This Day in Yankees History: A brawl in the Bronx

With the start of the 2020 season delayed for the foreseeable future, the Pinstripe Alley team decided to revive the program in a slightly different format. These daily posts will highlight a few key moments in Yankees history on a given date, as well as recognize players born on the day. Let’s take a trip down memory lane.

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This Day in Yankees History (May 19)

22 years ago

After giving up a three-run homer to Bernie Williams in the eighth inning, Orioles pitcher Armando Benitez nails Tino Martinez in the upper back, igniting a bench-clearing brawl. Yankees reliever Graeme Lloyd races in from the Yankee bullpen and gets into it with the O’s closer, and Alan Mills bloodies Darryl Strawberry’s face after the New York outfielder ends up in the Baltimore dugout also trying to get a shot at Benitez. Things got ugly as a majority of the fight took place in or around the Baltimore dugout.

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Birthdays

Happy birthday to Gil McDougald, Rick Cerone and Deivi Garcia!

McDougald played his entire career with the Yankees from 1951-1960, and won Rookie of the Year in 1951. The infielder seemed to love the number five. He was a five-time All-Star, was an MVP candidate in five different seasons, and most importantly, he won five World Series titles. McDougald slashed a career .276/.365/.410 and accumulated a 40.8 bWAR.

Speaking of players who like certain numbers, Cerone liked the number seven. The former seventh overall pick in the 1975 MLB Draft caught for the Yankees for seven years, and finished seventh in MVP voting in 1980, which was his first season with the club. He hit .249/.297/.351 in pinstripes.

Garcia, a top prospect in New York’s system, turns 21 today! The righty has a live arm and has high expectations as he made his way up to Triple-A last season at the age of just 20. He is known for punching batters out, averaging about 10 strikeouts per nine innings as a member of the RailRiders last season.

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We thank Baseball-Reference, Nationalpastime.com, and FanGraphs for providing background information for these posts.