Skip to main content

The Iron Horse's Walk-Off HR History

I don't usually write about members of the opposing New York team, but I'll make an exception as we approach a 70th anniversary of note (the famous speech at Yankee Stadium) to reference the three walk-off home runs hit by Lou Gehrig.

August 25, 1932 vs Indians
One of the fun things about reading old-time newspaper game stories is that you get writings such as this from John Drebinger of the New York Times.

"As every good hunter knows, there is nothing like a trusty double-barreled gun to bring down big game, and it took all of two shots, right on the mark, for the Yankees to overcome the Indians in the second game of the current series at the Stadium yesterday."

Drebinger was referring to the home runs of both Msrs Ruth and Gehrig, the latter of which ended a contest that, amazingly enough, was played to nine-inning conclusion in 92 minutes.

June 20, 1934 vs Indians
Walk-off home runs were celebrated a little bit differently in Gehrig's playing days. A photo with the game story, which details how the Yankees swept the Walter Johnson-managed Indians, shows Gehrig crossing the plate after hitting his walk-off home run. There is no throng awaiting to do the celebratory bunny hop, but merely one person (the batboy perhaps?) who holds out his palm for a greeting.

September 8, 1937 vs Red Sox
But then again, maybe the pictures don't tell the whole story. It was quite the doubleheader sweep for Gehrig and the Yankees against the Red Sox on this date.

In the opener, The Iron Horse scored the winning run on Myril Hoag's single.

In the nightcap, the Yankees staged the kind of epic comeback for which they are known well. Trailing 6-1 in the ninth inning, they scored eight times, all with two outs, to win. Joe Cronin's two errors on the same potential game-ending play opened the door and the Yankees took advantage big-time.

Joe Dimaggio singled in the tying run and then Gehrig followed with a three-run blast on a 3-2 pitch.

As the story notes: "He had to fight his way around the bases through a happy swarm of fans."

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The best Mets ejections I know

When you think of the Mets and famous ejections, I'm guessing you first think of the famous Bobby Valentine mustache game, when after Valentine got tossed, he returned to the dugout in disguise. You know it. You love it. I remember being amused when I asked Bobby V about it while we were working on Baseball Tonight, how he simply said "It worked. We won the game." (true) But the Bobby V mustache game of June 9, 1999 is one of many, many memorable Mets ejection stories. And now thanks to Retrosheet and the magic of Newspapers.com , we have a convenient means for being able to share them. Ever since Retrosheet's David Smith recently announced that the Retrosheet ejection database was posted online , I've been a kid in a candy store. I've organized the data and done some lookups of media coverage around the games that interested me post. Those newspaper accounts fill in a lot of blanks. Without further ado (and with more work to do), here are some of my findings

Minutiae Break: Worst Mets Relievers

It occurs to me after 79 straight walk-off related posts and some fatigue still remaining from Saturday's finish that I did promise to bring Metspective on other issues related to the Flushing 9, so I offer this posting up as a "Minutiae Break." This came about after several discussions related to the offhand Dick Tidrow/Danny Graves remark the other day , the conclusion of which indicated that it would be fun to create a list of the worst Mets relievers of all-time. I don't want to step on the territory of other bloggers, like " Faith and Fear in Flushing ," Mets Guy in Michigan " and " Metstradamus ," so I'll tread carefully here, aided by their influence. Should any friends, family members, or fans of these pitchers visit this site, I mean no harm. I'm just here to have a little fun with this topic. The ground rules are as follows: The pitcher must have had a Mets stint as long as Dick Tidrow's (11 games, 15 2/3 innings), for wh

The 'Duca of Earl (and walk-offs)

If I told you that the Mets had just obtained a guy who is a career .316 hitter with runners in scoring position? How about if I told you that the Mets just traded for a hitter who has consistently ranked among the toughest in baseball to strike out? Or if I mentioned that the Mets just dealt for a player who was selected to the NL All-Star team the last three seasons, with the last honor coming via a vote by his peers? So, although he's on the down side age wise, his throwing arm isn't as good as it used to be, and he doesn't provide much power, there are a lot of good things that Paul Lo Duca brings to the New York Mets. For example: He'll sacrifice his body for the good of the team The Dodgers and Braves squared off on August 23, 2002 and Lo Duca made an impact both on the start and finish of this game. Three pitches after being dusted by Greg Maddux, Lo Duca made him pay with a first-inning home run. The Braves rallied to tie the game, 3-3 in the ninth, but their bu