After squeaking by the visiting Orioles in two straight one-run games, the Yanks had a rare laugher in a 9-3 win on July 23, 2015. Off and running with a four-run first inning keyed by a three-run Chase Headley homer off Ubaldo Jimenez, the Bombers got better than they needed from Masahiro Tanaka, who allowed just two hits through seven innings. But singleton shots by J.J. Hardy and Manny Machado finished the righty’s day and forged the final score. Jacoby Ellsbury had a homer among his three hits, scored twice, and drove in four runs.
Although it was difficult to sit through a 2-1, 12-inning loss to the visiting Giants on July 23, 2016, the Yanks didn’t deserve to win, as their only tally of the day was an unearned run when right fielder Mac Williamson, who would homer in the next frame for the only San Francisco run in regulation, dropped Mark Teixeira‘s fly ball in the corner in the home fourth, allowing Didi Gregorius to cross. Solid outings by Johnny Cueto and Ivan Nova were wasted, and both were long gone when Williamson singled in Trevor Brown off Anthony Swarzak to end this one in 4:30.
On July 23, 2022, the Yankees placed righthander Michael King on the 60-day injured list, with a right elbow fracture. The team then selected the contract of righty Shane Greene from the AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders; recalled righthander Clarke Schmidt from Scranton/Wilkes-Barre; and optioned outfielder Tim Locastro to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Finally, the club signed outfielder Jake Palmer and righty Hayden Merda.
On July 23, 2021, the Yankees placed righthander Darren O’Day on the 60-day injured list, with a left hamstring strain; and then optioned righthanders Nick Nelson and Brooks Kriske to the AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders. The team activated righthander Jonathan Loaisiga and lefthander Nestor Cortes from the 10-day injured list.
On July 23, 2020, the Yankees recalled infielder Thairo Estrada; and righthanders Ben Heller and Michael King, from the AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders. The club also activated second baseman DJ LeMahieu from the 10-day injured list.
We got to see a view of Charley Brown, Japanese style, on July 23, 2014, and although it gave the Yanks a win, it was a crying shame. Up 2-1 on the Rangers in the middle of the fifth, on a Brett Gardner home run, and a score by Francisco Cervelli, whom was balked home by Rangers righty Yu Darvish, the Yankee Stadium grounds crew failed badly in trying to get the field covered when a true downpour hit. Even though the rain was gone in a half hour, all the drying agent, sand, and repeated raking couldn’t get the infield back into playing shape. Poor Darvish stood on the mound, a lonely player all by himself, during much of the crew’s work, and you could tell he was devastated when the game was called an hour later, 2-1 Yankees.
Ron Guidry pitched the Yanks to a 3-1 victory over the Brewers on July 23, 1977. Paul Blair‘s ninth-inning, three-run bomb won it.
As if Mickey Mantle hitting for the cycle off Bob Keegan in a 10-6 win over the White Sox on July 23, 1957, wasn’t enough, he stole a base too.
A two-run Josh Willingham home run and a singleton shot by ex-Yank Hideki Matsui did most of the damage in a 4-3 Oakland victory in Yankee Stadium on July 23, 2011. It was a hot, steamy Saturday afternoon, and Dan Haren bested A.J. Burnett.
Team Turmoil described the Yanks in July of 1978. Reggie Jackson returned to play on July 23 and the Yanks won their fifth straight, 3-1, over the White Sox. But Billy Martin was fuming, and it will come to a head tomorrow.
The duo of Gary Sheffield and Alex Rodriguez teamed for a run and a ninth-inning win over the Red Sox on July 23, 2004. As you might expect, Shef hit the Monster for a double with one down in the ninth inning of a 7-7 tie in Fenway, but Alex “only” singled him in, for the 8-7 win. Their heroics were forced by the stellar day of Sox first baseman Kevin Millar, who hit consecutive singleton home runs off Jon Lieber (in the fourth), Paul Quantrill (sixth inning), and Tom Gordon (eighth frame) to forge the tie.
Lou Gehrig hit the first of his 23 grand slams on July 23, 1925, and the Yanks beat Firpo Marberry and the Senators, 11-7. This win allowed the A’s to skip into first via a 5-4 win over the Red Sox.
Popular first baseman Tino Martinez stroked his 250th career home run and Roger Clemens climbed past Tom Seaver on the all-time strike-out list in a 7-2 win over the Blue Jays in Yankee Stadium on July 23, 2001.
