5/14 in Yankee History

The red-letter days -

1996: Dwight Gooden‚ on the verge of being released by the Yankees just two weeks ago‚ twirls a no-hitter to sink the Mariners‚ 2-0. Dr. K walks two in the 9th‚ but retires Ken Griffey‚ Jr.‚ fans Jay Buhner‚ and induces Paul Sorrento to pop out to end it. Gerald Williams saves the no-hitter when he runs down a 400-foot Alex Rodriguez liner in the first inning and turns it into a double play. Gooden (2-3) has now thrown 16 straight innings of hitless ball.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NYA/NYA199605140.shtm

1967: Mickey Mantle becomes the 6th member of the 500-HR club in New York’s 6-5 win against Baltimore. Mantle connects batting left-handed off Stu Miller.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NYA/NYA196705140.shtml

On other 14ths of May…

2005: Kevin Brown allows 5 runs in 6 innings but still wins his 100th AL game as the Yankees pummel Oakland‚ 15-6. Brown has now won 100 games in each league‚ the 9th player to do so. He’s backed by homers from Derek Jeter‚ A-Rod‚ Jorge Posada‚ and Tino Martinez‚ who drives in 5 runs.

http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/2005/B05140OAK2005.htm

1997: In Minneapolis‚ Paul O’Neill ties the score with an RBI double in the ninth‚ then homers in the 12th inning to lead the Yanks to a 6-5 win over the Twins. O’Neill doubles off Rick Aguilera‚ and hit his seventh homer of the season off Eddie Guardado. O’Neill also makes an error‚ his 2nd in 6 days: he had gone 235 straight games without an error. Tino Martinez adds his 16th homer‚ as Brian Boehringer (2-2) pitches one inning for the win.

http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1997/B05140MIN1997.htm

1980: TheYankees receive 14 free passes from the Royals’ pitching staff in a 16-3 win‚ as New York outhit KC by one‚ 12-11. Reliever Gary Christenson is the main culprit‚ walking 7 batters in just 1 2/3 innings. Infielder Jerry Terrell makes his second career pitching appearance‚ taking the mound for the last inning and giving up no runs and a walk.

Gary Christenson with his pitching coach

1977: At Anaheim Stadium, Don Gullett outduels Nolan Ryan to give New York a 4-1 victory over California.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CAL/CAL197705140.shtml

1961: The Yankees sweep a pair from Detroit‚ taking the opener with Jim Coates pitching the 11th inning for the win. Coates pitches another 5 innings of relief to win the nitecap as well, becoming the last Yankee hurler to date to register two wins on the same day.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NYA/NYA196105141.shtml

1957: The ‘Battle of the Copacabana’

Tomorrow is meant to be an off day‚ but a rained out game with the A’s is rescheduled. A group of Yankees go ahead anyway with a planned party and celebrate Billy Martin’s 29th birthday in a raucous fashion. An ensuing fight at Manhattan’s Copacabana Club leads to $5‚500 in fines and the eventual trade of Billy to Kansas City. Hank Bauer allegedly starts the fight by punching a patron‚ although Bauer denies it. The Yanks fine Bauer, Martin, Whitey Ford‚ Yogi Berra and Mickey Mantle $1‚000 each and Johnny Kucks $500.

1956: Future Yankee manager Bob Lemon tops the Bombers for the second time in four days to give the Indians a 3-2 win at Cleveland. New York’s only scoring comes in the 4th when Gil McDougald and Mickey Mantle hit back-to-back homers

http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CLE/CLE195605140.shtml

1947: Dick Tidrow, ’70s Yankee pitcher, is born. Happy 65th, Dirt!

http://www.baseballlibrary.com/ballplayers/player.php?name=Dick_Tidrow_1947

1936: Joe DiMaggio bangs three doubles and single to pace the visiting Yankees to a 6-1 win over the Browns. DiMag will end the season with a .323 batting average‚ and a .352 OBA‚ still below the league OBA average of .363. The Browns shut out the Yanks yesterday to break their 13-game losing streak.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/SLA/SLA193605140.shtml

Off the field, future Yankee player, coach and manager Dick Howser is born.

http://www.baseballlibrary.com/ballplayers/player.php?name=Dick_Howser_1937

1924: It’s Babe Ruth Day at the Stadium‚ as the Bambino receives the AL MVP Award for 1923. He is then held to a single as the Browns spoil the occasion with an 11-1 drubbing of the hosts.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NYA/NYA192405140.shtml

1923: Paced by Wally Pipp’s grand slam‚ the Yankees score 8 runs in the 12th against the Tigers‚ to put the game away. Detroit come back with three runs in the bottom of the inning to set an AL mark (later tied) for most runs in that frame.

Wally Pipp

http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/DET/DET192305140.shtml

1920: The Yankees are notified by the Giants’ management that after the 1920 season‚ the lease allowing the American Leaguers to play in the Polo Grounds will not be renewed. No reason is given, but the recent signing of Babe Ruth appears to be the main cause. Yankee owner Jacob Ruppert responds that the Giants‚ ‘have gone back on their word.’ The Giants cave in a week later‚ but by then Ruppert has initiated plans to obtain a site for his own park.