October 8, 1956: Don Larsen's Perfect Game

October 8, 1956, 70 years ago: Game 5 of the World Series is played at the original Yankee Stadium in The Bronx. The previous year, the Brooklyn Dodgers had beaten the New York Yankees in the Series. They had previously been 0-7 in World Series, including 0-5 against the Yankees.

This time, the Dodgers had won Games 1 and 2 at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn. This included the Game 2 start of the Yankees' Don Larsen, who didn't get out of the 2nd inning, but also didn't end up as the losing pitcher, since the Yankees came back to retake the lead, and then lost it again. The Yankees took Games 3 and 4 at Yankee Stadium.

For Game 5, Yankee manager Casey Stengel took a chance on Larsen, who'd had only 3 days rest (in those days, when it was an All-New York "Subway Series," there were no travel days), but had pitched less than 2 full innings. He also had a "no-windup delivery," which was easier on his arm.

A 27-year-old righthanded pitcher born in Michigan City, Indiana, who grew up in San Diego, Donald James Larsen was unremarkable for most of his career. Indeed, like the only man ever to pitch back-to-back no-hitters, Johnny Vander Meer of the 1938 Cincinnati Reds, he had a losing won-lost record for his career: 81-91. Much of that was due to his 3-21 performance for the 1954 Baltimore Orioles, although he did go 11-5 for the Yankees in the 1956 regular season.

Starting for the Dodgers was Sal Maglie, the former ace of the New York Giants and one of the most hated opponents in Brooklyn history, but who had come to the Dodgers in midseason and pitched a no-hitter of his own -- something he hadn't done for the Giants. It is still the last no-hitter pitched by a player for a National League team in New York -- unless you believe that Carlos Beltran’s line drive really was foul, thus giving Johan Santana a no-hitter for the Mets in 2012.

Maglie was a proven veteran, Larsen a journeyman. And Game 6 would be at Ebbets Field. If necessary, so would Game 7.

It wasn't looking good for the Bronx Bombers.

Here was the Dodgers' starting lineup:

2B 19 Jim "Junior" Gilliam
SS 1 Harold "Pee Wee" Reese
CF 4 Edwin "Duke" Snider
3B 42 Jackie Robinson
1B 14 Gil Hodges
LF 15 Edmundo "Sandy" Amoros
RF 6 Carl "The Reading Rifle" Furillo
C 39 Roy Campanella
P 35 Sal "The Barber" Maglie

Granted, Walter Alston was the manager of the defending World Champions, but what was he thinking? Robinson, an ideal leadoff man but not with much home run power, batting 4th? Furillo, a former batting champion, 7th? Campy, a terrific power hitter, 8th?!?

And for the Yankees:

RF 9 Hank Bauer
1B 15 Joe Collins
CF 7 Mickey Mantle
C 8 Lawrence "Yogi" Berra
LF 17 Enos Slaughter
2B 1 Billy Martin
SS 12 Gil McDougald
3B 6 Andy Carey
P 18 Don Larsen

The umpires were:

* At home plate, Ralph "Babe" Pinelli, a former 3rd baseman for the Cincinnati Reds, who was calling his last games before retiring after 22 seasons as a National League umpire.

* At 1st base, Hank Soar, an American League ump who had been a two-way back for the football New York Giants, appearing in 5 NFL Championship Games, winning in 1938.

* At 2nd base, Lynton "Dusty" Boggess, an NL ump and a former St. Louis Cardinal farmhand.

* At 3rd base, Larry Napp, an AL ump, a Brooklyn native, and a former minor league catcher, who would be the 1st base umpire for Catfish Hunter's perfect game in 1968.

* In left field, Tom Gorman, a Manhattan native who pitched 4 games for the Giants in 1939 before becoming an NL ump.

* And, in right field, Ed Runge, an AL ump whose son Paul and grandson Brian also became major league umps. 

At 1:02 PM, Eastern Time, Pinelli yelled, "Play ball!" and a crowd of 64,519 was ready to go. Larsen began the game by striking Gilliam out. He got to 3 balls on Reese, but struck him out. He would not get to 3 balls on another batter that day. He got Snider to line out to right. In the Yankee half of the 1st, Bauer popped to short, Collins was unable to beat out a bunt to 3rd, and Mantle flew to left.

The closest call came leading off the top of the 2nd inning, when Robinson hit a sharp grounder off Carey's glove. McDougald, who moved from 3rd to short in the Yankee lineup after Phil Rizzuto was released a few weeks earlier, took it, and just barely threw Robinson out. Larsen then struck Hodges out, and got Amoros to pop to 2nd. For the Yankees, Berra popped to short, Slaughter flew to left, and Martin struck out.

In the 3rd, Larsen got Furillo to fly to right, struck Campanella out, and got Maglie to line out to Mantle. McDougald grounded to 3rd, Carey popped up behind the plate where the ball was caught by Campanella, and Larsen did the same.

In the top of the 4th, Larsen got Gilliam to ground to 2nd, got Reese to do the same, and struck Snider out. Maglie, whom Dodger fans despised when he was the headhunting ace of their arch-rivals, actually had a perfect game going himself going into the bottom of the 4th. He got Bauer to ground to 2nd, and struck Collins out. But Mickey Mantle broke it up with a home run into the right field seats. It wasn't one of Mantle's famed towering drives, but it wasn't a "short porch" home run, either: It would have been a home run in just about any ballpark. Maglie then got Berra to line to center, but it was 1-0 Yankees.

In the 5th, Robinson hit a long fly to right, but Bauer caught it. Hodges came up, and drove the ball to Yankee Stadium's famed left-center "Death Valley." Mantle made a running, onehanded, backhanded catch. It was about 420 feet from home plate, and was nearly as remarkable as the 440-foot catch Willie Mays had made 2 World Series earlier. Perhaps even more so, since, unlike Willie, Mickey wasn't known as a spectacular fielder (though that may have been because so much fuss was made about his hitting). Larsen got Amoros to ground to 2nd.

Slaughter led off the bottom of the 5th with a walk. Martin tried to bunt him over, but the Dodgers got Slaughter as the lead runner. And then McDougald hit a line shot at Reese, who caught it, and threw over to Hodges to double Martin off. End of 5, Yankees 1, Dodgers 0.

Larsen got Furillo to pop up to 2nd, then got Campanella to do the same, and struck Maglie out. With 6 innings gone, people began to talk about the fact that a no-hitter was in progress. But old superstitions die hard. No one wanted to say the word "no-hitter" for fear of jinxing it.

After all, none had ever been pitched in the World Series before. The Yankees' Herb Pennock came within 4 outs of a perfect game in 1927. In 1947, the Yankees' Bill Bevens needed 1 more out against the Dodgers, but he had walked 10 batters, and Cookie Lavagetto cost him the game with a 2-RBI double. That was only 9 years earlier, and 1 Yankee from that game was in this one: Berra.

When Larsen sat down in the dugout, everybody near him got up and moved to the other end of the dugout. After the 7th, he purposely sat down next to Mantle, and said, "Hey, Mickey, can you believe I got a no-hitter going?" Mickey jumped up, and said, "Get away from me!"

Equally nervous was Berra, who said, many years later, "I think I woulda thought more about it if we had a 9-0 lead: 'Ooh, he's got a no-hitter goin'.' But, at 2-0, I was just worried about winning the game."

Yogi was right to worry. Snider was that season's NL home run leader and the previous season's RBI leader, and would end up with 407 career home runs. At the time, comparing him to Mantle and Willie Mays among New York's center fielders was no joke. Hodges would end his career with 370 home runs. Campanella had won 3 NL Most Valuable Player awards, and had been the NL RBI leader in 1953. That same year, Furillo had been batting champion. Robinson was batting champion and MVP in 1949. These were dangerous hitters, as Larsen had found out firsthand in Game 2.

Carey led off the bottom of the 6th with a single. Larsen sacrificed him to 2nd. Bauer singled him home. Collins singled, but Mantle grounded into a double play. End of 6: Yankees 2, Dodgers 0.

