This Date In Yankees History

Yankees History

The First Twenty Years

January 9, 1903 - Frank Farrell and Bill Devery purchase Baltimore franchise of American League and move team to New York City. Cost is $18,000.
March 12, 1903 - New York Highlanders approved as members of American League.
April 22, 1903 - Highlanders lose opener at Washington, 3-1, under manager Clark Griffith.
April 30, 1903 - Highlanders win home opener at Hilltop Park (168th St. and Broad way), 6-2 over Washington.
April, 1913 - Highlanders change name to Yankees, move to share Polo Grounds with Giants.
January 11, 1915 - Col. Jacob Ruppert and Col. Tillinghast L'Hommedieu Huston purchase Yankees for $460,000.
April 22, 1915 - Pinstripes first appear on Yankee uniforms.

The 1920s

January 3, 1920 - Yankees purchase Babe Ruth from Red Sox.
October 29, 1920 - Ed Barrow is appointed general manager of the Yankees.
September, 1921 - Yankees clinch first American League pennant.
May 5, 1922 - Construction begins on Yankee Stadium.
May 21, 1922 - Ruppert buys out Huston for $1,500,000.
April 18, 1923 - Yankee Stadium opens, Ruth hits first home run.
October 15, 1923 - Yankees beat Giants for first World Championship.
June 1, 1925 - Lou Gehrig replaces Wally Pipp at first base.
September 30, 1927 - Ruth's record 60th home run caps off season for "Murderers' Row" Yankees.
April, 1928 - Season opens with left-field stands in Stadium enlarged.
April 16, 1929 - Yankees become the first team to wear uniform numbers.
September 25, 1929 - Manager Miller Huggins dies.

The 1930s

April 12, 1931 - Joe McCarthy debuts as Yankee manager.
July 14, 1934 - Ruth hits 700th career home run.
November 21, 1934 - Yankees buy Joe DiMaggio from San Francisco (Pacific Coast League).
April, 1937 - Season opens, right-field stands in Stadium enlarged.
May 30, 1938 - Record 81,841 attend doubleheader vs Boston.
January 13, 1939 - Col. Ruppert dies.
May 2, 1939 - Lou Gehrig's playing streak of 2,130 consecutive games ends.
July 4, 1939 - Lou Gehrig Day, his uniform is the first to be retired.

The 1940s

May 15, 1941 - DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak begins.
June 2, 1941 - Lou Gehrig dies at age 37.
July 17, 1941 - DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak ends in Cleveland.
January 25, 1945 - Dan Topping, Del Webb and Larry MacPhail purchase Yankees for $2,800,000.
May 28, 1946 - First night game played in Yankee Stadium.
April 27, 1947 - Babe Ruth Day.
June 13, 1948 - Ruth's uniform number is retired.
August 16, 1948 - Babe Ruth dies at age 53.
October 12, 1948 - George Weiss brings Casey Stengel to New York as manager.

The 1950s

April 17, 1951 - Mickey Mantle makes Yankee debut.
December 12, 1951 - Joe DiMaggio announces his retirement.
April, 1953 - Stadium sold to Earl and Arnold Johnson of Kansas City.
April 17, 1953 - Mantle hits 565-foot home run in Washington.
October 5, 1953 - Yankees win record fifth consecutive World Championship.
January 29, 1955 - John Williams Cox buys Yankee Stadium, sells grounds to Knights of Columbus, later leaves structure to Rice University (1962).
October 8, 1956 - Don Larsen hurls only perfect game in World Series history.
April, 1959 - First message scoreboard unveiled at Yankee Stadium.
The 1960s
October 1, 1961 - Roger Maris' 61st home run establishes new record.
June 24, 1962 - Jack Reed's 22nd-inning HR wins longest Yankee game in history.
November 2, 1964 - CBS purchases 80% of Yankees for $11,200,000, later buys remaining 20%.
Winter, 1966-67 - Yankee Stadium painted blue and white.
June 8, 1969 - Mickey Mantle's uniform number retired on Mickey Mantle Day.

