Yankees Timeline for 1999

April | May | June | July | August | Sept/Oct | Postseason

APRIL

5 -- Bench coach Don Zimmer opens the season as Yankees manager while Joe Torre recovers from prostate cancer surgery. The defending champions begin the season as they did a year earlier: with a loss. The Athletics win, 5-3, tagging new acquisition Roger Clemens for three runs in 6 1/3 innings.

9 -- Yogi Berra, having made peace with owner George Steinbrenner, returns to Yankee Stadium for the first time in 14 years and throws out the first pitch prior to a 12-3 victory over the Tigers. Chili Davis blasts a grand slam and goes 4-for-4 while collecting his 1,300th career RBI.

10 -- Clemens, making his first home start, allows just three hits in 7 2/3 shutout innings to beat the Tigers, 5-0. Scott Brosius and Davis homer for the second straight game.

11 -- Orlando Hernandez retires the first 19 batters he faces before walking Gregg Jefferies with one out in the seventh and allowing Tony Clark's two-out single. The Yankees beat the Tigers, 11-2, and receive their 1998 World Series rings.

14 -- The Yankees cap their seven-game winning streak with a 14-7 rout of the Orioles. David Cone wins twice in the spurt, allowing two runs over 11 1/3 innings against the Tigers (April 9) and Orioles (April 14). Clay Bellinger, 30, doubles in his major league debut in place of the injured Brosius (ankle).

17 -- Andy Pettitte (elbow) makes his first start of the season after nursing a strained elbow and tosses six shutout innings of five-hit ball, but the Tigers beat Jeff Nelson, 3-1. The Yankees' AL record of homering in 10 straight games comes to an end. The Tigers would sweep the three-game series by a combined score of 16-3.

21 -- Clemens ties an AL record with his 17th straight victory, working into the eighth inning and beating the Rangers, 4-2. Derek Jeter strokes a two-run homer in the fifth.

23 -- David Wells returns to the Stadium for the first time since his off-season trade to the Blue Jays and the Yankees break a 1-1 tie with three in the seventh for a 6-4 victory. Davis has three hits and three RBI.

25 -- Joe DiMaggio becomes the fifth Yankee to be honored with a monument in Monument Park before Bernie Williams' 11th-inning RBI single lifts the Yankees to a 4-3 triumph over the Blue Jays. David Cone throws 6 2/3 innings of one-hit ball.

27 -- Clemens exits after two innings with a hamstring injury, but the Yankees get two in the ninth for a 7-6 win over the Rangers. Paul O'Neill's RBI single ties it, then Davis lofts a sacrifice fly.

29 -- Chuck Knoblauch belts his first career inside-the-park homer (his 19th career leadoff homer) to help beat the Rangers, 5-3.

Season status: 14-7, .667, first place, +2.5 games (Blue Jays)

MAY

2 -- Williams breaks a 7-7 tie with a two-run homer in the ninth as the Yanks beat the Royals, 9-8. Hideki Irabu, starting in place of Clemens (hamstring), is smacked for six runs in 4 1/3 innings.

6 -- Ricky Ledee's 10th-inning RBI single beats the Twins, 4-3. Brosius hits his 100th career homer.

7 -- Irabu and the Mariners' Mac Suzuki become the first Japanese starters to oppose each other in major league history. Irabu scatters four hits over seven innings and Jeter ties a career high with five RBI in a 10-1 rout.

9 -- Ramiro Mendoza (throat) cannot start, leaving Mike Stanton to make his first career start after 552 appearances, a major league record. Stanson tosses four shutout innings, but middleman Jason Grimsley picks up the 6-1 win.

11 -- Shane Spencer (minors) makes his season debut with two hits, including a solo homer, but the Angels win, 9-7.

12-13 -- The Yankees suffer consecutive shutouts for the first time in nearly three years as the Angels prevail, 1-0 and 2-0.

16 -- Davis' two-run homer allows the Yanks to break their season-high five-game losing streak with a 2-1 win over the White Sox. Pettitte throws six innings of one-run ball.

18 -- Torre returns to the dugout after missing 36 games, but the Yankees drop a 6-3 decision to the Red Sox, who move into first place by a half-game. The Yankees were 21-15 for Zimmer.

20 -- The Yanks salvage the last game of the three-game road set against the Red Sox, 3-1. Hernandez and Mariano Rivera combine on a three-hitter.

22 -- Clemens returns from the disabled list and sets an AL record with his 18th straight victory, a 10-2 wipeout against the White Sox in the first game of a doubleheader. Jorge Posada knocks in five runs. Davis fans with the bases loaded to end the nightcap, a 2-1 loss.

23 -- The Yankees rally for four in the ninth before Chad Curtis' 10th inning homer beats the White Sox, 8-7.