Top of the 7th: Larsen got Gilliam to ground to short, Reese to fly to center, and Snider to fly to left. Bottom of the 7th: Berra popped to 3rd, Slaughter flew to left, Martin singled to left, McDougald walked, and Carey grounded to short for a force play.

Top of the 8th: Robinson grounded back to Larsen. Hodges lined out to Carey. Amoros flew to center. Bottom of the 8th: Maglie was still pitching strong, and struck out the side: Larsen, Bauer and Collins.

Top of the 9th. A huge audience was watching Mel Allen call the game on NBC-TV, and listening to Bob Wolff on CBS radio. There had never been a no-hitter pitched in 53 years of World Series play. And the term "perfect game" wasn't widely known, either: It had been done by such luminaries as John Montgomery Ward, Cy Young and Addie Joss, but hadn't been done by anyone since another journeyman, Charlie Robertson, did it for the Chicago White Sox in 1922.

Furillo led off, and hit a long drive to right, which went barely foul. He flew to right again, but, this time, it was a comparatively easy catch for Bauer. Campanella grounded to 2nd. Just 1 out to go.

Alston sent Dale Mitchell up to pinch-hit for Maglie. As a Cleveland Indian, Mitchell had been in the opposing dugout for Mays' catch, but had always hit well against the Yankees. He was a .312 lifetime hitter, a 2-time All-Star, and a member of the Indians' 1948 World Champions. This would, however, turn out to be the last career at-bat for the 35-year-old lefty-hitting left fielder from Colony, Oklahoma.

Larsen threw a pitch that Pinelli called a ball. Then he threw a pitch that Pinelli called a strike.

At this point, Wolff told his audience, "I guarantee you that nobody, but nobody, has left this ballpark. And if somebody did, by chance, manage to leave early, man, he is missing the greatest! Here comes the pitch: A swing and a miss, strike 2!"

It was 3:08 PM. The count was 1-and-2. Larsen threw his 97th pitch of the afternoon. It snuck over the outside corner. Mitchell took the pitch. He died in 1987, still insisting that the pitch was a ball. Well, even if Pinelli had called it as such, the count would have been 2-and-2, and not to Mitchell's advantage.

But Pinelli called, "Strike three!" Ballgame over. Shutout over. No-hitter over. Perfect game over. Yankees win.

Wolff's call: "Two strikes, ball one, here's the pitch: Strike three! A no-hitter, a perfect game for Don Larsen! Yogi Berra leaps on Larsen!"

Two years later, Wolff would be behind the mike at Yankee Stadium again, calling the 1958 NFL Championship Game, in which the Baltimore Colts beat the football version of the New York Giants in overtime, the so-called "Greatest Game Ever Played."

It remains the greatest pitching performance in baseball history, and it was by an ordinary pitcher who was usually so unserious, his teammates called him Gooney Bird. But he had done what no other pitcher -- not Christy Mathewson, not Walter or Randy Johnson, not Lefty Grove, not Bob Feller, not Whitey Ford, not Sandy Koufax, not Bob Gibson, not Tom Seaver, not Steve Carlton, not Roger Clemens, not Greg Maddux -- has ever done: Pitch a no-hitter in the World Series. And he made it a perfect game. And he did it against the defending World Champions, with only a 2-0 lead, in what was really a must-win game.

The series shifted back to Ebbets Field. Bob Turley of the Yankees and Clem Labine of the Dodgers both went all 10 innings of Game 6, before a walkoff single by Jackie Robinson ensured a Game 7 for the Dodgers.

That Game 7 would prove calamitous for the Brooks, as Don Newcombe got shelled. Yogi hit 2 homers, Elston Howard added one, and Moose added another, a grand slam. Johnny Kucks pitched a 3-hit shutout, and the Yankees won, 9-0, avenging the previous year's defeat.

The last out was Jackie Robinson. Kucks struck him out, but Berra couldn't handle it. Perhaps remembering Game 4 of the 1941 World Series, where a similar play cost the Dodgers against the Yankees, Robinson ran to 1st. Unlike the ill-fated Mickey Owen in 1941, however, Yogi was able to get the ball, and throw Jackie out.

No one knew it at the time, but that was Jackie's last at-bat. He retired in the off-season. Also not known at the time: That Game 7 was the last World Series game the Brooklyn Dodgers ever played. After 1 more season, they moved to Los Angeles. At the same time, the Giants moved to San Francisco. There would not be another "Subway Series" until 2000, Yankees vs. Mets.

On May 17, 1998, David Wells pitched a perfect game for the Yankees. He went to the same high school as Larsen, Point Loma in San Diego. On July 18, 1999, the Yankees honored Yogi, and had him catch a ceremonial first ball from Larsen. Wells had been traded, so he wasn't there. David Cone pitched a perfect game as Larsen and Berra watched.

Yogi and Don, on an Old-Timers' Day

On September 21, 2008, the last game was played at the old Yankee Stadium. As part of pregame ceremonies, the 3 men who pitched perfect games there, and their catchers, assembled on the mound: Larsen and Berra, Wells and Jorge Posada, and Cone and Joe Girardi.

Left ot right: Girardi, Cone, Larsen, Berra, Wells, Posada

Larsen's gem is no longer the only no-hitter in postseason history. Roy Halladay turned the trick for the Philadelphia Phillies in 2010. Five Houston Astros pitchers combined to pitch a no-hitter against the Phillies in Game 4 of the 2022 World Series. But Larsen's perfecto is still the only perfect game in postseason history, and still the only no-hitter by a single pitcher in a game later than the Division Series.

In spite of having been a heavy drinker in his youth, which turned him prematurely gray, Don Larsen turned out to be the last surviving player from his perfect game, living until January 1, 2020, at the age of 90.

October 5, 1951: Mantle vs. Drain

October 5, 1951, 75 years ago: Game 2 of the World Series is played at Yankee Stadium. The New York Yankees, with Eddie Lopat pitching a fine game, evened up the Series against the New York Giants by winning 3-1 over Larry Jansen. Joe Collins hit a home run. But the big story came in the top of the 5th inning.

The Yankees' big rookie, Mickey Mantle, already a big story and not yet 20 years old for another 15 days, was playing right field, with the idea that, the next season, he would succeed Joe DiMaggio in center field.

The Giants' big rookie, Willie Mays, who had turned 20 in May, hit a fly ball to right-center. Mantle went for it, but heard DiMaggio calling for it, and stopped short. That caused Mantle to step in a drain that had been mistakenly left open, catching his spikes, and tearing the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his right knee.

With today's sports medicine, Mickey would have been operated on the next day, and would have been ready for Opening Day the next April. But they didn't know how to treat a torn-up knee in the Truman years. The surgery he got was hardly good enough, and the knee never really healed right. This is why people say, "We never got to see Mickey Mantle on 2 good legs."

If the Yankees ever found out which groundskeeper left the drain open, they handled it privately, without ever revealing the man's name. Which, given the fanatical devotion of the fans Mantle would eventually have, was for the best.

The story got worse. Mickey's father, Elvin "Mutt" Mantle, who had made his son a special project, teaching him to play, including how to switch-hit, was in attendance. They rode to Lenox Hill Hospital together in a taxi. Mickey leaned on his father for support getting out of the cab. But Mutt collapsed, causing Mickey to collapse, too.

All those years of working in the zinc mines of northeastern Oklahoma, inhaling the poisonous dust, had given Mutt Hodgkin's disease. He was not just too weak to support his son at that moment, he was dying. Also with today's medicine, he might have lived. Then again, with today's economy, he might not have had to work in the mines.

Father and son spent the rest of the World Series watching the games from adjoining hospital beds. Mutt died on May 7, 1952, only 40 years old. None of the men in Mickey's family had lived past the age of 45, and Mickey was convinced they family was "cursed," and that he wouldn't make it past 45, either. So he was going to live every day like there was no tomorrow. It didn't occur to him that, not working in the mines, he would be healthier.

