Saturday, June 16, 2018

Meet a Prospect: Josh Maciejewski

Pinstriped Prospects image credit


With the New York Yankees 10th round selection in the 2018 MLB First Year Players Draft and 307th pick overall the organization drafted Josh Maciejewski out of UNC Charlotte. Yes, you guessed it… Maciejewski is a college starting pitcher, this time from the left-side though, with a huge frame standing 6’3” and weighing in at 209 lbs. Let’s meet him. This is Meet a Prospect: The Josh Maciejewski Edition.

Maciejewski is another college senior the Yankees drafted, this time out of the University of North Carolina – Charlotte. Maciejewski has a high 80 MPH fastball that he mixes with a changeup and a developing slider, a pitch the Yankees organization has seemingly fallen in love with over the years. Maciejewski used that repertoire to post a 9-2 record this season with a 2.25 ERA en route to earning First team All-Conference USA honors.

Here is what the UNC-Charlotte athletics page had to say about Maciejewski:

“SET CHARLOTTE ALL-TIME RECORD FOR MOST STARTS IN A CAREER WITH 55 AFTER HIS COMPLETE-GAME, THREE-HIT SHUTOUT OF UAB IN THE CONFERENCE USA TOURNAMENT ON MAY 24TH … MADE ALL 15 STARTS ON THE WEEKEND IN 2018 GOING 9-2 WITH A 2.25 ERA … THREW 104 INNINGS WITH 104 STRIKEOUTS ALLOWING JUST 31 RUNS, 26 EARNED AVERAGING NINE STRIKEOUTS PER GAME AND A 4/1 STRIKEOUT-TO-WALK RATIO…  PUT UP CAREER BEST NUMBERS IN ALL MAJOR CATEGORIES DURING HIS FINAL SEASON INCLUDING WINS, ERA, INNINGS PITCHES, RUNS/EARNED RUNS, STRIKEOUTS AND OPPONENTS BATTING AVERAGE (.215) … IN ADDITION TO EARNING THE TOP SPOT ALL-TIME FOR CAREER STARTS, THE LEFT-HANDER FINISHED FIFTH WITH 330.1 CAREER INNINGS PITCHED, SIXTH ALL-TIME WITH 264 STRIKEOUTS AND TIED FOR SIXTH WITH 21 CAREER WINS.”

The Yankees should have no problem churning out, at worst, a healthy crop of good relief pitchers in the near future from the farm system. At best, though, the organization has stockpiled a ton of pitchers that could potentially move quick through the farm system. Nice work by them, kudos.

Maciejewski has already signed with the club so a warm welcome to the organization to him, and an even warmer welcome to the Yankees family. You can follow him on twitter by following @J_Maciejewski22.

The Rise and Fall of the Valkyries… Chapter 5



Chapter 5       Burn

Dan, still in shock, sat down slowly as he followed the instructions of his assailant. Dan thought he recognized the masked man, likely somewhere around Bartow or inside the Valkyries compound itself, but he couldn’t be sure. Not with the mask on. The masked man was considerably younger than Dan, or at least Dan thought so based off the little that he could see that was not covered by the black mask. All Dan could see was his blue eyes, and Dan could see fear in those eyes. Before Dan could process what that fear could possibly mean or before he could figure out what was to come the masked man began to speak.

“Listen, I don’t want to hurt you. I definitely don’t want to hurt your children…. But I will. Do you understand? I will, because if it comes down to you or me, then I will choose myself every single time. No offense.” Dan made a mental note of the masked man’s position in the room as well as the cracks in his voice as he spoke while nodding yes reluctantly in agreement to his threats. This was not the time for “business as usual” Dan thought as the assailant continued to speak. “I have orders to kill you, to kill your family. To burn your house to the ground and make it look like an accident. To end you. I’m not one to equivocate, lie or beat around the bush. That’s why I’m here. That’s why these two are here, to help me. This is going to happen, what happens between now and your death is up to you.”

