Yankee Doodle Dandies
Most memorable Yankees Fourth of July moments
Birthday boys: Not only is it America’s birthday but Fourth of July is synonymous for the birthdays of George Steinbrenner and John Sterling. The longtime Yankees commentator whose real name is John Sloss who never missed a game for 20 years calling every single game from September 1989 to July 2019 was born in Manhattan on Independence Day of 1938 and George Michael Steinbrenner III aka The Boss who owned the Yankees from 1972 till his death in 2010 and won seven World Series with New York was born on July 4, 1930 in Ohio.
Herb Pennock outduels Lefty Grove in fifteen innings to beat A’s: The Yankees played the Philadelphia Athletics for a double header during the middle of The Roaring Twenties on Independence Day 1925 at the House That Ruth Built. Two Hall of Fame pitchers duked it out in an epic fifteen inning pitcher’s duel. Lefty Grove who was a rookie at the time toed the rubber for the A’s while Herb Pennock who was in his thirteenth MLB season, threw for the Bombers. Both went the distance pitching all fifteen innings. The Yankees left-handed pitcher struck out five Athletics and the A’s southpaw rung up ten Yankees in the thriller and Steve O’Neil ended the marathon in the home half of the fifteenth with an RBI single to center field for a 1-0 Yankees win. The A’s won the second game of the double header 8-5.
Bill Dickey unleashes his temper: In 1932 the Yankees lost both games in a double header to the Washington Senators at Griffith Stadium but in the first game Yankees Hall of Fame catcher Bill Dickey threw to third base to try to pick off Washington outfielder Carl Reynolds. The ball trickled away and as Reynolds raced for home, he and the ball came to the dish simultaneously and when the Senator collided with the Yankee, Dickey punched Reynolds in the face inducing a double fracture in Reynolds’ jaw. The Yankees backstop was suspended for 30 days and fined $1,000.
Today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth: There was not a dry eye in the house in 1939 when Lou Gehrig delivered his famous speech when he bowed out as he was dying of ALS. "So, I close in saying that I may have had a tough break, but I have an awful lot to live for." ~ Lou Gehrig
Doubleheader sweep over Boston: The Yankees won both games in a doubleheader at home over the Red Sox on 7/4/1949 which proved later on to be critical being the AL pennant came down to season’s final day as the Yanks beat Boston with identical records in the regular season finale to win the pennant by one game. But in the middle of what turned out to be a world championship season, Vic Raschi went the distance pitching all nine to earn the 3-2 win. Dom DiMaggio and Vern Stephens supplied the Boston RBIs and for New York Jerry Coleman had two hits and an RBI and Yogi Berra notched two hits. In the second game the Yankees won 6-4. Joe DiMaggio hit a home run in the fifth inning. Yankees pitcher Fred Sanford (not Redd Foxx’s character in Sanford and Son) started the game pitching five innings and reliever Cuddles Marshall pitched three scoreless relief innings recording three strikeouts to preserve the victory. 1949 was the birth of the Casey Stengel dynasty as it was the first of five consecutive World Series championships.
300 for the Commerce Comet: Mickey Mantle nicknamed The Mick and The Commerce Comet hit his 300th career home run on Uncle Sam’s birthday in the first inning of a 9-8 loss to Washington in 1960 as he became the eighteenth player to join the 300-home run club.
From Rags to riches: On a sweltering 94-degree afternoon at Yankee Stadium in 1983 Dave Righetti threw a no-hitter in a 4-0 win over the Boston Red Sox. Rags recorded 27 outs allowing only four batters to reach all day via the walk while sending down nine Red Sox on strikes including two strikeouts to Wade Boggs and two to Dwight Evans. And how fitting was it that the Hall of Fame third baseman Boggs was the final batter standing in Righetti’s way of history. The 24-year-old lefty got Boggs to swing and miss on a 2-2 count and a euphoric yet exhausted Righetti nestled into the arms of catcher Butch Wynegar and the Yankees poured onto the field to celebrate on that steamy Fourth of July.
3K for the Knuckleballer: Hall of Famer Phil Niekro notorious for his knuckleball earned his 3,000th strikeout after he struck out Larry Parrish of the Texas Rangers in a 5-0 Yankee win in Arlington in 1984.
Walk off over Toronto: In 2009, the year of the walk-offs which culminated in the 27th championship the Yankees defeated the Blue Jays 6-5 in twelve innings. Adam Lind hit a two-run home run off Chien-Ming Wang in the visitors sixth and Alex Rios drove in three runs for the Blue Jays. The Yankees tacked Hall of Famer Roy Halladay for five runs. Hideki Matsui and Jorge Posada hit solo blasts then with Toronto leading 5-3 in the seventh Johnny Damon hit a two-run homer over the short porch in right to tie the game. In the home half of the twelfth Jorge Posada sent the Yankee faithful home happy with a single to right center to score Alex Rodriguez and it was time for pie.
"It's deja vu all over again" The Yankees walked off against the Blue Jays 7-6 exactly one year later on Independence Day 2010. In the top of the third Lyle Overbay hit a solo home run off Phil Hughes, in the bottom half Mark Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez drove in a run a piece. In the fifth DeWayne Wise who had four RBIs on the day smacked a three-run blast to give Toronto the lead. Hughes got tacked for another home run in the sixth by Adam Lind and in the bottom half Brett Gardner raced all the way around the base paths for an inside the park two-run home run scoring him and Posada to tie the game at five. With the Yankees leading 6-5 in the ninth Mariano Rivera proved he is mortal by shockingly blowing a save after DeWayne Wise singled to center field and in the bottom of the tenth Marcus Thames hit a pinch-hit RBI single scoring Robinson Cano to make it a Happy Fourth of July at Yankee Stadium!
Great article!