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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90 Years Ago
Talk about a solid all-around game. On this day in 1930, in a game against the Browns, Yankees starter Red Ruffing tossed seven solid innings, but also smashed two home runs in what turned out to be a 7-6 win in 10 innings for the Yanks. Ruffing finished his career with 34 home runs as a pitcher.
27 Years Ago
The Yankees got a stroke of good luck in the strangest way on this day in 1993. Trailing the Red Sox late, Mike Stanley lifted a seemingly harmless pop fly with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, but instead of sealing a 3-1 Boston win, umpire Tim Welke had called time just before the pitch because a fan had run onto the field. When the at-bat resumed, Stanley singled, as did Wade Boggs behind him, and Don Mattingly later singled to give the Yanks an improbable 4-3 win.
13 Years Ago
Yeah, wins and losses don’t really matter for a starting pitcher, but on this day in 2007, Mike Mussina became the first American League pitcher to win 10+ games in 16 straight seasons after a 12-0 win over the Orioles. Mussina would pitch one more season in 2008, which would be his first-ever 20-win season.
10 Years Ago
Speaking of 20-win seasons, CC Sabathia finished off his first 20-win campaign on this day in 2010. Also in a blowout win over Baltimore, Sabathia finally reached the milestone after coming one win short two different times in his career.
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Pitcher George Uhle was born on this day 122 years ago. He won 200 games across the 1920’s and 30’s, eight of which came with the Yankees. It’s also the 37th birthday of outfielder Brent Lilibridge, who made an 11-game cameo with the 2013 Yankees. Lilibridge may be most remembered by Yankees fans for the time he robbed them of a victory as a member of the White Sox, making back-to-back spectacular catches in the bottom of the ninth:
We thank Baseball-Reference and Nationalpastime.com for providing background information for these posts.