Rained Out

By Mike Whiteman July 19, 2026 On this day in 1950, the Yankees acquired their first African-American players, from the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro Leagues. Pitcher Frank Barnes never appeared in Pinstripes, moving through the minor leagues before some short stints with the St. Louis Cardinals between 1957-1960. The other player in the transaction, catcher Elston Howard, went on to a fine career that spanned over 20 years as a beloved player and coach and included an MVP award in 1963 and 12 All-Star game selections. Howard's uniform number 32 was retired by the team in 1984. https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/Elston-Howard/ https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/h/howarel01.shtml

Born on this day in 1896 was Bob Meusel. We don't hear much about his contributions to the 1927 Yankees, but his .337/.393/.510 with 103 RBI and 135 OPS+ fits nicely into any lineup. Of course, batting fifth behind two players with on-base percentages pushing .500 (Babe Ruth .486, Lou Gehrig .474) offers plenty of RBI opportunities. My fellow SSTN writer James Vlietstra profiled Meusel here as part of his great series of articles "Yankees and the Hall of Fame". https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/Bob-Meusel/ https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/meusebo01.shtml

Meusel's teammate, Mark Koenig, was born on this day in 1904. Another unheralded contributor to the 1927 juggernaut, he primarily batted second in the order, behind Earle Combs, setting the table for Ruth and Gehrig. In the World Series he batted .500 and was errorless in the field, after a whopping 47 miscues during the regular season. https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/Mark-Koenig/ https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/k/koenima01.shtml

Quick Stats: The Yankees are 54-43, good for second place in the American League East, two games behind Tampa Bay. The Yanks made up a half game as the Rays lost to Boston yesterday. The Bosox have won their past 12 games and are seven games behind the Rays, five behind the Yanks. That four-game sweep at the hand of the Sox at the end of June could loom large. Boston isn't the only hot team in the division - Baltimore has won their last six games and are just two games out of the Wild Card. My Take: Yankees-Dodgers games are always a treat for me. They are certainly "treatier" when the Yankees win. Disappointed in the rainout last night but pretty excited about a doubleheader today! I was reflecting recently on the marathon nature of a baseball season. As this Yankee season has gone by I've felt all the emotions - optimism, disappointment, elation, excitement, discouragement, confusion - and the season is only two thirds done! The Yankee outlook at the upcoming trade deadline is a bit fascinating to me. The winning early in the season has sustained the team through the desert of June and July. Despite the recent struggles, they today are in an enviable position compared to most American League teams. It's certainly plausible that the healthy return of Aaron Judge, Max Fried and Carlos Rodon happens before the end of the season and provides a boost that pushes the team into the postseason and sets them up for October success. What's Brian Cashman to do at the deadline? Go big? Nibble at the edges and add some relief arms and role players? I never take a postseason opportunity for granted, and with the overall mediocrity in the American League, bold moves can be the difference, so I'm all in. Do they have the chips to go big if they want to? We shall see! Next Up: The Yanks and Dodgers hook up today for what I believe is their first ever doubleheader. The first game starts at 12:35, with Cam Schlittler (9-5, 2.05) going against Yoshinobu Yamamoto (9-6, 2.85) in a great pitcher's matchup. At the time of writing this post, the starters for the 7:20 nightcap are TBA, but yesterday's scheduled starters were Ryan Weathers (3-7, 4.15) against LA's Emmet Sheehan (4-6, 4.81).