For the first time during the conversation Dan was scared. Utterly scared. Thoughts ran through his head of his children and what this masked man would do to them once he was gone. Dan thought about who could possibly want harm to come to him and his family, and what he could have possibly done to justify all this. “It had to be the voicemail, it almost had to be” thought Dan in his head as the masked man finally took the knife from Evan’s throat. For a split-second Dan felt relief, maybe the intruder had changed his mind or maybe all of this was just a scare tactic to make Dan forget whatever he had done. Maybe it was a warning not to ever access or even think about the Death Room again. Maybe it was a warning to forget the conversation he had overheard between Light and Nacho. Maybe this was Poke flexing his muscle in a non-discreet way for barging into his office earlier unannounced. As crazy as that sounded Dan knew that anything was possible when it came to Poke, and when it came to Poke proving a point and asserting his dominance over others. Anything and everything, feasible or not, was going through Dan’s head until he saw the masked man put the knife in his waist band and replace what was in his right hand with a handgun. Dan gulped, but he couldn’t swallow, thoughts of death began to re-enter his head.

In one last defiant act Dan looked the masked man directly in his eye, a tear running down his right cheek, and simply said “Do it” as he raised up sitting straight up in the chair. “Don’t worry, Dan. In time.” said the masked man almost with a smile on his face. “I need to extract some information out of you first, and Dan I am going to get this information out of you. I am. Whether it is the hard way, or the easy way, is up to you. Now let’s get started. Tell me what you found in the Death Room, how you found it and who you talked to about what you found… and tell me now.” Dan knew what this was all about now, but the young Valkyrie had a sneaking suspicion that this masked intruder was not going to buy his story, no matter how true it really was. Dan began to tell his story. Dan told the intruder about how he worked for the Valkyries council, how he used their technology to backdoor his way into the Death Room and how he had not seen a thing in the room yet. Dan told the intruder about how there was a breach over the wall, how the entire compound was put on lockdown and how Dan had just gotten home not too long ago before being awoken to someone stealing the laptop that had the sensitive information on it. Dan was 100% honest with the masked man and when he finished his story he took a long gulp and sighed, hoping and praying that his story was sufficient. “Bullshit” said the masked man. Nope, he didn’t buy it. Not at all, which was no surprise to Dan. The masked man didn’t buy his story and that was never any clearer to Dan than when he suddenly found himself on the ground, now the target of a brutal punch to the face by the masked man. Dan collected himself off the ground and without further altercation put himself back in his seat where he was before being struck by the masked man. “Well, beating me and cursing inside my home doesn’t change the fact that what I told you is the truth. Beating me further won’t change that fact either so give me your best shot!” Dan said with a bit of a chip on his shoulder. Dan was kind and so caring with everyone he met, but he was also super protective over the ones he loved, and he was also protective over his honor. Dan took his word very seriously and he may have been accused of being a lot of things, a hot head, an asshole and maybe a little cocky for his own good to name a few examples, but a liar he was not, and he did not take too well to being called one either.

“Do I at least get to know the name of the man who is about to not only kick my ass, but kill me as well?” Dan asked. Dan was getting cocky, but he was getting angry as well. The two tended to go hand-in-hand when it came to Dan which usually meant trouble for the young Valkyrie. Dan had been telling the truth, and everything he was being threatened and beaten for was gone when whoever broke into his home stole his laptop. Dan knew that if this was it that he was not going to go down whimpering in the corner, Dan knew he was going to go down with a fight. The masked man looked a bit caught off guard by the question and hesitated before answering. “You know what, sure. What do I care if you know my name, dead men don’t speak, and dead men don’t tell tales. My name is Fox and I work for a man you may know. Ever heard of a guy named Poke?”  Dan’s jaw dropped with the sudden realization that Poke had possibly sent a hitman to end one of the Valkyries Council members. There had been rumors of Poke’s untraditional tactics and there had been all but confirmations that Poke not only ruled with an iron fist, but that he also got his way no matter who or what got destroyed in his path. Dan, keeping his poker face, simply snarled “Liar!” to Fox before lunging at the blue-eyed monster before him. Dan swung at Fox and landed a blow across his chin knocking Fox to the ground before the other two masked men separated the two, holding Dan down at the feet of Poke’s potential mystery hitman.

