Yankee In Exile

Incredible Sports Stories From the Past

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How Good Were The Yankees?

The Team  Second base, Chuck Knoblauch. Shortstop, Derek Jeter. Right Fielder, Paul O’Neill. Centerfielder, Bernie Williams. First base, Tino Martinez. Designated hitter, Chili Davis. Third base, Scott Brosius. Catcher, Joe Girardi. Left field, Chad Curtis.  Coming off the bench was a young catcher named Jorge Posada, a veteran base stealer called Tim Raines, a popular…

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The Paul Bunyan Saga, Part II: “The Axe”

Introduction  Last week, we took a look at the rivalry between the two largest schools from the state of Michigan, and the unique trophy they play for. Well, as it turns out, the University of Michigan and Michigan State isn’t the only matchup that has been influenced by the mythical large lumberjack of North America.…

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Which Two Teams Battle For A Trophy of Paul Bunyan?

Introduction  Every die hard college football fan knows that there truly is no offseason when it comes to the sport we love. Now is about the time followers start getting invested in Spring practices, games, and press conferences. Anything just to catch a glimpse of what their favorite school’s team might look like by the…

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  • How Good Were The Yankees?

    The Team  Second base, Chuck Knoblauch. Shortstop, Derek Jeter. Right Fielder, Paul O’Neill. Centerfielder, Bernie Williams. First base, Tino Martinez. Designated hitter, Chili Davis. Third base, Scott Brosius. Catcher, Joe Girardi. Left field, Chad Curtis.  Coming off the bench was a young catcher named Jorge Posada, a veteran base stealer called Tim Raines, a popular…

  • The Paul Bunyan Saga, Part II: “The Axe”

    Introduction  Last week, we took a look at the rivalry between the two largest schools from the state of Michigan, and the unique trophy they play for. Well, as it turns out, the University of Michigan and Michigan State isn’t the only matchup that has been influenced by the mythical large lumberjack of North America.…

  • Which Two Teams Battle For A Trophy of Paul Bunyan?

    Introduction  Every die hard college football fan knows that there truly is no offseason when it comes to the sport we love. Now is about the time followers start getting invested in Spring practices, games, and press conferences. Anything just to catch a glimpse of what their favorite school’s team might look like by the…

  • That Awkward Time An Opening Day Game Turned Into A Snowball Fight

    Phillies vs. Giants- April 11, 1907  The Weather Report  It was Opening Day in the MLB in 1907, and it really wasn’t an ideal time for New York City to have its first April snowfall in 32 years! Yes, for the first time since 1875, Central Park reported 5.8 inches of snow on April 10th.…

  • No Timeouts On Bourbon Street

    1993 NCAA National Championship Game  The Fab Five  Many decades ago, when the Beatles broke onto the scene, they received an iconic nickname: The Fab Four. Apparently the moniker was a clever marketing campaign made up by their press officer. Almost thirty years later, another group of “fabulous” young men broke out at the University…

  • The Millennial Cinderella

    George Mason’s Incredible 2006 Final Four Appearance: Revisited 20 Years Later  2006 Final Four  It all went down in the RCA Dome (just typing the name of that now demolished stadium, is already filling me with nostalgia). It was in Indianapolis, just as it is again, 20 years after the date in question. The first…

  • How Close Did The MLB Come To Having Orange Baseballs?

    Tales From Spring Training, Vol. 3  Wait….Did This Really Happen?  Indeed, at one point in MLB history, changing the color of a standard baseball from white to orange was proposed. Yes, I realize that seems utterly ridiculous and silly enough to be the punchline of a baseball themed episode of a bad TV show. However,…

  • The Longest Big East Game Ever Played

    Syracuse vs. Uconn (March 12-13, 2009)  3 Hours and 46 Minutes  That’s how long, cumulatively, it took to play the six overtime 2009 Big East Tournament quarterfinal matchup between Syracuse University and the University of Connecticut. The longest Big East game ever played and the longest college basketball game of the shot clock era. This…

  • That Time Baseball’s Color Barrier Was Almost Broken……..In 1901

    Tales From Spring Training, Vol. 2 August 28, 1945  This is the date that Jackie Robinson signed a contract to play for the Brooklyn Dodgers. In April of 1947, he saw his first major league action and officially broke baseball’s decades old color barrier. However, the notion of Robinson being the first ever black player…

  • The Italian vs. The Ostrich

    Tales From Spring Training, Vol. 1  Ping Bodie That was the nickname of the San Francisco-born Francesco Stephano Pezzolo, an MLB outfielder of the 1910s and early 1920s. He was one of the first Italian-American players that professional baseball had ever seen. He spent time with the White Sox, A’s, and Yankees organizations as well…