July 10 in Yankee History

  • It was a true rarity on July 10, 2011, when James Shields of the Rays and Yankee CC Sabathia traded four-hitters and complete games in a 1-0 Yankee win, with the run scored on an error. They each allowed one walk, and CC struck out nine to just five for Shields. But when Shields threw wildly trying to pick Robinson Cano off third in the seventh inning, the only run of the game scored.
  • The 2004 Old Timers Day in the Bronx on July 10 was all about deceased catcher and Captain from the ’70s Thurman Munson. Fourteen of Thurman’s teammates joined Diana Munson on the mound, with Lou Piniella, managing the Devil Rays that day, perhaps being the highlight in his Rays uni. In the game that followed, Jon Lieber allowed two quick tallies on singles by the first three Tampa players and a Tino Martinez sacrifice fly. But Lieber stiffened there, and an Alex Rodriguez two-run home run off Dewon Brazelton tied it in the home fourth. Derek Jeter‘s bases-loaded, three-run double three innings later made the difference in the 6-3 Yankee win.
  • On July 10, 2021, the Yankees recalled righthanders Albert Abreu and Brooks Kriske from the AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders. The team also placed third baseman Miguel Andujar and righty Jonathan Loaisiga on the 10-day injured list, the former with a left wrist sprain.
  • The 8-1 win the Yanks fashioned over the visiting Royals on July 10, 2013, was largely built on a three-run homer from Robinson Cano in the third and a grand slam from Lyle Overbay four frames later. Ivan Nova got the win, and Wade Davis the loss.
  • Nothing like a blowout every once in a while. The Yanks shut the Indians out 18-0 on July 10, 1936. Red Ruffing got the win and Lou Gehrig took over the league lead with two home runs, his 22nd and 23rd. Lloyd Brown, the Cleveland starter, took the loss.
  • It was July 10, 1997, that Hideki Irabu threw his first game for the Yanks. He struck out nine Tigers and got the win as the Bombers prevailed, 10-3. Crooked Yankee numbers in the third, fifth, and sixth innings allowed Hideki to coast. Derek Jeter singled his first four times up and scored after the first three; Tino Martinez contributed a three-run bomb, and crossed home plate three times as well.
  • When the Yankees outlasted the Browns 7-5 in 17 innings on July 10, 1917, the much-deserved win went to Ray Caldwell, as he pitched 9.7 innings in relief.
  • The failed 2005 Melky Cabrera experiment in center field hit another bump in the road as he misjudged a ball in the sun, but the Yanks rallied on three hits by Hideki Matsui, and Jason Giambi and Gary Sheffield home runs in a 9-3 Yankee victory over Cleveland on July 10.
  • Speaking of long relief outings, the longest was caused by Connie Mack’s attempt to save money. Mack’s A’s outlasted the Indians in Cleveland 18-17 in 18 innings even though Philly brought just two pitchers to cut travel expenses. When the starter needed to be pulled after one frame, Ed Rommel came on and went the final 17 on July 10, 1932, enduring despite allowing a record 33 hits.
  • It was on this day in 1914 that the Red Sox got Babe Ruth from the Baltimore Orioles of the AAA International League.
  • Ross Grimsley outpitched Ed Figueroa as the Orioles grabbed first place in the East from the Yankees in a 6-0 Baltimore victory on July 10, 1977. Eddie Murray opened the scoring with a second-inning home run, and Yankee right fielder Lou Piniella accounted for three of the five Yankee hits in the losing cause.
  • The Pirates and the Phillies put up some crooked numbers in Pittsburgh’s 15-9 win on July 10, 1929, but it was downright neat the way they distributed the long balls. The winners homered five times and the losers four. Between them they hit one home run in each of the nine innings.
  • A bunch of All Star highlights this day. First, in the second-ever classic on July 10, 1934, Carl Hubbell pulled off the famous feat of whiffing five future Hall of Famers in a row. After allowing the first two batters to reach safely, he struck out Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and Jimmie Foxx. Then he added Al Simmons and Joe Cronin to lead off the second. Hubbell left with a 4-0 lead, but the Al came back to win, 9-7.
  • And on July 10, 2001, the soon-to-retire Cal Ripken, Jr., won the All Star Game Most Valuable Player Award with a home run in the American League 4-1 win. Magglio Ordonez and Derek Jeter homered too.
  • Mickey Mantle hit one of four home runs in the 1956 game on July 3. But Willie Mays hit one of the other three off Yankee Whitey Ford, his seventh straight hit against the Yankee southpaw. The NL prevailed 7-3.
  • On July 10, 2018, the Yankees optioned righthanders Luis Cessa and Giovanny Gallegos, and third baseman Brandon Drury to the AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders.
  • On July 10, 2017, the Yankees released first baseman Chris Carter.
  • On July 10, 2014, the Yankees placed right fielder Carlos Beltran on the 7-day disabled list, retroactive to July 9, with a concussion. To fill the roster spot they recalled third baseman Yangervis Solarte from the AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders. The team also signed first baseman Vicente Conde.
  • The Yankees signed free agent catcher Jose Gil to another minor league contract on July 10, 2013. Jose has been a career minor leaguer in the organization.
  • The Yankees assigned first baseman Rob Refsnyder to the Charleston RiverDogs on July 10, 2012.
  • And in the wake of having skippered several All Star games in succession, Joe McCarthy stepped aside and allowed Joe Cronin the honor on July 10, 1940, but the National League prevailed 4-0.
  • On July 10, 2009, the Yankees optioned righthander Jonathan Albaladejo to AAA Scranton-Wilkes Barre, and recalled Mark Melancon from Scranton-Wilkes Barre to take his place.
  • Lance Parrish hit his third grand slam in a week on July 10, 1982, tying Jim Northrup‘s 1968 record.
  • The Red Sox purchased the contract of first baseman Jake Stahl from the Highlanders on July 10, 1908.
  • Don Black threw a rain-interrupted 3-0 no-hitter over the A’s on this day in 1947.
  • In one of the wildest Yankees/Mets games ever, the home-standing Mets prevailed, 9-8, on Matt Franco‘s two-run, two-out single in the bottom of the ninth off Mariano Rivera on July 10, 1999.
  • The home highlight of the opening game of a Staten Island Yankees/Brooklyn Cyclones doubleheader, a 4-0 loss, is that righty Brandon Moore allowed one run in the first six innings. In the second game, the S.I. Yanks won 3-2 on a two-run walkoff single by center fielder D’Angelo Mack.
  • On July 10, 2015, the Yankees sent infielder Brendan Ryan on a rehab assignment to the AA Trenton Thunder.
  • July 10 items involving future and former Yankee players include former Pinstriped star Hank Bauer being fired as Orioles manager on this day in 1968; and Bobo Newsom throwing a one-hitter in Washington’s 5-0 victory over Detroit on July 10, 1936.
  • On the same day Newsom came close, Philadelphia’s Chuck Klein hit four homers in a 10-inning, 9-6, win over the Pirates on July 10, 1936.
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    Players Who Have Died This Day