27 -- Facing the Red Sox for the first time in pinstripes, Clemens earns a 4-1 home win for his 19th straight victory. He strikes out seven in seven innings of two-hit ball.

Season status: 29-20, .592, second place, -1.5 games (Red Sox)

JUNE

1 -- Clemens becomes the fourth pitcher in major league history to win 20 straight decisions, dropping the Indians, 11-5. O'Neill and Williams hammer back-to-back homers in the eighth.

4 -- Brosius' RBI double snaps a seventh-inning tie and Posada and Jeter homer as the Yanks stop the Mets, 4-3. With one out and Rickey Henderson on first in the ninth, Rivera gets Edgardo Alfonzo on a deep fly and John Olerud with a groundout.

5 -- The Yanks overcome a 3-0 deficit with six unanswered runs, including Tino Martinez's tiebreaking leadoff homer off the Mets' Masato Yoshii in the fourth, and cruise 6-3. Hernandez allows three runs in six innings for the win.

6 -- The Mets snap Clemens' 20-game winning streak with a 7-2 beating. He gives up seven runs on eight hits in 2 2/3 innings in his shortest outing of the season. Jeter fails to reach base for the first time, ending his streak at 53 games, the club's longest in the post-expansion era.

8 -- Irabu, Mendoza, Grimsley, Dan Naulty, and Stanton are tatooed for 11 straight runs as the Phillies rebound for an 11-5 win.

10 -- The 1998 world champions are honored at the White House.

11 -- Posada, who belts a three-run homer, knocks in five runs to drop the Marlins, 8-4.

14-17 -- After winning the first two against the Rangers, 8-2 and 6-2, the Yanks are on the short side, 3-0 and 4-2. Davis lines into a 4-6-3 triple play (June 17), the first Yankee to do so since Steve Balboni (1989).

22 -- Hernandez ends the Yanks' club-record string of 67 straight starts without a complete game, firing a two-hitter to beat the Devil Rays, 7-0.

25 -- Spencer's ninth-inning home run thwarts the Orioles, 9-8. Martinez collects four hits and two RBI.

29 -- The Yankees win their seasonlong seventh in a row and Clemens tosses his first complete game of the year, an eight-hitter with eight strikeouts, and the Tigers fall, 3-0. Spencer homers for the third time in four games.

30 -- Tony Clark becomes the 14th player to homer into the Stadium's center field bleachers and the Tigers roll, 8-2.

Season status: 46-29, .613, first place, -2 games (Red Sox)

JULY

1 -- Irabu fires a three-hit shutout and O'Neill homers in a 6-0 thumping of the Tigers.

3 -- Brosius jolts a game-winning three-run homer with one out in the ninth to down the Orioles, 6-5. Davis collects three hits and Spencer (irregular heartbeat) heads to the disabled list.

4 -- Mendoza, in relief of Clemens, surrenders a grand slam to B.J. Surhoff as the Orioles come from behind for a 7-3 victory.

6 -- The Tigers rally against Rivera, but the Yanks escape with 9-8 win on Davis' RBI single in the 10th. Rivera allows two runs (both inherited) in the seventh, a run in the eighth, and Bobby Higginson's tying solo homer in the ninth.

8 -- In their final game at Tiger Stadium, the Yanks get a solo homer from Martinez in the ninth for a 3-2 victory.

9 -- Mike Piazza's three-run homer off Clemens breaks a 2-2 tie in the sixth and the Mets roll, 5-2. Al Leiter and Armando Benitez combined on a five-hit victory.

10 -- Matt Franco leads the Mets to a 9-8 victory by ripping a two-out, bases-loaded single off Mariano Rivera in the ninth. The loss ends the Yankees' 124-game winning streak when leading after eight innings. They crack a season-high six homers, including two each by Paul O'Neill and Jorge Posada.

11 -- The Yanks avoid a Subway Sweep, getting seven innings from Irabu (three runs) in a 6-3 win. Ledee drills a three-run homer, his second in as many days.

15 -- The Braves thump Clemens and Jason Grimsley for three runs in the seventh to grab a 6-1 edge and cruise, 6-2. Winner Tom Glavine gives up two runs in 6 2/3 innings. Prospect Ed Yarnall makes his pro debut, firing two shutout innings.

16 -- Andruw Jones' three-run homer, his second of the game, highlights the Braves' four-run ninth against Rivera in a 10-7 win. Ryan Klesko added two homers and four RBI.

17 -- The Yanks bat around and score five runs in the fifth, breaking a 3-3 tie and setting up an 11-4 win over the Braves. Pettitte and Grimsley combine on an ugly 12-hitter.

18 -- Cone becomes the second Yankees pitcher in as many years to throw a perfect game, winning 5-0 over the Expos with Berra and Don Larsen in attendance at Yankee Stadium. Orlando Cabrera ends the game by fouling out to Scott Brosius. Cone throws 88 pitches and strikes out 10 while crafting the 14th perfect game in modern major league history.

