It was another painful lesson on how not to build a winner from the ’80s when Bill Gullickson made his decision. During the 1987 season, the Yanks had traded Dennis Rasmussen, a young lefty with a great record in New York, to Cincinnati for righty Gullickson for what would become a failed stretch run (though that can’t be blamed on Bill and his 4-2 mark in eight games). But he didn’t like New York and, faced with a midnight January 8 deadline to sign a new contract with the Yanks, Gullickson inked a two-year deal with the Tokyo Giants instead. And in the case of Rasmussen, who had been 39-24 in New York over several seasons, who is to say how he would have performed had he remained? As it was, he finished up with a 52-53 post-Yankee record. Continue reading →
Even many Yankee fans of my (older) generation tend to think back only to the marvelous Joe DiMaggio when ruminating on the line of great Yankee center fielders that Mickey Mantle and Bernie Williams managed to continue (with an honorable mention going to Mickey Rivers). But the string actually began back in 1924 with the Bombers’ acquisition of lefty-hitting Earle Combs from the minor-league Louisville Colonels on January 7. A slick defensive outfielder who was nicknamed the Kentucky Colonel, Earle would play only for the Yanks, and anchor the outfield through the 1935 season, amassing 58 homers, 632 rbi’s, and 96 stolen bases during that time. Continue reading →
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 →
