On this date, in Yankees history…
As I’m writing this, we have about 60 hours before Gerrit Cole takes the mound in the city of angels, looking to jumpstart the Yankees to their first World Series title in 15 years. To help kill some time, let’s look at two memorable Yankees happenstances that occurred on this date.
October 23rd, 1996, Atlanta Fulton County Stadium:
Trailing Atlanta two games to one in the World Series, and thanks in large part to Kenny Rogers yielding five runs after facing only 13 batters, the Yankees trailed 6-0 going into the top of the sixth inning.
With a win probability of 4% (four percent), RBI hits from Cecil Fielder and Charlie Hayes cut the lead to 6-3. That score held until the top of the eighth, when facing mulleted Atlanta flamethrower Mark Wohlers, singles from Charlie Hayes and Daryl Strawberry, followed by a Mariano Duncan groundout set up first and third, one out situation.
Wohlers did everyone in Yankees Universe a favor and spun a cement mixer 2-2 slider, thigh high to Jim Leyritz, who sent the ball over the head of 19-year-old left fielder Andruw Jones and more importantly, over the wall for a three-run home run.
And just like that, the Yank’s win probability was at 45%, due to one of the most impactful home runs in the Yankees Wild Card era.
The Yankees took the lead in the 10th inning on a Wade Boggs bases loaded walk, and eventually won the game 8-6 – and as you likely remember, the World Series 4-2.
1979, some bar in Bloomington, Minnesota:
Yankees manager Billy Martin, infuriated that a bar patron had the audacity to say that Dick Williams and Earl Weaver were not (expletive deleted) managers, as Martin maintained, sucker punched the bar patron (who happened to be a marshmallow salesman).
Martin, who had a long history of bar fights (I wrote about one of the more unintentionally funny ones here) was summarily fired for the third time after the Minnesota incident – by the convicted felon who couldn’t take the embarrassment to his franchise.
If you’re old enough to remember these incidents, leave a comment below, or yell at me on the “My Baseball Page” on Facebook.
Speaking of Yankees absurdities, “The Bronx is Burning” by Jonathan Mahler, is worth checking out.
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