The Yanks won their first World Championship on October 15, 1923, 5-4, behind a Babe Ruth home run and a two-run, game-winning single in the eighth off the bat of Bob Meusel. The crosstown Giants took the loss.
The Yanks made it all the way back from oblivion on October 15, 2001, when they won their third straight from the A’s, 5-3, to take the ALDS after being down 0-2 in games, with the losses coming at home no less. Derek Jeter surpassed Pete Rose‘s postseason hits record, the struggling David Justice homered late for a big insurance run, and Mike Stanton got the win in relief.
The Yankees’ withering 18-hit attack that put them up three games to two in the 1978 World Series on October 15 in a 12-2 win was led by three hits apiece from Bucky Dent, Mickey Rivers, and unlikely postseason hero Brian Doyle.
Ron Guidry held the Dodgers to four hits one year earlier on October 15, 1977, as the Yanks took the fourth game, 4-2. Reggie Jackson had a double and a homer.
Few in the stands expected that the October 15, 2019, third game of the ALCS vs Houston was virtually over once Jose Altuve and Josh Reddick homered off Luis Severino in the first two innings. The only Yankee offense was a Gleyber Torres roundtripper in the eighth inning in the 4-1 loss. Having pitched for both participating teams in his career, Andy Pettitte made it clear where his sympathies lie when he threw out the ceremonial first pitch.
The Mariners arose from the canvas and smote the Yanks 6-2 to win their second of five games in the 2000 ALCS on October 15. Edgar Martinez and John Olerud hit back-to-back taters in the fifth inning.
“I can’t believe what I just saw!” I can’t improve on the late Jack Buck‘s classic call, after witnessing a gimpy pinch-hitting Kirk Gibson limp to the plate and hit a two-out, two-run, bottom-of-the-ninth homer off A’s closer Dennis Eckersley to win Game One of the 1988 World Series for the Dodgers, 5-4, on October 15.
The 1964 Yankees fought back gamely after falling behind the Cardinals 6-0 in the seventh game of the Fall Classic. They closed the gap to 7-5 on homers by Mickey Mantle, Clete Boyer, and Phil Linz, but the Cardinals prevailed by that score to take the crown.
When the Yankees shut out the A’s 4-0 on October 15, 1981, they swept Oakland out of the playoffs in three and won their 33rd American League Pennant.
The Bombers scratched out a 6-4 lead against John Burkett in ALCS Game 6 on October 15, 2003. And even though starter Andy Pettitte did not have it that day, things looked to be OK when Jose Contreras struck out the side in relief in the sixth inning. But Nomar Garciaparra broke out of his slump with a leadoff triple in the seventh, scoring on Hideki Matsui‘s errant throw, and the Sox went on to score three in an eventual 9-6 win. I can hardly wait to read how Game Seven turns out, can you?
On October 15, 2018, the Yankees signed a number of free agents tp minor league conytacts: left fielder Kelvin Espino; shortstop Alex Garcia; righthanders Steven Fulgencio and Deurys Marte; and lefthanders Brandom Sanchez and Geremias Peguero.
On October 15, 2015, the Yankees sent outfielder and base stealer Rico Noel outright to the AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders.
The Yankees activated outfielder Freddy Guzman and named him to their ALCS roster on October 15, 2009, but although the Bombers prevailed in that series, the young speedster did not exert the hoped-for effect. In his lone plate appearance he struck out.
Eventual Hall of Fame Kansas City Royals third baseman George Brett suffered the indignity of having his dirty laundry washed in public, so to speak, on this day in 1980 when he was forced out of the lineup for the second game of the World Series due to a bout with hemorrhoids. The eventual Champion Phillies won 6-4 to take a two games to none lead.
Another memorable World Series moment took place on October 15, 1969, when fielding-challenged, good-bat Mets outfielder Ron Swoboda made a diving catch on Brooks Robinson‘s sinking liner with runners on the corners in the ninth inning. Although the Orioles would tie the game, the Miracle Mets would win it the next inning.
Few would have anticipated that it would take the Red Sox 58 years to win a Championship after the heartbreak they suffered when they lost Game Seven of the 1946 Classic to St. Louis on October 15, 1946. Enos Slaughter scored the winner from first base on Harry Walker‘s double. Some claim that beloved Boston infielder Johnny Pesky froze for the decisive moment before relaying a just-late throw to the plate.
Perhaps the day of travel and three days of rain can be blamed, but the Yanks lost Game Six of the World Series to the San Francisco Giants behind Billy Pierce‘s three-hitter, 5-2, on October 15, 1962. Orlando Cepeda had two hits and three rbi’s for the winners.
The Yanks released Tony Lazzeri on October 15, 1937. He would land on his feet, as a player-coach with the Cubs.
One-time Yankee outfielder Lefty O’Doul accompanied Lou Gehrig and a group of All Stars on a barnstorming trip to Japan organized by sportswriter Fred Lieb that set sail on October 15, 1931.
