mark in 1943, his four-year totals (18-23, two saves) dipped, but were not bad when compared with Priddy. He averaged more games with the Senators over three seasons than he had with the Yanks in 1941-1942, because his offensive numbers were comparably low. But Candini’s 24-21 record with eight saves in six seasons with Washington tilted the trade well into the Senators’ favor. Continue reading →
