In 1903: Fans of the Boston baseball franchise began printing “Huck the Fighlanders” shirts, as the New York Highlanders were officially approved as members of the American League. The rivalry between the two was truly born a month later. According to the book “Emperors and Idiots” by Mike Vaccaro, a Highlanders player named Dave Fultz intentionally ran over Pilgrims pitcher George Winter while he was covering first base and promptly shouted, “Tell your pitcher to pitch, or get him the hell off the field!” Ironically, the Highlanders could never beat the Pilgrims, as they finished second to Boston in the AL in their first two seasons. The Highlanders then officially changed their name to the Yankees (which they had been unofficially called as for years) on this same date in 1913. One dumb trade seven years later and the Yankees became the benchmark of baseball greatness. Then, on this same date in 2003, they launched their own YES Network, which became available to 3 million more fans who were unable to watch them on televison. (baseball almanac)
In 1987: David Robinson of the US Naval Academy scored 50 points in his final collegiate game, a loss to Michigan. The Admiral won the Naismith award that year as college basketball’s top player and was a consensus All-American (a little redundant, but it’s my favorite sports term). He was drafted number one overall by the San Antonio Spurs, although he didn’t join them until 1989 due to his miltary obligations.
