This list includes every Yankee figure in Monument Park, any member of the Baseball Hall of Fame who had significant contributions to the Yankees, and any player who got a YES Network Yankeeography. It also includes current Yankee stars. And "stars."
April 14, 1915, Griffith Stadium, Washington, Jacob Ruppert (as owner): Yankees lose to Washington Senators 7-0. President Woodrow Wilson throws out the first ball, and Walter Johnson pitches a shutout.
April 15, 1918, Griffith Stadium, Miller Huggins (as manager): Yankees beat Senators 6-3. Wilson does not throw out the first ball, as World War I is on and he believes he shouldn't do it for the duration. George Mogridge outpitches Johnson.
April 14, 1920, Shibe Park, Philadelphia, Babe Ruth: Yankees lose to Philadelphia Athletics 3-1. Don't blame the Babe: He goes 2-for-4, although neither hit is a home run. He doesn't hit his 1st home run as a Yankee until May 1, then hits another 53 over the course of the season.
April 13, 1921, Polo Grounds, New York, Ed Barrow (as general manager): Yankees beat A's 11-1.
April 14, 1921, Polo Grounds, Waite Hoyt: Yankees lose to A's 4-3. Hoyt pitches 7 innings, allows 2 runs, and is not involved in the decision.
April 22, 1923, Yankee Stadium, New York, Herb Pennock: Yankees lose to Senators 4-3. Pennock pitches an inning and 2/3rds in relief of Bob Shawkey, who is outpitched by Johnson, despite a home run by Everett Scott.
June 15, 1923, Yankee Stadium, Lou Gehrig: Yankees beat St. Louis Browns 10-0. Pennock pitches a shutout. In a bit of foreshadowing, Gehrig is inserted as a defensive replacement for Wally Pipp at 1st base, and doesn't come to bat. He currently stands as a "Moonlight Graham," but goes on, of course, to become one of the greatest hitters the game has ever known.
April 16, 1924, Fenway Park, Boston, Earle Combs: Yankees lose to Boston Red Sox 9-6. Combs singles as a pinch-hitter for Bullet Joe Bush, who relieved Sad Sam Jones, who earned his nickname by allowing 6 runs in the 1st 2 innings.
April 13, 1926, Fenway Park, Tony Lazzeri: Yankees beat Red Sox 12-11. Lazzeri goes 1-for-4 with an RBI single. Although the Yankees have him, Ruth, Gehrig, Combs and Bob Meusel, every hitter except starting pitcher Bob Shawkey has a hit, and they stroke 15 hits in total, none is a home run.
August 15, 1928, Yankee Stadium, Bill Dickey: Yankees lose to Chicago White Sox 8-4. Dickey goes 0-for-2 as a replacement for catcher Benny Bengough, and is essentially the Yankees' starting catcher for the following 15 seasons. Babe Ruth and Joe Dugan hit home runs, but it's not enough, as George Pipgras doesn't get out of the 3rd inning.
April 29, 1930, Griffith Stadium, Lefty Gomez: Yankees lose to Senators 11-8. In his major league debut, Vernon Louis Gomez was the losing pitcher. The Yankees led 7-0 going into the bottom of the 3rd inning, but the Senators exploded for 7 of their own, Tom Zachary and Roy Sherid. Gomez stopped the bleeding for the moment, but allowed more runs. Things would get better for him.
May 11, 1930, Yankee Stadium, Red Ruffing: Yankees beat Detroit Tigers 7-6. Ruffing was no rookie, but had been part of a terrible Red Sox team before coming to The Bronx in a trade the Sox were desperate to make because they needed cash fast. This was 3 years before Tom Yawkey bought them, and ended their money troubles forever.
Charles Herbert Ruffing pitched a complete game, and, while shaky, emerged as the winning pitcher. He and Gomez formed the best righty-lefty pitching combination of the 1930s.