Instead, he drank to dull the physical pain of so many injuries, and the psychological pain of losing his father so soon, and of the way he was often treated by the New York fans and the New York media, until he went from being the kid with all the promise to the star who was fulfilling the promise. He ended up playing 18 seasons, hitting 536 home runs, winning 3 American League Most Valuable Player awards, including in 1956 when he won the Triple Crown, and helped the Yankees win 12 Pennants and 7 World Series.

But it never seemed to be enough for him. There was always a hole in his life, and he tried filling it with booze and other indulgences. That never works. Realizing it too late, Mickey began using the old line, "If I'd known I was gonna live this long, I'd have taken a lot better care of myself." He finally quit drinking in 1994 -- but the damage to his liver was done, as he only lived another year and a half.

*

October 5, 1951 was a Friday. Actress Karen Allen and Irish rock singer Bob Geldof were born on this day. And the DuMont network variety show Cavalcade of Stars, hosted by Jackie Gleason, includes a 6-minute sketch that became a recurring one, and eventually its own half-hour sitcom on CBS: The Honeymooners.

That night, Florida State University, which had only become coeducational in 1947 (after being a women's college since its founding in 1854), played the University of Miami in football for the 1st time, at Burdine Stadium in Miami -- the stadium that will later be renamed the Orange Bowl. Miami won, 35-13. The Seminoles did not beat the Hurricanes for the 1st time until 1958, and not at home in Tallahassee until 1979. The rivalry would get much bigger over the next few years. 

Yankee All-Star Appearances, 1933-2026

Stan Musial and Mickey Mantle,

1975 All-Star Game, Milwaukee County Stadium

This list takes into account all times a player was named to an All-Star Team, whether he got into the All-Star Game or not; but not the doubled-up ASGs of 1958 to 1962. It does not include managers. And it only includes berths in the Game while with the Yankees, not with other teams.

Also, while the All-Star Game was canceled twice, in both cases due to travel restrictions, in 1945 because of World War II and in 2020 due to COVID-19, All-Star Teams were still named in those seasons.

Keep in mind also that the All-Star Game did not start until 1933. If it had started earlier -- say, in 1920 -- Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig, in particular, would have had many more appearances.

Players in Yankee Blue are Monument Park honorees. Players in bold are Baseball Hall of Fame inductees.

Mickey Mantle, 16: 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1967, 1968
Yogi Berra, 15: 1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962
Derek Jeter, 14: 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014
Joe DiMaggio, 13: 1936, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1940, 1941, 1942, 1946, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1951
Mariano Rivera, 12: 1997, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2013
Bill Dickey, 11: 1933, 1934, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1940, 1941, 1942, 1943, 1946
Elston Howard, 9: 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965
Whitey Ford, 8: 1954, 1955, 1956, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1964
Dave Winfield, 8: 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988
Aaron Judge, 8: 2017, 2018, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026

Lefty Gomez, 7: 1933, 1934, 1935, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1940
Bobby Richardson, 7: 1957, 1959, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966
Alex Rodriguez, 7: 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011

Lou Gehrig, 6: 1933, 1934, 1935, 1936, 1937, 1938
Red Ruffing, 6: 1934, 1938, 1939, 1940, 1941, 1942
Joe Gordon, 6: 1939, 1940, 1941, 1942, 1943, 1946
Thurman Munson, 6: 1971, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977
Don Mattingly, 6: 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989
Tommy Henrich, 5: 1942, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1950
Phil Rizzuto, 5: 1942, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953
Allie Reynolds, 5: 1949, 1950, 1952, 1953, 1954
Gil McDougald, 5: 1952, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959
Mel Stottlemyre, 5: 1965, 1966, 1968, 1969, 1970
Graig Nettles, 5: 1975, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980
Reggie Jackson, 5: 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981
Willie Randolph, 5: 1976, 1977, 1980, 1981, 1987
Bernie Williams, 5: 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001
Jorge Posada, 5: 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2007
Robinson Canó, 5: 2006, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013

Red Rolfe, 4: 1937, 1938, 1939, 1940
Charlie Keller, 4: 1940, 1941, 1943, 1946
Spud Chandler, 4: 1942, 1943, 1946, 1947
Vic Raschi, 4: 1948, 1949, 1950, 1952
Bill "Moose" Skowron, 4: 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961
Bobby Murcer, 4: 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974
Rich "Goose" Gossage, 4: 1978, 1980, 1981, 1982
Ron Guidry, 4: 1978, 1979, 1982, 1983
Rickey Henderson, 4: 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988
Wade Boggs, 4: 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996
Paul O'Neill, 4: 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998

Dellin Betances, 4: 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017
Ben Chapman, 3: 1933, 1934, 1935

Joe Page, 3: 1944, 1947, 1948
Hank Bauer, 3: 1952, 1953, 1954
Tony Kubek, 3: 1958, 1959, 1961
Roger Maris, 3: 1960, 1961, 1962
Joe Pepitone, 3: 1963, 1964, 1965
Sparky Lyle, 3: 1973, 1976, 1977
Jason Giambi, 3: 2002, 2003, 2004
Curtis Granderson, 3: 2010, 2011, 2012

Gerrit Cole, 3: 2021, 2022, 2023

Babe Ruth, 2: 1933, 1934
George Selkirk, 2: 1936, 1939
Frank Crosetti, 2: 1936, 1939
Johnny Murphy, 2: 1937, 1939
Monte Pearson, 2: 1936, 1940
Tiny Bonham, 2: 1942, 1943

Hank Borowy, 2: 1944, 1945
George McQuinn, 2: 1947, 1948
Bob Turley, 2: 1955, 1958
Ryne Duren, 2: 1958, 1959
Tom Tresh, 2: 1962, 1963
Roy White, 2: 1969, 1970
Jim "Catfish" Hunter, 2: 1975, 1976
Tommy John, 2: 1979, 1980
Bucky Dent, 2: 1980, 1981
Dave Righetti, 2: 1986, 1987
Steve Sax, 2: 1989, 1990
Jimmy Key, 2: 1993, 1994
Andy Pettitte, 2: 1996, 2001
David Cone, 2: 1997, 1999

Roger Clemens, 2: 2001, 2003
Alfonso Soriano, 2: 2002, 2003
Hideki Matsui, 2: 2003, 2004
Gary Sheffield, 2: 2004, 2005

Mark Teixeira, 2: 2009, 2015

CC Sabathia, 2: 2011, 2012

Masahiro Tanaka, 2: 2014, 2019

Luis Severino, 2: 2017, 2018

Gary Sánchez, 2: 2017, 2019

Gleyber Torres, 2: 2018, 2019

DJ LeMahieu, 2: 2019, 2020

Aroldis Chapman, 2: 2019, 2021

Clay Holmes, 2: 2022, 2024

Tony Lazzeri, 1: 1933

Marius Russo, 1: 1941
Buddy Rosar, 1: 1942
Johnny Lindell, 1: 1943
Rollie Helmsley, 1: 1944

Nick Etten, 1: 1945

Oscar Grimes, 1: 1945
George "Snuffy" Stirnweiss, 1: 1946
Aaron Robinson, 1: 1947
Frank "Spec" Shea, 1: 1947
Billy Johnson, 1: 1947
Tommy Byrne, 1: 1950
Jerry Coleman, 1: 1950
Eddie Lopat, 1: 1951
Johnny Mize, 1: 1953
Johnny Sain, 1: 1953
Irv Noren, 1: 1954
Billy Martin, 1: 1956
Johnny Kucks, 1: 1956
Bobby Shantz, 1: 1957
Bob Grim, 1: 1957
Jim Coates, 1: 1960
Luis Arroyo, 1: 1961
Ralph Terry, 1: 1962
Jim Bouton, 1: 1963
Al Downing, 1: 1967
Fritz Peterson, 1: 1970
Bobby Bonds, 1: 1975
Chris Chambliss, 1: 1976
Mickey Rivers, 1: 1976
Ron Davis, 1, 1981
Phil Niekro, 1: 1984
Scott Sanderson, 1: 1991
Roberto Kelly, 1: 1992
Mike Stanley, 1: 1995
John Wetteland, 1: 1996
Tino Martinez, 1: 1997
David Wells, 1: 1998
Scott Brosius, 1: 1998
Mike Stanton, 1: 2001
Robin Ventura, 1: 2002
Javier Vázquez, 1: 2004
Tom Gordon, 1: 2004
Nick Swisher, 1: 2010
Phil Hughes, 1: 2010
Russell Martin, 1: 2011
David Robertson, 1: 2011
Brett Gardner, 1: 2015

Carlos Beltrán, 1: 2016

Andrew Miller, 1: 2016

Giancarlo Stanton, 1: 2022

Jose Trevino, 1: 2022

Nestor Cortes, 1: 2022

Juan Soto, 1: 2024

Jazz Chisholm Jr., 1: 2025

Max Fried, 1: 2025

Carlos Rodón, 1: 2025

Ben Rice, 1: 2026

Cody Bellinger, 1: 2026

Cam Schlittler, 1: 2026

DiMaggio played 13 seasons, missing 1943, 1944 and 1945 due to service in World War II, and made the All-Star Game every season. He's the only player with as many seasons to make the All-Star Game every season.