The 1970s

August 8, 1972 - Yankees sign 30-year lease to play in remodeled Yankee Stadium, beginning in 1976.
January 3, 1973 - A limited partnership, headed by George Steinbrenner III as its managing general partner, purchases the Yankees from CBS.
September 30, 1973 - Yankees complete 50th Anniversary season at Stadium; Ralph Houk resigns as manager.
April 6, 1974 - Yankees begin first of two seasons at Shea Stadium, play first home game outside Yankee Stadium since 1922.
December 31, 1974 - Free agent Catfish Hunter signs record 5-year contract.
August 1, 1975 - Billy Martin replaces Bill Virdon as manager.
April 15, 1976 - Remodeled Yankee Stadium opens.
October 14, 1976 - Chris Chambliss' 9th-inning HR gives Yankees their 30th pennant.
November 29, 1976 - Yankees sign free agent Reggie Jackson to 5-year contract.
October 18, 1977 - The Yankees win their 21st World Championship, 4 games to 2, over the Los Angeles Dodgers - Reggie Jackson hits 3 HR.
January 13, 1978 - Joe McCarthy dies at age 90.
July 24, 1978 - Billy Martin resigns as Yankee manager.
July 25, 1978 - Yankees name Bob Lemon as manager.
July 29, 1978 - On Old Timer's Day, Yankees announce that Billy Martin will return as Yankee manager in 1980, when Bob Lemon will become general manager.
October 2, 1978 - Yankees, at one point in the season 14 games behind Boston, beat the Red Sox, 5-4 in Fenway Park, in only the second playoff game in American League history.
October 17, 1978 - Yankees beat Dodgers for their 22nd World Championship.
June 18, 1979 - Billy Martin returns as Yankee manager, replacing Bob Lemon.
August 2, 1979 - Thurman Munson dies in plane crash at age 32.
October 28, 1979 - Dick Howser is named Yankee manager, replacing Billy Martin.

The 1980s

September 20, 1980 - Bronze plaque for left field memorial park is dedicated to the memory of Thurman Munson.
October 5, 1980 - Yankees finish season with a then-American League attendance record of 2,627,417, breaking record set in 1948 by Cleveland Indians.
November 21, 1980 - Gene Michael is named 25th Yankee manager, replacing Dick Howser, who resigns.
December 15, 1980 - Free agent Dave Winfield signs record long-term contract.
September 6, 1981 - Bob Lemon named Yankee manager for second time.
October 15, 1981 - Yankees capture 33rd American League pennant, sweeping 3 games from the Oakland A's.
April 26, 1982 - Gene Michael becomes Yankee manager for second time.
August 3, 1982 - Clyde King named Yankee manager.
January 11, 1983 - Billy Martin named Yankee manager for third time.
June 20, 1983 - Bobby Murcer retires.
July 4, 1983 - Dave Righetti pitches no-hit win over Red Sox at Yankee Stadium.
August 7, 1983 - Bobby Murcer Day.
December 16, 1983 - Yogi Berra named Yankee manager for second time.
August 5, 1984 - Lou Piniella Day.
September 30, 1984 - Don Mattingly wins A.L. batting title with .343 BA.
April 28, 1985 - Billy Martin named Yankee manager for fourth time.
July 13, 1985 - Uniform numbers retired for Roger Maris (9) and Elston Howard (32).
August 4, 1985 - Phil Rizzuto Day, his uniform number 10 retired.
October 17, 1985 - Lou Piniella named Yankee manager.
December 14, 1985 - Roger Maris dies at age 51.
August 10, 1986 - Billy Martin Day, his uniform number 1 retired.
July 18, 1987 - Don Mattingly homers off TexasÕ Jose Guzman to tie Dale Long's Major League record of hitting a home run in 8 consecutive games.
September 29, 1987 - Don Mattingly hits a grand slam off Boston's Bruce Hurst, setting a Major League record with 6 grand slams in a season.
October 19, 1987 - Woody Woodward resigns as general manager, Lou Piniella is named general manager, and Billy Martin is named Yankee manager for fifth time.
October 7, 1988 - Dallas Green named Yankee manager.
December 9, 1988 - Yankees sign 12-year television contract with Madison Square Garden Network.
July 12, 1989 - Ron Guidry retires.
August 18, 1989 - Bucky Dent replaces Dallas Green as Yankee manager.
October 13, 1989 - Bob Quinn resigns as vice president and general manager. Harding Peterson named vice president and general manager.
December 25, 1989 - Billy Martin dies at age 61.

