About Yesterday: Rockies 9, Yankees 2

By Mike Whiteman August 25, 2024 On this day in 1956, the Yankees claimed 40 year-old future Hall of Famer Enos Slaughter off waivers from the Kansas City Athletics. It was not unusual for the Yankees of that era to pick up veterans to be role players in support of the pillars Mantle, Berra, and Ford. The pickup of Slaughter necessitated the dropping someone from the current roster. Longtime shortstop Phil Rizzuto, no longer a regular player at age 38, was asked by General Manager George Weiss and Manager Casey Stengel to to give his opinion of a player to cut. The story goes that Rizzuto was flattered that he would be consulted on a personnel matter and made multiple suggestions - until he was told that he was the one to be released to open the spot. The next year however, the Scooter was back in the fold, starting a new career as a beloved radio and television broadcaster. The Yankee icon was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1994.

Quick Stats: The Yankees are 76-54 on the season, first place in the American League East by a half game over the Baltimore Orioles. They are on pace for 95 wins. Big Story: With Luis Gil on the IL, the Yankees promoted Will Warren to the big club. Warren had struggled in his first three starts to the tune of an 8.59 ERA. It didn't get any better yesterday, when he allowed six runs in the first three innings. Aaron Boone pulled Warren and the Yanks put a couple of runs on the board while Mark Leiter threw a scoreless fourth. Unfortunately, Leiter allowed a home run to first baseman Michael Toglia in the fifth and old friend Jake Cave ripped two-run shot off of Michael Tonkin in the seventh. The Yankee offense went crickets the rest of the way and finished with only five hits for the day. Easy win for the Rockies, 9-2. Notable Performances: The slumping Alex Verdugo had a home run...Jazz Chisholm had two hits and an RBI...Tim Hill threw a scoreless inning and a third and has a 2.35 ERA in Pinstripes. In this strikeout-happy era we are in, he averages only 2.6 strikeouts per nine innings. Better to Forget: The Yankees have scored five runs over two games against the worst pitching staff (by ERA) in all of baseball. They Said It: "Ownership, the front office, everyone stepped up and made it possible" - Joe Girardi, manager of the 2009 World Series Champion Yankees, on the free agent signings (CC Sabathia, AJ Burnett, and Mark Teixeira) that were the catalyst to their successful season. My Take: I've said it before and will say it again. This team does nothing the easy way. One thing we have seen this team do is bounce back from ugly losses, and let's hope they follow up with a better performance today. Yesterday was Old-Timers Day! The celebration of the 2009 team reminds us what a force the Yankees can be when combining youth and experience, good planning and financial might. It's easy to forget, but the 2009 Yankees was a really good team. After an OK start, the team went 74-38 from June on, cruised through the AL playoffs, and beat a tough Philadelphia Phillies team in the playoffs.

I remember when Old-Timers Day was when guys from the 1950s and 1960s came to Yankee Stadium and suited up. Now I look at the list of players, and the vast majority I can remember when they played. Does that mean I'm an old-timer now? Next Up: Go for the series win! Yankees and Rockies conclude their series today at 1:35. Marcus Stroman (8-6, 3.82) takes the hill against lefty Austin Gomber (4-8, 4.64).