Living Yankee All-Stars, in chronological order: Bobby Shantz, Bobby Richardson, Tony Kubek, Al Downing, Roy White, Sparky Lyle, Graig Nettles, Chris Chambliss, Mickey Rivers, Willie Randolph, Reggie Jackson, Ron Guidry, Goose Gossage, Tommy John, Bucky Dent, Dave Winfield, Don Mattingly, Dave Righetti, Steve Sax, Roberto Kelly, Wade Boggs, Jimmy Key, Paul O'Neill, Mike Stanley, Andy Pettitte, John Wetteland, Mariano Rivera, Bernie Williams, Tino Martinez, David Cone, Derek Jeter, David Wells, Scott Brosius, Jorge Posada, Roger Clemens, Mike Stanton, Jason Giambi, Alfonso Soriano, Robin Ventura, Hideki Matsui, Alex Rodriguez, Gary Sheffield, Javier Vázquez, Tom Gordon, Robinson Canó, Mark Teixeira, Nick Swisher, Phil Hughes, Curtis Granderson, CC Sabathia, Russell Martin, David Robertson, Masahiro Tanaka, Dellin Betances, Brett Gardner, Carlos Beltrán, Andrew Miller, Aaron Judge, Luis Severino, Gary Sánchez, Gleyber Torres, DJ LeMahieu, Gerrit Cole, Giancarlo Stanton, Clay Holmes, Jose Trevino, Nestor Cortes, Juan Soto, Jazz Chisholm Jr., Max Fried, Carlos Rodón, Ben Rice, Cody Bellinger, Cam Schlittler.

Cone, Beltrán and Soto are the only players to be named to the All-Star Game as a Yankee and as a Met.

Based solely on most All-Star berths, this would be the all-time Yankee lineup:

1B Lou Gehrig
2B Bobby Richardson
SS Derek Jeter
3B Alex Rodriguez
LF Dave Winfield
CF Joe DiMaggio
RF Aaron Judge
DH Mickey Mantle
C Yogi Berra
SP1 Whitey Ford
SP2 Lefty Gomez
SP3 Red Ruffing
SP4 Allie Reynolds
SP5 Mel Stottlemyre

RP Mariano Rivera

Yankees vs. Red Sox, The Defining Moments, Part II, 1939-1966

April 20, 1939, Yankee Stadium. Opening Day, and while one legend, Lou Gehrig, is fading, another debuts. Ted Williams strikes out against Red Ruffing in his 1st major league at-bat. But in his 2nd, he strokes a double, and "Teddy Ballgame" is underway. In spite of Ted's debut, the Yankees win, 2-0, as Ruffing outduels Lefty Grove. The Yankees go on to win the World Series for the 4th consecutive season.

From 1938 to 1949, the Red Sox would finish 2nd to the Yankees 6 times, and would finish 3rd an additional 3 times in the 1950s. But only twice did they finish ahead of the Yankees in any season from 1919 to 1965: In 1946 and 1948.

April 23, 1941, Yankee Stadium. Rookie Phil Rizzuto -- not exactly a musclebound slugger -- hits his 1st major league home run, taking Charlie Wagner deep in the bottom of the 11th inning. It was the 1st of only 38 big-league round-trippers for the Scooter, and none of the 37 to come was a walkoff. I wonder if he yelled, "Holy cow!"

July 2, 1941, Yankee Stadium. Joe DiMaggio beats the Sox, and the 95-degree heat, and hits a home run to extend his hitting streak to a record 45 games. Yankees 8, Red Sox 4.

Williams goes on to hit .406, the last man to hit over .400 (or even over .390 in a full season), but DiMaggio's streak reaches 56 games, carrying the Yankees from 4th place when it starts to a big lead when it ends. He leads the Yankees to win the World Series over the Brooklyn Dodgers, and he, rather than Williams, deservedly wins the American League's Most Valuable Player award.

In case you're wondering: That season, DiMaggio, 26 years old and in his 6th major league season, was paid $37,500 (about $866,000 in 2026 money); Williams, who turned 23 during the season, his 3rd, was paid less than half as much, $18,000 ($415,000).

August 12, 1942, Yankee Stadium. Charlie Keller clobbers a Mike Ryba pitch for a grand slam in the bottom of the 9th, giving the Yankees an 8-4 win.

Williams wins the Triple Crown, leading the AL in batting average, home runs and runs batted in. But, again, it's a Yankee who is correctly voted the AL's MVP: 2nd baseman Joe Gordon.

August 10, 1946, Yankee Stadium. Aaron Robinson is not especially remembered, but someone had to be the Yankee catcher between Bill Dickey and Yogi Berra. He took Clem Dreiswerd deep in the bottom of the 9th to win, 7-5.

However, several Yankees, including Joe DiMaggio, Tommy Henrich and Phil Rizzuto, hadn't found their batting stroke just yet, after returning from World War II. And Charlie Keller hurt his back, curtailing what could have been a Hall of Fame career. The result was that the Yankees never seriously challenged for the Pennant, and the Sox won a Boston sports record 104 games.

The left field Wall, 1946. The next year, the ads were taken off,

and it became known as the Green Monster.

As with a sign at the Phillies' Baker Bowl, a joke was made:

"The Red Sox use Lifebuoy" -- and they still stink!

Note the Cities Service sign. In 1965, the company's name changed,

and it became the CITGO sign.

However, they lost the World Series to the St. Louis Cardinals, although the Cards were a much more experienced team, having been in 3 of the previous 4 World Series, winning 2 of them, including a 1942 win and a 1943 loss to the Yankees.

May 12, 1947, Fenway Park. Berra turns 22, and hits a home run. He becomes the 3rd Yankee to hit a home run against the Red Sox on his birthday. He remains the youngest. I guess it never occurred to him to say, "I was the youngest one to do it, but that's because all the other guys were older." At any rate, the Sox win anyway, 4-3. But the Yankees go on to dethrone the Sox as Pennant winners, and win the World Series.

Williams joined Rogers Hornsby as the only players to win the Triple Crown twice. But, again, he is denied the MVP, as one voter didn't put Ted on his Top 10 at all -- forgetting, he said. That gave DiMaggio the award by one point over Williams.

Sox fans have fumed about this ever since, saying DiMaggio only got the MVP because the press liked him and hated Williams. Well, whose fault was that? DiMaggio treated the press well, because he wanted to be treated well in return; while Williams acted like he didn't care what the press thought, and paid for it, dearly.

October 3, 1948, Fenway Park. The Sox beat the Yankees, 10-5, clinching at least a tie for the AL Pennant, and knocking the Yanks out of a chance for it, in the 154th and final game of the regular season. (The AL adopted the current 162-game schedule after it expanded in 1961; the National League did the same the following season.)

Williams went 2-for-4 with 2 RBI doubles. Sox center fielder Dom DiMaggio, Joe's younger brother, and a very good hitter and a very good center fielder in his own right, goes 3-for-4, including a solo home run. Joe goes went 4-for-5 with 2 doubles and 3 RBIs -- meaning that, between them, the DiMaggios go 7-for-9 with 3 extra-base hits and 4 RBIs. And brother Vince, who also reached the majors, wasn't even in this game! Although he was there, as were their parents.