The 1990s

June 6, 1990 - Stump Merrill replaces Bucky Dent as Yankee manager.
July 1, 1990 - Andy Hawkins throws no-hitter in old Comiskey Park, losing 4-0.
August 20, 1990 - Gene Michael named vice president and general manager, replacing Harding Peterson.
September 13, 1990 - Robert E. Nederlander appointed managing general partner.
October 29, 1991 - Buck Showalter replaces Stump Merrill as Yankee manager.
December 31, 1991 - Daniel R. McCarthy elected managing general partner.
March 22, 1992 - Joseph A. Molloy elected general partner.
September 4, 1993 - Jim Abbott pitches 4-0, no-hit win over Indians at Yankee Stadium.
February 25, 1994 - Phil Rizzuto elected to Baseball Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee, inducted on July 31.
April 4, 1994 - Opening Day crowd of 56,706 is the largest Opening Day Crowd in Yankee history and the largest regular-season crowd at new Yankee Stadium.
August 9, 1994 - Phil Rizzuto Hall of Fame Night.
August 12, 1994 - Members of the Major League Baseball Players Association strike.
September 14, 1994 - Owners of the 28 Major League teams vote to cancel the remainder of the 1994 season, the Division Series, the League Championship Series and the World Series.
December 23, 1994 - Major League Baseball, at an impasse in labor negotiations with the players' union, implemented a revenue-sharing plan and salary cap proposal that would provide the players with 50 percent of baseball revenue.
August 13, 1995 - Mickey Mantle dies of cancer at the age of 63.
May 14, 1996 - Doc Gooden throws a no-hitter against the Seattle Mariners at Yankee Stadium. Yankees win game, 2-0.
June 16, 1996 - Mel Allen, the "Voice of the Yankees" dies at the age of 83.
August 25, 1996 - Yankees unveil a monument in honor of Mickey Mantle.
January 22, 1997 -Don Mattingly retires.
May 17, 1998 - David Wells throws a perfect game against the Minnesota Twins at Yankee Stadium. It was the 14th regular season perfect game in major league history.
October 21, 1998 -The Yankees complete an incredible season with a four-game sweep over the San Diego Padres in the world series. The Yankees captured their 24th World Championship and ended up with a record of 125-50.
March 8, 1999 - Joe DiMaggio dies at the age of 84.
April 25, 1999 - A monument in honor of Joe DiMaggio is unveiled at Yankee Stadium.
July 18, 1999 - David Cone throws a perfect game against the Montreal Expos. It was the 15th regular season perfect game. Cone did it on "Yogi Berra Day". Don Larsen (who pitched a perfect game in the world series) throw out the first ball.
September 9, 1999 - Jim "Catfish" Hunter dies at the age of 53.
October 27, 1999 - The Yankees play Baseball's last game of the century and complete a four-game sweep of the Atlanta Braves in the world series. For the Yankees, it was their 25th World Championship.
The New Millenium

October 26, 2000 - The Yankees win their third consecutive World Championship with a five-game triumph over the New York Mets in the first "Subway Series" since 1956. It was the Yankees 26th World Championship.

October 22, 2001 - The New York Yankees win their record 38th American League Pennant and fourth in a row.

May 17, 2002 -Jason Giambi hits a 14th-inning walk-off grand slam to lift the Yankees to a 13-12 win over the Minnesota Twins, joining Babe Ruth as the only Yankees in history to hit a walk-off grand slam with New York down by three runs.
Sept. 21, 2002 - The Yankees defeat the Detroit Tigers 3-2 at Comerica Park to clinch their fifth straight AL East title. It is New York's sixth title in seven seasons under manager Joe Torre, their 41st overall.
Oct. 5, 2002 - The Yankees drop a 9-6 decision to the eventual World Champion Anaheim Angels in Game 4 of the ALDS to lose the series, marking New York's earliest postseason exit since 1980.
October 16, 2003 - The Yankees clinch their 39th American League title by beating the Red Sox 6-5 in game seven of the ALCS. The Bombers won on a walk off solo home run by Aaron Boone.
Oct. 25, 2003 - Florida's Josh Beckett pitches the Marlins to a 2-0 win in Game 6 of the World Series, marking the first time since 1981 that New York has been eliminated from the postseason at Yankee Stadium.
October 17, 2004 - Alex Rodriguez is traded to the Yankees for 2B Alfonso Soriano.

Taken From The Yankees Information and Record Guide