April 14, 1931, Yankee Stadium, Joe McCarthy (as manager): Yankees beat Red Sox 6-3. Ruth hits a home run, and Ruffing goes the distance for the win.
May 3, 1936, Yankee Stadium, Joe DiMaggio: Yankees beat Browns 14-5. Joltin' Joe's Yankee debut is a couple of weeks late due to an injury. He goes 3-for-6 with an RBI triple, and goes on to have perhaps the greatest rookie season in baseball history.
April 18, 1938, Fenway Park, Joe Gordon: Yankees lose to Red Sox 8-4. Gordon goes 0-for-4, and Jim Bagby Jr. holds the rest of the Bronx Bombers off.
April 20, 1939, Yankee Stadium, Mel Allen (as broadcaster): Yankees beat Red Sox 2-0. Dickey hits a home run off Lefty Grove, and Ruffing pitches a shutout. This is also the major league debut of Ted Williams. Ruffing strikes him out the 1st 2 times up, but he cracks a double in his 3rd attempt.
Lou Gehrig goes 0-for-4, and New Yorkers begin to see that what has been reported from Spring Training is true: Something is wrong with him.
April 14, 1941, Griffith Stadium, Phil Rizzuto: Yankees beat Senators 3-0. Franklin Delano Roosevelt sets a Presidential record that can never be broken, with his 9th Opening Day ceremonial first ball. It's his last, as, like Wilson, he refused to do it while a World War was on.
The Scooter leads off, and he might have been overwhelming by the hoopla, as he went 0-for-4. But DiMaggio tripled home a run in the 1st inning, and that was all that Marius Russo needed, as he pitched a 3-hit shutout.
September 22, 1946, Yankee Stadium, Yogi Berra: Yankees beat A's 4-3. Yogi goes 2-for-4, including a home run off Jesse Flores.
April 18, 1947, Griffith Stadium, Allie Reynolds: Yankees beat Senators 7-0. The man later known as the Superchief pitches a shutout, allowing 8 hits and 2 walks, with 6 strikeouts.
April 19, 1948, Griffith Stadium, George Weiss (as general manager): Yankees beat Senators 12-4. President Harry S Truman throws out the first ball. Allie Reynolds backs himself up with a home run, and Tommy Henrich also homers.
April 19, 1949, Yankee Stadium, Casey Stengel (as manager): Yankees beat Senators 3-2. The Babe Ruth Monument is dedicated, on this Opening Day of the season after his death. Henrich homers in support of Eddie Lopat, who pitches a complete game.
August 24, 1949, Briggs Stadium (later renamed Tiger Stadium), Detroit, Johnny Mize: Yankees lose to Tigers 12-3. Don't blame "the Big Cat": Coming over in a trade from the New York Giants, he went 1-for-4.
July 1, 1950, Fenway Park, Whitey Ford: Yankees lose to Red Sox 13-4. Tommy Byrne gets shelled, and doesn't get out of the 2nd inning. Whitey relieves him, pitching through the 7th, and also gets pounded, allowing 5 runs on 7 hits and 6 walks. He got better.
April 17, 1951, Yankee Stadium, Mickey Mantle: Yankees beat Red Sox 5-0. The Mick wears Number 6, bats 3rd, and plays right field -- instead of the Number 7, 4th, and center field that would become so familiar.
Against Bill Wight, he grounds to 2nd in the 1st inning, pops up to 3rd in the 3rd, and singles home Jackie Jensen in the 6th. Against Mickey McDermott, he flies to right in the 8th. Jensen is the only Yankee to hit a home run, and would later be traded to the Red Sox, and beat Mickey out for the 1958 American League Most Valuable Player award.
April 17, 1951, Yankee Stadium, Bob Sheppard (as public address announcer): Same game as Mantle. The 1st name he introduced was DiMaggio -- not Joe, but his younger brother Dom, the Red Sox' center fielder and leadoff hitter.