Joe gets a standing ovation from the Boston fans during this game, and later called it one of the biggest thrills of his life. Boston fans, showing class? It used to happen all the time.

The next day, the Sox lost a playoff for the Pennant to the Cleveland Indians, 8-3, as Tribe shortstop-and-manager Lou Boudreau hit 2 home runs to cement his place as the AL's MVP, ahead of the Yankee Clipper and the Splendid Splinter.

April 30, 1949, Yankee Stadium. Tommy Henrich was nicknamed "Ol' Reliable" by Yankee broadcaster Mel Allen, and he lived up to that name on this day, by taking Tex Hughson downtown in the bottom of the 9th, to win, 4-3.

Five months later, Henrich would do it to Don Newcombe in Game 1 of the World Series, becoming the 1st MLB player to hit a walkoff homer in postseason play. He lived to the age of 96, but never really got the credit he deserved for his clutch play.

June 28, 29 and 30, 1949, Fenway Park. After missing the entire season thus far with a heel spur -- developing it after serving in World War II, not before serving in war like Donald Trump would later claim for himself, to keep himself out of it -- DiMaggio says he is ready to play again.

In a 3-game series, he goes 5-for-9, with 4 home runs and 9 RBIs. The Yankees sweep, winning 5-4, 9-7 and 6-3. During the 3rd game, a fan flies a plane over Fenway, trailing a banner reading "THE GREAT DIMAGGIO."

Ted Williams, Dom DiMaggio, Joe DiMaggio.

The Pennant race that was well-chronicled by both Peter Golenbock in his book Dynasty: The New York Yankees, 1949-1964, and David Halbertsam in his book Summer of '49, is well and truly on.

October 1, 1949, Yankee Stadium. Believe it or not, the Yankees blew a 12-game lead, and trailed the Sox by 1 game with 2 to play -- and these 2 were against the Sox at The Stadium. The Yanks hold Joe DiMaggio Day, since Dom plays for the Sox, and thus the whole family can attend. Joe has been ill with pneumonia, but has kept playing, and says, "I'd like to thank the Good Lord for making me a Yankee." (I guess he didn't have an agent back in 1934.)

The Sox, acting like more recent Red Sox teams, blow a 4-0 lead, Johnny Lindell hits an 8th-inning homer, and the race is tied. Yankees 5, Red Sox 4. Allie Reynolds didn't get out of the 3rd inning, but Joe Page allowed just 1 hit over the last 6 2/3rds innings. In the 1901 to 1968 era of 2 single-division leagues, 1949 was the only season in which both leagues' races were unresolved as the final day of the regular season dawned: The Brooklyn Dodgers needed a win or a St. Louis Cardinals loss to win the Pennant, and they got their win.

October 2, 1949, Yankee Stadium. This is for the Pennant. The Yanks lead 1-0 in the 8th, when Joe McCarthy, managing the Sox after all those Pennants with the Yankees, relieves starter Ellis Kinder. Big mistake, as a Jerry Coleman double clears the loaded bases. But Vic Raschi falters a bit in the 9th, partly due to DiMaggio, still sick, dropping an easy fly ball. Normally so good out there, Joe walks off the field, taking himself out of the game.

The tying runs are on, the run that could win the Pennant is at the plate, and Yogi Berra goes out to talk to Raschi. "The Springfield Rifle" angrily says, "Gimme the goddamned ball, and get the hell out of here!" Yogi does as he's told, and Raschi gets the final out, as Birdie Tebbetts pops up to 1st base, and Henrich, playing out of position, catches it. Yankees 5, Red Sox 3.

The Yanks beat the Dodgers in the World Series. In the last 2 seasons, the Sox had won 192 games, and didn't even win a Pennant.

This time, falling just short of the AL batting title to Detroit's George Kell, and this oh-so-slightly losing out on a unique 3rd Triple Crown, Williams was awarded the MVP. It could have gone to Rizzuto, who won it in 1950; or to Berra, who won it in 1951, '54 and '55. Instead, it went to Williams in a year in which he did not lead the Sox to a Pennant. So Sox fans can shut up about how Ted was robbed in '41, '42 and '47.

That season, DiMaggio was paid $100,000 (about $1.4 million in today's money), only the 2nd player ever to reach 6 figures, following Hank Greenberg. Williams was paid $75,000 ($1.1 million).

April 18, 1950, Fenway Park. Opening Day. Reynolds had nothing, and Mel Parnell was pitching well. After 4 innings, the Red Sox led, 9-0. The Yankees scored 4 runs in the 6, 9 in the 8th and 2 in the 9th, and won, 15-10. Don Johnson (no relation to the actor of the same name) was the winning pitcher, while Parnell gave out and Walt Masterson was the losing pitcher.

Oddly, the Yankees did this without hitting any home runs. 3rd baseman Billy Johnson had 3 RBIs. So did 2nd baseman Billy Martin, making his major league playing debut, and he didn't even start the game.

September 23, 1950, Yankee Stadium. Red Smith of the New York Herald Tribune called this 2-game series "the itsy-bitsy World Series." Eddie Lopat pitched a shutout, and the Yankees won, 8-0.

September 24, 1950, Yankee Stadium. The Yankees are leading the Red Sox, 9-5 in the 9th inning, when word comes in that Cleveland has beaten Detroit, clinching the Pennant for the Yankees. They finish the game off.

April 17, 1951, Yankee Stadium. The Yankees open the season at home against the Red Sox. Although it isn't obvious yet, it will be the final season for DiMaggio. It is the 1st season, and the 1st game, for Mickey Mantle -- who will also end up playing his last game against the Red Sox. His 1st at-bat is a groundout against Sox starter Mickey McDermott. This is also the debut as Yankee public address announcer for Bob Sheppard, who stays for 57 years.

In the 6th inning, Mantle gets his 1st hit and his 1st RBI, singling home Jackie Jensen against Bill Wight, helping the Yankees win 5-0. DiMaggio goes 1-for-4 with an RBI. Williams goes 1-for-3. Raschi pitches a shutout.

Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, Ted Williams

September 28, 1951, Yankee Stadium. The Yanks can clinch the Pennant with a win, and need just 1 more out. Even more, Allie Reynolds needs one more out for his 2nd no-hitter of the year. But who's at bat? Ted Williams. "The Superchief" gets "the Splendid Splinter" to hit an easy popup... which Yogi drops! Fortunately, it's in foul territory, but you don't give Ted Williams a second chance.

But in an example of what Yankee haters would call "Yankee luck," Ted pops it up again, and this time, Yogi catches it. Yankees 8, Red Sox 0. The Yanks go on to beat the Giants in the World Series.

Yankee Stadium. Judging by the scoreboard, the green seats,

and the off-white outer wall, this has to be between 1959 and 1966.

Early the next season, Williams was called back into the Marine Corps for the Korean War, as he had been in World War II.  He was unavailable from May 1, 1952 to July 28, 1953, and by the time he came back, the Red Sox "glory years" of 1946-51 were over, as most of the other good players had retired or been traded away.

The Yanks-Sox rivalry went dormant as a result, leading Boston Globe columnist Dan Shaughnessy, born in 1953, to later remark that it had become like a conversation between Humphrey Bogart and Peter Lorre in the film Casablanca, a script written by Julius and Philip Epstein, the grandfather and great uncle of future Sox general manager Theo Epstein:

Ugarte: "You despise me, don't you, Rick?"
Rick: "Well, if I gave you any thought, I probably would."

April 23, 1953, Yankee Stadium. For the 1st time in his career, Mantle hits a walkoff home run. It's a 3-run job off Ellis Kinder, and the Yankees beat the Red Sox, 6-3. They had led 3-1 after 8, but the Sox scored 3 in the 9th to tie it. Mickey won it.

April 14, 1955, Fenway Park. The Red Sox host the Yankees in their home opener, and win, 8-4. This game is notable as the major league debut of Elston Howard, who thus becomes the 1st black player for the Yankees in a regular season game. In the bottom of the 6th inning, he replaces Irv Noren in left field, and in his first at-bat, drives in Mickey Mantle with a single in the 8th.

