July 4, 1939: Number 4 retired for Lou Gehrig. Doubleheader with the Washington Senators. Lost the 1st game 3-2. Monte Pearson got the loss. Won the 2nd game 11-1. Steve Sundra went the distance for the win. George Selkirk hit a home run in each game, the only Yankee to homer in either.
April 19, 1940: Plaque dedicated to Jacob Ruppert. Beat the Senators 5-3. Lefty Gomez was the winning pitcher. Joe Gordon homered.
July 6, 1941: Monument dedicated to Gehrig -- postponed from a rainout on July 4, hence the Plaque says it was dedicated on "JULY THE FOURTH." Beat the Philadelphia Athletics 8-4. Atley Donald started, but got knocked out in the 4th inning, relieved by Ernie "Tiny" Bonham, who got the win. Bill Dickey and Red Rolfe homered.
June 13, 1948: Number 3 retired for Babe Ruth. Beat the Cleveland Indians 5-3. Eddie Lopat was the winning pitcher. Yogi Berra and Phil Rizzuto homered.
April 19, 1949: Monument dedicated to Ruth. Beat the Senators 3-2. Eddie Lopat went the distance for the win. Tommy Henrich homered.
April 18, 1952: Number 5 retired for Joe DiMaggio. Lost to the Senators 3-1. Allie Reynolds got the loss.
April 15, 1954: Plaque dedicated to Ed Barrow. Beat the A's 3-0. Tom Morgan went the distance for the shutout. Hank Bauer and Bill "Moose" Skowron homered. It was the 1st for Moose, who had made his major league debut 2 days earlier.
October 4, 1965: Plaque donated by the New York City chapter of the Knights of Columbus in honor of that day's Mass delivered by Pope Paul VI. Obviously, the Yankees were not playing that day, as the season had ended.
June 8, 1969: Plaque dedicated to Mickey Mantle, Number 7 retired for him. Plaque dedicated to DiMaggio. Doubleheader with the Chicago White Sox. Won the 1st game 3-1. Mel Stottlemyre went the distance for the win. Joe Pepitone homered. Won the 2nd game 11-2. Bill Burbach went the distance for the win. No homers. That's right, in 1 day, the Yankees played 18 innings, and used just 2 pitchers. In Peoria, Illionois, a 4-year-old boy named Joe Girardi ran screaming in terror for his mother.
April 12, 1970: Plaques installed for DiMaggio and Mantle. Doubleheader with the Indians. Lost the 1st game 2-1. Stottlemyre was the losing pitcher. No homers. Won the 2nd game 5-4. Mike Kekich started. Yankee manager Ralph Houk swapped him for a relief pitcher. (See what I did there?) Jack Aker blew the save, but became the winning pitcher when Mike Paul walked Ron Hansen with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 9th.
August 8, 1970: Number 37 retired for Casey Stengel. Lost to Baltimore Orioles 4-2. Kekich was the losing pitcher. Bobby Murcer homered.
April 18, 1972: Number 8 retired for Bill Dickey and Yogi Berra. Beat the Milwaukee Brewers 2-0. Steve Kline went the distance for the shutout. No homers.
All of the preceding were at the original Yankee Stadium.
April 6, 1974: Number 16 retired for Whitey Ford. Beat the Indians 6-1 at Shea Stadium, where the Yankees played the 1974 and '75 seasons, while the old Yankee Stadium was being renovated. Stottlemyre went the distance for the win. Graig Nettles homered. This is the only Monument Park-connected day to be held at a building not named Yankee Stadium.
April 21, 1976: Plaque dedicated to Joe McCarthy. Beat the White Sox 10-7. Rudy May was the winning pitcher. Chris Chambliss homered. This was the 1st Monument Park day to be held at the original Yankee Stadium after its renovation.
July 30, 1976: Plaque dedicated to Stengel. At least, that's what the date says on the Plaque. But according to Baseball-Reference.com, the Yankees were on the road that day -- at Fenway Park, no less. As Casey himself would have said, "And you could look it up." Well, I did. The Yankees beat the Red Sox 6-4. Ed Figueroa went the distance for the win. Mickey Rivers and Carlos May homered. Barring further information, I'm accepting this text as official.
