Baseball on the Fourth

July 4 is a big day for Yankee baseball. It was George Steinbrenner's birthday and that top hat logo was just made for the holiday. (I do love the way the Scranton-Wilkes Barre Yankees incorporated it into their uniforms. If you have to use the parent club's nickname, the least you can do is mix up the uniform.)

And of course, July 4, 1939, was Lou Gehrig Appreciation Day, which made me realize that the Yankees have been home on the Fourth a lot in recent years (before this year's trip to Cleveland, they were in the Bronx the previous four years). And then I wondered how they've done on Independence Day since Gehrig Day.

And so here it is: Beginning with the 1939 doubleheader, when they honored Gehrig between games, the Yankees are 52-42-1 when playing on July 4. That stretch includes 26 doubleheaders (the last of which came in 1973, a sweep in the Bronx by the Red Sox) and three idle days -- two when the Yankees were rained out (1978 in Boston and 1941 at home -- more on that one a little later in this post) and the 1981 strike year. At Yankee Stadia, the Bronx Bombers are 32-23; on the road, they're 20-19-1, the tie coming in the second game of a twin bill in 1950. The first game went into extra innings and the second was called because of darkness. That amounts to 55 July 4 games at home and 40 on the road, before this year. Sixteen of the doubleheaders (17, counting the 1941 rainout) were scheduled for Yankee Stadium; 10 (11 counting the Fenway washout) were on the road. So the Yankees have been home on July 4 more often than not.

New York has outscored its opponents 437-391 on Independence Day. Those opponents, and the records (with the Senators in their various forms represented every which way):

Senators/Twins, 25 games (Yankees are 15-9-1)
Senators (both Washington clubs), 21 games (13-7-1)
Red Sox, 19 games (8-11)
Indians, 12 games (7-5)
Orioles, 7 games (4-3)
Athletics, 7 games (3-4)
Tigers, 6 games (4-2)
Senators/Rangers, 6 games (4-2)
Twins, 6 games (3-3)
White Sox, 6 games (3-3)
Rangers, 4 games (3-1)
Blue Jays, 3 games (2-1)
Brewers, 2 games (2-0)
Mets, 1 game (0-1)
Royals, 1 game (0-1)

Now looking at just 1973-2010, the years Steinbrenner owned the club before his death last July 13, the Yankees went 21-16 on the owner's birthday (they were rained out on the Fourth in 1978 and the strike kept them off the field in '81; in '73, they lost a doubleheader to the Red Sox), playing 22 games at home and 15 on the road and outscoring opponents by a hair, 163-160.

The 1941 rainout was the Yankees' first July 4 following Gehrig's death a month earlier, on June 2. They were scheduled to host the Senators in a doubleheader, at which they would honor their former captain with a formal memorial. As The New York Times wrote, the loss of the games was a big blow:

At the Stadium a crowd of 70,000 had been expected to see the Bronx Bombers battle the Senators in addition to attending the Lou Gehrig memorial ceremonies. ... 

Rough estimates placed the loss of yesterday's washouts as close to $125,000 for the local clubs.

A PDF of the full article is here.

All of this came about as I was perusing various schedules to see if there was an Independence Day matinee I could take in before working tonight. July 4 just calls for a ballgame under the sun, followed by an evening barbecue in the backyard or taking a lawn chair or blanket down to the local park for the fireworks display. And while MLB has a full slate of 15 games today -- a pleasant sight, considering that Mondays are often off-days for some clubs -- seven (so, nearly half) have the first pitches scheduled for the afternoon. The rest are nighttime affairs -- including Yankees at Indians (sold out, in part because of a Bob Feller celebration and statuette giveaway) and Mets at Dodgers. Of those eight night games, only the Cardinals -- who have first pitch scheduled for 5:15 p.m. local time -- do not have postgame fireworks. The Cards' earlier start time must be designed to allow for fans to stay until the end of the ballgame, then catch the 9:15 fireworks at Fair St. Louis under the Gateway Arch. That sounds like a sweet deal to me.

As for the local minor league clubs at home today, all will play tonight. The Lakewood BlueClaws, Staten Island Yankees (who are hosting the Brooklyn Cyclones) and Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees (hosting the Lehigh Valley IronPigs) will all set off fireworks after their ballgames. And who can blame them? Fireworks shows consistently draw huge crowds to minor league parks, no matter the date.

Obviously, combining an evening at the ballpark with a postgame fireworks show brings the two together. But I personally prefer a town park or waterfront setting for my ooohing and aaahing. To me, it's not quite the same watching from a fixed seat in Section 21 instead of amid the crowd on a park lawn or along the wharf.