At this time, there were still 3 major league teams that had not introduced a black player: The Philadelphia Phillies, the Detroit Tigers, and the Red Sox, who would be the last, with Elijah "Pumpsie" Green in 1959. 

September 16, 1955, Yankee Stadium. Yogi Berra is remembered as one of the best clutch hitters ever, and he backed that up with 7 walkoff home runs, including this one, also off Ellis Kinder, for a 5-4 Yankee win.

April 28, 1957, Yankee Stadium. Yogi does it against the Sox again, off Ike Delock in the 10th inning, giving the Yankees a 3-2 win.

September 5, 1957, Yankee Stadium. Bob Grim becomes the 2nd Yankee pitcher to hit a walkoff home run -- and the 2nd to do it against Boston. He decides Nixon's the one -- Willard Nixon, that is -- and homers off him to give the Yankees a 5-2 win.

September 3, 1958, Yankee Stadium. Yogi torments the Sox again. This time, the walkoff victim is Leo Kelly, and the Yankees win, 8-5.

October 2, 1960, Yankee Stadium. Dale Long is remembered for hitting home runs in 8 straight games in 1956 (with the Pittsburgh Pirates), and being one of baseball's rare lefthanded catchers in 1958 (with the Chicago Cubs). On this day, for the Yankees, he hit a walkoff homer against Arnold Early of the Red Sox.

It had been exactly 11 years since the Yankees had won a Pennant by beating the Sox, and it would be exactly 18 years later that Sox fans would come to hate Bucky Dent.

Ted Williams had made his last appearance for the Sox in their home finale on September 28, hitting a home run, the 521st of his career, in his last at-bat. His salary was a record $135,000 (about $1.5 million in today's money).

October 1, 1961, Yankee Stadium. The Yankees beat the Red Sox 1-0. The only run of the game comes in the 4th inning, on a home run by Roger Maris. It is Maris' 61st home run of the season, breaking the record that Babe Ruth set in 1927.

The Yankee Stadium scoreboard, right after Maris' 61st

Williams had been replaced in Boston's left field by a native of Southampton, Long Island -- a working-class "townie" rather than a rich Summer-home owner there. His name was Carl Yastrzemski. He made $10,000 ($111,000). For his record-setting 61 home runs and AL-leading 142 RBIs, the Yankees paid Maris $32,000 ($355,000). For his 54 homers, Mantle was paid $70,000 ($776,000) -- and the greatest player of his generation, over even Willie Mays and Hank Aaron, never got a penny over $100,000.

July 7, 1966, Yankee Stadium. The Mick strikes again, with his 10th career walkoff home run, off Don McMahon, a relief pitcher who gave the Yankees trouble with the Milwaukee Braves in the 1957 and '58 World Series. The Yankees win, 5-2, and the winning pitcher, as 1960s Yankee pitcher Jim Bouton would say, was "Dooley Womack. The Dooley Womack!"

September 10, 1966, Fenway Park. Roger Maris turns 32, and hits a home run, the 4th Yankee to do so on his birthday. The Yankees win 5-1.

By this point, the Yankees had collapsed, but no one knew that, in the following season, the Sox were in for the defining season in their history, the one that took them from an afterthought -- and very nearly moved, at least out of Fenway Park, possibly to the suburbs, maybe out of the Boston area altogether -- to being New England's most beloved sports team.

Part III follows.

April 17, 1951: Mickey Mantle's 1st Major League Game

April 17, 1951, 75 years ago: Opening Day at Yankee Stadium. There are 2 significant debuts on this day. Yankee co-owner Dan Topping had owned the football edition of the Brooklyn Dodgers, whose public address announcer was a professor of speech at St. John's University in Queens. Topping hired him, and he held the Yankee PA job for the next 57 seasons. His name was Bob Sheppard. Yankee Hall-of-Famer Reggie Jackson would dub him "The Voice of God."

The 1st name he introduced was that of the leadoff hitter for the visiting Boston Red Sox, their center fielder, Dom DiMaggio, brother of the Yankees' biggest star and center fielder, Joe DiMaggio. Making his major league debut that day, in right field, but being groomed to be Joe's successor in center, was a 19-year-old switch-hitter from the northeastern corner of Oklahoma, wearing Number 6. His name was Mickey Mantle.

The kid was overwhelmed by New York. Attendance on Opening Day was 44,860. His native Ottawa County was home to just 31,000. As he would say, many years later, "New York was tough on me. Playing baseball was the easy part."

Easy? Maybe if you're among the most talented baseball players who have ever lived. Batting against Red Sox starter Bill Wight, he grounded to 2nd base in the 1st inning, popped up to 3rd in the 3rd, singled home a run and later scored himself in the 6th, and flew out against Mickey McDermott in the 8th.

Jackie Jensen, later to win a Most Valuable Player award with the Red Sox, hit a home run for the Yankees. Joe DiMaggio went 1-for-4, Yogi Berra 1-for-2 with an RBI, Phil Rizzuto 0-for-3. For the Red Sox, Dom DiMaggio went 2-for-3 with a walk, and Ted Williams went 1-for-3 with a walk. Vic Raschi went the distance, and the Yankees won, 5-0.

Mantle struggled a bit that season, and even got sent down to the minors, but recovered, before getting hurt in the World Series. The rest is history... and myth.

Sheppard would later say that Mantle was his favorite name to announce. Mantle told him, "I got goose bumps when you announced my name." Sheppard told him, "So did I."

Bob Sheppard

*

April 17, 1951 was a Tuesday. These other Major League Baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Giants beat the Boston Braves, 4-0 at Braves Field in Boston. As with the other teams in the National League, they wore special uniform patches in honor of the League's 75th Anniversary.

* The Brooklyn Dodgers lost to the Philadelphia Phillies, 5-2 at Ebbets Field. Robin Roberts outpitched Carl Erskine. Jackie Robinson hit a home run, and he, Duke Snider and Gil Hodges each had 2 hits, but it wasn't enough. The Dodgers started the season one game behind the Giants, and would end the season the same way. Little did anyone know how that would come about.

* The Washington Senators beat the Philadelphia Athletics, 6-1 at Shibe Park in Philadelphia. It was the start of the 51st season for the A's, and their 1st regular-season game with a manager other than Connie Mack: Jimmy Dykes. As with the other teams in the American League, including the Yankees, they were wearing special uniform patches in honor of the League's 50th Anniversary.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 5-4 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. Stan Musial went 1-for-2 with 2 walks, but the Cards lost, anyway.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Detroit Tigers, 2-1 at Briggs Stadium in Detroit. (It was renamed Tiger Stadium in 1961.) Bob Lemon outpitched Hal Newhouser, and both went to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Newhouser would join Lemon on the Indians' 1954 American League Pennant winners.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Cincinnati Reds, 8-3 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

* And the Chicago White Sox beat the St. Louis Browns, 17-3 at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis. Bill Veeck, who had built the Indians into the 1948 World Champions, had bought the Browns, and this would be the season in which he tried everything to bring fans in, including "Grandstand Managers Night" and letting a 3-foot-7 Eddie Gaedel come to bat.

Football was out of season. But the NBA Finals were underway. The Rochester Royals led the New York Knicks, 3 games to 2. The next day, the Knicks would win Game 6. But on April 21, in overtime, the Royals would win Game 7. As the Rochester Royals (1952-57), the Cincinnati Royals (1958-72), the Kansas City-Omaha Kings (1973-75), the Kansas City Kings (1976-85) and the Sacramento Kings (1986-2022), they have not been back to the NBA Finals since. The Knicks would not get so close to their 1st NBA Championship again until 1970.

And Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Finals was played. The Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Montreal Canadiens, 2-1 at the Montreal Forum, with Ted "Teeder" Kennedy scoring the winning goal, 4:47 into overtime. Unlike a lot of Teds and Teddys who were actually born Edward, including the future U.S. Senator Edward Moore Kennedy, this Ted Kennedy actually started out with the name Theodore.

