This Day in Yankees History: Lou Gehrig’s streak reaches 1700

Welcome to This Day in Yankees History. With the start of the 2020 season delayed for the foreseeable future, the Pinstripe Alley team decided to take a look back through history. 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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84 Years Ago

Lou Gehrig’s consecutive game streak notched another round number in a game against Cleveland. Gehrig went 1-2 with two walks and two RBI in what was his 1700th straight game in the lineup. He had already set the record previously held by Everett Scott three years prior and would play over 400 more in a row before the streak came to an end in 1939.

57 Years Ago

Mickey Mantle fractured a bone in his foot after running into a chain link fence in Baltimore. Mantle hit the wall on a leaping attempt to catch a Brooks Robinson hit that would go over for a home run. The Yankee legend wouldn’t return until August 4th and wouldn’t be used in any role other than pinch-hitter until September 2nd. He and the Yankees still had an excellent season despite him missing so much time, but they would be swept by the Dodgers in the World Series.

14 Years Ago

The Yankees get some amount of revenge for the 2003 World Series against Josh Beckett. The lineup pounded the former Marlin and now Red Sox pitcher, knocking him out after just 1.1 innings. Both Andy Phillips and Jason Giambi hit three-run home runs in the second inning as Beckett allowed seven earned runs and eight overall. The Yankees added five more runs against Boston relievers and came away with a 13-5 win.

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On this day in 1874, Jack Chesbro was born.

Chesbro was the star of the early Yankees teams, when they were still known as the Highlanders. His most notable season came in 1904, when he put up the cartoonist numbers of 41-12 in 51 starts (55 games, 48 complete games) with a 1.82 ERA in 454.2 innings. The 41 wins is an American League single season record that still stands today and is unlikely to be broken ever. However, that season is somewhat marred by how it ended for Chesbro. On the final day of the season, a wild pitch he threw allowed the Red Sox to score the go ahead run and win to clinch the AL pennant ahead of the Highlanders.

In total he spent six full seasons in New York before being waived during the 1909 campaign. Chesbro was elected to the Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee in 1946, although his candidacy perhaps didn’t merit it. While he had other big seasons besides 1904, his career lasted just 11 years and several of them are genuinely bad.

Other former Yankees with birthdays today include Darryl Jones, Duke Sims, Truck Hannah, and Fred Mitchell.

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