Top 250 Moments: Part 1, 250-226

by James Vletstra

January 9, 2023

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The Greatest Yankees Moments of All-Time!

The New York Yankees are rich in history. They celebrate their great history every year with Old Timers Day and other celebrations. Of course, the Yankees are also constantly adding to their history. In looking back over their long and successful history, there are countless moments that would be considered great.

I have ranked my top 250 Yankees moments.

Not all of these were accomplished by the Yankees, but they were at least involved. I will be releasing (in groups of 25) what I feel are the Top 250 Moments in Yankees history.

I hope you enjoy reliving each of these memories as much as I did putting them together. Feel free to share yours in the comments.

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Before I commence with the countdown, I would like to mention nine instances in which nine pitches were required to strike out the side. In baseball, this is referred to as an immaculate inning. There has been 112 such occasions in MLB history.

These are the Yankees who have accomplished this feat:

Al Downing August 11, 1967

Ron Guidry August 7, 1984

AJ Burnett June 20, 2009

Ivan Nova May 29, 2013

Brandon McCarthy September 17, 2014

Dellin Betances August 2, 2017

Michael King June 4, 2021

Chad Green July 4, 2021

Nestor Cortes April 17, 2022

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THE TOP 250 MOMENTS IN YANKEES HISTORY: Part 1, 250-226

250. July 10, 1997 Hideki Irabu debut

Before being nicknamed an unflattering moniker by George Steinbrenner, Irabu was a huge international deal and his debut was covered as such.

249. August 29, 1967 20 Inning game

In the second game of a doubleheader, the Yankees defeated the Red Sox 4-3. The game lasted 20 innings and had a duration of 6:09.

248. May 28, 1946 Yankees first night game

What now happens on a daily occurrence to capitalize on television revenue was unheard of 80 years ago. All games were played during the day under natural sunlight.

247. July 19, 1920 Ruth breaks HR record

Babe Ruth broke his own record by hitting his 30th on his way to hitting 54 on the year.

246. August 16, 1920 Carl Mays fatally strikes Ray Chapman with a pitch

The Yankees pitcher threw a pitch inside that struck the Indians shortstop in the head at the Polo Grounds. Chapman collapsed and later died making him the only player to die of a direct result of on field play. Remember this was long before helmets were used.

245. October 6, 1963 The Yankees lose the World Series

The Dodgers swept the Yankees in four games. During the regular season the Yankees had won 104 games.

244. July 1, 1990 Andy Hawkins gives up no hits in loss

Until a recent rule change, this was recognized as a no hitter. Hawkins gave up four eighth inning runs on three errors to lose 4-0 to the Chicago White Sox at Comiskey Park.

243. June 21, 1916 Rube Foster no hits Yankees

Not to be confused with Hall of Famer Rube Foster of Negro League fame, this Foster pitched for the World Series winning Red Sox, who won this game 2-0.

242. October 12, 1964 Tresh HR sends it to extras

Tom Tresh came to bat down one with two outs in the ninth against Bob Gibson in Game 5 of the World Series . He homered off the Hall of Fame pitcher in a game that the Yankees eventually lost

241. June 24, 2011 Burnett strikes out four in an inning

An accomplishment that has happened 97 times in MLB history, AJ Burnett struck out four Rockies in one inning

240. January 3, 1973 Steinbrenner buys Yankees

CBS had owned the Yankees during the post-Mickey Mantle years. By 1973, attendance was down and the once great stadium was in desperate need of an overhaul. George Steinbrenner was part of a group that purchased the team for $10M. 50 years later his family still owns the team, now valued at over seven billion dollars.

239. Three occasions. 80,000+ in attendance

It’s only happened 5 times, Yankees were involved in 4 of them including once in Cleveland in 1954. Yankee Stadium doubleheaders with over 80,000 fans occurred on September 9, 1928 (85,265), May 30, 1938 (81,891), and May 30, 1940 (82,437). Something I didn’t know was Memorial Day prior to 1970 was May 30 every year instead of the last Monday in May as we now know it.

238. May 6, 2007 Clemens returns

After four years in Houston, Roger Clemens started the year unsigned. That is until he made a mid-game announcement from the owners box.

237. June 24, 1962 22-inning game

There’s been 17 games that have gone 22 innings or more. On this particular day the Tigers and Yankees were tied at 7-7 until the Yankees scored two runs, without the aid of a courtesy runner. The game lasted an even 7 hours.

236. October 8, 1922 Lost World Series

Five games all played at the Polo Grounds, including a tie that commissioner Landis questioned the motives. The Giants won giving them their third World Series.

235. September 21, 2022 Torres homers twice in same inning

59 different players have homered twice in the same inning. Most recently, Gleyber Torres accomplished this against the Pirates

234. September 20, 1968 Mantle hits last Home Run

Mickey Mantle hit his 536 and final home run

233. October 2, 1963 Sandy Koufax fans 15 in World Series

In one of the most dominant pitching performances ever, Koufax struck out 15 in Game One of the World Series setting the tone for an eventual Dodgers sweep.

232. June 22, 2014 Rich Gossage plaque dedication

The Hall of Famer nicknamed the Goose is enshrined into Monument Park.

231. August 25, 1952 Virgil Trucks no hits Yankees

The Tigers’ all star recorded his second no hitter of the season.

230. October 5, 1942 Lost World Series

The Cardinals took four out of five, closing it out at The Stadium.

229. May 19, 1998 Benitez hits Martinez

Armando Benitez surrendered a go ahead home run to Bernie Williams. The next batter, Tino Martinez, took a fastball to the back. This kicked off a huge melee with lots of memorable swings.

228. July 6, 2002 Reggie Jackson plaque

Jackson is honored with a plaque in Monument Park.

227. September 10, 1919 Ray Caldwell no hits Yankees

Cleveland Indians’ Caldwell no hit his former teammates just mere weeks after getting struck by lightning.

226. October 28, 1981 Yankees lose World Series

The most recent of the 11 matchups against the Dodgers, who won it in six games.