Tony Clark and Jorge Posada home runs propelled Brad Halsey and the Yankees into a 3-0 lead over Pedro Martinez and the Red Sox on July 1, 2004, in a Thursday night classic in Yankee Stadium, but Boston tied it on a two-run Manny Ramirez home run and a David McCarty double.
Onto bonus play, the Sox loaded the bases with no outs on two singles and a walk against Mariano Rivera in the 11th, but Alex Rodriguez turned a miraculous 5-UA, 5-2 double play that would have been a triple play on a 2-5, but the latter throw retired Ramirez coming from second for the second time on the play, a twist you won’t find in the rule book.
A second-and-third, two-out threat against Tanyon Sturtze the following frame was averted when Derek Jeter dove face first into the left-field boxes after snaring Trot Nixon‘s flair into no man’s land. Was it all for naught when Ramirez homered deep to left leading off the top on the 13th? Of course not. After two quick outs, Ruben Sierra, Miguel Cairo, and John Flaherty delivered hits in succession, and the Yanks and their fans celebrated a 5-4 victory in the darnedest game you could ever see.
Yankee starting pitcher Andy Hawkins had a frustrating day’s work on July 1, 1990. He had held the White Sox hitless through seven when Yankee third baseman Mike Blowers made an error on a Sammy Sosa (playing in the AL Chicago city at the time) grounder leading off the bottom of the eighth. Two walks followed, and then back-to-back Jim Leyritz and Jesse Barfield errors on wind-blown outfield flies, and the Sox were up, 4-0, the final score of the game despite the fact that Hawkins succeeded in finishing the no-hitter. (A few years later, it was ruled not a no-no because the Sox did not bat nine times. Crazy ruling, he pitched a complete game that went the distance, and allowed no hits.)
Joe DiMaggio led the Yanks to a doubleheader sweep of the Red Sox, 7-2 and 9-2, on July 1, 1941. And, by reaching safely in both games, Joe tied Wee Willie Keeler‘s major league record batting streak at 44 games.