This Day is Yankees History: Mickey Mantle’s funeral held

Welcome to This Day in Yankees History. The season may be underway, but that doesn’t mean we can’t take a trip into the past. 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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29 Years Ago

Don Mattingly is benched and fined $250 for violating team rules relating to the length of his hair.

The first baseman had requested a trade earlier this year and mused to the press that the benching was their way of saying that he wasn’t needed anymore. Things would eventually be smoothed over as Mattingly would get a haircut two days later. A trade would never come to pass, as the first baseman would finish his career with the Yankees, and remain a beloved franchise hero. The Yankees’ grooming policy still exists today, although with plenty of detractors.

25 Years Ago

Mickey Mantle is laid to rest in Dallas after his passing two days prior.

The Yankees’ icon’s funeral was held at the Lovers Lane United Methodist Church in Dallas, and was attended by over 1200 family, friends, teammates and fans. Country artist Roy Clark sang his song “Yesterday, When I Was Young,” fulfilling a promise he made to Mantle. Sportscaster Bob Costas gave a memorable eulogy, where he said Mantle was “a fragile hero to whom we had an emotional attachment so strong and lasting that it defied logic.”

13 Years Ago

Shelley Duncan’s magical debut season continues. With the Yankees down to their last out and down 3-0 to the Orioles, Duncan hits a game-tying three run home run to tie things up in the bottom of the ninth. It’s his sixth home run in his 16th ever major league game, and he finishes the game with a .317/.391/.756 triple slash line. As for the game, things go poorly after Duncan’s heroics as Mariano Rivera allows three runs in the 10th, and the Yankees fall 6-3.

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Today is the 54th birthday of Scott Brosius.

The third baseman played for the Yankees from 1998-2001, after being the player to be named later in a trade that sent Kenny Rogers to the Athletics. He would go on to win three titles in his four seasons in New York, and took home World Series MVP honors in the 1998 victory over the Padres.

In the four-game sweep, Brosius went 8-17 with two home runs and six RBI. His big moment in the series came when he hit a three-run home run off Trevor Hoffman in the eighth inning of game three, giving the Yankees the lead after they had been trailing 3-2. The win put the Yankees up 3-0 in the series, and they closed the series out the following day.

Other Yankee birthdays today include Joe Cowley and Ben Ford.

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We thank Baseball-Reference, the New York Times, and Nationalpastime.com for providing background information for these posts.