This Day in Yankees History: CC Sabathia wins #200

Welcome to This Day in Yankees History. With the start of the 2020 season delayed for 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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98 Years Ago

Bob Meusel goes 4-5 with six RBI, hitting for the cycle, in a 12-1 win over the Athletics. Starting in right field and hitting fourth, Meusel gets the easy part out of the way with a first-inning single. He grounded out in the third, before getting the triple in the fifth, home run in the seventh, and the double in the eighth. It was the second of three times Meusel would accomplish the feat in his career.

88 Years Ago

Sunday games had been illegal in Massachusetts until 1929, and Fenway Park’s proximity to a house of worship had meant that the Red Sox had not ever played a Sunday home game at their famous stadium until this day in 1932.

Their opponent in their Sunday Fenway debut was the Yankees, who made the occasion a less than happy one. The Yankees tagged Boston for 15 hits in a 13-2 win.

7 Years Ago

CC Sabathia reaches 200 wins in a 3-2 victory over the Twins. Sabathia went seven innings, allowing two runs on seven hits and three walks, while striking out nine. He then handed the game over to the Yankees’ bullpen duo of David Robertson and Mariano Rivera, who allowed just one base runner between then and got the Yankees’ ace his milestone. It was the second time of asking for his 200th win as five days earlier, he looked to be on the verge of it before allowing a three-run sixth inning to the Orioles that instead doomed him to a loss.

Sabathia went on to play until last season and reached 251 wins, which is pretty darn good for this era.

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Today is the 67th birthday of Frank Tanana.

Tanana was a great pitcher in the late 70s, finishing top 10 in Cy Young voting three-straight years from 1975-77. (Those finishes were fourth, third, and ninth.) However, you would be forgiven for not remembering his Yankee stint.

After signing with the Mets for the 1993 season, he was sent crosstown in September of that year for minor league pitcher Kenny Greer. He made three starts over the course of those last couple weeks, allowing seven runs in 19.2 innings, but took two losses and a no decision. Those would be the last games of his major league career after he failed to make the Angels the next spring.

Other Yankees with birthdays today include Casey Cox, Matt Keough, Christian Parker, Juan Rivera, Buddy Rosar, Yangervis Solarte, Cesar Tovar, and Curt Walker.

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We thank Baseball-Reference, the New England Historical Society and Nationalpastime.com for providing background information for these posts.