New York Yankees fans—such as I—who go back only as far as the early 1960s with their memories of the Bronx Bombers, are too young to have witnessed the exploits of Cookie Lavagetto and what he means to Yankees and Brooklyn Dodgers fans.

Lavagetto passed away in 1990 at the age of 77; had he lived, Harry Arthur Lavagetto would have turned 99 years old on Dec. 1. Lavagetto, with one swing of his bat, brought the Yankees Universe of the time crashing to its knees in one of the oddest World Series games ever contested.

Some of Lavagetto’s prime years were lost to World War II. He began his career with the Pirates in 1934. With the Dodgers from 1937 through 1941, and then again, after his time in the service, from 1945 through 1947, Cookie was a decent run producer, considering his lack of power. Lavagetto had a season during which he hit just a single round-tripper, but still collected 78 runs batted in. He was a four-time All-Star, but by 1947, when the Dodgers met the Yankees in the World Series, he was 34 years old and used mostly as a pinch hitter and a backup third baseman.

In this particular series, the Yankees forged a two games to one advantage. In Game 4, New York sent talented, but erratic Bill Bevens to the mound. Bevens had been 7-13 in 1947, but he was a 16-game winner the previous season. Walks were often his undoing. In this game, he would issue a total of 10 free passes, but incredibly, as the ninth inning began, Bevens had not allowed a hit and New York led 2-1. After sandwiching a pair of pop outs around his ninth walk, Bevens and the Yankees intentionally walked Pete Reiser after pinch runner Al Gionfriddo stole second base. This questionable strategy would backfire when Cookie Lavagetto came in to pinch hit for Eddie Stanky.

Lavagetto proceeded to hit a double off the right field wall, scoring both runners and winning the game. Bevens would pitch in Game 7 for two innings as New York won the Series, but he would never pitch in the big leagues again. Lavagetto also pinch hit in Game 7, making a harmless out. Like Bevens, his career was finished. The double was the last base hit he ever got in the major leagues.

Sources:

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/l/lavagco01.shtml

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/bevenbi01.shtml

http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/BRO/BRO194710030.shtml

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Brian Cashman has signed a three-year contract with the New York Yankees, a day after his previous deal as general manager expired.

Cashman has been GM since February 1998, when he succeeded Bob Watson. The only general manager to serve longer with the Yankees is Ed Barrow from 1920 to 1945.

Under Cashman, the team has won four World Series titles and six AL pennants, finishing first in the AL East 11 times and advancing to the playoffs in 13 of 14 seasons.

(Reuters) – General manager Brian Cashman has signed a three-year contract to remain with the New York Yankees, the American League team said on Tuesday.

Cashman, 44, has been the Yankees’ GM since 1998, helping the team to four World Series titles and six American League championships. His previous contract expired on Monday.

The announcement comes a day after Cashman signed standout left-hander CC Sabathia to a contract extension that could keep with the team through the 2017 season.

(Reporting by Gene Cherry in Salvo, North Carolina)

It certainly appears there are a number of teams pre-ordained to be consistently successful, to write the miracle fantasy all sports fans will remember forever.

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The St. Louis Cardinals fall neatly into this group that includes the leader, the New York Yankees, as well as the Los Angeles Lakers, the Boston Celtics, the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Green Bay Packers, and the Detroit Red Wings, to name a few. There are more, to be sure, but they escape me at this moment of sports despair as I watch, once again, a team I don’t like…a team that handed the New York Mets several of their many, many painful moments through the years…somehow overcomes an obstacle course worth of hurdles to advance to the brink of another championship.

You’ll forgive me, I hope, if not once but twice during the Game Six of St. Louis Cardinals-Texas Rangers I happily envisioned the elusive third strike that would have ended the World Series with a Ranger celebration. The image I painted included either David Freese(notes) or Lance Berkman(notes) staring hypnotically at a called strike the way Carlos Beltran(notes) once did with me in attendance in 2006.

But no, of course not. These traumas don’t happen often to the Cardinals and Yankees of the world. Do the Cardinals really need another legacy moment? Another championship to lift into a trophy case already bursting at the seams?

It’s amazing how many events and decisions have to join together in wretched unison to conspire in the development of such an unlikely result as Game Six provided. Ranger manager Ron Washington acted as if he needed to push Tony La Russa off the second guess griddle. I had so many questions about Ranger managerial decisions, I actually began to write them down.

Why was Colby Lewis(notes) batting with the bases loaded in a close game in the fifth inning, especially when he was destined to pitch only one more inning? Is he Tim Lincecum(notes)? C.C. Sabathia(notes)? Why was Derek Holland(notes), the only dominating Texas pitcher so far this post season, not the choice for Game 7…fully rested? Is Matt Harrison(notes) Tim Lincecum? Or C.C. Sabathia? Why did Holland pitch in this Game 6, and not be held ready for Game 7 if he was needed? And when used, why in a tie game? It sure seemed like Washington was rolling the dice, seeking to end it. So then, why not bring Feliz, the closer, back in with a two run lead in the 10^th inning and the bottom of the order due to bat? He can’t be saving him for Game 7. He wasn’t saving Holland. And why pinch hit with two outs and little chance of scoring in the 11^th inning, thereby taking out the only reliable pitcher left in the Ranger bullpen? In favor of someone I never heard of?

How did Ron Washington guide this team to this point? It’s pre-ordained. I’m tired of it.

Glenn Vallach has been a New York Mets fan since foolishly abandoning the mighty Yankees in his youth after Mickey Mantle retired. Since the fond, fleeting memories of the Tom Seaver, Cleon Jones, Tommie Agee years, he sits quietly yearning for a fraction of the success enjoyed annually by the team that inhabits the borough in which I was born…waiting and hoping…waiting and hoping.