August 2, 1979: Number 15 retired for Thurman Munson, who died that day in a plane crash. He was practicing takeoffs and landings at the Akron-Canton Regional Airport near his hometown of Canton, Ohio. He could do this since it was an off-day for the Yankees. George Steinbrenner made the announcement of the number retirement at the same time as that of Thurman's death.
October 2, 1979: Plaque donated by the Knights of Columbus in honor of that day's Mass delivered by Pope John Paul II. Again, the Yankees were not playing that day, as the season had ended. This is the source of the now-outdated trick question: "Who are the two former Cardinals honored in Yankee Stadium's Monument Park?" This joke ignored the fact that, since 1984, if you're talking about former St. Louis Cardinals, the answer is, "Miller Huggins and Roger Maris." Pope Benedict XVI made it three -- but so has Tino Martinez, and when Joe Torre gets his Plaque, well, Pope Francis, you're on the clock!
September 20, 1980: Plaque dedicated to Munson. Lost to the Red Sox 4-1. Gaylord Perry, briefly a Yankee, started and got shelled, not getting out of the 2nd inning. No homers.
July 21, 1984: Plaques dedicated to Elston Howard and Roger Maris. Number 32 retired for Howard, Number 9 retired for Maris. Lost to the Minnesota Twins 5-2. Ray Fontenot started and lost. Steve Kemp homered.
August 4, 1985: Plaque dedicated to Phil Rizzuto, Number 10 retired for him. Lost to the White Sox 4-1. Joe Cowley started and lost. No homers. Tom Seaver, the legendary Met, started for the White Sox, went the distance, and got his 300th win. (The same day, across the country in Anaheim, Rod Carew got his 3,000th hit.) I was there for this one, and with thousands of Met fans infecting Yankee Stadium, it made for a turbulent afternoon.
August 10, 1986: Plaque dedicated to Billy Martin, Number 1 retired for him. Lost to the Kansas City Royals 13-3. Dennis Rasmussen took the loss. No homers.
August 2, 1987: Plaques dedicated to Ford and Lefty Gomez. Beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5. Rick Rhoden was the winning pitcher. Mike Pagliarulo homered.
August 21, 1988: Plaques dedicated to Dickey and Berra. Lost to the Seattle Mariners 4-2. Rhoden was the losing pitcher. No homers.
August 27, 1989: Plaque dedicated to Allie Reynolds. Lost to the Orioles 8-5. Greg Cadaret started and lost. Bob Geren and Don Mattingly homered.
August 14, 1993: Number 44 retired for Reggie Jackson. Beat the Orioles 4-2. Domingo Jean started, Paul Assenmacher won in relief. No homers -- kind of ironic for a day honoring Reggie. But the Yankees got the win, which was appropriate.
August 25, 1996: Monument dedicated to Mantle, replacing his Plaque. Lost to the Oakland Athletics 6-4. Andy Pettitte started, but Jeff Nelson lost in relief. Darryl Strawberry and Tino Martinez homered.
August 31, 1997: Plaque dedicated to Don Mattingly, Number 23 retired for him. Beat the Montreal Expos 3-2. This was the 1st Monument Park day with an Interleague opponent. Pettitte was the winning pitcher. Bernie Williams homered.
July 25, 1998: Plaque dedicated to Mel Allen. Lost to the White Sox 6-2. Hideki Irabu was the losing pitcher. No homers.
April 25, 1999: Monument dedicated to DiMaggio, replacing his Plaque. Beat the Toronto Blue Jays 4-3. David Cone started, Mariano Rivera actually blew a save, but Jason Grimsley won in relief. No homers.
May 7, 2000: Plaque dedicated to Bob Sheppard. Lost to the Orioles 7-6. Ramiro Mendoza started, but Rivera blew the save and was the losing pitcher. Scott Brosius homered.
July 6, 2002: Reggie finally gets his Plaque. Lost to the Blue Jays 8-3. Pettitte was the losing pitcher. No homers.