“Yeah, you’re going to regret that” said Fox, wiping a bit of blood from his lip. Fox then looked to one of his masked associates, pointing at him he said, “You, grab that boy. And you,” pointing to the other masked hitman “grab the other boy.” Dan made a move for Fox again, but he was quickly stopped as Fox raised his gun and pointed it in Dan’s face. “Don’t make me do it, Dan. Because I will. I will, and I think you know I will. Now this goes one of two ways, the way I see it. Option A, you sit down and shut the hell up long enough to tell me the truth and I kill your kids in the other room, then I kill you, and then I burn your house down. You know, doctor’s orders and all…” Dan knew these men were sent by Poke, or at least from someone within the Valkyries with knowledge of the Valkyries leader that were trying to make it look like Poke had sent them. Poke was a very secretive man and as rumor had it the Valkyries leader was a dentist before the uprisings began and before his eventual rise to power. Poke would never confirm or deny this but many around him would call him “Dr. Poke” either jokingly, or because he really was a dentist or doctor. Either way, hearing this immediately gave Dan a feeling of defeat, even if temporary. In Dan’s mind he knew the Valkyries had sold him down the river after giving his entire life to the cause, to the regime and to Poke himself. Fox continued after a long pause, “or you can continue to sit here and lie to me in front of my face and I’ll kill your kids right here in front of your face and make you watch. Then all the other stuff, I feel like I am repeating myself a lot here, but I just want to emphasize how important all this is here. I’m serious. This is happening, and it is happening right now. Make a decision.”

Dan knew Fox was not bluffing. He saw the gun, he saw the knives that Fox and his men held. He saw the gas cans sitting by the front door that he hadn’t noticed until he and Fox wrestled on the ground after Dan swatted him in the face. Dan knew this was it, so he did what he thought was best for him and his children, he told Fox the truth once again. Word for word Dan repeated the same exact story he had told these men earlier, because Dan was not a liar and Dan knew this to be the truth. Even with death looking him in the eyes Dan was not going to leave this world any other way than on his terms. Dan once again sat up straight in his chair and awaited Fox’s ultimate decision after hearing the story of how Dan came to find the Death Room, and just how little information he accessed before having the very information he had worked his life to access and the same information he was about to die for ripped from his lap while he slept. Dan made a mental note to stop sleeping on the job so much, which was ironic facing death since death is sometimes considered to be the ultimate sleep, before looking at Fox for his final decision. Before Fox could bring down his decision Dan remembered something and spoke up. “Oh, and one thing that I forgot to tell you. One thing I remembered. The person that came over the wall today… her name is Light.”

Dan thought that Fox’s eyes were big and blue when he first laid eyes on them behind that black mask but when Dan mentioned the name Light it was like Fox’s eyes doubled in size and got an even deeper shade of blue. Fox knew that name, Dan knew it in his heart by how he had reacted, and he hoped that maybe that information could save him.

“Change of plans” Fox said into a radio that was strapped to his arm. “Bring the truck and load the boys up, we will take care of them off-site. We need to get this moving, it will be sunrise before we know it” Fox continued to God only knows who, Dan thought. Within minutes a truck was outside and three more armed guards were inside his house escorting his two sons, Hayden and Evan, into a truck. Dan fought Fox and his original two militant allies to no avail, Dan was exhausted physically and mentally. Dan hadn’t slept, he hadn’t eaten enough, and he just couldn’t overpower three men. Tears rolled down his face as he watched his sons fight these presumed Valkyries to no avail. Before Dan knew it, his sons were loaded up in the truck screaming and reaching for their helpless father as the truck drove away. Dan was heartbroken and more importantly, Dan felt defeated. “Don’t worry, Dan, they will make it quick and painless because you cooperated. As promised, so will I” said Fox as his two allies began dousing his home in gasoline. Dan didn’t even fight, he knew what was coming and he had accepted it. Dan always prided himself in being a father and how he handled, disciplined, raised and protected his children since the passing of his wife and he knew he had let them down tonight. Dan was a failure in his mind and this was his karma, and his fate. Dan just dropped his head in shame as one of the masked men lit a match and threw it on a bit of gasoline in his kitchen igniting the flame.

