This Day in Yankees History: David Cone’s Perfect Game

Welcome to This Day in Yankees History. With the start of the 2020 season delayed for just a bit longer, 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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99 Years Ago

With a monstrous 500-foot shot, Babe Ruth moves into first on the all-time leaderboard with his 139th career home run, surpassing Roger Connor. This moment is nowhere near as famous as when Hank Aaron surpassed Ruth, or when Barry Bonds then surpassed Aaron. That’s probably because, while a Hall of Famer, no one really talks about Connor and Ruth, of course, went on to completely obliterate the record.

73 Years Ago

The Yankees’ AL record-tying 19-game winning streak comes to an end when they lose 8-0 to the Tigers. The streak began on June 29th, and over the course of it the Yankees outscored their opponents 119 to 41. They started the streak with a 4.5-game lead in the AL, and ended it up 11.5. They and the 1906 White Sox would hold the record until the 2002 Athletics won 20 straight. The 2017 Indians now hold the AL record at 22.

21 Years Ago

David Cone throws a perfect game.

With Yogi Berra and Don Larsen in attendance on a day honoring the former, Cone retires all 27 Expos he faces to become the 16th pitcher in major league history to throw a perfect game. He struck out 10 and threw just 88 pitches. Other than a sliding catch by Paul O’Neill in the first and Ricky Ledee making a running catch after seemingly losing track of the ball in the ninth, there weren’t a ton of close calls either.

It was the first ever no-hitter in an interleague game and remains the last perfect game or no-hitter thrown by a Yankee pitcher.

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Today is the 80th birthday of four-time Yankees champion manager Joe Torre!

After previous managerial stints with the Mets, Braves, and Cardinals, Torre was a bit of a controversial choice to replace Buck Showalter ahead of the 1996 season. His hiring was met with such headlines as “Clueless Joe.”

However, he pretty quickly got rid of any doubts as the Yankees won the World Series in his very first season. In his 12-year tenure in the Bronx, he led the Yankees to four championships, two other AL pennants, and a playoff berth every season.

Following some early playoff exits and a very public contract negotiation, Torre walked away from the Yankees and took the Dodgers’ managerial job after the 2007 season. The team would later go on to retire his #6 in 2014.

Other Yankee birthdays today include Johnny Hopp, Al Lyons, Rudy May, and Ramiro Pena.

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