There probably isn’t a day that goes by that something in New York Yankee history hasn’t happened that is memorable in their 109-year history. So here is a look at this week’s happenings in that history. This week is particularly interesting.
July 4th, 1925:
On this Independence Day, Yankee pitcher Herb Pennock and the Athletics pitcher Lefty Grove had a game for the history books. The game went 15 innings, with the Yankees winning 1-0. Pennock had one bad pitch in the game. He struck out the first 18 in a row he faced and the last 21 in a row—quite a pitcher’s duel.
July 4th, 1932:
New York Yankee catch Bill Dickey punched Carl Reynolds in the face causing a double fractured jaw. Dickey was suspended for 30 days. It all happened after the Yankees lost the first game of the doubleheader 5-3. In the second game, Joe Sewell threw a ball to home with Reynolds on his way. The ball and Reynold arrive simultaneously, resulting in the collision. Dickey wouldn’t have it and popped him one; that is still a historical event talked about today.
July 4th, 1939:
In 1939 on Independence Day, Lou Gehrig delivered his famed address to the crowd at Yankee Stadium. The “I am the luckiest man in the world” speech is still one of the most iconic in all of baseball. But, unfortunately, Gehrig would die almost two years after his speech of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, often called “Lou Gehrig disease.”
July 4th, 1960:
The famous Yankee Micky Mantle celebrated independence day by hitting the 300th home run of his career.
July 4th, 1983:
Legendary Yankees pitcher Dave Righetti got the first Yankee no-hitter since Don Larsen’s perfect game in the 1956 World Series. Righetti celebrated on the mound after no-hitting the Yankee’s most intense rival, Boston Red Sox. He was also the first lefty pitcher to do it since 1917 when George Mogridge accomplished the feat against the same Boston Red Sox. It was the first Yankee no-hitter for the young New York Yankees.
July 6th, 1941:
The New York Yankees dedicate a monument in center field to the last Lou Gehrig, honoring their deceased captain. Gehrig had died of ALS just a month earlier.
July 7th, 1937:
It was the All-Star Game, the fourth ever. Famous Yankee first baseman Lou Gehrig drove in four runs in the game with a homer and double. The American League beat the National League 8-3. It was the first time a U.S. President attended an All-Star game. Franklin Roosevelt threw out the ceremonial first pitch.
July 9th, 1937:
Yankee slugger Joe DiMaggio hit for the cycle, hitting two home runs, a triple, double and single in a win over the Washington Senators. He would hit for the cycle again in 1948.
July 10th, 1914:
At the time, the Yankees were playing at the polo grounds in New York City. The polo grounds had no lighting. The Yankees won the second game of a doubleheader with only one hit. The game had to be postponed due to darkness. The Yankee would never win another by just one hit until 2016 against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field.
July 10th, 2001:
Derek Jeter hit the first Yankee home run in an All-Star game in 42 years. The last to do it was Yogi Berra in 1959.