“Any last words, Dan?” Fox said as he cocked his pistol, prepared to give Dan that ultimate sleep that he had made a mental note just a few minutes prior to never take. Dan simply shook his head no, tears still streaming down his cheeks. “Fine, let’s do this” said Fox. Short and sweet. Direct. Everything Fox had said and done had been that way in the short time that Dan had known him and finally, in this instance, Dan appreciated that. Dan knew he was going to die and he had accepted that fact, so he was eerily appreciative that this would all be over soon. Fox lifted his gun and pointed it at Dan, this was it. Game over. Dan closed his eyes and accepted his fate, saying a silent prayer right before he heard the sound of a gunshot.

POW!

It took Dan a second to realize that he was still coherent when this realization was interrupted by the sound of another gunshot. POW! POW! Dan was still alive, but how was this possible? Had Fox missed? Was Fox messing with him? Dan slowly opened his eyes to see that the two men that entered Dan’s house were laying on his floor in a pool of their own blood. “Had Fox shot them?” Dan thought to himself, almost in a rhetorical fashion as Fox was the only one Dan knew of that had a gun in his home that night. Dan looked around for Fox, his eyes burning by the flames and the smoke that now engulfed his home, and it didn’t take long to realize that Fox was behind him. Dan felt his presence and turned around slowly, raising his hands. ‘F-f-f-ox?” Dan asked, confused as to what was going on. Fox didn’t immediately reply but when he did Dan knew once again that he was serious and that he meant what he said. Fox may have been one scary individual, and he may have been one to always take the most direct route no matter what, but Fox was also genuine. Dan could tell, which is why he did not hesitate to respond when Fox blurted out, “decision time, Dan!”

“What decision was that?” Dan thought to himself, and Fox didn’t keep his mind wondering for long. “You can either die here in your house and be burnt to a crisp alongside these two Valkyries military men you just killed, or we can just make it look like you did, or we can both go over the wall and you can tell me more about what you know about Light.” Without even a warning Fox began to count backwards as he pointed his gun in Dan’s face. “Five, four, three…” Dan interrupted by shouting “Deal!! Deal!” before Fox could get to two. “Good, let’s go dead man” Fox said as he pushed Dan out the back door of his burning home and through his back yard. Dan didn’t even look back at his burning house as he was being ushered down the street and towards the armory. Dan didn’t look back as Fox boosted him over the wall and into the warzone that was the Land of Bartow outside the walls of the Valkyries Compound. Dan didn’t look back as he said goodbye to everything he had ever known and loved. Dan never looked back as his house was burned to the ground within minutes, nor did he look back at the sound of his neighbors noticing the fire by now and screaming into the streets. Dan didn’t look back to see if he could see where the truck that held his kids had gone, although it had been several minutes by now so the chances of that were slim, to none. Dan didn’t look back for anything. Dan never looked back. 




For those that enjoyed my five teaser chapters of my first book, thank you for reading. For those who simply scrolled past the chapters or were bored by the story, well “booooooo” to you. I am obviously joking, thank you to you all for your support regardless. One last time, here is the link to the book if you are interested in checking it out. Thanks again and enjoy what is left of your weekend!

https://www.amazon.com/Rise-Fall-Valkyries-events-Daniel/dp/1719011427/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1529070697&sr=8-1&keywords=the+rise+and+fall+of+the+valkyries

The Yankees Celebrate Pasta Night in the Bronx...