22 -- The Yanks mark the 15,000th regular-season game in club history (8,451-6,463 with 86 official games not completed) with a 5-4 win over the Devil Rays.

23 -- Jeter laces a two-out, bases-loaded RBI single in the 10th to thwart the Indians, 9-8. Reliever Allen Watson tosses three scoreless innings in his Yankee debut. The club reaches 2 million in home attendance in 52 dates, the earliest in franchise history.

24 -- The Yankees score at least 20 runs in a game for the 20th time in their history, whipping the Royals, 21-1. Davis posts six RBI and ties a career high with five hits and Posada (three RBI) strokes a personal-best four hits.

25 -- Ledee's ninth-inning solo shot gives the Yankees a 2-1 win and their first three-game sweep of the Indians since 1994. At the request of his 12-year-old son, Clemens changes his uniform from No. 22 to No. 12 and tosses seven innings of one-run ball.

30 -- Knoblauch (five hits) and Jeter open the game with homers, the first Yankees duo to do so since 1955, and the Red Sox fall, 13-3. Irabu posts a career-high 12 strikeouts en route to a three-hitter.

31 -- Leadoff batter Jose Offerman hits a ninth-inning triple off Mendoza and scores on John Valentin's single, sending the Red Sox to a 6-5 win and spoiling Clemens' first Fenway start in pinstripes. Clemens allows four runs in five innings.

Season status: 62-40, .608, first place, +6 games (Blue Jays)

AUGUST

1 -- The Red Sox score three in the sixth, breaking a 2-2 tie and holding on for a 5-4 victory. For the first time since last year, Jeter is held hitless for the second straight game.

2 -- Commissioner Bud Selig reduces Darryl Strawberry's 120-day drug-related suspension by a week, making him eligible to return Aug. 11, when he will report to Class AAA Columbus. On the field, Jeter rips a two-run blast off Wells in the eighth and the Yanks beat the Blue Jays, 3-1. Jeter becomes the first Yankees shortstop to hit 20 homers in a season. In his first start since the July 31 trading deadline, Pettitte fires eight innings of one-run ball.

4 -- Williams belts two homers and drives in five runs and Knoblauch smacks his third leadoff homer in six games as the Blue Jays fall, 8-3.

5 -- Martinez clubs career homers No. 200 and 201 and knocks in three runs to key a 7-4 win over the Mariners. Williams adds four hits and three RBI.

6 -- The Yankees and Mariners bat around in the first inning, but the Yanks survive, 11-8, in a game marred by a bench-clearing brawl in the top of the ninth. The melee starts after Frank Rodriguez plunks Chuck Knoblauch. In the top of the first, O'Neill and Williams hit back-to-back homers and Brosius drills a three-run shot. Afterward, Curtis is critical of Jeter for his lighthearted conversation with the Mariners' Alex Rodriguez during the incident.

8 -- Brosius' five RBI allows Cone (two runs in six innings) to beat the Mariners, 9-3, his first win since the perfect game. It also marks the Yanks' first four-game sweep of the Mariners since 1994.

9 -- Williams rips his sixth career grand slam and Knoblauch and Jeter crack back-to-back fifth-inning homers to turn away the Athletics, 12-8.

13 -- The Yankees collect 22 hits and bat around in the third, fourth, and sixth innings on their way to a 14-2 drubbing of the Twins. Pettitte (one run in eight innings) records a season-high 11 strikeouts.

14 -- The Twins ruin Old-Timer's Day, 6-3. Knoblauch's second-inning error opens the door for four runs.

19 -- The Royals score three unearned runs off Grimsley in the 11th for a 4-1 win, ending the Yanks' string of eight extra-inning victories.

20 -- Ledee's five RBI, including his first career grand slam, highlight a 9-3 win over the Twins.

23 -- For the first time since 1949, the Yanks score 20 or more runs twice in the same season, crushing the Rangers, 21-3. They collect 23 hits, with Joe Giradi (four hits and a career-high seven RBI) and Brosius (four hits and a personal-best six RBI) leading the way.

24 -- Martinez's three-run blast in the 11th produces a 10-7 victory over the Rangers. Cone is tagged for six runs in 1 2/3 innings, his worst start of the season.

28 -- Brosius laces the winning RBI single with two outs in the ninth and Hernandez fans 13 to squelch the Mariners, 2-1.

29 -- Ledee pokes a two-run inside-the-park homer in an 11-5 win over the Mariners. Pettitte (four runs in seven innings) records his fifth win in six starts.

Season status: 81-50, .618, first place, +7.5 games (Red Sox)

SEPTEMBER

1 -- Strawberry is recalled from Columbus, completing his comeback from colon cancer surgery (1998) and an arrest on drug charges (April 14).

