The free-agent signing of David Cone by the Yankees on December 22, 1995, is the biggest single event of the day from the Pinstriped perspective. Cone had earlier starred for the Mets after they got him in a steal of a deal from K.C., but by this point in his career he had developed the reputation as a “hired gun,” after being traded to Toronto down the stretch twice in close pennant races. But he appeared to find a home in the Bronx, and his part in the resurgence that carried the Yanks to the playoffs every year and to four Championships by the time he left after the ’00 season can’t really be overestimated. He posted a 64-40 mark in that time despite dipping to 4-14 in that last year, and he recorded the first of the Yanks’ amazing 14 World Series game wins in a row when he halted the Braves in Game Three in 1996. He threw a Perfect Game against the Montreal Expos in Yankee Stadium in July 1999. His subsequent time in Boston and with the crosstown rival Mets tarnished his Yankee reputation with some, but not from this scribe’s perspective.
December 22, 1987, may have even been a happier day in Yankee land, though it happened for a much less accomplished Bomber team. The team managed to move a veteran lefty in Steve Trout, whose performance in the Bronx had been truly horrid (0-4 in 14 games, with nine wild pitches), shipping him and outfielder Henry Cotto to Seattle for reliever Lee Guetterman, righty Clay Parker, and minor league hurler Wade Taylor. Cotto performed adequately for the Mariners, and Trout (8-10) wasn’t as bad as he had been in New York, but Parker went 5-6 for the ’89-’90 Yanks and Taylor, despite a 7-12 record in 1991 in a career halted by injury, has been a valuable Yankee scout for years. And Guetterman was a five-year mainstay in the Yankee pen, with a 21-19 record and 21 saves.
On December 22, 2022, the Yankees signed free agent second baseman Wilmer Difo to a minor league contract.
On December 22, 2017, the Yankees signed free agent catcher Antonio Cabello to a minor league contract.
The New York Yankees signed infielder Juan Miranda to a four-year contract on December 22, 2006. He played in 46 games in the Bronx from 2008-2010, with four long balls and 14 rbi’s. With free agency looming, he was traded to Arizona for Scott Allen in November 2010.
Although there had to be a lot of concern about the physical condition of Chien-Ming Wang following his midsummer base-running injury, few could have predicted how lost a season 2009 would be for him when he signed a one-year contract on December 22, 2008. With his days in Pinstripes perhaps over, we wish him well. He raised the level of the team’s performance with his pitching.
The Yankees signed free agent outfielder Cole Garner on December 22, 2011, coming off a season in which he had a handful of at bats for Colorado. And Garner impressed in Spring Training, although he was made a free agent again after the 2012 season.
Lee Mazzilli, hired away to manage the Baltimore Orioles in 2004 and 2005 after several seasons managing in the Yankee minors and then coaching first base with the parent club, saw his brief Yankee playing career (six homers and 17 rbi’s in 37 games for the 1982 Bombers) come to an end on December 22, 1982, as he was traded to Pittsburgh for several minor leaguers including Tim Burke.
The Yankees signed righthander Carl Pavano to a four-year contract on December 22, 2004. Although the Connecticut-raised Pavano seemed destined to help the Yanks strike back against the Red Sox after their ’04 Championship, he struggled through the 2005 season, and his 2006 injury sojourn cost him virtually all of his credibility in the Bronx. He teased fans with two effective April 2007 starts, and pitched in September 2008, but most fans eagerly bid him bon voyage after the 9-8 record for four frustrating years and $40 million.
The Yankees shipped inconsistent Japanese starter Hideki Irabu to the Expos on December 22, 1999, for pitcher Jake Westbrook and two guys to be named later, who were to become Christian Parker and Ted Lilly. Even though Irabu posted just a 2-7 record in Montreal, the trade was not one of the Yanks’ best. While Parker went 0-1 and Westbrook 0-2 in New York, Lilly pitched much better than his 8-6 mark. But then he was traded for Jeff Weaver. In 2004, Weaver became the biggest cog in the Kevin Brown deal that punctuated a frustrating 2004 postseason and only rarely got better in 2005. A better outcome was derived when Westbrook was one of the three players sent to Cleveland for David Justice, a huge postseason contributor for two years in New York.
