The M&M race was heating up in 1961, and the daily record of Yankee excellence defines what Yankee history is all about. On August 11 of that glorious year, both Mickey Mantle (his 44th) and Roger Maris (42nd) homered off Pete Burnside to lead the Bombers to a 12-5 win over Washington. Continue reading →
The big bat behind the Yanks’ 9-3 win over Anaheim in Yankee Stadium on August 10, 2011, belonged to Curtis Granderson, who went yard for three runs in the first, and added a singleton shot and a walk later. Robinson Cano may have been denied a cycle by a fine Mark Trumbo play at first, because the Yankee second sacker had a double, triple, and homer in his other three at bats. Before the game, the release of a children’s album, “Believe,” organized and recorded by Nick Swisher, was announced on the scoreboard. Ex-Yank Bernie Williams and SF Giant Barry Zito played guitar on the record. Continue reading →
July 28, 2018, was a win-win in Yankee Stadium, as J.A. Happ, activated that day and making his Yankee debut, struck out nine Rangers in six strong innings in a 7-3 win. The offense was doubly delightful, with two-run homers from Aaron Hicks and Miguel Andujar, and two singleton shots off the bat of Neil Walker. Continue reading →
In the middle of a three-game sweep of the pinstripers on August 8, 2015, the Blue Jays trotted out their newest acquisition, southpaw David Price — the addition to the team that sparked their late surge to the Division title — to the mound, and he did not disappoint, allowing three hits and no runs through seven in a 6-0 win. Sadly, Ivan Nova gamely matched him into the sixth when, with one down, he allowed a walk, single, walk, and Justin Smoak grand slam home run. Continue reading →
That Didi Gregorius homered for the second run on Didi Bobblehead Night, and that Masahiro Tanaka pitched the Yankees to a 3-2 win over Carlos Carrasco and the visiting Indians, should have made for more than enough drama, excitement, and “buzz” in the Bronx on August 7, 2016. But those stories all became subplots to what took place earlier that day, when Alex Rodriguez announced his retirement from the team as a player, though he would continue to be paid through the 2017 season. Continue reading →
It was August 6, 1979, in a night game after the funeral for Yankee catcher Thurman Munson that his teammate and friend Bobby Murcer drove in all five runs of a Yankee win. Murcer had a three-run homer and then chipped in with a two-run ninth-inning single to beat the Orioles, 5-4. The loss of Murcer in 2008 to cancer served to make Thurman’s death a poignant experience all over again. Continue reading →
The big blow in the Yanks’ stirring 13-7 victory over visiting Cleveland on August 5, 2016, was Starlin Castro‘s grand slam off Josh Tomlin, highlighting a five-run home third. But the remarkable thing about this one was all the tack-on runs the Bombers added along the way, including two-run rallies in the sixth, seventh, and eighth innings. First baseman Mark Teixeira, who had earlier in the day announced that he would be retiring at the end of the season, had two hits and scored twice. In one of their more popular promos in recent years, this one took place on Star Wars Night in Yankee Stadium. Aaron Hicks and Brett Gardner went yard back to back in the seventh. Continue reading →
Righthandser Jameson Taillon struck out 10 and pitched into the seventh in a 10-3 win over visiting Baltimore on August 4, 2021. DJ LeMahieu drove in four with three hits and Giancarlo Stanton had a three-run double. Newly acquired Anthony Rizzo paid off early dividends with a home run. Continue reading →
Although the Yankees used a five-run second, four rbi’s by Giancarlo Stanton, and a couple of home runs to destroy the visiting Orioles 13-1 on August 3, 2021, the standout highlight of this one was that the Yankees used three pitchers making their major league and Yankee debuts to pitch all nine frames. Luis Gil pitched six solid for the win, and fellow righties Stephen Ridings and Brody Koerner finished up. The Yankees selected the contracts of both Ridings and Koerner from the AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders earlier that day. Continue reading →
There can only be one piece of Yankee history leading off this day’s column, and it is heart-rending. It was on August 2, 1979, that the beloved father, husband, and Yankee captain and catcher Thurman Munson perished in a crash of the plane he was piloting. The Yankees would host a huge crowd in the Stadium on the day after the tragic event. In recent years, it was an inspiring moment when a host of Thurman’s teammates gathered with his widow on the Yankee Stadium field at the 2004 Old Timers Game. The whole tragic event is doubly poignant now with the recent death of Thurman’s great friend, Bobby Murcer.Continue reading →
