If Your Birthday is April 25th...

...you share it with Luis Cessa.  The Mexican reliever spent parts of six seasons (2016-'21)  with the Yankees, where he was the first player ever to wear #85.  

And there's an even bigger Yankee birthday on Saturday (the 26th) -- belonging to the player with the biggest number on the field... Aaron Judge has been making history since the day he arrived in the Bronx -- when he and Tyler Austin homered in their first big league at-bats -- in back-to-back plate appearances. That’s still the only time that’s ever been done in almost 150 years of MLB history   

Since then, he's reset the American League single season home run record, won the 2017 Rookie of the Year and a pair of MVP titles.  Already having passed 320 home runs, he's on his way -- as long as he stays healthy -- to ranking with the franchise's greatest names.  When he extended his Yankees deal after testing free agency in the winter of 2023, he was named team Captain and elevated his game a few more notches.  The game's most feared slugger has become a .300 hitter (.400 to start this season) and adds superb outfield defense and a keen eye for working walks.

Time does fly!  It was 10 years ago this summer that I first saw Judge in action.  Already the tallest player on the field, but not yet filled out, he was still two levels from the majors.  Young Aaron also lacked the swagger that comes with success on the game's biggest stage.  But you had to have a hunch that he was destined for bigger and better things.   



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

If Your Birthday is January 3rd...

Image
...you share it with AJ Burnett .  The well traveled righthander, who after seven years with the Marlins. spent time with the Yankees, Pirates, Blue Jays and Phillies, won 164 big league games and struck out more than 2500, but inconsistent control kept him from becoming an ace: he twice led the American League in wild pitches and once in hit batters. The Arkansas native earned a pair of World Series rings -- with the 2003 Marlins (while recovering from Tommy John surgery) and 2009 Yankees (where he set a record for hitting five batters in a post-season series).   Also in the January 3rd birthday circle: longtime big league reliever Gary Lavelle , the late Phllies catcher Darren Daulton  and utilityman Luis Sojo , who between his time with the Mariners and Yankees, made the post-season six times in 13 seasons.  But among the 68 players born on this date who've played in MLB, Burnett was -- if you go by WAR -- the most productive of them.
Read more

Wayback: 70 Years Ago Today

Image
September 2nd, 1955 :  Whitey Ford takes a no-hitter into the 7th inning, while Yogi Berra adds two hits and Mickey Mantle crushes a three-run homer as the Yankees beat the Washington Senators 4-2 . It's also a big day for Billy Martin .  Back from a year and an half of active duty in the Army, the shortstop goes 2-for-4 as the Yanks stay a half-game back of the league-leading White Sox. (They would regain 1st place on the 16th and go on to their 21st American League pennant.   Martin would hit .300 over the final 22 games.) The Monument Park plaques are from a 2021 visit to Yankee Stadium.  The image of Whitey and Yogi up top is from the 2012 Old Timers Day at the Stadium.
Read more

If Your Birthday is September 5th...

Image
...you celebrate it with  Bill Mazeroski , the first player to end a World Series with a walk-off home run. 65 years ago next month, leading off the last of the 9th in game seven against the Yankees, he crushed Ralph Terry's second pitch over the left field wall, giving Pittsburgh perhaps its greatest baseball moment. A gifted defensive player with more modest offensive skills, Maz remains one of the more controversial inductees of the Hall of Fame. A statue, depicting his joyful scamper around the bases following that 1960 home run, is one of several outside PNC Park in Pittsburgh. And below,  Pablo Lopez  , who earlier this season, added his name to the nearly 170 who have played for both the Yankees and Mets. The utilityman got into 24 games for Bronx Bombers -- highlighted by driving in the go-ahead run against the Royals on June  12th,  His Mets tenure was microscopic -- he pinch ran for JD Martinez (and scored a run) in the September 1st, 2024 game against...
Read more