You don’t win as many pennants as the Yankees have without having some memorable mid-September moments. First, the Yankees resurrected their season in what was a very bad September when they won a come-from-behind contest in Toronto on the 14th in 1999. Hitting two grand slams in the same game for only the third time in their history, Bernie Williams tied the game at six with his in the eighth inning, and the Bombers won behind Paul O’Neill‘s salami in the ninth, 10-6. Continue reading →
The visiting Twins had the better of things for much of the September 13, 2021, battle in the Bronx once Minnesota bats reached Luis Gil for four first-inning runs (Jorge Polanco and Miguel Sano two-run homers). But late home runs from Joey Gallo and Aaron Judge equalled matters at 5-5 in the eighth. Once the Twins failed to plate their ghost runner in the 10th, Gary Sanchez sent the home crowd away happy when he singled in Gleyber Torres in the bottom half, 6-5 Yankees. Continue reading →
The Yanks followed up a 10-3 victory over visiting Tampa the day before with a 10-4 win on September 12, 2022. Second-inning home runs from Giancarlo Stanton, Gleyber Torres, who had doubled in two in the first, and Oswaldo Cabrera staked the home team to a 10-1 lead, and they cruised from then on. Domingo German pitched the first, and seven Yankee hurlers followed. Continue reading →
September 11 is a tough day to write about, in any sense. I’ll just share one meaningless and one poignant Yankee memory. I was looking forward to going to the Stadium THAT day because I had sat through a two-hour-plus rain delay on the evening of 9/10/01. After a long wait above a very wet field on which no new rain fell during most of the delay, they called the Yankee game vs. the Red Sox. Needless to say, I never got to the 9/11 Yankees/White Sox tilt. And one of the most touching “Portraits of Grief” from the Times that I read was of the gentleman who was from Chicago, but had married and started his family in New York. He imbued a love of the game into his four daughters and was scheduled to take all four to that night’s game against his beloved White Sox before he perished in the World Trade Center. Continue reading →
Even though he failed to get the win, staff ace Gerrit Cole fulfilled his role in an eventual 4-3 win over Milwaukee in the Bronx on September 10, 2023, a game that went to extra innings scoreless. Cole went seven, Corbin Burnes eight. Once the Brewers scored in the 11th, Oswaldo Cabrera tied it with a double. Giancarlo Stanton led off the bottom of the 12th with a two-run bomb that equalled what had been plated in the top half. Finally, lefthander Anthony Misiewicz got the win (his one decision in the four games he has pitched with New York) after pitching the top of the 13th, once Kyle Higashioka walked it off with an rbi single in the bottom half; Anthony was recently dfa’d in 2024. Continue reading →
A three-run, fourth-inning Tampa rally in the Stadium on September 9, 2022, ruined a rare Frankie Montas start, as the Rays went on to cash in a 4-2 win. Late rbi’s from Oswald Peraza and Kyle Higashioka were too little, too late, on this, Derek Jeter Hall of Fame Night. Continue reading →
A struggling Yankee ballclub seemed truly snakebit on September 8, 2023, when Luis Severino, who had been battered in outing after outing, pitched effectively until he hurt himself striking out Andruw Monisterio leading off the fifth inning. He left in a 2-2 tie, but back-to-back 3-run uprisings against the pen resulted in an 8-2 Yankee loss to the visiting Brewers. Continue reading →
It was all good in the Bronx on September 7, 2014 — all, that is, except for the baseball. The Yankees held Derek Jeter Day, and in addition to the shortstop and captain’s family, the Steinbrenner family, several of the great players who were Derek’s teammates, Davie Winfield (Jeets’s childhood idol), Cal Ripken, and a message from the International Space Station, all-world Michael Jordan showed up to offer tribute. In addition, Jeter received a 10-day trip to Tuscany, Waterford crystal with Derek’s final-season logo etched in, and a $222,222.22 check for the Turn 2 Foundation. The highlight of the video messages came from Washington manager Matt Williams, who referred to Derek as “The Captain of Major League Baseball.” Unfortunately, in the game that followed, the Yanks were blanked 2-0 on four hits by Kansas City. Jeter went 1-for-3 with a walk and a strike out. Continue reading →
It’s only sporting to lead this day’s events off with the surpassing of one of the Yankees’ most dearly held records. On September 6, 1995, Cal Ripken, Jr., played in his 2,131st game, taking the place of the beloved Iron Horse, Lou Gehrig, in the record books. Judge for yourselves, but despite having a lot of trouble with this earlier in life, I have to acknowledge that Cal handled the long years reaching the number, and the moment overcoming it, with a lot of class. Besides, the recently dearly departed Yankee hero Phil Rizzuto urged support for Cal in his later years. Good enough for me. Continue reading →
It really could have been an emotional night for a several-year Yankee fan when the Yanks jumped up on visiting Minnesota 2-0 through three on homers from Aaron Judge, and Marwin Gonzalez , when ex-Yank Gary Sanchez tied matters with a two-run shot in the fifth. But a second Judge jolt and a Isiah Kiner-Filefa drive propelled the Yanks to a 5-2 win. Continue reading →
