This Day in Yankees History: Alex Rodriguez enters the franchise record books

Welcome to the relaunched This Day in Yankees History. Even with the start of the 2020 season, the Pinstripe Alley team has decided to continue the revived program in its new 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 (August 30)

110 Years Ago

Talk about a wasted pitching performance. On this day in 1910, Highlanders starter Tom Hughes was dealing for New York, pitching a remarkable 9.1 hitless innings, then gave up a single to Harry Niles. The only problem for Hughes was the offense not doing its part, getting shut down as well in what turned out to be a 5-0 loss for Hughes and the Highlanders.

34 Years Ago

The Yankees made history on this day in 1986 courtesy of two aging pitchers in Tommy John and Joe Niekro. The two became the first pair of pitchers since 1933 to pitch both games of a doubleheader while both being 40 years of age or older. John pitched brilliantly in the opening game, going eight innings while allowing just one run in a 1-0 loss, while Niekro went five shutout innings in an eventual 3-0 win for the Yanks over the Mariners.

15 Years Ago

Alex Rodriguez was unreal in 2005, and on this day, he made more history, smashing his 40th home run to become the second right-handed hitter in franchise history to reach that mark. The other was Joe DiMaggio, who smashed 46 in 1937. Rodriguez eclipsed that mark by hitting 48 dingers in 2005, finishing his MVP season with a 173 OPS+.

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