When the Yankees flirted with New Jersey

In a weird coincidence on Tuesday, I found myself reading early in No Minor Accomplishment, Bob Golon's account of baseball's revival in New Jersey beginning in 1994, about the Yankees' flirtation with moving to the Meadowlands. On the day George Steinbrenner died, it was interesting that I'd reach this passage:

... Meanwhile, the once-mighty Yankees fell upon some hard times at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx. Questionable player deals and numerous managerial changes taxed the patience of even the most dedicated Yankees fans, and empty seats became a common sight at Yankee Stadium. The front office attributed the lack of attendance to the Bronx neighborhood itself. People didn't feel safe coming to the Bronx, claimed Yankees executives, and even those who did were being turned off by the constant traffic delays due to the outdated highways leading to and from Yankee Stadium. The Yankees told anyone who would listen that they were in need of a new ballpark and would consider alternative locations in the New York City area if a deal could be struck.

New Jersey governor Kean, with the backing of the Sports and Exposition Authority and state business and labor leaders, placed a $185 million stadium bond issue on the ballot in 1987. If the bond issue passed, the state would have the funding to build a 45,000-seat baseball stadium in Lyndhurst, adjacent to the Meadowlands complex. A commitment for a team to relocate to the new stadium had to be in place prior to construction, and many thought that the Yankees would be that team. The bond issue's supporters claimed that major-league baseball would create thousands of jobs in Bergen County and be a positive stimulus to the New Jersey economy. The opponents of the bond issue thought it was a risky proposition. Attendance at games could not be guaranteed, and a realistic cost assessment of a new ballpark was in the neighborhood of $400 million. A "north-south" theme also developed within New Jersey, with many residents in the southern part of the state complaining that all of the major Sports and Exposition Authority projects benefited only northern New Jersey. Opposition to the plan increased, and despite the political backing, the voters defeated the bond issue by a two-to-one margin. The Yankees never officially committed to New Jersey, and whether they would have moved or not is simply conjecture. One New Jersey official very close to the negotiations with the Yankees was Robert Mulcahy, currently the athletic director of Rutgers University who was the longtime president and CEO of the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority. Mulcahy recalled that Yankees owner George Steinbrenner had genuine interest in the Meadowlands site. "We had very serious conversations that included layouts of what the stadium might be. George made some helicopter flights over the sites that we had either adjacent to or on the Meadowlands, frankly his attraction was to the Meadowlands because he felt it was the symbol of success. So, how close it ever got? You know, it's hard to know when people would pull a trigger on something like that, but I can say that we had some very serious discussions about it." Unfortunately, Mulcahy and New Jersey never got the opportunity to present a firm plan of financing to the Yankees once the bond issue was defeated. The idea of building a major-league baseball stadium in New Jersey died along with the referendum.

Though, I'm sure they would've still been called the New York Yankees. But even then, when I thought that having a Major League team in New Jersey was probably the coolest thing that could happen, I wasn't sure I wanted it to be the Yankees, and not because I'm a Mets fan. I just couldn't see that team leaving its historic site in the Bronx, abandoning the House That Ruth Built and George Renovated.

Plus, I knew most Yankee fans -- pretty much all of those not living in New Jersey -- would be angry. And while some might blame the team and take it out on the organization by no longer attending games, I had the feeling that most of them would blame New Jersey for stealing the Yankees.

Yogi remembers George

I forgot to take my camera to the Yogi Berra Museum yesterday for the Hall of Famer's comments on the passing of George Steinbrenner, but it didn't matter -- there were so many TV cameras there that I didn't have much of a view. My one shot with my Droid turned out pretty well, though.

Yogi looked good, aside from his obvious sadness at Steinbrenner's death. He's 85, five years older than the Boss was, and was joined by his wife of 61 years, Carmen, and their youngest son, Dale, who I didn't recognize at first.

A few additional anecdotes from yesterday:

Yogi on Bob Sheppard:

Sheppard, he was great too. ... I loved the way he said the names, like a singer. "Mickeyyyy Mantlllle." He was a very nice man. When he came onto the field, he didn't say anything, didn't bother you that much.

Dale on his dad and Steinbrenner:

He would've liked to have played for him. My dad was one of the greatest players in the history of the game. It didn't matter who owned or managed the team when he was a player, he was going to be the best player on the field anyway. Who managed or coached was irrelevant. When you're a Hall of Famer, it doesn't manner who your manager or coach is. Just like Rickey Henderson and Winfield and Mattingly, the best players, their names are in the lineup everyday, they go out and play. It's irrelevant who the manager is. They go out and play. They respected George because he put the best players around them and gave them an opportunity to win.

Dale on his dad's firing in 1985:

Even when Dad was fired, I went into the office and he said, "Billy's going to be the manager. Play for him like you did for me. He's like an uncle to you. Same with George, go out and play hard. Don't worry about me, I'm going to be playing golf tomorrow." George is wonderful to play for. He gives you the opportunity to win and puts players together who can win.

Yogi on his job:

He called me up in the office one time and said, "Your team's not doing very well." I said, "Don't tell me this is my team. It's your team. You picked it. I didn't." [Laughing.]

Yogi on some of Steinbrenner's requirements:

Sometimes Billy would take the phone off the hook. [Steinbrenner] would call down and tell the guys to get a haircut. He didn't like long hair. Still didn't, I don't think. Swisher had that long hair and had to get it cut. And we always had to wear a jacket and tie on the plane.