Sunday is the 68th annual Old Timers Day in the Bronx, and below is the list of those scheduled to attend, with first-timers indicated with an asterisk. Note the six widows, too: the Yankees traditionally honored Mrs. Ruth and Mrs. Gehrig, and then Babe Ruths daughter, as well, and the practice really seemed to take hold as a contemporary tradition with Diana Munson. Goose is getting a plaque in Monument Park, too. Id say how different this list feels to me from when I was a child, but then, somewhat incredibly, we still get two of the four Yankees among the players who were the greatest Old Timers during my childhood — Yogi Berra and Whitey Ford, sans the Mick and, always saved for last except for a famous one-year brouhaha, Joe DiMaggio — on the field, albeit no longer playing in the actual Old-Timers game. We miss Mel Allen doing his master-of-ceremonies gig, too. The Yankees obviously were the team that created Old Timers Day, but numerous teams mimicked the practice in the 1960s into the 1990s. The Yankees were the only team to maintain the practice since 1999 (when the Tigers played one in marking their last year at Tigers Stadium) until last year, 2013, when the Dodgers restarted it with former Dodgers facing former Yankees to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Dodgers beating the Yankees in the 1963 World Series. The Dodgers 2014 edition, held in May, featured split lineups modeled more like the Yankees traditional games. When I was a kid Old Timers Day was always the Yankees most important and magical part of the regular season, even more so than Opening Day, which was also done right, and I admire the organization for maintaining the tradition: it represents whats best about both the team and baseball. More teams should re-engage the practice. Jesse Barfield Yogi Berra Brian Boehringer Scott Bradley Dr. Bobby Brown Maggie Coleman (widow) David Cone Johnny Damon* Bucky Dent Al Downing Brian Doyle John Flaherty Whitey Ford Jake Gibbs Joe Girardi Rich Goose Gossage Ron Guidry Charlie Hayes Rickey Henderson Orlando Hernandez Arlene Howard (widow) Helen Hunter (widow) Reggie Jackson Scott Kamieniecki Pat Kelly Don Larsen Graeme Lloyd Hector Lopez Jill Martin (widow) Tino Martinez Hideki Matsui* Lee Mazzilli Stump Merrill Gene Michael Gene Monahan (trainer) John Montefusco* Diana Munson (widow) Kay Murcer (widow) Jeff Nelson Paul ONeill Joe Pepitone Andy Phillips Willie Randolph Bobby Richardson Mickey Rivers Joe Torre David Wells Roy White
Posted on: Fri, 20 Jun 2014 08:57:41 +0000
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