This Day in Yankees History: “He is, Mr. November!”

Welcome to the relaunched This Day in Yankees History. As the offseason continues, the Pinstripe Alley team has decided to continue the revived program in its new format. These daily posts will highlight two or three key moments in Yankees history on a given date, as well as recognize players born on the day. Hope you enjoy this trip down memory lane with us!

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This Day in Yankees History (November 1)

42 years ago

In the least shocking news of the offseason (I would assume), Ron Guidry was named the American League Cy Young Award Winner on this day in 1978. Guidry received all 28 first-place votes, and for good reason. The Yankee legend pitched to a ridiculous 1.74 ERA, won 25 games (which is crazy despite wins not meaning much), all while accumulating an absurd 9.6 WAR. Well deserved award, I’d say.

19 years ago

This game started on Halloween, but it ended on this day in 2001, and it ended with one of the most memorable hits in Yankee history. After Tino Martinez brought the Yankees back from the dead with a game-tying home run with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Derek Jeter won it with a Yankee Stadium special in the 10th, smacking an opposite-field homer just over the wall in right to tie the World Series at two games apiece. Something similar may have happened later that night as well... but you can probably read more on that here tomorrow.

13 years ago

Alex Rodriguez opted out of his contract after the 2007 season, which prompted Hank Steinbrenner to say to the New York Times, “Does he want to go into the Hall of Fame as a Yankee or a Toledo Mud Hen?” Well, on this day in 2007, the Mud Hens shot their shot, sending a playful contract offer to Rodriguez and a letter to his agent Scott Boras, asking if he thought Rodriguez would be OK with changing positions as not to get in the way of their third baseman at the time, Mike Hessman. The contract offer, which included a Hall of Fame plaque with Rodriguez wearing a Mud Hens hat, included a bonus for hitting 75 home runs. I think Rodriguez could have reached that, to be honest.

Birthdays

Happy birthday to Masahiro Tanaka, who turns 32 years old today!

Tanaka’s season didn’t end as planned, but he’s still been one of the better postseason pitchers the Yankees have had in recent years, and just completed his mega seven-year deal, which he earned every penny of. How about the Yankees celebrate Tanaka’s birthday by bringing him back for another couple years?

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We thank Baseball-Reference and Nationalpastime.com for providing background information for these posts.