On December 16, 1983, beleaguered Yankee owner George Steinbrenner brought a close to Billy Three, firing Billy Martin as manager and replacing him with Yogi Berra.
Two months and three days after purchasing the contracts of their first two black players, Elston Howard and Vic Power, from the Kansas City Blues, the Yanks sent the slick-fielding first baseman Power to the Philadelphia A’s on December 16, 1953, in an 11-player swap. As has been reported in the wake of Power’s recent passing, it was widely believed that the Yanks did not want as outspoken and direct a man as Power being the first black man on their roster. Those days are long gone, we can gladly say.
That being said, it would be difficult to overstate how badly the trade turned out for the New Yorkers. Three of the five players the Yanks got (infielder Loren Babe and outfielders Tom Hamilton and Carmen Mauro) never again appeared in the majors. First baseman Eddie Robinson managed 24 homers and 80 rbi’s over three years in New York after blasting 22 bombs with 102 rbi’s in Philly in 1953 alone. Righty Harry Byrd, the object of the Yankee desires, did improve to 9-7 in 1954 after posting a two-year, 26-35 mark for the A’s. But Power would be a mainstay in the A’s infield for five years, adding 59 taters and 246 rbi’s to his fine defense. In addition, infielders Jimmy Finigan (18 homers/140 rbi’s from 1954-1956) and Don Bollweg (five dingers/25 rbi’s over two seasons), and outfielder Bill Renna (22/86 over three seasons) helped the A’s too. Thankfully, lefty John Gray‘s disappointing 3-15 record and little offense out of catcher Jim Roberston were the only negatives for the A’s from this most forgettable of Yankee trades.
On December 16, 2017, the Yankees signed free agent lefthander Ryan Bollinger to a minor league contract.
On December 16, 2011, the Yankees signed free agent righthander Adam Miller.
Reliever Tom Gordon signed as a Free Agent with the Yankees on December 16, 2003. His two-year numbers as Mariano Rivera‘s setup man were superb, and he signed with the Phillies in an attempt to be a closer himself yet again.
Had it not been for the latter’s injury, the Yankees would have been on the huge losing side of two free agent pitcher signings on December 16, 2015. In the first they threw inexplicable money at free agent southpaw Chris Capuano, while the Dodgers were signing free agent righthander Brandon McCarthy, who had been solid in the Bronx in 2014. McCarthy was lost for the season in an early injury, however, while Capuano may have set a record for the number of times he would be DFA’d. Meanwhile, in a minor move, the Astros designated infielder Gregorio Petit for assignment; the Yanks would sign Petit as a backup just before opening day.
The jury is no longer out on the December 16, 2005 Yankee acquisition of southpaw Ron Villone from the Marlins for nonroster lefty Ben Julianel. Villone, who was offered arbitration in 2007, spent some time in AAA, and eventually rejoined the Yanks, had a roller coaster season in 2006. He was rarely used in April and May, ineffective down the stretch, but very good in Joe Torre’s pen in June and July. Villone gave the Yanks good long-man innings in 2007, often serving as the only lefty in the group.
December 16, 2010, was another day of comings and goings in Yankee land. First, the club bid good-bye to a true yeoman as the Washington Nationals signed free agent starter Chien-Ming Wang. On the same day, the Yankees signed free agent catcher Russell Martin.
Let’s talk some December 16 transactions involving ex-Yankee players after they had already made huge contributions to the Pinstriped cause. The most recent occurrence involves former Yankee lefty reliever Mike Stanton, who signed a three-year deal with the Mets on this day in 2002. The Yanks had given Mike an ultimatum to re-sign at less money that he was to accept or reject in 15 minutes several Decembers ago, treatment he certainly did not deserve. But after Stanton had amassed a 30-12 mark with 15 saves in six years with the Yanks, and had some of his biggest outings in the postseason, he struggled in Flushing. He returned to the Yanks in 2005 in a trade for Felix Heredia, but he would be released before the season ended. Mike continues to work in the bigs, a tribute to job security of the lefty reliever.
The good memories also abound with veteran backstop Joe Girardi, whom the Cardinals signed to a free-agent contract on that same day, December 16, 2002. And Joe was not disrespected in the Bronx. He is an example, I suppose, of the folly of judging players by numbers alone. In four years sharing catching duties primarily with Jimmy Leyritz first and Jorge Posada afterward, he only hit eight homers (and nine triples) with 153 rbi’s, though the .294, .264, and .276 ba’s were more than acceptable. But his run-scoring triple off Greg Maddux that broke a scoreless tie in Game Six of the 1996 World Series was one for the ages. Joe returned to the Yanks as a YES broadcaster in 2004, took the place next to Joe Torre as bench coach in 2005, and managed the Florida Marlins in 2006. A YES broadcaster again in 2007, Joe managed the Yankees from 2008 through 2017, winning the team’s 27th Championship in 2009.
