The Yankees are known for their unmatched post-season success, including the most World Series titles and appearances. In fact, the Yankees have lost more World Series than any other franchise has won.
This game is Jeopardy but, in this incarnation, could also be called box score sleuthing. There are many pieces to the game, each of which can be solved independently. So I expect this will work best as a group exercise with different individuals working on different pieces.
Following are a list of dates. These dates are the answers to Jeopardy questions. Your job is to determine the questions. Each question is in the form of “When was the last time a Yankee/the Yankees had a World Series game with …. ?”.
Note that the question format includes “a Yankee” rather than a specific name. Thus, none of the answers (er, questions) reference a specific player – so, nothing like “When was the last time in the World Series that Babe Ruth struck out with the bases loaded?”, or that sort of thing.
Thanks to everyone for playing. You found lots of interesting factoids that I never noticed. A box score is truly a treasure trove if you look closely. The questions and answers are posted after the jump. The ones you found are in black, and the remaining ones in blue.
I’ve included one question to give you an idea, but I expect the others may not be so easy. If there are two entries for the same game, it means there are (at least) two correct questions for that answer.
If you identify that you’re working on a question, I will update the post accordingly, and also with the questions as you solve them.
Have fun!
| No. | Date | Last time Yankees did this |
|---|---|---|
| sample | 2001-11-04 | lost series on a walk-off hit |
| BONUS | 2009-11-04 | won game when striking out 10+ times |
| 1 | 2009-11-04 | starter allowed exactly one of each type of hit (Andy Pettitte) |
| 2 | 2003-10-23 | starter (David Wells) pitched one inning or less |
| BONUS | 2003-10-22 | pinch-hitter received intentional walk (Juan Rivera) |
| BONUS | 2000-10-25 | two players tripled (Derek Jeter, Paul O’Neill) AND led off game with HR (Jeter) |
| 3 | 2000-10-25 | pitcher batted in a game he saved (Mariano Rivera) |
| 4 | 2000-10-24 | struck out 10+ and took the loss (Orlando Hernandez) |
| 5 | 2000-10-21 | player had 4 hits, all singles (Jose Vizcaino) |
| BONUS | 1999-10-26 | player homered twice (Chad Curtis) |
| 6 | 1999-10-26 | base hit by future Yankee manager (Joe Girardi) |
| 7 | 1996-10-26 | save recorded by a different pitcher (John Wetteland) than the one pitcher who has recorded all subsequent saves |
| 8 | 1996-10-24 | won game without scoring an earned run |
| 9 | 1981-10-28 | player (Willie Randolph) had two extra-base hits in deciding game, but team lost |
| 10 | 1981-10-24 | knocked out opposing starter (Bob Welch) before recording an out |
| 11 | 1978-10-13 | complete game with more walks than strikeouts (Ron Guidry) |
| 12 | 1977-10-11 | reliever won game with 3+ IP (Sparky Lyle) |
| 13 | 1976-10-17 | starting pitcher had walk-off loss (Catfish Hunter) |
| 14 | 1962-10-04 | starting pitcher allowed 10+ hits and won (Whitey Ford) |
| BONUS | 1961-10-05 | pitching staff issued two intentional walks to same opposing hitter (Gene Freese) |
| 15 | 1961-10-05 | home run by future Yankees manager (Yogi Berra) |
| BONUS | 1960-10-13 | No strikeouts by pitching staff |
| 16 | 1960-10-13 | base hit by relief pitcher (Bobby Shantz) |
| 17 | 1960-10-13 | allowed (Bobby Shantz) base hit to future Yankees managers (Bill Virdon) |
| 18 | 1960-10-05 | game 1 starting pitcher did not finish the 1st inning (Art Ditmar) |
| 19 | 1958-10-09 | stole a base in a game 7 (Elston Howard) |
| 20 | 1958-10-02 | allowed (Duke Maas) HR to opposing pitcher (Lew Burdette) |
| 21 | 1955-09-30 | lost game on opposing starter’s birthday (Johnny Podres) |
| 22 | 1955-09-28 | caught stealing twice (Billy Martin) |
| BONUS | 1953-10-04 | hit grand slam HR with all runs unearned (Mickey Mantle) |
| 23 | 1953-10-04 | pitcher had extra-base hit (Jim McDonald) |
| 24 | 1949-10-05 | had walk-off HR for a 1-0 win (Tommy Henrich) |
| 25 | 1949-10-05 | pitcher had two hits (Allie Reynolds) |
| BONUS | 1947-10-06 | induced GIDP to end series clinching game (Joe Page) |
| 26 | 1947-10-06 | threw out two runners trying to steal in a game 7 (Aaron Robinson) |
| 27 | 1936-10-04 | two base hits on his birthday (Frank Crosetti) |
| 28 | 1932-10-02 | 8 future HOFers appeared in the same game |
| 29 | 1923-10-12 | Allowed (Sad Sam Jones) HR to future Yankee manager (Casey Stengel) |
| 30 | 1922-10-07 | Played home game at venue not called Yankee Stadium |