September 11, 2002: Monument dedicated to the September 11, 2001 victims and rescue workers. Beat the Orioles 5-4. Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez started, Steve Karsay won it in relief. Robin Ventura and Alfonso Soriano homered.
August 23, 2003: Plaque dedicated to Ron Guidry, Number 49 retired for him. Lost to the Orioles 7-2. Former Oriole Mike Mussina was the starting and losing pitcher. Jorge Posada homered.
July 10, 2004: Plaque dedicated to Red Ruffing. Beat the Tampa Bay Devil Rays 6-3. Jon Lieber was the starter and winner. Alex Rodriguez homered. This made Ruffing the last player so honored at the old Yankee Stadium.
April 20, 2008: Plaque donated by the Knights of Columbus in honor of that day's Mass delivered by Pope Benedict XVI. Obviously, the Yankees were playing on the road, at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Beat the Orioles 7-1. Pettitte was the winning pitcher. Johnny Damon homered. This was the last dedication at the old Yankee Stadium.
September 20, 2010: Monument dedicated to George Steinbrenner. Beat the Rays 8-6. Ivan Nova started, Chad Gaudin blew a save, but became the winning pitcher anyway. Curtis Granderson hit 2 homers. This was the 1st Monument Park dedication at the new Yankee Stadium.
September 22, 2013: Number 42 retired for Mariano Rivera. No Plaque yet. Lost to the San Francisco Giants 2-1. Andy Pettitte pitched well, but lost. Mark Reynolds homered. This made Mo the 1st player honored at the new Stadium, although Damon and Hideki Matsui had gotten "days" without a number retirement or a Plaque.
April 16, 2014: Monument dedicated to Nelson Mandela, who spoke at a rally at the old Stadium in 1990. The date on the Plaque says April 15, because it was supposed to be part of the celebrations of Jackie Robinson Day, to be followed by a game against the Chicago Cubs. But it rained, and the ceremony was pushed back a day. The Yankees swept the rain-forced doubleheader, taking the 1st game 3-0, with Masahiro Tanaka winning with the aid of a Carlos Beltran home run; and the 2nd game 2-0, with Michael Pineda winning without the benefit of a Yankee home run.
June 21, 2014: Plaque dedicated for Tino Martinez. Lost to the Orioles 6-1. Vidal Nuno was the losing pitcher. Mark Teixeira homered. This made Tino the 1st player given a Plaque at the new Stadium.
June 22, 2014: Plaque dedicated for Rich "Goose" Gossage. Lost to the Orioles 8-0. Tanaka lost. No homers.
August 9, 2014: Plaque dedicated for Paul O'Neill. Oddly, Number 21 was not retired for him, and still hasn't been. Lost to the Indians 3-0. Brandon McCarthy pitched well, but took the loss. No homers.
August 23, 2014: Plaque dedicated for Joe Torre, Number 6 retired for him. Beat the White Sox 5-3. Hiroki Kuroda was the starter and winner. Carlos Beltran homered.
September 7, 2014: Ceremony for Derek Jeter. With his final career statistics not yet set, he didn't get a Plaque, and neither was his Number 2 formally retired. Lost to the Royals 2-0. Shane Greene pitched well, but took the loss. No homers.
May 24, 2015: Plaque dedicated for Bernie Williams. Number 51 retired for him. Lost to the Texas Rangers 5-2. Chris Capuano didn't make it out of the 5th inning.
June 20, 2015: Plaques dedicated for Willie Randolph and Mel Stottlemyre. Beat the Tigers 14-3. Nathan Eovaldi was backed by 2 home runs by Carlos Beltran, and 1 each by Didi Gregorius, Alex Rodriguez and Chris Young.
August 22, 2015: Plaque dedicated for Jorge Posada. Number 20 retired for him. Beat the Indians 6-2. Homers by Brett Gardner and Brian McCann gave Luis Severino his 1st major league win.
August 23, 2015: Plaque dedicated for Andy Pettitte. Number 46 retired for him. Lost to the Indians 4-3. On a day that celebrated a great Yankee starting pitcher, Joe Girardi used 6 pitchers, none of whom went at least 3 innings, and blew it.
12-3 up to 1975, 15-18 since, 27-21 overall.
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