4/12/2021 Mickey Mantle become the father of an eight-pound, twelve-ounce baby boy.

 Welcome To Today In Yankees History

by Kenny Rogers

Yankees 5-5 Plays Toronto today. 

4/12/2021 Today In Yankees History

1931

Former Cubs pilot Joe McCarthy makes his debut as Yankee manager, beating Boston at the Bronx ballpark, 6-3. The future Hall of Fame manager, who is the team's all-time leader in managerial wins with 1460, guides the club to eight pennants and seven World Championships during his 16-year tenure in the Bronx.

1935

The Yankees name Lou Gehrig to be the fifth captain in team history. The 33 year-old first baseman joins Hal Chase (1912), Roger Peckinpaugh (1914-1921), Babe Ruth (six days in 1922), and Everett Scott (1922-1925) to receive the honor as a player. (Our thanks to Howard W. Rosenberg of www.capanson.com for calling attention to the entry's incorrect date, which is commonly mistaken for April 21).

1953

During an exhibition game in Brooklyn, the Ebbets Field PA announcer informs the crowd, including the new dad as he approaches home plate to bat, "Mickey doesn't know it yet, but he has just become the father of an eight-pound, twelve-ounce baby boy." Mickey Mantle Jr., whose given middle name is Elven in memory of the Yankee slugger's recently deceased dad, is the first of four children, all sons, with his wife, Merlyn.

1955

At Municipal Stadium, the recently arrived Athletics beat the Tigers, 6-2, in their first game in Kansas City. At first, the franchise's shift from Philadelphia will be warmly received by the Missouri fans as the A's draw 1,393,054 patrons to the ballpark in their first season, second only to the Yankees in American League attendance.

2006

Twenty-two-year-old college senior Jeffrey Maier hits a third-inning two-bagger against Bates to become the all-time career hits leader at Wesleyan, with 169, surpassing the 2003 mark set by Bill Robinson. The 5-foot-11, 190-pound third baseman gained national notoriety a decade ago as a 12 year-old fan when he leaned over the Yankee Stadium fence to catch Derek Jeter's fly ball 'homer,' which prevented Orioles outfielder Tony Tarasco from catching the ball during the 1996 ALCS.

2008

The Charleston RiverDogs, a Class-A minor league affiliate of the Yankees, commemorate the first visit of Benedict XVI to the United States with a Pope on a Rope Night promotion. The first 1,000 fans attending the South Atlantic League game against Rome at Joseph P. Riley Jr. Park receive a soap figurine bearing a likeness of the Holy Father.