And as long as we are reminiscing about that memorable ride in ’96, we salute John Wetteland too, who was allowed to leave as a free agent after that first Torre-managed Championship, and who signed with the Texas Rangers on this day in 1996. John went 3-8 with 74 saves during the 1995 and 1996 seasons in the Bronx. He failed in the post in ’95 vs. the Mariners, but he saved all four games of the 1996 October Classic, garnering the Series MVP Award in the process.
The other December 16 trade involving a future Yankee was the Expos’ swap of pitchers Dale Murray and Woodie Fryman to Cincinnati for first baseman Tony Perez and hurler Will McEnaney on this day in 1976.
Few realized how big and far-reaching a move it would be when the Minnesota Twins released DH/first baseman David Ortiz on December 16, 2002. Despite the Yankee owner’s (and my) wishes, the Bombers bypassed him, the Red Sox signed him, and he was largely responsible for the success Boston achieved vs. the Yanks in the 2004 ALCS. He continues to be a Boston lineup stalwart, with a lefty swing that could be legendary in the Bronx.
The Mutual Association of Eastern Colored Baseball Clubs organized on December 16, 1922.
Major League Baseball gave Kenesaw Mountain Landis a new seven-year term as Commissioner on this day in 1926.
Players Who Have Died This Day
No Yankee players have died on December 16.
The list of noteworthy nonYankee players who have died on December 16 includes two righthanded pitchers, two southpaws, two infielders, and two outfielders. Johnny Gorsica (1998) posted a 31-39-17 mark with the Tigers from 1940-1947; and Ted Abernathy (2004) won 62, lost 69, and saved 148 games pitching four years each with the Senators and the Cubs, three with the Royals, and two apiece with Cleveland and Cincinnati from 1955-1972. The lefty pitchers are Ferdie Schupp (1971), who won 61, lost 39, and saved six with the Giants and the Cardinals from 1913-1922; and Joe Hatten (1988), who posted a 65-49-4 mark pitching with the Dodgers and the Cubs from 1946-1952. Switch-hitting third sacker Charlie Reilly (1937) hit 17 home runs and drove in 311 runs from 1889-1897, mostly with the Phillies and the Colts; and hitter from the port side and shortstop/third baseman Cecil Travis (2006) hit all 27 of his long balls with 657 rbi’s from 1933-1941 and 1945-1947 with the Senators. Lefty-hitting outfielder Billy Hamilton (1940) reached 40 fences good for 736 runs driven in with the 1888-1889 Blues, the 1890-1895 Phillies, and the 1896-1901 Beaneaters; and lefty-hitting outfielder Deb Garms (1984), who played a lot of third base too, hit 17 roundtrippers and knocked in 328 runs with the Browns, the Bees, the Pirates, and the Cardinals from 1932-1945.
Players Born This Day
Not one of the three Yankee players born on December 16 made much of a contribution on the field of play. Utility player Charles Gipson (1972), aside from being a jack of all trades, was supposed to bring a strong baserunning threat to the Bombers, but he was caught stealing once in three tries and was picked off first base three times for the 2003 team in his 18 game appearances, most of which were as a pinch-runner. In 10 at bats he managed two rbi’s; he had played with Seattle from 1998 through 2002.
Switch-hitting outfielder Ted Wilborn (1958) got two hits in eight at bats during eight games for the 1980 Bombers, after playing 22 games for Toronto in 1979. But that Blue Jay connection is the key to perhaps the most interesting fact about Ted’s career, as he was involved in two Yankee trades. Drafted in the fourth round by the Yanks in 1976, he was a rule-V claim by the Jays in ’78, but returned to the Bronx that year in the trade that brought catcher Rick Cerone in to replace the deceased Thurman Munson. New York shipped Chris Chambliss, Damaso Garcia, and Paul Mirabella to Toronto for Cerone, Wilborn, and pitcher Tom Underwood. The next year Wilborn was sent to San Francisco with Andy McGaffigan for a Doyle Alexander who would lose nine of 10 decisions with the ’82-’83 Yanks.
One hopes we’ll be enthusiastically reporting the exploits of hard-throwing righty reliever Chris Britton (1982) in the years to come, but he has been the guy most often taking the Scranton Shuttle at the very back of the Yankee bullpen in 2007 and 2008. After being selected by Baltimore in the eighth round of the 2001 amateur draft, Britton debuted for that team by going 0-2 with a 3.35 era over 52 games in 2006. The Yanks acquired Britton by trading Jaret Wright to the Orioles 25 months ago, but Chris lost one game in 11 appearances and threw to a .3.55 era in the Bronx his first year, with an era over 5.00 in 15 2008 games.
Other birthdays: Tony Kaufmann (1900); Mike Flanagan (1951); Tom Gorman (1957); Billy Ripken (1964); Jason Wood (1969); Matt Kinney (1976); Ivan Ochoa (1982); Todd Wilhelmsen (1983); Alcides Escobar (1986); Brian Anderson (1986); Hector Santiago (1987); Tyler Chatwood (1989); Jack Lopez (1992); Peter Fairbanks (1993); Ryan Hendrix (1994); Oscar Mercado (1994); and Bryan De La Cruz (1996).