Players Who Have Died This Day
Shortstop/outfielder Tom Tresh (2008) not only leads the Yankee October 15 player deaths because his is most recent, but because he had such an iconic career. Playing more than eight years of his nine-year career in Pinstripes, Tom was an AL Rookie of the Year, filled in for Tony Kubek at shortstop as a rookie on a Yankee World Series winner, then transitioned to the outfield when Kubek returned. A switch hitter, he was adept at homering from both sides of the plate in the same game, and he hit 166 of his 179 home runs and knocked in 493 of his 530 rbi’s for the Yankees from 1961 until he was traded to Detroit for outfielder Ron Woods in 1969, his final year. The 155 games middle infielder Neall Ball (1957) played for the 1907-1909 Highlanders make him second on the list of four more Yankee players to have died on October 15. He stroked 125 hits good for 45 rbi’s in 519 at bats, then played with Cleveland and Boston (the Red Sox) through the 1913 season, finishing up with four home runs and 151 runs driven in overall. Shortstop Fritz Brickell (1965) had 20 at bats for the 1958-1959 Yankees, then another 19 with the 1961 Angels. The one home run with four rbi’s on 10-for-39 hitting in Pinstripes grew to one and seven, respectively, overall. Righthander Tom Ferrick (1996) won nine games, lost five, and saved 10 with the 1950-1951 Yankees in 39 games (no starts). A player from 1941-1952, Tom accumulated a 40-40-56 record pitching four years with the Senators, two with the Indians, two with the Browns, and the two already mentioned with the Yanks.
Of the just two noteworthy nonYankee players who have died on October 15, one pitched and one played infield. Righthander Pol Perritt (1947) won 92, lost 78, and saved eight games with the Cardinals, the Giants, and the Tigers from 1912-1921; and switch-hitting shortstop Larry Kopf (1986) hit five home runs and drove in 266 runs playing most of his 1913-1923 career with the Reds (five years), the A’s (two), and the Braves (two).
Players Born This Day
Outfielder Sammy Byrd (1907) is the only Yankee born on October 15. He got his start with the Yanks and amassed 27 homers and 155 rbi’s from 1929 through 1934, before concluding his career with two years in Cincinnati. New York sold his contract to the Reds in December 1934.
Outfielder Mitch Jones (1982) never played for the Yanks, but he was with the organization in Staten Island, in Tampa, in Norwich, in Trenton, and in Columbus from 2000 to 2006 before signing a free-agent contract with the Dodgers. Mitch stroked four hits and scored one run playing eight games in L.A. in 2009.
There are two other birthdaying players with a Yankees connection. Tigers shortstop Charley O’Leary (1882) never played for the Yanks, as he served in the Detroit infield from 1904 through 1909, but he coached in the Bronx in the thirties. Charley made his claim to fame later when, coaching for the Browns, he convinced them to activate him and let him bat. And in 1934 at the age of 51, he pinch-hit, singled, and scored, the oldest ever to do the latter.
Righthander Matt Dunbar (1968) originally signed with the Pinstripers as an amateur free agent in June 1990. Seven months later, he was taken by the Florida Marlins in the rule-V draft. Although he was returned to New York in May 1995, his 0-1 record in eight games for Florida in 1994 was the sum total of his experience in the bigs.
After having an impressive 2018 Yankee Spring Training tour, righthander Cody Carroll (1992) was traded, along with Dillon Tate, in a deadline deal to division rival (though not in ’18) Baltimore for reliever Zach Britton. Carroll, selected by the Yankees in the 22nd round of the 2015 amateur draft, went 0-2 in 15 games for the Orioles down the stretch, to a high era, though admittedly on a team having a train wreck of a season. He did not pitch in 2019, perhaps out with an injury, and pitched in three games in 2020.
One of the few uplifting moments as the Yankees’ 2023 regular season came to a close was the appearance in one game of righthander Yoendrys Gómez (1999). A 2016 free agent Bronx signing, long shot Gomez pitched well in his debut, striking out four in two innings. He appeared in five games in 2024, still to no record, and appears to be close to major league success.
Other birthdays: Mel Harder (1909), who won over 200 games in 20 years pitching in Cleveland; Hall of Fame Orioles hurler Jim Palmer (1945), who won 268 in 16 years; Mitchell Page (1951); Chad Mottola (1971). Chad’s claim to fame is that when Derek Jeter was selected by the Yanks with the sixth overall pick in the 1992 amateur draft, the Reds selected him (Mottola) with the fifth pick, just before the Yankee shortstop. A few more: Juan Cruz (1978); Josh Rabe (1978); Huascar Brazobán (1989); Teoscar Hernandez (1992); Jack Flaherty (1995); Yerry Rodriguez (1997)); Brandon Pfaadt (1998); and Gavin Stone (1998).
