Author Archive
Why We Knew David Cone Would Pitch a Perfect Game »
July 18, 1999 was Yogi Berra Day at Yankee Stadium. When my son Scott had told me in June that we were going to the game, there was the slightest hint that something special might happen. An Inexplicable Feeling It was a hot, humid day, with the temperature reaching 98 degrees. As soon as we entered the Stadium, Scott and I had an [...]
Did Joe DiMaggio Get a Hit? »
Brit Annie Spares is not fond of many New York Yankees. She has said on more than one occasion that she didn't like Joe DiMaggio, but she followed that up by telling anyone who would listen that she admired him more than any player she had ever seen. Brit Annie recalls some anecdotes her mother told her about DiMaggio's great hitting [...]
Mickey Mantle’s Dumb Play »
Jo Bydin was a young baseball fan when the Yankees 18-game winning streak was broken by the St. Louis Browns on June 16, 1953. Jo rooted for the New York Giants, and any day that the Yankees lost was a good day for Jo Bydin. The St. Louis Browns The New York Yankees had high hopes of becoming contenders in 1966 after their [...]
The New York Yankees: Just Another Ball Club »
Jo Stac recalls that after the disastrous 1965 season, the New York Yankees were finally considered "just another team." She read many articles about how the "pride of the Yankees" belonged to the past. Jo was pleased. I have rooted for the Cleveland Indians since 1951. Today's fans don't know that the Indians, not the Boston Red [...]
Thanks to Ralph Houk, Mickey Mantle Hit 536 Home Runs »
Victor Mohn, despite being a Boston Red Sox fan, admired Mickey Mantle, but he felt that injuries were part of the game. Victor wasn't surprised to learn that New York Yankees' general manager Ralph Houk talked Mickey out of retiring after the disastrous 1965 season. Mickey Mantle revealed the truth. At the age of 34, the [...]
How Did Tony Kubek Break His Neck? »
Mary Lynne Munroe roots against the New York Yankees as much as the next woman, but even she felt sorry for Tony Kubek when he was hit in the throat by a ground ball that took a bad hop in the 1960 World Series. Kubek suffered a neck injury that might have led to his early retirement. Bill Virdon's Ground Ball Now don't get me [...]
October 1965: Yankee Stadium Was Deserted »
Bryan Kashmen passed by Yankee Stadium in early October, 1965. The ball park that would be destroyed following the 2008 season was eerily silent. For the first time since 1959, there would be no World Series games at Yankee Stadium. Bryan felt so good. Tired of the Yankees in the World SeriesI couldn't root for the New York Yankees [...]
Ralph Houk: Don’t Blame the Manager »
Bryan Kashmen thinks that the only reason the New York Yankees rehired manager Johnny Keane three weeks before the end of the 1965 season was to avoid embarrassment. Yankees' management knew that that the team had deteriorated with time, and that firing Keane would result in too much bad publicity since he could hardly be blamed for [...]
Joe DiMaggio Once Again Confirmed His Greatness »
Jon Stirling is a Baltimore Orioles' loyalist. He started following the Birds when they arrived just in time for the 1954 season. Jon never liked the haughty Yankees, but he grudgingly admired the greatest of all center fielders, Joseph Paul DiMaggio. On Saturday, July 31, 1965, Jon attended the Yankees' annual Old Timers' Game at [...]
Mel Stottlemyre’s Trendy Game »
As the New York Yankees prepared to face the Boston Red Sox on Jul. 20, 1965, the defending American League Champions found themselves ensconced in sixth place, 12.5 games behind the league-leading Minnesota Twins. The Red Sox were in even worse shape. They were ninth in the 10-team league, 22 games out of first. Trendy Game Some games [...]