All 5 games in this Finals would go to overtime. Sid Smith won Game 1 for the Leafs, Maurice "the Rocket" Richard won Game 2 for the Habs, Harry Watson won Game 4 for the Leafs, and, on April 21, the same day that the NBA Finals were decided, Bill Barilko, a hard-hitting but little-scoring young defenseman, won Game 5 and the Cup with an overtime goal.

Four months later, Barilko and a friend would take a fishing trip with a friend, an inexperienced pilot. The plane went off course, crashed, and wasn't found for 11 years.

Also, actress Olivia Hussey was born on this day. 

April 15, 1976: The Renovated Yankee Stadium Opens

April 15, 1976, 50 years ago: Yankee Stadium opens, after a renovation of two and a half years. Much of the original 1923 structure remains, but much of it is new. Some old-time Yankee Fans are relieved and thrilled. Others are appalled at the changes.

The support poles, and the obstructions they provided, were removed, while the upper deck was "cantilevered" and extended upward, so it no longer needed the poles' support. Seats and aisles were widened, dropping the Stadium's capacity from 65,010 (from a peak of 67,224) to 57,545.

The back wall of the Bleachers was raised to twice its height. No longer could a fan stand on the platform of the 161st Street Station of the Number 4 Train and watch the game for the price of a Subway token. And the "façade," actually a frieze, that wrapped around the roof of the Stadium was removed, as was the roof itself. A copy of the frieze was placed atop the Bleacher wall.

Robert Merrill sings the National Anthem. Bob Shawkey, the starting and winning pitcher from the 1st game there in 1923, throws out the ceremonial first ball. Among the guests with a connection to the Stadium's history are Babe's widow Claire Ruth, Lou's widow Eleanor Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, New York Giants legend Frank Gifford, and Joe Louis, who successfully defended the Heavyweight Championship of the World at Yankee Stadium 7 times.

A photograph of "the four great Yankee catchers" in uniform is taken: Bill Dickey as a special guest, Yogi Berra and Elston Howard as current Yankee coaches, and Thurman Munson as the current Yankee catcher, who has been named the team's 1st Captain since Lou Gehrig.

And, yes, there was a game. The opponent was the Minnesota Twins. While Babe Ruth had hit the 1st home run in the Stadium, the 1st home run in the renovated Stadium was hit by the Twins' Dan Ford, off Yankee starter Rudy May. And the Twins led 4-0 going to the bottom of the 3rd inning.

A groundout by Roy White got the Yankees on the board in the 3rd. They put it together in the 4th: With 1 out, Graig Nettles drew a walk. (Cliché Alert: Walks can kill you.) Oscar Gamble tripled him home, and was singled home by Willie Randolph. Randolph stole 2nd, and was singled home by Lou Piniella to tie the game. A wild pitch by Vic Albury got Piniella to 2nd, and Otto Vélez singled him home, and the Yankees had the lead.

The Yankees scored 6 more runs in the 8th, thanks to walks by White, Piniella and Fred Stanley; singles by Nettles, Randolph, Mickey Rivers and Chris Chambliss; and a double by Gamble.

Yankees 11, Twins 4. Dick Tidrow, in relief, was the winning pitcher. Two days later, Munson would have the 1st Yankee homer in the "New Stadium."

The Yankees won the 1st of 3 straight American League Pennants that season. From the Stadium's reopening until its closing in 2008, they won 15 AL Eastern Division titles, 10 Pennants, and 6 World Championships -- more than most teams, to this day, have won in their entire history.

Who's "Overrated"? And What Does It Mean?

The New York media always elevates its stars above their true level. Not just in baseball. Joe Namath is in his sport's Hall of Fame because he won one particular game. Had he lost it, he wouldn't be in. Lawrence Taylor was no better a linebacker than his Chicago contemporary Mike Singletary. Willis Reed was a really good center and team leader, but because he sank two baskets while in immense pain, he was raised to the level of a sports god. Mark Messier, the most beloved New York Ranger of all time, was one Vancouver goal short of being taken downstairs from Madison Square Garden to Penn Station and literally being run out of town on a rail as someone who failed New York.

This is why New York-based players Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays are considered the two best baseball players of their generation -- and they probably were -- but Hank Aaron usually gets listed behind them, when he was roughly their equal.

The media of Los Angeles also does this. It's why a mediocre manager like Tommy Lasorda is in the Hall of Fame, some people think Steve Garvey should be, Sandy Koufax with his brilliant but relatively short peak is raised above Juan Marichal and Bob Gibson, and Vin Scully, who was average at best, gets called the greatest broadcaster of all time.

Yes, I said it, and I stand by it: Vin Scully was not a great broadcaster.

It's why Kobe Bryant got forgiven for his heinous crime, why LeBron James gets called the greatest player by people who don't fall for the Michael Jordan propaganda, why Jerry West was called the greatest shooter until Steph Curry came along, and why Wayne Gretzky is now thought of as a better hockey player than Gordie Howe. The Los Angeles Times and the L.A. TV stations.

Chicago also does this, to a lesser extent. It's why Jordan gets considered the greatest player ever, Ernie Banks and Walter Payton became beloved far outside "Chicagoland," the 1985 Bears are held up as the pinnacle of defense, and Bobby Hull became the 1st hockey player that most Americans loved. (Gordie Howe was respected, but, south of the Canadian border, never truly loved outside Michigan.)

Boston, too, does this, to a lesser extent. It's why the 1967 Red Sox, and Carl Yastrzemski in particular, became so beloved despite having lost the World Series; why Larry Bird is sometimes put on the same level as Jordan and Magic Johnson; why Bobby Orr became America's most beloved hockey player, even though he wasn't American; why David Ortiz is beloved, and his failed steroid test and other failures of character are ignored; and why Tom Brady is considered the greatest quarterback ever, and not the blatant cheating egomaniac he actually is.

Back to New York, and its media's effects. Derek Jeter is handsome and personable, never embarrassed his team and his fans unlike Alex Rodriguez, and got the job done, pretty much anytime the Yankees needed it. It made him a star.

And so, people who hate New York, and the Yankees in particular, call him "overrated." And, yes, they do have a point: He's not "on the Yankee Mount Rushmore" with Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio and Mantle. He's not even the most important player in that era of Yankees: Mariano Rivera made the difference between maybe just 2 or 3 Pennants, and the actually-won 7 Pennants and 5 World Championships.

But Rivera was a pitcher. And a relief pitcher, at that. And foreign, with an accent. That last one shouldn't have been a factor, but it was. Jeter is the son of an interracial couple, and faced no illusions while growing up: As a boy, he was reminded that he was black. But he was an "All-American Boy," and seen as "more white" than Rivera. Jeter was the sellable leader of that 1996-2003 Yankee team, and certainly of the 2009 Champions, compared to Rivera, the problematic Alex Rodriguez, and the superb by very foreign Hideki Matsui.

So Jeter was put above everyone. And people inclined to love the Yankees embraced this, and people inclined to hate the Yankees called him "overrated," and some even said that he "sucks" -- to the point where this was addressed when he hosted Saturday Night Live.

But he was an all-time great. He is, arguably, the best shortstop of the last 100 years. Or, at least, the best player to have played that position. A-Rod? We may never know when he started using performance-enhancing drugs, so how can we know he was truly "better"?

And as for the argument that Jeter was a bad (or even "the worst") defensive shortstop? "Advanced metrics" is bullshit that people who hate somebody made up to feel better about themselves and their team. Use your eyes: Jeter has more "highlight reel" plays preserved than any other player, at any position, including the beloved St. Louis Cardinals shortstop legend Ozzie Smith.

That doesn't mean that DiMaggio or Willie Mays -- or, if we're limiting this to shortstops, Luis Aparicio -- didn't have more great plays that simply weren't preserved for posterity, on film or videotape. It does mean that we have proof that Jeter was a great-fielding shortstop, and anybody who says otherwise is using evidence that simply doesn't hold up.