It would have been difficult to convince any Yankee fan that the trade that brought Denny Neagle to the Bronx in 2000 was not a great one on July 23 of that year. The lefthander achieved his second win in as many tries when he limited the Devil Rays to four hits in beating them 5-1. Fourth-inning rbi doubles by Derek Jeter and Paul O’Neill gave Neagle all the support he would need.
Cy Young of the Red Sox whipped the Highlanders 6-1 in the first of two on July 23, 1903, in Boston in one hour, 35 minutes. New York recovered to win the nightcap by a 4-2 score.
The Indians and Yankees headed for extra innings in a 7-7 tie game with lots of action on July 23, 1999. And things looked bleak when Enrique Wilson, who would later play with the Yankees, gave the Tribe the lead by knocking in Einar Diaz in the top of 10th. But the local fans went home happy when Derek Jeter cashed in the tying and winning runs with a two-run double in that inning’s bottom half for a 9-8 Yankees win.
Yankee righty (and long-time pitching coach) Mel Stottlemyre was thrust into the All Star start on July 23, 1969, when Denny McLain was late arriving for the Classic after a dental appointment. Willie McCovey hit two home runs in the game and the NL prevailed by a 9-3 score.
The Yankees jumped out to a 4-0 lead over the Angels early in a July 23, 1997 game in Yankee Stadium. First came a two-run home run by Charley Hayes. And it seemed a small matter that Yankees were thrown out at third and then at second on back-to-back rbi singles by Paul O’Neill and Tino Martinez in the third. But extra runs would have come in handy once Tim Salmon‘s three-run sixth-inning jack on Ramiro Mendoza‘s first pitch in relief of Doc Gooden tied the game. The Yanks plated one in the bottom of the ninth to win, 5-4, however.
The accurate way to describe the July 23, 2012, trade of right fielder Ichiro Suzuki from the Mariners to the Yankees has New York sending righthander D.J. Mitchell to Seattle and sending AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankee righty Danny Farquhar to the Tacoma Rainiers. Unfortunately, this move necessitated another, and the Yankees designated center fielder Dewayne Wise for assignment as well. In an unrelated move, the Yankees also assigned righthander Dayton Dawe to their minors as well.
The Cincinnati Baseball Club that came to be called the Reds was established on July 23, 1866.
Baseball is so number-crazy, and on this day in 1991 a statistical anomaly occurred. In the same game, Nolan Ryan got his 308th win in a 5-4 victory over the Red Sox for the Rangers. Former Yankee reliever (and eventual Hall of Famer, finally) Goose Gossage came in to close and earned his 308th save.
The Yanks lost to the Angels 7-6 on July 23, 1966, Old Timers Day, but Mickey Mantle hit his ninth career grand slam in the loss. He tied Babe Ruth in games played as a Yankee that day as well.
It was this day in 1999 that the Mets traded Terrence Long to the Athletics for ex-Yankee lefty Kenny Rogers, a move that initially helped them into the playoffs, but it also helped the Flushing-based club out of the playoffs too. They would lose Game Six of the NLDS to the Braves on a Rogers bases-loaded walk.
The Red Sox released the beleaguered Bill Buckner on July 23, 1987, replacing him on their 25-man roster with power-hitting Sam Horn.
The Yanks traded outfielder Elmer Miller, shortstops Chick Fewster and John Mitchell, and later pitcher Lefty O’Doul, to the Red Sox for third baseman Joe Dugan and Elmer Smith on July 23, 1922.
On July 23, 2023, the Yankees sent lefthander Nestor Cortes on a rehab assignment to the Somerset Patriots; and activated both center fielder Greg Allen and DH Jake Bauers from the 10-day injured list. The team also optioned center fielder Franchy Cordero and shortstop Oswaldo Cabrera to the AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders.
On July 23, 2019, the Yankees sent outfielder Cameron Maybin on a rehab assignment to the AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders. The team also signed free agent catcher Francisco Arcia and free agent lefthander Pedro Rodriguez to minor league contracts.