April 14, 1955, Fenway Park, Elston Howard: Yankees lose to Red Sox 8-4. In the bottom of the 6th inning, Ellie replaces Irv Noren in left field, thus becoming the 1st nonwhite player in Yankee history. He has 1 at-bat, a single in the 8th, driving Mantle home. The Red Sox would take 4 more years to integrate, the last MLB team to do so.
April 17, 1955, Griffith Stadium, Don Larsen: Yankees lose to Senators 7-3. Larsen relieves Lopat, and pitches a scoreless 6th and 7th inning.
April 19, 1960, Fenway Park, Roger Maris: Yankees beat Red Sox 8-4. Maris had a great Yankee debut, hitting 2 home runs, a double and a single, for 4 RBIs to back Jim Coates up.
August 12, 1964, Yankee Stadium, Mel Stottlemyre: Yankees beat White Sox 7-3. Mel goes the distance, allowing 3 runs (2 earned) on 7 hits and only 1 walk, and 1 strikeout.
Mantle hits 2 home runs, including a blast to center field that was measured at 502 feet, the longest home run ever measured at either Yankee Stadium. (In the 1976-2008 configuration, it would have been at the back of the black batter's eye.) Babe Ruth probably hit one longer, but this is the longest ever measured. Maris and Clete Boyer also homer.
September 8, 1965, Yankee Stadium, Bobby Murcer: Yankees beat Senators 6-5. Bobby goes 0-for-4. Archie Moore (not the boxer) and Ray Barker (no, I'd never heard of this long-ago Yankee, either) hit home runs to support Jim Bouton.
This was the 1st Mickey Mantle Day, in honor of his 2,000th game in a Yankee uniform. Joe DiMaggio was on hand. So was one of New York's Senators, Robert F. Kennedy. DiMaggio fumed, because he blamed the Kennedys for Marilyn Monroe's death.
August 8, 1969, Yankee Stadium, Thurman Munson: Yankees beat Oakland Athletics 5-0. Al Downing pitches a 4-hit shutout, defeating future Yankee Catfish Hunter. Other future Yankees playing for the A's in this game: Reggie Jackson, Bert Campaneris and Danny Carter.
That Munson was the only such debutant in an 8-year stretch is a sign of how depleted the Yankee farm system was.
April 19, 1972, Yankee Stadium, Sparky Lyle: Yankees 3, Milwaukee Brewers 2. Sparky did not appear in the Yankees' 1st 3 games (in a season whose start was delayed by a strike). But, in this one, he gets the last out to save the game for Mike Kekich. (Fritz Peterson, his wife and Kekich's wife couldn't be reached for comment.) Surprisingly, all 3 Yankee runs come on a bases-loaded triple by the light-hitting Gene Michael.
April 6, 1973, Fenway Park, George Steinbrenner (as owner): Red Sox 15, Yankees 5. Certainly, the Boss was not happy. This was the game in which Ron Blomberg, normally a 1st baseman, came to the plate as the 1st designated hitter in regular-season Major League Baseball history, drawing a bases-loaded walk off Luis Tiant to highlight a 3-run Yankee 1st inning.
But it was all downhill from there, as Carl Yastrzemski and Carlton Fisk hit home runs off Stottlemyre, and Fisk added another off Lindy McDaniel.
April 6, 1973, Fenway Park, Graig Nettles: Same game as Steinbrenner. He batted 5th, and had easily the best game of any Yankee that day, going 1-for-2. He drew a walk in the 1st to set up Blomberg's DH debut, and then scored on Felipe Alou's double. He homered off Tiant in the 3rd, got an RBI groundout in the 5th, and drew another walk in the 8th.
April 9, 1974, Tiger Stadium, Lou Piniella: Yankees 3, Tigers 0. Held out of the team's 1st 2 games, their 1st games at Shea Stadium while Yankee Stadium was being renovated, both wins over Cleveland, Sweet Lou helped ruin Detroit's home opener by going 2-for-3.