Photo Credit: Getty Images (Mike Stobe)
Johnny Lasagna captures first MLB win in debut…

The much-anticipated Major League debut of Jonathan Loaisiga, a/k/a Johnny Lasagna, was a great success. Domingo German didn’t win his first game until Thursday, his seventh start of the season and his 12th appearance overall. Loaisiga, who was in Double A earlier this week, delivered five solid innings, holding the Tampa Bay Rays to three hits and no runs, en route to the Yankees’ 5-0 win. He threw 91 pitches, while walking an uncharacteristic four walks for the strike-thrower and sending six to the bench by strikeout.  

I’d blame the walks on jitters for pitching at Yankee Stadium for the first time but Loaisiga had the calmness of a savvy veteran on the mound. A very good impression left by the young right-hander who picked up first first Major League win. During the game, someone tweeted that Domingo German and Loaisiga are better than last year’s duo of Luis Cessa and Caleb Smith. That’s an understatement. When Cessa pitches, I always feel it’s inevitable he’ll give up 3 to 4 early runs and the team will need to rely upon its offense for any hope. To Smith’s defense, he has pitched much better for the Miami Marlins this year (5-6, 3.75 ERA, 83 strikeouts in 72 innings) but he certainly didn’t “wow” anyone last year like German and Loaisiga have done. His Yankees career stands at 0-1, 7.71 ERA in nine games (two starts).  

The nice thing about the respective jobs this year’s rookie pitchers have provided is the elimination of the immediate desperation for the Yankees to acquire proven Major League pitching talent for the stretch run. Sure, the Yankees will no doubt acquire another proven starter by the July trading deadline but the performance of the young guys will help GM Brian Cashman to acquire pitching on his terms as opposed to other team smelling blood in the water and circling the Yankees with demands of over-payment.   

I thought the fourth inning was a terrific moment for Loaisiga. With one out, Wilson Ramos recorded the first hit off Loaisiga with a single to right. A ground out by Joey Wendle moved Ramos to second for the second out of the inning, but the Rays loaded the bases on another single and a walk. Yankee Stadium and the pressure of the situation could have been overwhelming for Loaisiga but after several mound visits, Loaisiga was able to settle down and ended the threat with a strikeout of Christian Arroyo (the return for when the Rays traded Yankee killer Evan Longoria to the San Francisco Giants). It was a huge moment for the youngster, especially with the Yankees clinging to a 1-0 lead at that point.  

Let’s talk about that 1-0 advantage. Didi Gregorius, who disappeared during the month of May (bat, not defense) has returned with a vengeance. His homer to right in the third inning gave the Yankees their first run of the game. He was 3-for-4, with two runs scored and the RBI on the homer. No strikeouts for Sir Didi despite the presence of the hard-throwing Nathan Eovaldi on the mound. It’s great to see Gregorius back in form.  I had to go back and watch the video replay of Didi’s first Major League home run at Yankee Stadium while he was a member of the Arizona Diamondbacks to re-live the excitement on his face and holding the knowledge that he’d one day be a star at the Stadium.  



I felt bad for Eovaldi. Well, not bad enough that I wanted to see him emerge with a victory over his former teammates. Nevertheless, it has been a long, hard road for Nasty Nate with his Tommy John surgery, the second of his career, and subsequent injuries since his release by the Yankees. He pitched into the eighth inning and had held the Yankees to two runs until the Yankees loaded the bases on two hits and an intentional walk. Exit Eovaldi and enter fellow multiple Tommy John recipient Jonny Venters, the former Atlanta Braves reliever, who, after striking out Greg Bird, served up a bases clearing double to Gary Sanchez with all the runs charged to Eovaldi. So, the final pitching line does not show how well Eovaldi pitched on this night. I wish him success as he moves forward with his Rays career, but if he pitches too well, he’ll find himself on another team next month.