The 2003 Yankee signing of bullpenner Paul Quantrill became official on December 22. Paul was part of the three-headed “Quangormo” team with Tom Gordon and Mariano Rivera in the Yankee pen for much of the ’04 season, but the righty burned out in that season’s second half, pitched poorly in 2005, and was given his release.
The Bombers got a lot more than they bargained for when they re-signed outfielder Bernie Williams to a one-year contract on December 22, 2005. With injuries decimating the team’s starting outfield, Williams got into 131 games in which he stroked 12 home runs and 61 rbi’s.
The Yankees signed free agent left fielder Reid Gorecki and catcher Mike Rivera on December 22, 2009. Gorecki would play in the team’s minors in 2010 before being granted free agency, while Rivera would be cut loose in Spring Training before the 2010 season.
The recently deceased Bobby Bonds was released by the St. Louis Cardinals on December 22, 1980. Although the move did not end his career, it came close. He was signed and let go by Texas, taken by the Cubs where he played 45 games in ’81, then signed as a free agent with the Yanks in May 1982. But they would release him one month later.
Among player moves affecting former or future Yankee players on December 22, two took place in 1997, and another on that day in 1995. On the earlier date, the Marlins inked Kevin Brown to a three-year deal, and the Phillies signed Todd Zeile. And in ’97, the Royals came to terms with first baseman Hal Morris, and the Mets traded Carl Everett to Houston for pitcher John Hudek. And Tanyon Sturtze, who had such a strong second half for the 2004 Yanks, was signed by the Blue Jays on this day in 2002. This category gained another stat in 2005 with the Yankee signing of southpaw reliever Buddy Groom, as Groom signed a two-year deal with the Orioles on December 22, 1999.
Manufacturers were given permission to use synthetic rubber at a baseball’s core on this day in 1943.
Major League Baseball came to a truce with the Federal League on December 22, 1915, as the fledgling enterprise agreed to fold after two seasons, with a handsome payment to do so.
Voters around Houston, Texas agreed on December 22, 1962, to pay for a Stadium to be built that in three years would become the Houston Astrodome.
Jack Dunn III, the man who owned and operated the Baltimore Orioles for years in the International League, made the name available to the moving St. Louis Browns on December 22, 1953.
It was on this day in 1999 that the John Rocker hate speech-filled interview in Sports Illustrated got his career lodged into a downward spiral from which it has not recovered.
Players Who Have Died This Day
Catcher Bennie Bengough (1968), who played the first eight years of his 1923-1932 career with the Yankees, easily outdistances four other guys who have died on December 22 in longevity with the team. In 317 games, he drove in 81 runs on 217 hits in 846 at bats; he added 27 rbi’s playing for the Browns in 1931-1932. Shortstop/outfielder Queenie O’Rourke (1955) played all 34 of his games with the 1934 Yanks, with three rbi’s on 25-for-108 hitting. Righthander Bobby Hogue (1987) also played 34 games for the Yanks, making all of those appearances (with no starts) in 1951-1952, to a 4-5-4 record. Appearing in parts of four season with the Braves and two with the Browns from 1948-1952 brought his overall record to 18-16-17. And finally, fellow righthander Archie Campbell (1989) debuted by pitching in 13 games (one start) for the 1928 Yanks to a 0-1-2 mark, numbers that increased to 2-6-6 after spending 1929 with the Senators and 1930 with the Reds. And new to the list is another backstop, lefty-hitting, righty-throwing catcher Ed Herrmann (2013), who cleared six fences and drove across 30 runs in 80 games for the 1975 Yankees. In a career spanning 1967 through 1978, Herrmann hit 80 homers with 320 rbi’s, playing mostly for the White Sox and Astros.
Until 2012, the list of noteworthy nonYankee players who have died on December 22 included a lefty-hitting catcher and three outfielders. Backstop Earl Grace (1980) hit 31 long balls and drove in 251 runs playing two years with the Cubs and seven with the Phillies from 1929-1937; while lefty-hitting outfielder Hal Rice (1997) homered 19 times and knocked in 162 runs while playing mostly with the Cardinals and the Pirates from 1948-1964. Socks Seybold (1921) cleared 51 fences and drove in 556 runs from 1899-1908 playing most of that time with the A’s; and Sam Chapman (2006) hit 180 homers and collected 773 rbi’s from 1938-1951 playing mostly with the A’s as well. Things became a little more tragic when utility player Ryan Freel (2012), who hit 22 home runs and drove in 122 runs from 2001 through 2009 playing mostly with Cincinnati, took his own life after having trouble transitioning back to a life outside the game. And newest to the list is another outfielder, the lefty hitting, righty throwing George Spriggs (2020), who through his tears toiling for the Pirates from 1965-1967, and the Royals from 1969 through 1970 hit one home run with 12 rbi’s in 130 games.
