A shutout the day before notwithstanding, the Yanks’ 10-3 loss to Texas in Game 4 of the 2010 ALCS on October 19, 2010, was probably the most frustrating loss, because behind A.J. Burnett, the Bombers led 1-0 and then 3-2 through five innings. But when Bengie Molina turned the game with a three-run sixth-inning home run, New York had to try to fight back from a three games to one deficit. Also of note: Mark Teixeira was lost to injury in the fifth inning.
The Angels let it be known there would be no sweep on October 19, 2009, when they beat the Yankees in Game 3 of the ALCS in Anaheim in 11 innings. The player doing the announcing was the “defensive” half of the AL West club’s catching platoon, Jeff Mathis, who doubled in Howie Kendrick off Alfredo Aceves with two down in the 11th for a 5-4 Angels win. Derek Jeter led off the game with a home run, and Alex Rodriguez, Johnny Damon, and Jorge Posada went yard too, the latter to tie the game 4-4 in the eighth in his 101st postseason game as a catcher.
After Lou Piniella piloted the Yanks to an 89-73 record in 1987, he was kicked upstairs and into the role of general manager. On October 19, 1987, he was replaced as field boss by Billy Martin, the fifth (and last) time Billy was hired to manage the Yanks.
Five years before that on October 19, 1982, Billy Martin was fired as manager of the A’s. Although he had led Oakland to an AL West title in the 1981 season, he requested a contract extension after the club faded badly in ’82. It’s possible that Martin was just trying to hasten his departure when he asked for the extra years.
Cincinnati’s Dan Driessen was the hitting star with two singles and a homer in the Reds’ third straight win in the 1976 World Series. They prevailed over the Yanks, 6-2, in the October 19, 1976, game.
On October 19, 2003, Hideki Matsui‘s three-run tater to dead center off Marlins southpaw Mark Redman got the Yankees and Andy Pettitte started toward a 6-1 victory that tied the World Series at one game apiece. Don Mattingly threw out the ceremonial first pitch, and Alfonso Soriano added a two-run home run in the fourth. The offense would take a huge slide thereafter.
The death knell for the Expos’ chances of building a core fanbase in Montreal sounded on October 19, 1981, as Dodger Rick Monday homered against Expos ace Steve Rogers with two outs in the ninth in Game Five of that year’s NLCS. The ensuing 2-1 defeat drove the Expos from the payoffs for the last — and only — time. Thirty-plus years later, they’ve had several successful seasons playing as the Nationals in Washington, where they remain. They win a lot, but not in the postseason, until they finally won the World Series in 2019.
Most would agree that Jon Lieber‘s one healthy season pitching in New York was a success. And he did the best he could on October 19, 2004, trying to stem the relentless Red Sox tide that would eventually overcome the Yankees’ three-games-to-none lead in the ALCS. Lieber hits bats, but he held the Sox scoreless despite allowing four hits in the second and third innings. But Mark Bellhorn‘s three-run, fourth-inning home run capped the only frame in which Boston scored. Yankee runs on a Bernie Williams homer and a Derek Jeter eighth-inning single closed the gap, and when Alex Rodriguez apparently reached on a “Brandon” Arroyo error, the Yanks threatened to tie. But Alex was ruled to have interfered with Arroyo and called out and the Yankee rally fizzled. Boston evened the Series at three games apiece in the 4-2 win.
Speaking of Mark Bellhorn, he subsequently played for the Yanks in 2005, the club outrighted him to Triple-A Columbus that October 19; by refusing the assignment, Bellhorn became a free agent.
Yankees fans watched in dismay as former Pinstriped southpaw Kenny Rogers, who had failed them so badly in the 1996 postseason, had a great stretch run with the Mets in 1999, playing a huge part in their capture of the Wild Card in a close race. But the Rogers that the Yankees knew showed himself on October 19, as he walked in the run that ended the Mets’ season in the ALDS with the Braves. The story, of course, does not end there, as Rogers had a big hand in ushering the Yankees out of the 2006 playoffs seven years later.
On October 19, 2022, the Yankees activated righthanders Greg Weissert and Frankie Montas; and shortstop Oswald Peraza. The team also reassigned shortstop Marwin Gonzalez; righthander Ron Marinaccio; lefthander Lucas Luetge; and center fielder Aaron Hicks to the minor leagues.
On October 19, 2019, the Yankees sent righthander David Hale outright to the AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders.
On October 19, 2018, the Yankees signed three free agents to minor league contracts: righthander Yordanny Sosa; center fielder Leonel Hernandez; and shortstop Carlos Verdecia.
The Yankees signed free agent righthander Miguel Rosario to a minor league contract on October 19, 2013.
Taking care of lots of bookkeeping, on October 19, 2012, the Yankees activated righthanders David Aardsma, Adam Warren, Dellin Betances, Ivan Nova, and Freddy Garcia; catcher Francisco Cervelli; left fielder Chris Dickerson; shortstop Derek Jeter; right fielder Andruw Jones; and first baseman Casey McGehee. Also, outfielder Melky Mesa had his status changed; and the team recalled Zoilo Almonte and David Adams from the AA Trenton Thunder, and Austin Romine and Corban Joseph from AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
The Yankees signed free agent third baseman Adam Silva on October 19, 2010.
Yankee second baseman Joe Gordon “retired” on October 19, 1943, joining the military for a two-year hitch. After an AL MVP 1942 season, he had struggled in 1943 before leaving. He would return to the Yankees briefly in 1946 before the Bombers moved him in one of those rare deals that helps two clubs. The Yanks sent him to Cleveland, where Joe would have his best season in 1948, but the Yanks received starting rotation stalwart Allie Reynolds in return.