He tagged Mickey Lolich for a 2-run single in the 1st inning, drew a walk in the 3rd, singled in the 6th, and flew out in the 8th, backing up Steve Kline, who got help from Fred Beene and Sparky Lyle to finish an 8-hit shutout.
April 11, 1975, Shea Stadium, New York, Jim "Catfish" Hunter: Tigers 5, Yankees 3. Catfish was held out of the season opener, 3 days earlier in Cleveland, so he could start in the home opener. That Cleveland opener was when Frank Robinson made his debut as the 1st black manager, and, still playing, hit a home run off George "Doc" Medich,
The rearrangement of Catfish's Yankee debut didn't work out as planned: Although he pitched a complete game, he gave up home runs to Willie Horton and Nate Colbert, and the Yankees couldn't reach Lolich.
July 27, 1975, Shea Stadium, Ron Guidry: Red Sox 6, Yankees 0. The man eventually known as "Gator" and "Louisiana Lightning" pitched the 8th and 9th innings of a game already lost by Tippy Martinez and Dick Tidrow, including a Yastrzemski homer, as Roger Moret pitched a 6-hit shutout.
August 2, 1975, Shea Stadium: Billy Martin (as manager): Yankees 5, Indians 3. Appropriately enough for the former Yankee 2nd baseman (1950-57), it was Old-Timers' Day. (Not so appropriate: It was at Shea.) Roy White hit a home run off former Yankee Fritz Peterson, and Pat "Snake" Dobson and Albert "Sparky" Lyle combined to win it.
April 8, 1976, Milwaukee County Stadium, Willie Randolph: Yankees 5, Brewers 0. The Bronx Bombers scored all their runs in the 1st 2 innings, in support o Catfish. Willie batted 7th and went 0-for-2 with a walk.
April 7, 1977, Yankee Stadium, Reggie Jackson: Yankees beat Brewers 3-0. Reggie flew out to center in the 1st, singled to left and scored in the 4th, singled to center and scored in the 6th, and grounded to 1st in the 8th, going 2-for-4 with no RBIs -- effective, but, unlike what we would come to expect from Reggie, unspectacular.
Jimmy Wynn, briefly a Yankee, hit a home run. The Brew Crew got only 5 hits off Catfish and Sparky, 3 of them by center fielder Von Joshua.
April 8, 1978, Arlington Stadium, Arlington, outside Dallas, Rich "Goose" Gossage: Texas Rangers 2, Yankees 1. Guidry cruised for 7 innings against former Met Jon Matlack. But in the 8th inning, Gossage gave up a home run to Richie Zisk, and that made the difference. Billy Martin didn't trust the Goose after that. Once Billy was fired, Bob Lemon did trust him, and things got better.
April 9, 1981, Yankee Stadium, Dave Winfield: Yankees 10, Rangers 3. Big Dave drew a walk in the 1st, flew out to center in the 3rd, singled to right in the 5th, singled to center in the 7th, and walked again in the 8th.
Matlack wasn't so lucky for the Rangers against the Yanks this time, giving up home runs to Murcer and Bucky Dent. Tommy John went 8 innings for the win.
September 8, 1982, Yankee Stadium, Don Mattingly: Yankees beat Baltimore Orioles 10-5. Mattingly was a 9th inning replacement in left field for Ken Griffey Sr., and did not come to bat. He could have become a "Moonlight Graham."
Jay Howell, later known as a reliever, started, and went 8 strong innings for the win, as an aging Jim Palmer, normally a tough opponent for the Yankees, didn't get out of the 3rd inning. Winfield, Griffey, Roy Smalley and Jerry Mumphrey hit home runs.
A 9-year gap between debutants shows just how good George Steinbrenner was at running a team when he didn't have Gabe Paul, Al Rosen or Gene Michael advising him.
July 7, 1991, Yankee Stadium, Bernie Williams: Yankees lose to Orioles 5-3. Bernie starts and plays center field, going 1-for-3, with an RBI sacrifice fly in the 5th inning, and an RBI single in the bottom of the 9th that looked like it might be part of a comeback, but it fell short.