On Junly 23, 2017, the Yankees placed second baseman Starlin Castro on the 10-day disabled list, retroactive to July 22, with a right hamstring strain. On the same day, the Yankees traded first baseman Rob Refsnyder to Toronto for first sacker Ryan McBroom; then traded righthander Dillon McNamara to San Francisco for cash. The team adjusted its on-field roster as well, recalling infielder Tyler Wade from the AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders; and sending first baseman Ji-Man Choi outright to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
All these July 23, 2014, moves proved to be minor when the Yankees placed third baseman Kelly Johnson on the 15-day disabled list with a strained left groin; designated righty Bruce Billings for assignment; signed free agent second baseman Billy Fleming to a minor league contract; and selected the contract of righthander Chris Leroux from the AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders.
Trying to conclude a key injury loss, the Yankees sent righthanded swingman David Phelps on a rehab assignment to the AA Trenton Thunder on July 23, 2013.
Two different July 23 highlights in 1971 feature future Yankee pitchers. Pat Dobson of the Orioles won his 10th straight in a 4-3 victory over California. And although Catfish Hunter was knocked out of an Oakland battle with the Tigers the same day, he not only got the 9-7 win; he knocked in four of those runs himself.
Players Who Have Died This Day
Switch-hitting outfielder/first baseman John Anderson (1949) is the only Yankee player to have died July 23. He went 178-for-697 good for three home runs and 96 rbi’s in 175 games for the 1904-1905 Highlanders. This was in the middle of an 1894-1908 career spent mostly with the Bridegrooms, the Senators, and the Browns; his totals: 49 homers, 976 runs driven in.
The four noteworthy nonYankee players who have died this day include two righthanders and two outfielders. Roy Mahaffey (1969) posted most of his 67-49 record with five saves from 1926-1936 with the Philly A’s; and Red Munger (1996) won 77, lost 56, and saved 12 with the Cardinals from 1943-1952, with a one-year-plus stint with Pittsburgh at the end too. Buttercup Dickerson (1920) notched four roundtrippers and drove in 127 runs playing mostly for the Redlegs and the Worcester Ruby Legs from 1878-1885; and Bill Lange (1950) hit his 39 long balls with 578 rbi’s from 1893-1897 with the Colts and the Orphans.
Players Born This Day
There are five Yankee July 23 birthdays, none well known, at least to today’s fans. Johnny James (1933) pitched three years from 1958 to 1961 for the Yanks with a 5-1 record and two saves. He was a 1953 amateur free agent signing by the Yankees, and he was traded with Ryne Duren and Lee Thomas to the Los Angeles Angels for Tex Clevenger and Bob Cerv in May 1961. Ray Scarborough (1917) pitched much of 10 years with Washington, but went 7-3 for the ’52-’53 Yanks once they purchased him from the Boston Red Sox in August 1952.
Lew Brockett (1880) went 11-12 for the 1907-1911 Highlanders in his only big-league service. Second baseman Mack Hillis (1901) played only 12 major league games, one with the 1924 Yanks, during which he went 0-for-1 without a walk, though he somehow managed to score a run. He played the other 11 games with the 1928 Phillies. Lastly, Bubba Carpenter (1968), a 1991 Yankees amateur free agent, went 6-for-27 in 15 games for the 2000 Colorado Rockies once he signed with them after his October 1999 release by New York.
Other birthdays: Phenomenal (ex-)Boston shortstop Nomar Garciaparra (1973), responsible for 182 home runs and 710 rbi’s from 1996 through 2004, gets an individual mention in honor of the way he spent his 29th birthday this day in 2002. He homered three times and knocked in eight runs in a 22-4 Red Sox pummeling of Tampa Bay. Nomar reignited his career as an All Star with the Dodgers in 2006, but he spent much of the time on the DL with the West Coast club. He played with the A’s in 2009, and retired to broadcasting.
And other nonYankees: Jimmie Wilson (1900) caught for 18 years, mostly for Philly and St. Louis; Dodgers Hall of Famers Don Drysdale (1936) and Pee Wee Reese (1918); Detroit outfielder Johnny Groth (1926), who hit 60 dingers with 486 rbi’s from 1946-1960; righthander Chuck Crim (1961), who went 47-43 with the Brewers, the Angels, and the Cubs from 1987-1994; Dallas McPherson (1980); Hong-Chih Kuo (1981); Joe Mather (1982); Andrew Carignan (1986); Stephen Pryor (1989); Matt Carasiti (1991); Ashton Goudeau (1992); and Matt Hall (1993).