The Dodgers were so demoralized after the Yanks beat them in the 1956 World Series that featured Don Larsen‘s Perfect Game that they started an exhibition series in Japan with a 5-4 loss to the Yomiuri Giants on October 19. But as was usual with American touring teams in those days, Brooklyn snapped out of it and won 14 of 19 games on the trip.
When former Yankee Raul Mondesi was named Rookie of the Year for the Dodgers on this day in 1994, it marked the third straight year a Los Angeles player had won the National League honor.
Players Who Have Died This Day
Each of the three Yankee players who have died on October 19 served with distinction on the starting staff in two different eras. Righty George Pipgras (1986) appeared in 274 games (170 starts) debuting with the 1923-1924 and 1927-1933 Yankee teams, to a fine 93-64-11 record. Those career numbers advanced to 102-72-12 after a 1933-1935 tour with the Red Sox. Righthander Atley Donald (1992), who hit lefty, threw all of his 153 career games (115 starts) with New York from 1938-1945. He won 65, lost 33, and saved one. Lefty throwing, switch hitting Fritz Peterson (2023) was a major rotation cog on mostly poor Yankee teams from 1966-1974, and he posted a 109-106 record with one save in 288 games, 265 of them starts. Traded to Cleveland in 1974 for, sadly, off-the-field reasons, he pitched there into 1976, a year he threw for Texas as well, This brought his overall mark to 133-131 with one save, in 355 games, 330 of them starts. A guy who debuted with New York, Fritz was a canny agent, front office adviser, and writer about the game during his long post-pitching years.
Two righthanded pitchers lead the list of noteworthy nonYankee players who have died on October 19; two position players follow, and another righty finishes it. Bill Steele (1949) won 37, lost 43, and saved seven games from 1910 through 1914 pitching mostly with the Cardinals, with one year with the Dodgers; and Hugh Mulcahy (2001) posted most of his 1935-1947, 45-89-9 mark with the Phillies. Outfielder Hugh Duffy (1954) hit most of his 106 home runs with 1,302 rbi’s from 1888-1906 with the Beaneaters; and catcher Grover Hartley (1964) played six years with the Giants, three with the Browns, and two each with the Terrapins and the Indians, among others, from 1911-1934, hitting three homers and driving in 144 tallies in that time. Righthander Pete Ladd (2023) pitched to a 17-23 record with 39 saves in 205 games (just one start) for the 1979 Astros, the 1982-1985 Brewers, and the 1986 Mariners.
Players Born This Day
Wade Taylor (1965) is one of three Yankees born on October 19. He went 7-12 in 23 games (22 starts) for the 1991 Yanks, his only season before his career was derailed by injuries. But he serves as one of the team’s top scouts today. A Seattle free agent signing, Taylor was acquired with Lee Guetterman and Clay Parker for Steve Trout and Henry Cotto in December 1987, a real steal of a deal when you realize that the Yankees had to move Trout, at least in this fan’s opinion.
Sandy Alomar, Sr., (1943) hit four homers and notched 66 rbi’s with the 1974 through 1976 Yanks. A current Stadium trivia question reveals him to be the answer to the question, “When Chris Chambliss got the Yanks into the World Series in 1976 by hitting the game-winning walk-off homer in Game Five of the ALCS off the Royals’ Mark Littell, who was on deck?” An Alomar transaction was also beneficial to the Yanks once they purchased him from the California Angels in July 1974. In a deal that must have seemed quite insignificant at the time New York sent Alomar to the Texas Rangers in February 1977 for some cash, Greg Pryor, and one other player. Twenty months later, Brian Doyle would have a stellar postseason replacing the injured Willie Randolph.
The result of a deadline deal, J.A. Happ (1982) gave the Yankees everything they wanted down the stretch of the 2018 season once the team sent Brandon Drury and Billy McKinney to Toronto for him, but he failed in his lone postseason test in Fenway Park, a venue his track record suggested he would dominate. With six teams (but mostly the Blue Jays) over 12 years in major league baseball, Jay has won 123 and lost 92 with the conclusion of the ’20 “regular” season. The 7-0 mark in 11 games (all starts) for the Yankees in 2018 has been followed by a 12-8 mark, then 2-2, but has lost games in the 2019 ALCS vs Houston and 2020 ALDS vs Tampa. A vesting option based on starts and innings in 2020, targets that he of course did not meet, leave his status going forward uncertain.
Righty reliever Jimmy Cordero (1991) signed minor league deals with New York in December 2021 and again in March 2022, and posted a 3-2 record in 31 games (one start, actually as an opener) in 2022 before being banned for spousal abuse in midseason. A free agent signer with the Blue Jays in 2012, he arrived in the Bronx with a 3-5 mark in 83 games, all in relief, with Washington, Toronto, and the White Sox from 2018 through 2020.
But not all transactions are happy occasions for the Yanks. They lost righty Tim Belcher (1961, see below) through a clerical error four weeks after drafting him in January 1984. Belcher would go on to win 146 big-league games during the ensuing 15-plus years while the Bombers suffered through mediocre pitching.
Other birthdays: Hall of Fame Chicago Cubs hurler Mordecai “Three Fingers” Brown (1876); St. Louis Cardinal Al Brazle (1913), who went 97-64; Mark Davis (1960); Tim Belcher (1961); Joe McEwing (1972); Keith Foulke (1972); Michael Young (1976); Randy Ruiz (1977); Jose Bautista (1980); Rajai Davis (1980); Josh Tomlin (1984); James McDonald (1984); Travis Schlichting (1984); Daniel Descalso (1986); John Holdzkom (1987); Cory Mazzoni (1989); Carson Smith (1989); Jordan Lyles (1990); Tyler Matzek (1990); Samuel Tuivailala (1992); Anthony Santander (1994); Brandon Bailey (1994); Bryan Hoeing (1996); and Zack Gelof (1999).