  • Until very recently, southpaw Joe Giard (1956) was one of two Yankee players (and pitchers) who have died on July 10. Arriving in New York after posting a 13-15 mark with no saves with the 1925-1926 Browns, Giard’s record remained exactly that after he threw in 16 games (no starts) for the 1927 Yankees to end his career. Righty Ernie Nevel (1988) lost one and saved one in four games (one start) while debuting with the 1950-1951 Yankees. His record also stayed the same through a subsequent, career-ending, 10-game stint with the 1953 Cincinnati Reds. A newer entrant, righthander Jim Bouton (2019) also pitched, obviously, and for the most significant part of his career in pinstripes, debuting in 1962, and posting a 55-51 mark with four saves by 1968. He did stellar work early, going 21-7 in 1963 and 18-13 in 1964. He won two starts in the 1964 World Series, and lost his start in the ’63 Classic. Pitching in the lone season of the Seattle Pilots in 1969, a season on which his book, Ball Four, was largely based, and with Houston from 1969-1970, and with Atlanta in 1978, Jim’s overall record settled in at 62 wins, 63 losses, and six saves. But newer still is fellow righthander Dick Tidrow (2021), who posted a 39-33 mark with 23 saves in the Bronx from 1974 through 1979. Adding in his service with Cleveland from 1972 to 1974, with the Cubs from 1979 to 1982, plus two other stops, he had an overall record of 100-94 with 55 saves. Dick was a key performer, primarily out of the bullpen, for the 1976 through 1978 World Series teams in New York.
  • The lone noteworthy nonYankee player to have died this day is outfielder Paul Hines (1935), who hit 96 home runs with 751 rbi’s from 1876-1891 mostly with the Grays, but also with the White Stockings, the Senators, and the Hoosiers.
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    Players Born This Day

  • There were no Yankee July 10 birthdays until southpaw reliever Buddy Groom (1965) changed that stat in 2005. Groom, who joined the Yanks as a free agent in the spring, had fashioned a 30-31 mark with 26 saves between 1992 and 2004 with Detroit, Oakland, and Baltimore. He won one and lost none in 24 games for New York to even his record, but a subsequent loss pitching for Arizona restored his record to one with one more loss than wins.
  • And Groom is not the only Yankee new to the July 10 list. Righthander Sam Marsonek (1978) was included in a trade from the Rangers 10 years or so ago for Chad Curtis. Marsonek made one appearance out of the Yankee pen in 2004 before hurting himself over the All Star Break in a seashore accident.
  • A first-round pick by the Blue Jays in 2013, righthander Phil Bickford (1995) has pitched to no record but a high era in four games for the Yankees in June 2024. In 179 games (no starts) previous to that with the Dodgers, the Brewers, and the Mets since 2020, Phil has posted an 11-8 record with three saves.
  • Other players of note born this day include second baseman Bobby Lowe (1865), who hit 71 homers with 984 rbi’s from 1890-1907, mostly with the Braves; and righthander Johnny Niggeling (1903), who posted a 64-69 win-loss record from 1938-1946 for several clubs, primarily the St. Louis Browns and the Washington Senators. Also shortstop Gene Alley (1940), who stroked 55 home runs with 342 rbi’s for the Pirates from 1963-1973. Hal McRae (1945) stroked 191 dingers with 1,097 rbi’s with the Reds and the Royals from 1968-1987; Bob Bailor (1951); Andre Dawson (1954), “The Hawk,” with 438 taters and 1,591 rbi’s from 1976-1996; Lee Stevens (1967); Marty Cordova (1969); Jesse Foppert (1980); Byung-ho Park (1986); Johnny Giovatella (1987); Greg Infante (1987); Ryan Wheeler (1988); Will Smith (1989); Scott Alexander (1989); John Lamb (1990); David Hess (1993); Jalen Beeks (1993); Chad Sobotka (1993); Josh Rogers (1994); Taylor Walls (1996); Sergio Alcantara (1996); Jonny Deluca (1998); and Lawrence Butler (2000).