This Day in Yankees History: “The Boss” is suspended

Welcome to the relaunched This Day in Yankees History. With the offseason well underway, 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 28)

46 years ago

After pleading guilty to making illegal donations to the Richard Nixon campaign and to a felony charge of obstruction of justice, Yankee owner George Steinbrenner is suspended by Commissioner Bowie Kuhn for two years. Steinbrenner will have his suspension reduced to fifteen months, and in January of 1989, he will be pardoned by Ronald Reagan. This, of course, all preceded Steinbrenner’s second and more notable suspension in July 1990, an intended lifetime ban that ultimately kept him away from the Yankees for nearly three years.

43 years ago

Former major league star Bob Meusel dies at the age of 81. Meusel batted over .300 seven times, including a career-high mark of .337 in 1927, and he led the league in home runs and RBI in 1925. He was best known for his strong throwing arm and his prominent role on the Yankees’ championship teams of the 1920s, an era in which the team won its first six American League pennants and first three World Series titles as a franchise.

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Birthdays

Happy birthday to Dave Righetti!

Righetti pitched for the Yankees for 11 seasons, from 1979 to 1990. He threw 1,136.2 innings in pinstripes with a 3.11 ERA and 7.4 K/9. With New York, he was a Rookie of the Year award winner, a two-time honoree as AL Rolaids Relief Man Award, a two-time All-Star, and set a then-league record with 46 saves in 1986. Righetti later earned acclaim as the Giants’ pitching coach for their trio of World Series champion teams between 2010 and 2014.

Righetti’s greatest achievement, however, came on July 4, 1983, when he threw a no-hitter against the Boston Red Sox at Yankee Stadium. It was the first Yankee no-hitter since Don Larsen’s perfect game in the 1956 World Series.

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