April 5, 1993, Cleveland Municipal Stadium, Wade Boggs: Yankees 9, Indians 1. Boggs goes 1-for-4, including driving 2 runs home with a 6th inning single.
April 5, 1993, Cleveland Municipal Stadium, Paul O'Neill: Same game as Boggs. He goes 2-for-5, hitting singles in the 2nd and the 6th. It is also the Yankee debut of Jimmy Key, who goes 8 innings for the win.
April 29, 1995, Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City, Andy Pettitte: Yankees beat Royals 10-3. Andy entered the game in the 7th inning, relieving Melido Perez, with the Yankees up 5-1. He was a bit shaky, getting the 1st 2 outs, but then allowing 2 runs on 3 hits and a wild pitch, before being replaced by Bob Wickman. The Yankees won the game anyway.
May 23, 1995, Anaheim Stadium, Anaheim, outside Los Angeles, Mariano Rivera: California Angels 10, Yankees 0. The 25-year-old Panamanian started, and was fine in the 1st 2 innings, but didn't get out of the 4th, allowing 5 runs. Jim Edmonds hit 2 home runs, 1 off Mariano. Chuck Finley went the distance for the Halos, allowing only a single by Randy Velarde, a triple by Russ Davis, and walks to Davis and Jim Leyritz.
Mariano's next start was considerably better, but it would not be as a starter that he made his mark in baseball.
May 29, 1995, Kingdome, Seattle, Derek Jeter: Seattle Mariners 8, Yankees 7. Jeter batted 9th, and went 0-for-5 -- but he was already wearing Number 2, which turned out to be the last single-digit uniform number for the Yankees, 3,465 hits later.
Velarde and Dion James hit home runs, but Jack McDowell had a bad start, and Scott Bankhead gave up a home run to Rich Amaral to lead off the bottom of the 12th. It was a bit of foreshadowing for the Yanks and M's, who would meet in the AL Division Series.
July 29, 1995, Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, Minneapolis, David Cone: Yankees beat Minnesota Twins 4-2. Newly-acquired from the cost-cutting Blue Jays, Coney goes 8 innings,allowing 2 runs on 6 hits and 4 walks, and strikes out 9.
September 4, 1995, Yankee Stadium, Jorge Posada: Yankees 13, Mariners 3. Bernie went 3-for-6, including a home run and 4 RBIs; while O'Neill went 3-for-5 with 3 RBIs. Jorge entered the game in the 9th, as a defensive replacement at catcher, for Leyritz. He caught Joe Ausanio, who pitched to 4 men, and got 3 of them out.
April 2, 1996, Jacobs (now Progressive) Field, Cleveland, Joe Torre (as manager): Yankees 7, Indians 1. Rescheduled from previous day's snowout. Bernie and, with the 1st of his career in his 1st start at shortstop, Derek hit home runs. Come pitched 7 scoreless innings for the win.
April 2, 1996, Progressive Field, Tino Martinez: Same game as Torre. Went 1-for-4, plus a walk.
April 4, 1997, Oakland Coliseum, David Wells: A's 4, Yankees 2. Wells started, and pitched 7 innings, allowing 1 run on 6 hits and 3 walks, with 8 strikeouts. But David Weathers imploded in the out, and blew the game.
April 5, 1999, Oakland Coliseum, Roger Clemens: A's 5, Yankees 3. The Rocket was not sharp, going 6 2/3rds innings, allowing 3 runs on 4 hits and 5 walks, with 8 strikeouts. He was winning, but Mike Stanton blew the save.
April 5, 2001, Yankee Stadium, Mike Mussina: Yankees 1, Kansas City Royals 0. The Yankees' 2nd "Moose" (1954-62 1st baseman Bill Skowron was the 1st) was brilliant, pitching into the 8th inning, allowing just 5 hits and no walks, with Rivera getting the last 4 outs for the save. The only run came on an O'Neill home run in the 1st.
