Tag: New York Yankees

Mar 1: MANTLE RETIRES

MARCH 1, 1969 | FORT LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA – A sports icon of the 1950’s and 60’s retired on this date.  Mickey Mantle made the announcement at the spring training home of the New York Yankees, ending an 18-year career.

It’s remarkable it lasted that long considering “Mick” endured a variety of injuries, mostly to his legs. In announcing his decision, Mantle revealed the frustrations of a proud athlete, whose body would not perform, “I don’t hit the ball when I need to. I can’t steal when I need to, I can’t score from second base when I need to.” It’s cruel how 37 can look so old.

Mantle had superstar numbers, but they could have been better. He was the prototype 5-tool player when he came up to the Yankees at age 19. He could run, hit, hit for power, throw and catch.

Early in his career he was described as the fastest player from home to first, but that was before leg injuries turned him into a 4-tool star.

Career Milestones:

  • 3-time MVP
  • 16-time all-star
  • On 12 pennant winners
  • On 7 World Series championship teams
  • 536 home runs
  • .298 average
  • .421 on-base percentage
  • .557 slugging percentage

Being among the first superstar players to face the best Black ballplayers for an entire career, Mantle put a mark of authenticity on the American athlete. When the news came, “Mickey Mantle Retires,” it was the end of an era.

Contributing sources:
New York Times, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, March 2, 1969
More on Mantle

OCT 28, 1979: BILLY & THE MARSHMELLOW SALESMAN

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – Billy Martin was fired as manager of the New York Yankees on this date after getting into a fight with a marshmellow salesman. It was the second time he got fired by Yankee owner George Steinbrenner. Martin would be fired and re-fired three more times by Steinbrenner before his managerial career ended.

Martin liked to fight as a player too. He had several well-publicized altercations. There was a brawl at the Copacabana Nightclub in Manhattan involving several other Yankees. Martin was soon let go from the Yankees for being a bad influence.

He charged the mound at Wrigley Field in Chicago one day in 1960 while playing for the Cincinnati Reds. He thought Chicago Cubs pitcher Jim Brewer was throwing at him. Brewer ended up in the hospital with a broken cheekbone.

Martin also had fights with, among others, Jimmy Piersall, Tommy Lasorda, Dave Boswell, and he had to be held back from getting into a fight with his own player, Reggie Jackson.

Martin showed brilliance as a manager. In 16 seasons he won 5 division championships, 2 pennants and 1 World Series, but his erratic behavior – fueled mostly by drinking too much – didn’t keep him at the helm of any team very long.

Martin was killed on in a single-vehicle accident after leaving a bar near his home on Christmas Day 1989.

Contributing sources:
New York Times, October 29, 1979
Billy battled opponents, himself, by Nick Acocella, Special to ESPN.com

July 11: Babe’s debut

JULY 11, 1914 | BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – The major league debut of 19-yer old George Herman Ruth took place on this date in baseball history. Babe Ruth was the starting pitcher for the Boston Red Sox against the Cleveland Naps (today’s Cleveland  Indians). He won the game 4-3 win. The Red Sox had purchased the Babe from the Baltimore Orioles of the International League two days before.

Ruth didn’t astonish fans that first season, but he wasn’t bad either. He made 4 appearances as a pitcher, three as a starter. He finished with a record of 2-1 and ERA of 5.67. Ruth came to bat ten times, had two hits for a .200 batting average, two RBI, a run scored and struck out four times.

It didn’t take long for Ruth to show star quality. He won 78 games as a pitcher the next four seasons. His hitting was even more impressive, forcing the Red Sox to put him in the outfield just about every game in 1919 and Ruth didn’t disappoint, hitting 29 home runs and driving in 114 runs in 130 games.

Unfortunately for Red Sox fans, its owner needed money to finance a Broadway play, so Ruth was sold to the Yankees after the 1919 season.

And the rest is…

Contributing source: 
Baseball-Reference history of Babe Ruth

 

July 4th in baseball history – The luckiest man

JULY 4, 1939 | NEW YORK, NEW YORK – A tired, frail, shadow of his former self told 61,808 people in Yankee stadium on the Fourth of July in 1939, “I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth.” New York Yankee first-baseman Lou Gehrig was very sick.

http://https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qswig8dcEAY

He stopped playing baseball. He was getting weaker by the day and would be gone in less than two years.

The suddenness of Gehrig’s decline was shocking. He was known as the “Iron Horse.” He played every single game for 14 years. When Babe Ruth set the single season home run record in 1927 with 60 home runs, Gehrig hit 47 – more than anyone, other than Ruth, had ever hit up to that time.

Gehrig had 29 home runs, 114 runs batted in and 115 runs scored in his last full season – 1938. It was not his best year, but still quite good. The only stat that appeared to show decline was batting average. He hit .295. He hadn’t hit under .300 in twelve seasons and hit .351 in 1937, .354 the year before that.

Clearly, Gehrig had lost a step, he was 35 years old, so slowing down a bit was not unexpected. But Gehrig’s decline was clear in spring training 1939. His power had faded. He was hitting just .143 with no extra base hits when he took himself out of the lineup after eight games of the regular season. He never got back in.

A few weeks after asking out of the lineup Lou Gehrig was diagnosed with a rare, crippling, fatal disease called amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. The sickness would become known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.

Contributing sources:
Lou Gehrig web site
Baseball-Almanac (Gehrig)

June 28 in baseball history – Unusual place to play

JUNE 28, 1911 | NEW YORK, NEW YORK – A new Polo Grounds opened for business on this date in 1911. The “previous” Polo Grounds was severely damaged by fire two and a half months earlier. The Polo Grounds was one of the most unusual stadiums in a sport known for unusual venues. It was described as horseshoe shaped, some say it looked like a bathtub. To put a baseball diamond in such a structure meant the left and right field foul lines were extremely short, less than 280 feet, while center field was a country mile – more than 470 ft.

Another unusual trait was that the left field upper deck extended more than 20 feet over the lower deck, which meant an outfielder could be waiting for the ball to drop in his glove, only for it land in the upper deck for a home run.

So why was the Polo Grounds called “The Polo Grounds”? For the reason you’d expect, the original of four structures to occupy the site was made for polo.

Here are the four New York major league baseball teams that called the Polo Grounds home:
• Metropolitans 1883-1885 member of American Association, dissolved in 1887
• New York (Baseball) Giants 1883-1957 moved to San Francisco in 1958
• New York Yankees 1912-1922 moved to Yankee Stadium in 1923
• New York Mets 1962-1963 moved to Shea Stadium in 1964

The Polo Grounds was also home to a couple National Football League teams; the New York Giants and New York Bulldogs. It also housed the New York Titans (now the Jets) of the American Football League (now the NFL). For baseball, the Polo Grounds was a very unusual place to play.

CONTRIBUTING SOURCES:
Giants history
Mets history
Yankees history
Metropolitans history