Hopefully the double is a positive sign for El Gary. The hit helped him evade an ‘0-fer' night and left him with a season batting average of .189. I’d love to see him follow up with a couple of hits today to get his bat going and return him to his status as one of the key bats in the Yankees lineup. The Yankees need Sanchez playing like we know he can for the long summer ahead.

Photo Credit: Bill Kostroun

Another stellar job by the Yankees bullpen. Jonathan Holder, David Robertson, Dellin Betances, and Adam Warren, in that order, held Tampa to one hit, no runs, a walk and four strikeouts. I wouldn’t want to say anything to Betances right now. He’s like a guy throwing a no-hitter in the late innings.  We would not want to jinx that bad boy.  

I thought the Yankees would remain in second place in the AL East last night when I went to bed. The Boston Red Sox had jumped all over Seattle Mariners starter James Paxton with six runs (five earned). Paxton couldn’t make it out of the third inning. The Sox had a 6-3 lead when I shut the TV off. It was nice to wake up to news that the Mariners had rallied against Sox starter Rick Porcello and the Boston bullpen for a 7-6 win. The loss dropped Boston (48-23) into a first place tie with the Yankees (45-20) although the better team (Yankees of course) lead by sixteen percentage points (.692 to .676).

To make room for Jonathan Loaisiga, the Yankees optioned Tyler Austin to Triple A. While I wish Austin could have hit well enough to stay, I really hope this eventually leads Brandon Drury back to the Major Leagues where he belongs. I have been intrigued to see what the Yankees have with pitcher A.J. Cole but at this point, he is offering nothing and does not seem to be an option for any meaningful role. Therefore, when the Yankees complete this current stretch of consecutive games, I’d like to see them DFA Cole to open a spot for Drury. I am appreciative of the job Neil Walker has done but I’d trade Walker if necessary to get Drury back to the Bronx. It seems like almost every trade suggestion by Yankees Twitter now includes Drury but I’d love to find a way to keep him and have him provide infield support for Miguel Andujar, Gleyber Torres, and Greg Bird. I’d trade Andujar for the right pitcher to open third base for Drury but of course I’ve been a fan of Drury all along despite the “headaches” he caused the Yankees and their fans.  

How great was it to see Andy Pettitte pitching batting practice before yesterday’s game? I love that guy. Friday was Andy’s 46th birthday which made it very appropriate for him to be at Yankee Stadium. He’s in town, along with a number of other former Yankees greats, for Sunday’s Old Timer’s Day. Pettitte has always been one of my favorite Yankees. With no disrespect to Larry Rothschild, I am hopeful that Pettitte will one day return to the Yankees as the team’s pitching coach. There was talk Pettitte might have joined Lance Berkman as his pitching coach if Berkman had gotten the Rice University coaching gig, but that job went to Matt Bragga on Friday. Congratulations to Andy for the recent birth of his first grandchild.  Hard to believe that #46 is now a grandfather. Andy looks like he could still suit up for the Yankees and deliver a win.

Photo Credit:  Mike Mazzeo/@MazzNYDN (Twitter)

It’s Luis Severino day. The Yankees ace (9-2, 2.27 ERA) will be opposed by Tampa’s Ryne Stanek (1-1, 2.76 ERA). Let keep this two-game winning streak going and take the series against the Rays today. It is a good day and a great day for a Yankees victory.

Go Yankees!

Meet a Prospect: Mick Vorhof



This is just getting silly with the experienced right-handed college pitchers being drafted by the New York Yankees in the 2018 MLB First Year Players Draft. With the Yankees ninth-round selection, 277th overall, the team took right-handed pitcher Mick Vorhof, a senior out of Grand Canyon University, so let’s meet him. This is Meet a Prospect: The Mick Vorhof Edition.

