The Yankees made it a sweep over the visiting Reds on Sunday, July 20, 2014, but it wasn’t easy. Hiroki Kuroda outdueled Johnny Cueto 2-1 into the seventh on fifth-inning rbi singles from Derek Jeter and Jacoby Ellsbury, and also got lucky that a 1-3-4-1-6 pickoff started by reliever Dellin Betances of Scott Schumaker in the eighth preceded Todd Frazier‘s game-tying home run. Then a one-out Brian McCann single plated Ellsbury with the 3-2 game winner once closer Aroldis Chapman had wild-pitched the Yankee center fielder to second, and then again to third after Jacoby’s leadoff single in the bottom of the ninth. Continue reading →
Behind the day’s honoree on the mound, the Yankees beat the visiting Rays 6-1 on July 19, 2024, as Gerrit Cole went six strong on the day his Bobblehead was bestowed on fans. Anthony Volpe‘s two-run double highlighted the four-run home third that carried the Bombers to victory. Continue reading →
It’s hard to believe that the July 18 is more than double digit years removed already. We all know the almost spooky series of events that day, what with Don Larsen throwing out the first pitch to Yogi Berra, followed by David Cone‘s “Perfect” day against the Expos, in a 6-0 win. And he beat 2004 Yankee Javier Vazquez that day. Almost exactly 14 months after David Wells got his against the Twins on Beanie Baby Day, I’m here to tell you that, although Boomer’s was so startlingly fresh and new, from the standpoint of the diehard fan in the stands, Cone’s was better. There were perhaps 10,000 less people there, but they were all there because they loved Yogi and the Yanks on Yogi Berra Day in the Bronx, not for a free doll. And as we stood and screamed in the eighth inning of both games, no one did the Wave during Coney’s. Continue reading →
Perhaps the most interesting thing about the 13-2 destruction of the Red Sox in the Stadium on July 17, 2022, is that the pinstripers scored eight in the fourth with no home runs until Tim Locastrto capped it with a two-run jolt, one of just two fence clearers he would hit on the year. Gerrit Cole was dominant, striking out 11 through seven frames, and Aaron Judge (of course) homered later in the contest too. Continue reading →
If you could get past exactly why July 16, 2010, was such a special game, and even if you couldn’t, it may have been the most scintillating regular-season game in the new baseball palace in the Bronx; it was certainly one of the most emotional. Following Taps at 6:45, the Yanks hosted a short service to honor both Bob Sheppard and George Steinbrenner, both of whom had passed away within the previous five days. Tampa’s James Shields and CC Sabathia battled to a 3-3 tie through six including back-to-back home runs from Robinson Cano and Jorge Posada, but CC surrendered run No. 4 in the seventh. Still, Nick Swisher to the rescue, via a game-tying home run off Joaquin Benoit in the eighth, and then a walkoff rbi single in the ninth to drive in Curtis Granderson, who had reached on a single off one-time Yankee southpaw Randy Choate. Continue reading →
Derek Jeter went 1-for-3 and Alex Rodriguez 0-for-2 as Mariano Rivera got five outs while being unscored upon in the All Star Game that took place in old Yankee Stadium on July 15, 2008. The American League finally won the 15-inning affair 4-3 on a Michael Young sac fly, but the Yankee fans in the crowd had their most enjoyable moment when Boston’s Jonathan Papelbon, who alienated fans every time he opened his mouth during the three-day extravaganza, blew a potential save in regulation. You read correctly. Yankee fans rooted for the AL, except when the hated Red Sox closer was on the mound. Continue reading →
It was Moose Skowron‘s big day on July 14, 1957. The Yanks had already lost the first game to the White Sox, 3-1, and things were bleak as they entered the ninth inning of Game Two trailing 4-0. But Moose supplied the highlight of the Yankee rally as his pinch-hit grand slam home run keyed the winning rally and the 6-4 victory. It was his second pinch-hit grand slam of the season, a record at the time. Yankee fans were suitably distraught when Moose passed away in April 2011. Continue reading →
Nine days after his 80th birthday, New York Yankee owner George Steinbrenner passed away on July 13, 2010. The uber-owner and “Boss” purchased the team in 1973 and owned them until his death, a time during which the Yanks won seven crowns and 11 AL pennants. Coming just two days after Yankee fans were devastated by the death of Bob Sheppard, it was making for a bad year in the Bronx. Continue reading →
Effective for some time in the wake of failures from closer Aroldis Chapman, Clay Holmes had a stinker in a 4-3 loss to the visiting Reds on July 12, 2022. With the Yanks up 3-0 on masterful work by Gerrit Cole, with a good eighth inning by Michael King, Holmes, and later Wandy Peralta, allowed a walk, three singles, a fielder’s choice grounder, and two hit by pitches in a four-run ninth-inning Cincinnati rally. Continue reading →
Fans throughout Yankee land were devastated on July 11, 2010, with the disheartening news none of us wanted to hear. The one and only Bob Sheppard, the “Voice of God,” who had served as Yankee Stadium emcee since Mickey Mantle‘s rookie season in 1951, had passed away. Mr. Sheppard, and all of us who loved him and craved hearing his voice so dearly, were bitterly disappointed that he was not healthy enough to appear in the old Stadium’s final season, although video messages from him during the Baseball Cathedral’s last game were a true treasure. We all hoped he would some day christen the new stadium with his voice as well, but that was not to be. It was the beginning of a very bad week in Yankee land. Continue reading →
