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damontBoth of these stories relate to the New York Yankees, as is fitting for my favorite AL team. I started rooting for them back in the early 1970s, when the team was just clawing its way out of the league cellar.
Story 1 is from 10 September 1968, as the Yanks hosted the Washington Senators in a doubleheader en route to their first winning season in four years. (Just barely a winning season, 83-79, but it was an improvement.) Mike Ferraro had been sent down to AAA ball earlier in the year, and the AAA team's season was over. In the second inning of the first game, the Yanks' regular third baseman pulled some muscles in his ribcage. The front office quickly called Ferraro, who was grilling burgers in his back yard about 90 miles north of Yankee Stadium. He relates: "I got a call to hurry down and join the team. I made it in time for the second game. When I walked into the clubhouse, Mickey Mantle asked 'What row were you sitting in?' "
Quiz Question 1: The replacement third baseman in the *first* game played a major role in its outcome. What did he do?
Quiz Question 2: Mike Ferraro went on to manage in the major leagues. So did the guy who got injured in that first game, as did two other Yankee infielders that year (one starter, one utility man), some with a fair bit of success. Who were/are those other three?
Story 2 involves Lindy McDaniel, one of my favorite Yankees from that time period. The reliever was noted for his versatility, able to handle short relief, long relief, and even the occasional "spot" start. McDaniel once threw nine straight 1-2-3 innings against the Detroit Tigers, in unusual circumstances. The first seven perfect innings closed out a game that ended in a tie (because of curfew). The game was made up as part of a doubleheader two days later, and McDaniel pitched to six straight outs to get the save in a 6-5 Yankee victory. Legend has it that after the game he cracked "I'd have just thrown a perfect game if it hadn't been for [names deleted] who pitched in between me and myself."
Quiz Question 3: McDaniel got the *save* in that makeup game. Who was the *winning* pitcher?
Bragging rights go to folks who get the answers. (Sorry I can't offer more.)
Story 1 is from 10 September 1968, as the Yanks hosted the Washington Senators in a doubleheader en route to their first winning season in four years. (Just barely a winning season, 83-79, but it was an improvement.) Mike Ferraro had been sent down to AAA ball earlier in the year, and the AAA team's season was over. In the second inning of the first game, the Yanks' regular third baseman pulled some muscles in his ribcage. The front office quickly called Ferraro, who was grilling burgers in his back yard about 90 miles north of Yankee Stadium. He relates: "I got a call to hurry down and join the team. I made it in time for the second game. When I walked into the clubhouse, Mickey Mantle asked 'What row were you sitting in?' "
Quiz Question 1: The replacement third baseman in the *first* game played a major role in its outcome. What did he do?
Quiz Question 2: Mike Ferraro went on to manage in the major leagues. So did the guy who got injured in that first game, as did two other Yankee infielders that year (one starter, one utility man), some with a fair bit of success. Who were/are those other three?
Story 2 involves Lindy McDaniel, one of my favorite Yankees from that time period. The reliever was noted for his versatility, able to handle short relief, long relief, and even the occasional "spot" start. McDaniel once threw nine straight 1-2-3 innings against the Detroit Tigers, in unusual circumstances. The first seven perfect innings closed out a game that ended in a tie (because of curfew). The game was made up as part of a doubleheader two days later, and McDaniel pitched to six straight outs to get the save in a 6-5 Yankee victory. Legend has it that after the game he cracked "I'd have just thrown a perfect game if it hadn't been for [names deleted] who pitched in between me and myself."
Quiz Question 3: McDaniel got the *save* in that makeup game. Who was the *winning* pitcher?
Bragging rights go to folks who get the answers. (Sorry I can't offer more.)
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Date: 2009-06-03 11:24 pm (UTC)One of the rarest occurrences in big league ball is the "split park" doubleheader, when two teams meet twice in one day but at different ballparks. In the days when as many as five cities had two or more big league teams, the teams were in different leagues and interleague play didn't exist. Only the New York area had two teams in the same league... and those two did pull the stunt, but apparently only once: 7 September 1903, when the Giants traveled to Brooklyn for the morning game and then the two teams traveled to the Polo Grounds for the afternoon game. (The visiting team won each game, to add to the strangeness.)
In the Federal League, there were teams in Brooklyn and Newark (NJ) for the 1915 season. They scheduled three split-park doubleheaders for the big summer holidays, two of which (Memorial Day and Labor Day) were actually played; the morning game of the July 5th doubleheader was rained out.
From 1954 to 1971, the American League had teams in both Baltimore and Washington, about 40 miles apart. While it was technically feasible to have a split-park doubleheader between the two teams, it never happened.
Since the advent of interleague play, the Yankees and Mets have played two "subway doubleheaders" -- first on 8 July 2000 (starting at Shea Stadium) and again on 27 June 2008 (starting at Yankee Stadium). The only other truly feasible pairings for split-park doubleheaders would be Dodgers-Angels, Giants-A's, Cubs-White Sox, and Orioles-Nationals; as far as I can find out, none of these have played such a doubleheader.