Players Born This Day
Yankee December 22 birthdays: Lefty thrower Tom Underwood (1953) posted a 14-13 record in the Bronx during the 1980 and 1981 seasons with two saves; he was involved in a big trade when he arrived (coming with Rick Cerone and Ted Wilborn from Toronto in 1979 for Chris Chambliss, Damaso Garcia, and Paul Mirabella), and in a disappointing one when he left, when he and Jim Spencer were sent to Oakland in 1981 for three guys who did not succeed in the Bronx: Dave Revering, Mike Patterson, and minor leaguer Chuck Dougherty.
Lefty-hitting catcher Elrod Hendricks (1940) kicked in four homers and 10 rbi’s as a part-timer in the Bronx in 1976-1977 after eight years with the rival Orioles, and finished up with two seasons in Chicago with the Cubs. As mentioned in yesterday’s history, Elrod passed away in 2005 one daay before his 65th birthday.
And lefthanded outfielder Matty Alou (1938) played in the Yankee outfield with his brother, Felipe Alou, getting two homers and 28 rbi’s for the 1973 Yanks. Matty played with the Giants (six years), the Pirates (five), the Cardinals (three), and one season each with the A’s and Padres. Alou was acquired in a November 1972 trade with the Oakland Athletics in exchange for Rob Gardner and Rich McKinney. The Yanks sold his contract to the Cardinals the following September.
Portsided reliever Zach Britton (1987) is the most recent addition to this group. A third round selection of the Baltimore Orioles in the 2006 amateur draft, Britton actually started 46 of 48 games to start his career in 2011-2013, but has appeared exclusively in relief ever since, throughout the 2018 season, in 287 games. The last 25 of those were pitching for the Yankees once they acquired him from the O’s for pitchers Dillon Tate, Cody Carroll, and Josh Rogers in late July of ’18. Through that season, Zach had posted a career mark of 31-2 with 142 saves, and he followed with a solid to spectacular 2019, with a 3-1 mark and three saves in 66 games. Zack was even better in the truncated 2020 season, pitching to a 1-2 mark with eight saves in 20 games and, as one of three reliable postseason bullpen options, struck out six in three games vs Tampa in the ALDS, allowing but one hit in four innings pitched. But he was injured for much of 2021, and ineffective when active, pitching to an 0-1 record with one save in 22 games. An attempt at a comeback in 2022, the last year for which he was signed by New York, was painful for Zack, and for fans to watch. In three games, but just 2/3 of an inning, he walked six, gave up a hit and a run, though he did strike out one. He was removed from his last game having re-injured himself on the mound.
Other birthdays: Hall of Fame Manager Connie Mack (1862); Hall of Fame lefthander Steve Carlton (1944); Steve Garvey (1948); Ken Landreaux (1954); Lonnie Smith (1955); Glenn Wilson (1958); Andy Allanson (1961); Mike Jackson (1964); and David Nied (1968), who was the first selection of the Colorado Rockies in the 1992 expansion draft; Jason Lane (1976), who spent 2008 Spring Training with the Yanks, and much of the 2008 season in their minors. Lane became unique with the 2014 season in that he returned after being gone from the bigs for six full seasons, to pitch three games for San Diego, the only pitching of his career. He went 1-for-3 at the plate, and lost one game, although he pitched to a sub-1.00 era. Other birthdayers: Wes Obermueller (1976); Chris Jakubauskas (1978); Reid Gorecki (1980), who has played for Atlanta, but spent time in the Yankee minors recently; Blake Davis (1983); Greg Smith (1983); Chad Jenkins (1987); Rey Navarro (1989); Noe Ramirez (1989); Patrick Kivlehan (1989); Jacob Stallings (1989); Gavin Cecchini (1993); Tyler Gilbert (1993); Richie Martin (1994); and Nate Eaton (1996).
