71910 \u201cSubway Series\u201d Between Yankees and Giants Had New York<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n When New York Giants owner John Brush and his manager John McGraw, chose not to play their upstart American League rival Highlanders in a 1904 World Series, it was a great disappointment to the growing legions of baseball fans in New York.\u00a0more<\/a><\/p>\n Houk<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n With the passing of Ralph Houk, age 90, on July 21, the Yankees lost a former manager who won pennants in his first three seasons at the helm, and world championship in the first two. No one has ever accomplished that feat, before or since, and with those world championships, Houk is linked to Miller Huggins, Joe McCarthy, Casey Stengel, and Joe Torre as Yankee managers to win more than one.\u00a0more<\/a><\/p>\n Pinstripes – Rizzuto<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n When Phil Rizzuto broke in with the Yankees in 1941, the year of the great 56-game hitting streak of Joe DiMaggio, among the pitchers he faced were 41-year old Lefty Grove of Boston and 40-year old Ted Lyons of Detroit. Among the managers in opposing dugouts were Connie Mack in Philadelphia, Bucky Harris in Washington, Roger Peckinpaugh in Cleveland and Jimmy Dykes in Chicago.\u00a0more<\/a><\/p>\n Halper, Yanks limited partner, passes<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Barry Halper, a limited partner in the New York Yankees and one of the pioneers of baseball memorabilia collecting, died Dec. 18 in Livingston, N.J., following a long illness due to complications from diabetes.\u00a0more<\/a><\/p>\n Yankee Stadium Story<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Although a handful of college football arenas were called \u201cstadiums\u201d in the first two decades of the 20th century, (plus, believe it or not, little Rice Stadium in Pelham Bay Park, the Bronx), Yankee Stadium would be the first baseball field designed to bear the name ‘stadium’. (Washington’s Griffith Stadium had been so renamed in 1920).\u00a0more<\/a><\/p>\n Elston Howard<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n It was the last of the seventh inning on Opening Day at Fenway Park \u2013 Thursday, April 14, 1955. A sunny sky warmed the 22,246 Bosox faithful who had turned out to see Arthur Fiedler lead the Boston Pops in the National Anthem and to see Willard Nixon duel Bob Grim in what would be the second game of the season for the Yankees.\u00a0more<\/a><\/p>\n You Can Go Home Again — 44 Yankees Have Served Two Playing Stints in Their Careers<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n When Jeff Nelson took the mound at Yankee Stadium on August 7 to begin his second stint with the Yankees, he admitted to being swept up by emotion.\u00a0more<\/a><\/p>\n 1978 Season<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n For a long period in 1978, as spring wound into summer, Yankee fans were beginning to accept the fact that \u201978 was going to be a Red Sox year. A lot of baseball writers were saying that the \u201978 Bosox, under Don Zimmer, were one of the elite teams of all times, certainly of Boston history, and that the defending world champion Yankees just weren\u2019t their equal that year.\u00a0more<\/a><\/p>\n 1940 – The One That Got Away<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Two games. And it all had much to do with lemon slices, a lost tarpaulin, missing taxis, firecrackers, and one costly error at first. What a difference, in the course of history, they would make.\u00a0more<\/a><\/p>\n Bill Virdon’s Excellent Adventure<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n When one recalls the general lack of enthusiasm that surrounded the hiring of Joe Torre a few years ago \u2013 only to find him going on to win Manager of the Year honors and turning all skeptics around \u2013 one can\u2019t help but turn back the clock a quarter century to the day Bill Virdon faced a similar reception upon his hiring.\u00a0more<\/a><\/p>\n Joe DiMaggio’s Post-Playing Career<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n When Joe DiMaggio turned down another $100,000 contract for the 1952 season, feeling he could no longer play the game at a Joe DiMaggio level, he began the phase of his life in which he would be, simply, Joe DiMaggio, American Icon.\u00a0more<\/a><\/p>\n Frank Crosetti<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n To say Frankie Crosetti was \u201cold school\u201d is putting it mildly. Trained in the corporate efficiency of Joe McCarthy, he joined the team in 1932, in time to be there for Babe Ruth\u2019s last Yankee pennant and his \u201cCalled Shot Home Run\u201d in the World Series. \u00a0more<\/a><\/p>\n Old Timers Days<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Since the Yankees are credited with so many innovations over the years \u2013 from numbers on uniforms to triple-decked ballparks \u2013 it has become somewhat fashionable to think they invented the concept of Old Timers Day back on July 4, 1939.\u00a0more<\/a><\/p>\n Scouting Story<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n As with so many elements of the Yankees organization, you go back to the roots of the \u201cTeam of the Century\u201d to see where it all came from. As much as the current team invites comparisons with the 1961, the 1939 and the 1927 Yankees, so too does the current state of the team\u2019s scouting operation.\u00a0more<\/a><\/p>\n Spring training<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Maybe it\u2019s the palm trees. There\u2019s just something about spring training.\u00a0more<\/a><\/p>\n Catfish Hunter Tribute<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n You\u2019ve spent your whole life depending on your arms and your hands. You grew up, the youngest of nine, bonding with your dad and your brothers by hunting and fishing. You were given a gift of being able to hold a baseball and throw it just about as good as anyone who ever lived. You retired to farm life and the inner peace of working your land and driving your tractor, while taking your own boys hunting and fishing.\u00a0more<\/a><\/p>\n Yankees Seek 5th Straight Pennant<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Wasn\u2019t it just yesterday that everyone was saying \u201coh, there will never be another dynasty in baseball; too many teams, too many rounds of playoffs. The dynasty days are over.\u201d\u00a0more<\/a><\/p>\n Yankees in the ’60s<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n The expression goes, \u201cIf you remember the \u201860s, you weren\u2019t there.\u201d Well, for Yankee fans, there was much to remember and much to forget. The decade began with the arrival of Roger Maris and ended with the arrival of Thurman Munson.\u00a0more<\/a><\/p>\n Yankees in the ’70s<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n For Yankee fans, there was no lower point than the team\u2019s entry into the 1970s. Long accustomed to winning regularly, the fans had now been forced to accept mediocrity as the norm.\u00a0more<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 71910 \u201cSubway Series\u201d Between Yankees and Giants Had New York When New York Giants owner John Brush and his manager John McGraw, chose not to play their upstart American League rival Highlanders in a 1904 World Series, it was a… Continue Reading