This Day in Yankees History: A pair of memorable All-Star Games

Welcome to the relaunched This Day in Yankees History! With the start of the 2020 season delayed, the Pinstripe Alley team decided to revive the program in a slightly different format. These daily posts will highlight a few key moments in Yankees history on a given date, as well as recognize players born on the day. Let’s take a trip down memory lane.

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This Day in Yankees History (July 15)

12 years ago

In its final season, the old Yankee Stadium hosted its final All-Star Game on this day 12 years ago. A celebration of the “House that Ruth Built,” the festivities included appearances from Yankees legends and saw one of the more memorable Home Run Derbies, featuring a showdown between Justin Morneau and Josh Hamilton. The game itself was a bit of a drag, lasting almost five hours and 15 innings before the American League walked it off on a sacrifice fly. The Yankees didn’t meet expectations in 2008, but the final All-Star Game at Yankee Stadium was one last night in the spotlight for the historic stadium.

6 years ago

Derek Jeter made 14 All-Star Games in his career, but his final one was admittedly a bit of a handout. Jeter had announced 2014 would be his final season, and although he was hitting .272 at the All-Star Break, he had just two home runs, 25 RBI and a .647 OPS. Still, it was only right for Jeter to start his final All-Star Game and get a public sendoff from Major League Baseball in Minnesota. He went 2-for-2 with a single and double, and scored a run in the American League’s 5-3 win. For thousands of baseball fans, this was their last time to see Jeter on the big stage, and he delivered.

3 years ago

In non-All-Star Yankees history, the Bombers knocked off the first-place Red Sox with a gutsy comeback win on this day in 2017. In a pitchers’ duel, Luis Severino and Chris Sale were almost untouchable for seven innings. The Red Sox carried a 1-0 lead into the ninth inning, but Matt Holliday tied things up, leading off the ninth with a shot over the Green Monster off of Craig Kimbrel. The teams continued the pitching showcase with five scoreless extra innings (which included a bizarre base running error by Holliday), but the Yankees finally broke through in the 16th thanks to RBI from Didi Gregorius, Austin Romine and Gary Sanchez. Each team used eight different pitchers in the marathon.

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Birthdays

There aren’t any prominent Yankees birthdays today, but a couple of names might sound familiar to hardcore Yankees fans. Anthony Claggett turns 36 today, and was one of the prospects acquired from Detroit when the Yankees traded Gary Sheffield after 2006. However, he ultimately didn’t amount to much. He threw two games for the Yankees in 2009, but gave up 10 runs in 2.2 innings, ending his chance with New York. His 33.75 ERA was the highest of any member of the 2009 Yankees. Claggett is now the pitching coach at Washington State University.

Then there’s David Carpenter, who turns 35 today. Carpenter is still active, spending spring training with the Reds. He came to the Yankees with Chasen Shrive after two solid years in Atlanta, but bombed to the tune of a 4.82 ERA and 1.45 WHIP in 22 unimpressive games. He was traded to Washington, and pitched in a few games for the Rangers last year.

And of course, there’s Bubbles Hargrave, who caught 45 games for the 1930 Yankees. Hargrave won the batting title in 1926 for Cincinnati, but was just a backup with an A-Grade nickname on the Yankees. He was born on this day in 1892.

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