New York Yankees Flashback: Catfish, Again

When Catfish Hunter beat the Oakland A’s, 6-2, on August 27, 1978, he completed a six-win/no-loss August that helped propel the Yankees on their way in their momentous climb from 14 games back of the Red Sox.

Double/single, then a walk and back-to-back errors, then double/single again gave the Bombers a 6-1 first-inning lead over the Mariners in Yankee Stadium on August 27, 2017, in an eventual 10-1 win. A brilliant Masahiro Tanaka struck out 10 over seven, and the surprising big hit on back-to-back days was delivered by Jacoby Ellsbury.

The Yankees had a doubly fine day on August 27, 1938, both in that they swept a pair from the Indians, and because they had both their offense and pitching to thank. Joe DiMaggio led the way by stroking three triples in the 8-7 win in the first game, and Monte Pearson won his 10th straight game and fashioned a no-hitter to boot in the 13-0 Yankee victory in Game Two.

The fact that it was only their second loss in 14 games made it a bit easier to swallow the Yanks’ 8-2 defeat to Texas on August 27, 1977, but the manner of their undoing was bizarre. Toby Harrah and Bump Wills belted inside-the-park home runs on consecutive pitches from Yankee righty Ken Clay.

Outfielder and pitcher Johnny Lindell (1985) is the most noteworthy Yankee player to have died on August 27. Lindell cleared 63 fences good for 369 runs batted in for the Yanks in his 1941-1950 debut, and he won two games, lost one, and saved one in 23 appearances on the mound (two starts).

The hitting stats grew to 72 and 404 after a year with the Cardinals, one with the Pirates, and two with the Phillies. And in 55 overall pitching appearances (28 starts), he posted an 8-18-1 record.