This Day in Yankees History: Yankees retire Mantle’s #7

Welcome to the relaunched This Day in Yankees History. With the start of the 2020 season delayed for the foreseeable future, 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 8)

95 Years Ago

Tony Lazzeri finishes the Yankees’ five-run comeback with a game-tying home run in ninth inning. That was his third home run of the day, the first time three-homer game in Yankees history. The Yankees would go on to beat the Chicago White Sox by a score of 12-11.

51 Years Ago

In front of a sellout crowd of 60,096 (the first sellout since the 1964 World Series), the Yankees retire Mickey Mantle’s number 7. Joe DiMaggio presents Mickey Mantle with a plaque to hang on the center field wall, who in turn presents DiMaggio with one to hang “just a little bit higher.” The Yankees win both games of the day over the White Sox by scores of 3-1 and 11-2.

15 Years Ago

Alex Rodriguez homers off of Milwaukee Brewers’ lefty Jorge De La Rosa in the eighth inning, becoming the 40th — and youngest — player to hit 400 home runs. At 29 years and 316 days, Rodriguez edges out Ken Griffey Jr. for the honor.

7 Years Ago

It was a good day for the Pettitte family, as Andy Pettitte notches his 250th career win while the Yankees draft his son Josh in the 37th round of the MLB Draft. Andy would go for 7.1 innings, striking out 6 and giving up only one run on three hits. Josh, however, would honor his commitment to Baylor University.

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Birthdays

Happy birthday to former Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Railrider outfielder Terrance Gore. The Yankees acquired him from the Kansas City Royals in exchange for cash considerations after he was designated for assignment last July. In 21 games (69 plate appearances), he posted .164/.324/.255 slash line. After the season, he elected free agency, signing a minor league deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers at the start of spring training.

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