Yankee Nation

With the Bombers poised on the precipice of disaster, and the ARod suicide watch soon to begin, it seems fitting to make this an all-Yankee day in history to soothe the anxious souls of the Bronx.

We start on October, 6, 1936, when the Yanks polished off the Giants 13-5 to win the World Series in six. The Bombers were led by their superstar rookie, Joe DiMaggio, who went 3 for 6 on the day and notched a run and an RBI, and left-fielder Jake Powell, who was 3 for 5 with 4 RBI’s. Lefty Gomez got the win. (The picture above is Babe Ruth at the '36 Series with none other than Kate Smith - the Babe had retired from baseball the year before.)

Five years later to the day, the Yanks won another championship, beating the Brooklyn Dodgers 3-1 in game five to end the series. The real star of that afternoon was Yankee pitcher Tiny Bonham, who hurled a complete game and yielded only four hits to the Bums from Brooklyn.

Another six years and the Bombers were at it again on October 6th, and again with the Dodgers, winning game seven of the World Series over the Brooklynites 5-2. The Scooter had a big day for the Yanks, 3 for 4 with 2 runs scored. This game came just a day after the renowned game six and the great catch of Al Gionfriddo, which you may have read about somewhere.

Alas, it had to happen eventually that the Bronx curse on October 6th would be broken, and so it was in 1963, when Yankee black magic came up against its master, a Jewish fireballer with icewater in his veins. Sandy Koufax pitched a complete game against the Yanks, and the Dodgers, now in L.A., completed a four-game sweep of the World Series. Koufax allowed only one run on the day, a home run by Mickey Mantle. In the Dodgers' game one victory, Koufax had also gone nine, and for his efforts he was named the Series MVP.