The Mets' fans of that era needed a star on the same magnitude, so they tried to make one out of Mike Piazza, who, unlike Jeter, might actually be the worst defensive player in the history of his position. The Mets needed a captain on the same magnitude as Jeter, so they tried to make David Wright that. And now, having failed to make Pete Alonso "the face of New York baseball" while Aaron Judge was the better player, they're trying to do it with Francisco Lindor. Bitch, please.

It's important to note: "Overrated" does not mean "bad." A player can be truly great, as Jeter was, and still be overrated, treated as more or greater than he actually is. Occasionally, a player gets called "overrated" so much and for so long, people forget how great he was: He becomes "so overrated, he's underrated."

As Leonard Nimoy would say, It is not logical, but it is often true.

August 13, 1995: The Death of Mickey Mantle

August 13, 1995, 30 years ago: Mickey Mantle dies. The most iconic and popular (if, by his own admission, not the greatest) baseball player of his generation was just 63.

Born in the same calendar year in which he announced his retirement, I never got to see him play. But I did get to see him a few times, including in uniform on some Old-Timers Days.

He was born on October 20, 1931 in Spavinaw, Oklahoma, and grew up in nearby Commerce. He debuted with the New York Yankees in 1951, and was overwhelmed by the big city, falling into bad habits, encouraged by his teammates through what would later be called "toxic masculinity."

He would later say, "Playing baseball was the easy part." It sure looked like it: 20 All-Star Games, 3 American League Most Valuable Player awards, a Triple Crown in 1956, 12 AL Pennants and 7 World Series wins. He hit 536 home runs, both lefthanded and righthanded, as far as anyone had ever seen.

All those World Series appearances made Mantle baseball's 1st "television superstar," and, more so than his contemporaries Willie Mays and Hank Aaron, who had better career statistics, what his Monument Park plaque called him: "The most popular player of his era."

He retired at the start of Spring Training 1969, realizing that the desire to keep playing wasn't worth the physical effort. "Baseball has been very good to me," he said on Mickey Mantle Day, June 8, 1969, with his Number 7 being retired and a Plaque in his honor dedicated, "and playing 18 years in Yankee Stadium for you folks is the greatest thing that could ever happen to a ballplayer."

He spent the next 24 years as a "professional legend." Like his predecessor as the Yankees' center fielder, Joe DiMaggio, the most money he had made as a player was $100,000 a year. Also like DiMaggio, Mantle could make more money than that at a single appearance at a baseball memorabilia convention, signing autographs and telling old stories. (DiMaggio, fiercely guarding his privacy, would sign, but kept his stories to himself.) He also made a lot of money doing TV commercials, often with Mays, with whom, along with DiMaggio, he was constantly compared.

But heavy drinking, to deal with the injuries and other struggles of his life, doomed Mantle. His drinking and womanizing became a poorly-kept secret. A restaurant with his name on it was at 42 Central Park South in Manhattan from 1987 to 2012, and radio "shock jock" Don Imus joked that your meal was free if, after Midnight, you could guess what table Mickey was under. The death of his old running-around buddy Billy Martin on Christmas Day 1989 -- ironically, as the result of someone else's drinking -- shook him.

Mickey later admitted that he was telling the same old stories, and saw how much he had been drinking in them, and realized they weren't funny anymore. He saw that his wife, Merlyn, and their 4 seasons -- Mickey Jr., Billy (named for Martin), Danny and David -- had also become alcoholics. Finally, late in 1993, a doctor told him that his next drink might be his last.

Inspired by his sons' recoveries, Mickey went to rehab at the Betty Ford Center in early 1994, but it was too late: He developed liver cancer, got a transplant, and became an advocate for organ donation. But the cancer spread, and he died on August 13, 1995, at Baylor University Medical Center in his adopted hometown of Dallas. At 63, he was older than Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig lived to be, but while his life was full, it wasn't a full life.

That day, the Yankees went ahead with their game, at home to the Cleveland Indians. WPIX-Channel 11 had no opening montage, just a camera on Mickey's retired Number 7 in Monument Park. Bobby Murcer and a choked-up Phil Rizzuto did their best to share their feelings about their ex-teammate, and then Eddie Layton played "Amazing Grace" on the Stadium organ, while Bob Sheppard asked for a moment of silence, and then a memorial montage was played on the scoreboard.

The first batter of the game? Kenny Lofton, the Indians' center fielder, wearing Number 7. He flew out to Bernie Williams, the Yankees' center fielder. Appropriate. Paul O'Neill hit a home run, David Cone pitched well, and the Yankees won, 4-1.

But as Art LaFleur, playing the ghost of Babe Ruth in the film The Sandlot, pointed out, "Heroes get remembered, but legends never die." Mickey Mantle will always be with us.

Or, as Bob Costas put it, delivering Mantle's eulogy, "In the last year of his life, Mickey Mantle, always so hard on himself, finally came to accept and appreciate the distinction between a role model and a hero. The first, he often was not. The second, he always will be. And, in the end, people got it."

So many of those people were the Baby Boomers, to whom Mantle would forever be a hero. If the death of Elvis Presley, 18 years to the week earlier, was the first sign to that generation that they were no longer young, the death of Mickey Mantle was the first sign that they were now growing old.

Each State's Greatest Baseball Player

Monte Irvin of Orange, New Jersey

Notes: This is based not necessarily on where the player was born, but where he was trained to play baseball. And, as you will see, personal feelings will be set aside, except where steroids are concerned: All players known to have used steroids are ineligible.

1. Alabama: Willie Mays of Fairfield.

2. Alaska: Chad Bentz of Juneau.

3. Arizona: Jim Palmer of Scottsdale.

4. Arkansas: Brooks Robinson of Little Rock.

5. California: Joe DiMaggio of San Francisco.

6. Colorado: Roy Halladay of Arvada.

7. Connecticut: Jeff Bagwell of Killingworth.

8. Delaware: Chris Short of Milford.

9. District of Columbia: Maury Wills of Washington.

10. Florida: Steve Carlton of North Miami.

11. Georgia: Ty Cobb of Royston.

12. Hawaii: Shane Victorino of Wailuku.

13. Idaho: Harmon Killebrew of Payette.

14: Illinois: Robin Roberts of Springfield.

15. Indiana: Sam Rice of Morocco.

16. Iowa: Bob Feller of Van Meter.

17. Kansas: Walter Johnson of Humboldt.

18. Kentucky: Jim Bunning of Southgate.

19. Louisiana: Mel Ott of Gretna.

20. Maine: George Gore of Hartland.

21. Maryland: Babe Ruth of Baltimore.

22. Massachusetts: Mickey Cochrane of Bridgewater.

23. Michigan: Derek Jeter of Kalamazoo.

24. Minnesota: Dave Winfield of St. Paul.

25. Mississippi: Frank White of Greenville.

26. Missouri: Albert Pujols of Independence.

27. Montana: Dave McNally of Billings.

28. Nebraska: Grover Cleveland Alexander of St. Paul.

29. Nevada: Greg Maddux of Las Vegas.

30. New Hampshire: Carlton Fisk of Charlestown.

31. New Jersey: Monte Irvin of Orange.

32. New Mexico: Alex Bregman of Albuquerque.

33. New York: Lou Gehrig of Manhattan.

34. North Carolina: Gaylord Perry of Williamston.

35. North Dakota: Roger Maris of Fargo.

36. Ohio: Cy Young of Newcomerstown.

37. Oklahoma: Mickey Mantle of Commerce.

38. Oregon: Mickey Lolich of Portland.

39. Pennsylvania: Honus Wagner of Carnegie.

40. Rhode Island: Nap Lajoie of Woonsocket.

41. South Carolina: Joe Jackson of Greenville.

42. South Dakota: Dave Collins of Rapid City.

43. Tennessee: Todd Helton of Knoxville.

44. Texas: Tris Speaker of Hubbard.

45. Utah: Bruce Hurst of St. George.

46. Vermont: Ray Fisher of Middlebury.

47. Virginia: Justin Verlander of Goochland.

48. Washington: Ryne Sandberg of Spokane.

49. West Virginia: Jesse Burkett of Wheeling.

50. Wisconsin: Al Simmons of Milwaukee.

51. Wyoming: Tom Browning of Casper.