March 31, 2003, Rogers Centre, Toronto, Hideki Matsui: Yankees 8, Toronto Blue Jays 4. Matsui went 1-for-4, while Robin Ventura and Alfonso Soriano hit home runs. Unfortunately, this game is remembered for a nasty shoulder injury that knocked Derek Jeter out for the 1st 2 months of the season. Matsui's home debut is much better known, because it was Opening Day at Yankee Stadium, and he hit a grand slam against the Twins.
March 30, 2004, Tokyo Dome, Tokyo, Japan, Alex Rodriguez: Yankees lose to Tampa Bay Devil Rays 8-3. A-Rod strikes out against Victor Zambrano in the 1st and 3rd innings, then leads off the 6th with a double off Zambrano, before popping up to short against Lance Carter in the 8th.
June 30, 2008, Yankee Stadium, Brett Gardner: Rangers beat Yankees 2-1. Mike Mussina pitched very well, but Scott Feldman pitched even better, his only real mistake a gopher ball to A-Rod. Gardner played let field, led off, went 0-for-3, and was replaced by Johnny Damon.
April 6, 2009, Oriole Park at Camden Yards, Baltimore, CC Sabathia: Yankees lose to Orioles 10-5. The Big Fella doesn't have it, and doesn't get out of the 5th inning. Posada and Matsui hit home runs, but it's not nearly enough.
April 4, 2014, Rogers Centre, Masahiro Tanaka: Yankees beat Toronto Blue Jays 7-3. Tanaka allows 3 runs in the 1st 2 innings, 2 of them earned, 1 on a home run by former Yankee Melky Cabrera. But he settles down after that, allowing no more runs through the 7th -- setting the pattern for many of his starts. Jacoby Ellsbury and Ichiro Suzuki each collect 3 hits, and there are 2 each for Gardner, Kelly Johnson and Yangervis Solarte.
April 6, 2015, Yankee Stadium II, Didi Gregorius: Yankees lose to Blue Jays 6-1. Not a good Opening Day for the Pinstripes, as Drew Hutchison allows only a home run to Brett Gardner. Gregorius pops up and lines out, and is hit by a pitch from Aaron Loup, probably unintentional.
October 3, 2015, Camden Yards, Gary Sanchez: Yankees lose to Baltimore Orioles 9-2. Sanchez pinch-hit for Greg Bird in the 9th inning, and popped up to 3rd base. Ivan Nova didn't get out of the 6th inning. Rain forced a doubleheader for this day, and the Yankees lost the 2nd game 4-3.
August 13, 2016, Yankee Stadium, Aaron Judge: Yankees beat Tampa Bay Rays 8-4. Judge went 2-for-4, including a solo home run off Matt Andriese. This was the day after A-Rod's last game, so this may turn out to be a fulcrum moment in Yankee history.
June 28, 2017, Guaranteed Rate Field, Chicago, Miguel Andujar: Yankees beat White Sox 12-3. Andujar starts as the DH, bats 7th, and goes 3-for-4 with 4 RBIs. This did not include a home run, but Judge and Gregorius hit them.
July 1, 2017, Minute Maid Park, Houston, Clint Frazier: Yankees lose to Houston Astros 7-6. Frazier hits a double and a home run in 4 trips up as the right fielder, but the Yankees lose. Great debut, very good start... and then pitchers figured him out.
March 29, 2018, Rogers Centre, Toronto, Giancarlo Stanton: Yankees beat Blue Jays 6-1. His 1st at-bat as a Yankee is a 426-foot home run, and he goes 3-for-5 in his debut. He has since alternated between heavy hitting and struggling.
April 22, 2018, Yankee Stadium II, Gleyber Torres: 0-for-4. Yankees beat Blue Jays 5-1. Torres goes 0-for-4, and makes it 0-for-7 before finally getting his 1st major league hit the next night, against the Minnesota Twins.
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