Take your pick, and most take The Streak, but he was MVP twice (in a career during much of which that award was a once-a-lifetime honor), and won the Triple Crown. He homered in four consecutive at bats in one game and led everyone with 23 career grand slams for eight decades. He had a .340 lifetime batting average, gathered 175, then 174, rbi’s in 1927 and 1930, respectively, and the 184 in 1931 are the most ever in the American League. Yes, this New York Yankees hero, Lou Gehrig, the Iron Horse, was born on June 19, 1903. It’s another Hallelujah day in Yankee Land.
Mickey Mantle hit his 100th career home run on June 19, 1955, in Yankee Stadium, as the Yanks took a pair from the White Sox, 7-1 and 5-2.
Despite allowing two early runs, Adam Warren had an excellent start on June 19, 2015, going eight full innings in a 7-2 win over visiting Detroit. He allowed seven hits and no walks, and struck out seven. The highlight of the offense was a long ball off the bat of Alex Rodriguez in the first inning, the 3,000th hit of his career. Brett Gardner also went yard, and notched three rbi’s on four hits.
A few days after the Old Timers’ Game, four Yankee players have passed away on June 19, but it’s doubtful that the oldest of timers remembers any of them. Righthanded outfielder Bill Renna (2014) hit two home runs with 13 rbi’s debuting with the 1953 Yanks, then increased those numbers to 28 and 119 playing for the A’s in Philly, then KC, and with the Red Sox in 1958 and 1959.
Righthanders Eddie Quick (1913) and Art Goodwin (1943) each pitched in just one major league game, Quick in a start to no record with the 1903 Highlanders, and Goodwin also to no record in a relief appearance with the 1905 Highlanders. Finally, righty Brady Neal (1947), who debuted by pitching to a 1-0 record with no saves in four games (two starts) with the 1915 and 1917 Yankees, had an overall 2-3-1 record after a stint with the 1925 Reds.