Most fans were pleased when the New York Yankees pulled the trigger on a trade on November 13, 2008, acquiring switch-hitting outfielder/first baseman Nick Swisher and righthander Kanekoa Texeira from the Chicago White Sox in exchange for infielder Wilson Betemit and righties Jeff Marquez and Jhonny Nunez. By the time he left the Bronx after the 2012 season, Nick had hit 105 regular-season home runs and driven in 349. In eight postseason series with the Yanks, including the win in the ’09 World Series, Swish homered four times, and drove in seven.
On November 13, 1978, Luis Tiant joined the Yankees. He had been with the Red Sox, but was the first veteran to sign following that year’s re-entry draft. El tiante would go 13-8 for the Yanks in 1979.
The ball Babe Ruth hit for the first home run in Yankee Stadium, back in 1923, was bought at auction on November 13, 1998, for $126,500. A personal check signed by Lou Gehrig fetched $15,306 on the same day.
Yankee November 13 birthdays lead off with a touch of class, Mel Stottlemyre (1941). Mel bridged the great Yankee teams that culminated with his 20 wins in 1965, and he carried himself with dignity in the tough years that followed, starting with the 20 losses he suffered in 1966. He pitched at least 250 innings in each of his nine full seasons, posted a 164-139 record with one save in his Pinstriped career, and only played for the Yankees, after having signed with them as an amateur free agent before the 1961 season. He served with distinction as Joe Torre‘s pitching coach with the Yanks from 1996 through the 2005 season, winning four rings during that time.
Lefty-hitting outfielder Jim Delsing, born on November 13, 1925, had a home run and five rbi’s in 21 games for the 1949-1950 Yanks, but Jim’s greatest claim to fame was as the guy who pinch-ran for midget Eddie Gaedel once Eddie walked in his only major league at bat for the Browns in 1951.