Sources:

• · Yahoo! Sports St. Louis Cardinals page
• · Yahoo! Sports Texas Rangers page
• · Yahoo! Sports Lance Berkman page
• · Yahoo! Sports David Freese page
• · Ronald Blum, AP Sports Writer, Feliz, Feldman & Lowe form infamous Texas trio
• · By Ben Walker, AP Baseball Writer, Cardinals stun Texas, force World Series to Game 7

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Oct. 13
	   1903 -- The Boston Pilgrims won the first World Series, five games to three, with a 3-0 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates.
	   1914 -- The Boston Braves completed the first sweep in World Series history with a 3-1 victory over the Philadelphia Athletics.
	   1921 -- Art Nehf tossed a 1-0, four-hitter against the New York Yankees for the World Series title in eight games. The Giants scored their run in the first inning on an error by shortstop Roger Peckinpaugh.
	   1960 -- Bill Mazeroski opened the bottom of the ninth with a home run off Ralph Terry of the Yankees to give the Pittsburgh Pirates a 10-9 victory and the World Series in seven games.
	   1971 -- The first World Series night game was played in Pittsburgh with the Pirates beating Baltimore 4-3. Roberto Clemente had three hits for Pittsburgh.
	   1978 -- New York third baseman Graig Nettles put on a fielding clinic and prevented seven runs as the Yankees beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-1 in the third game of the World Series. Nettles made four spectacular stops and gave the Yankees the first victory of the series.
	   1984 -- Alan Trammell's two home runs backed Jack Morris' second complete game to give the Detroit Tigers a 4-2 victory and a 3-1 lead over the San Diego Padres in the World Series.
	   1993 -- Tommy Greene of Philadelphia outpitched Greg Maddux and the Phillies beat the Atlanta Braves 6-3 to win the National League pennant in six games.
	   1996 -- Powered by a three-homer third inning and eight strong innings from Andy Pettitte(notes), New York won its 34th American League pennant with a 6-4 victory over Baltimore. The Yankees took the ALCS 4-1 and went to the World Series for the first time since 1981.
	   1998 -- The New York Yankees advanced to the World Series for a record 35th time after beating the Cleveland Indians 9-5 to win the AL championship series in six games.
	   2002 -- Adam Kennedy(notes) hit his third homer of the game in the seventh inning and the Angels erupted for a 13-5 victory over the Minnesota Twins to win the AL championship series in five games and advance to the World Series for the first time in their 42-year history.
	   2007 -- Manny Ramirez(notes) hit his 23rd postseason homer in Boston's 13-6 11-inning loss to Cleveland. The two-run drive broke the playoff record he had shared with former New York Yankees outfielder Bernie Williams.
	   Today's birthdays: Taylor Buchholz(notes) 30; Trevor Hoffman(notes) 44.

Young is out of the AL championship series against the Texas Rangers because of an oblique injury. He reaggravated an earlier ailment against the New York Yankees and the Tigers left him off their roster for the best-of-seven series that began Saturday night.

Manager Jim Leyland said that even though an MRI “doesn’t show anything real significant,” the Tigers were taking no chances with Young.

“I learned a long time ago when the word oblique is mentioned, I get nervous. … I’ve never seen an oblique all right in a day or two. It’s never happened as long as I’ve been managing,” Leyland said.

“We might have kept him on hoping for maybe Game 4 or 5 or something. But what happens is all of a sudden you used him and he couldn’t go and you had to take him off, then he’s not available for the next series,” he said. “This way, not having him on the roster at the beginning of this series, if he would be ready and if we were fortunate to move on, he could be activated for the World Series.”

Leyland said Young stiffened up after swinging during batting practice Friday.

Infielder Danny Worth took Young’s spot on the roster while Ryan Raburn started in left field. Leyland also shuffled his batting order without his regular No. 3 hitter.

Young’s injury was described as a mild strain when he left Game 5 of the AL division series against the Yankees on Thursday night.

The injury for Young is on the left side of his abdomen. He missed 19 games with the same injury earlier this season while with Minnesota.

“With Delmon out, it changes things,” Leyland said. “It obviously hurts a little bit, because he’s a right-handed hitter and we’re going to see three left-handed pitchers plus they have good left-handed stuff in the bullpen.”

Young hit .274 with eight homers and 32 RBIs in 40 games for Detroit after being acquired from Minnesota in August. Over five games against the Yankees, the Tigers’ regular No. 3 hitter was 6 for 19. He was the first player in franchise history with three homers in a single postseason series.

Though Young didn’t think the problem was too serious when it flared up while taking a swing Thursday night, he realized when he went out to the outfield to warm up for the next inning that he couldn’t throw.

Raburn was set to bat second for Game 1 against the Rangers, with first baseman Miguel Cabrera moving up to the No. 3 spot in the order. Cabrera, the AL batting champion, was third for only the second time this year, and Victor Martinez moved up from fourth to fifth.

Cabrera hit fourth in 158 regular-season games, and was in that spot for all five ALDS games against the Yankees. Raburn was one of 11 different players to hit second during the regular season, and is the fourth in six postseason games.

“This changes our whole lineup. I think this gives us more protection,” Leyland said. “It’s not something if Delmon Young was here (Cabrera) he would be hitting third. … I got Raburn hitting second. That’s not the greatest scenario in the world, but it’s a scenario that I like, particularly in this ballpark. Ball carries here pretty good. You get a guy with power up there in that two hole like Raburn, and it makes a little sense. It’s not a move I would have made, but you have to make adjustments.”

Raburn, who also replaced Young in left field on Thursday night, was 2 for 5 in the AL division series after hitting .256 with 14 homers and 49 RBIs in 121 games during the regular season.

Worth hit .270 in 30 games during the regular season and didn’t play in the ALDS against the Yankees.

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