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This Day in Yankees History: Ichiro walks it off in a Japan-centric showdown

On a big day for Yankees power hitters, the premier contact hitter of his generation hits the second walk-off of his career.

By John Griffin
Texas Rangers v. New York Yankees Photo by Jason Szenes/Getty Images

Welcome to the relaunched This Day in Yankees History. With the start of the 2020 season delayed for the foreseeable future for the next few weeks, the Pinstripe Alley team decided to revive the program in a slightly different 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 (June 25)

86 Years Ago

First baseman Lou Gehrig hits for the cycle for the first time in his career, as the Yankees pound the White Sox by the score 13-2. Starting pitcher Johnny Broaca ties a Major League record by striking out in five consecutive bats; in fact, by that point (the fifth start of his rookie season), he had yet to even record a hit! Nonetheless, when you give up only two runs despite allowing ten hits in a complete game, you’re allowed to have a rough time at the plate that day.

7 Years Ago

In a game that is likely remembered throughout Japan, Japanese pitchers Yu Darvish and Hiroki Kuroda go head-to-head, as the Yankees took on the Texas Rangers. Both pitchers would receive a no-decision, as they each gave up three runs (only two of which were earned by Kuroda) in 5.1 innings for Darvish and 6.2 for Kuroda. The Yankees would go on to win the game, as Japanese superstar Ichiro Suzuki drilled a two-out, 1-2 pitch into the right field seats, his second career walk-off home run (his first, ironically, came against Mariano Rivera).

1 Year Ago

DJ LeMahieu and Aaron Judge went back-to-back in the bottom of the first as the Yankees break the record for the most consecutive games with a home run, with 28. That streak would end a few days later, on July 2, at 31 straight games. Gleyber Torres and Edwin Encarnacion added on two solo shots of their own, as the Yankees won, 4-3.

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

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