Vorhof stands 6’1” and weighs in at 205 lbs. perfectly fitting the mold of what the organization has been drafting lately. Some opined that Vorhof was a slot saving pick since he is a senior and has very few options to fall back on if he decided not to sign with the Yankees, but after pitching solely as a reliever at GCU he could be a fast mover through the Yankees system. In 2018 Vorhof posted an 11.67 K/9 ratio while only giving up three walks in 38 innings of work the entire season. Vorhof is a fastball/curveball type pitcher that relies on amazing command and control.


Vorhof has been working under former Yankee and current GCU Head Coach Andy Stankiewicz which could have aided the team in their drafting of Vorhof. Would Vorhof want to start once inside the Yankees organization? Here is an exact quote from him before the Draft:

“I LOVE THE BULLPEN NOW,” VORHOF SAID. “I DON’T SEE IT ANY OTHER WAY, REALLY. I STARTED MY WHOLE LIFE BUT, BEING IN THE BULLPEN NOW, I FOUND MY PLACE. I LIKE TO WORK QUICK. IT ALLOWS ME TO BE AT MY BEST WITH THE STUFF I HAVE. I LIKE THE PRESSURE. IT MAKES IT FUN.”

Vorhof has already signed with the organization so welcome to the team, and also welcome to the family! Follow Mick on Twitter by following @MickVorhof.

Hello… Yankees Considering Buying Back the YES Network



It just sounds weird to say that the New York Yankees are considering buying back the YANKEES Entertainment and Sports Network, more commonly known as the YES Network, but it is true. The Yankees are considering buying back the YES Network from 21st Century Fox Inc.

The Yankees sold off their control of the YES Network four years ago to Rupert Murdoch’s FOX company with a clause in the agreement that gave the Yankees the right to buy back the network in the event that FOX puts it up for sale. FOX owns 80% of the YES Network and saw Comcast Corp. make a $65 billion bid for FOX’s entertainment assets, including YES and other regional sports networks. This offer came after Walt Disney Co. bid $52.4 million for those same sports assets.

Some have speculated that it would cost the Yankees $4 billion to buy back the YES Network after selling 31% to FOX in 2014 for $3.8 billion, bumping FOX’s total control to 80% of the company with the Yankee Global Enterprises corporation owning the other 20%. If Comcast and Disney begin a bidding war with FOX we could easily see that number rise, so stay tuned.

And a special good morning to you, my love and my soulmate. I love you with all my heart and all my soul. I always have, and I always will Kari. I cannot wait to make you my Kari Ann Burch.

This Day in New York Yankees History 6/16: RIP Tony Gwynn


On this day in 2014 Major League Baseball lost a great soul when Tony Gwynn lost his battle with cancer and passed away at his home.


Also on this day in 2006 the Yankees played a regular season game in Washington D.C. for the first time in 35 years. The Yankees would beat the Nationals at RFK Stadium 7-5. The last time the Yankees played in the nation's capital was September 30, 1971 where the Yankees beat the Washington Senators 9-0. The fans were upset about losing the Senators for the second time since 1961 and refused to leave the field with their team ahead by two runs in the season finale.


Also on this day in 1997 the New York Mets would play, and beat, the New York Yankees for the first time ever in the regular season. The Mets would win 6-0 behind a Dave Milicki complete game shutout.


Also on this day in 1996 the legendary Mel Allen lost his battle with heart failure, he was 83 years old, Allen was in the Hall of Fame and best known for his play by play work with the New York Yankees. Allen was best known for his "How About That?" moniker.


Also on this day in 1962 Jerry Kindall of the Cleveland Indians hits a two run walk off home run to give his team a 10-9 victory. Yogi Berra was playing left field and probably had a bit of deja vu after seeing Bill Mazeroski's Game 7 home run in the 1960 World Series also go over his head for a big loss.


Finally on this day in 1953 the New York Yankees 18 game winning streak comes to an end at the hands of the St. Louis Browns. The Browns would snap their own 14 game losing streak in the battle in the Bronx that handed Whitey Ford his first loss in eight decisions.