2 -- Bellinger drills his first major league homer and Strawberry goes 0-for-2 with a walk in his season-debut during a 9-3 win over the Athletics.

3 -- An 8-2 loss to the Angels snaps a franchise record streak of 14 wins in the opening game of a series. Pettitte works into the seventh, allowing six runs on a season-high 12 hits.

5 -- Yarnall, making his first major league start, allows three runs on four hits in six innings to beat the Angels, 8-3.

8 -- Rivera becomes the first Yankees reliever to post two 40-save seasons, sealing a 9-5 win over the Royals.

10 -- Davis' solo shot in the second is the only hit the Yanks can muster off Pedro Martinez (17 strikeouts) in a 3-1 loss to the Red Sox.

12 -- The Red Sox win, 4-1, and sweep a three-game series from the Yanks for the first time since 1986. Clemens loses as the Yanks reach the 3 million mark in home attendance for the first time in franchise history.

13 -- For the first time in four starts with the Blue Jays, Wells (a four-hitter) beats the Yanks, 2-1. Hernandez spins a five-hitter in defeat.

14 -- The Yanks overcome a 6-1 eighth-inning deficit with grand slams by Williams and O'Neill, dropping the Blue Jays, 10-6.

17 -- O'Neill (three hits) registers a season-high six RBI to spark a 9-4 win over the Indians.

19 -- Rookie D'Angelo Jimenez strokes four hits, including two doubles, and knocks in two runs to help beat the Indians, 11-7.

24 -- The Yankees clinch their fifth consecutive postseason berth when rookie Alfonso Soriano leads off the 11th with his first major league hit, a home run, to beat the Devil Rays, 4-3.

28 -- Martinez collects four RBI, giving the Yankees four 100-RBI men for the first time since 1939, and Orioles fall, 9-5.

30 -- After Clemens drops a 5-0 decision to the Orioles in the opening game of a doubleheader, the Yankees clinch their eighth AL East title with a 12-5 victory in the second game. Brosius keys the win with two homers.

Season status: 96-63, .604 first place, +5 games (Red Sox)

OCTOBER

1 -- Strawberry's solo homer in the fifth, his 1,000th career RBI, helps beat the Devil Rays, 11-7.

2 -- Davis smacks the 350th home run of his career and Cone ends an eight-game winless streak (two runs in 5 1/3 innings) as the Yanks beat the Devil Rays, 3-2.

3 -- Torre allows an injured O'Neill (fractured ribs) to manage the team and he drops a 6-2 decision to the Devil Rays. Highly-touted infield prospect Alfonso Soriano goes 0-for-5 in his major league debut.

End regular season: 98-64, .605, first place, +4 games (Red Sox)

Postseason

October

5 -- Hernandez allows two hits over eight scoreless inning while Williams homers and collects six RBI in an 8-0 win over the Rangers in Game 1 of the AL Division Series.

7 -- Pettitte (one run on seven hits) works into the eighth and the Yanks get two runs in the seventh to win Game 2, 3-1. Ledee's RBI single snaps a 1-1 tie and Knoblauch adds an RBI double.

9 -- Clemens (three hits in seven shutout innings) registers his first career postseason victory with a 3-0 decision over the Rangers in Game 3 of the AL Division Series. Darryl Strawberry belts a three-run homer in the first.

Yankees win AL Division Series over Rangers, 3-0

13 -- Williams smacks 10th-inning leadoff homer for a 3-2 victory over the Red Sox in Game 1 of the AL Championship Series. In the top half of the inning, Knoblauch was credited with a forceout although he never caught the ball.

14 -- Mendoza escapes a bases-loaded jam with one out in the eighth to preserve a 3-2 win in Game 2. Knoblauch's RBI double and O'Neill's RBI single highlight the decisive seventh.

16 -- Pedro Martinez (12 strikeouts in seven innings) and two relievers fire a three-hitter to quiet the Yanks, 13-1, in Game 3. Clemens, who gives up two runs each in the first and second, is removed in the third.

17 -- Pettitte allows two runs in 7 1/3 innings and Ledee's three-run blast highlights a six-run ninth for a 9-2 rout in Game 4. In the eighth, Knoblauch is credited with turning a double play although his tag missed Jose Offerman.

18 -- Orlando Hernandez, the ALCS MVP, fires shutout ball into the eighth inning and Jeter cracks a two-run homer in the first, leading the Yankees to a 6-1 victory in Game 5 for their record 36th AL pennant. With the bases loaded and one out in the eighth, Ramiro Mendoza strikes out Scott Hatteberg and gets Trot Nixon to pop out.

Yankees win AL Championship Series over Red Sox, 4-1

23 -- Hernandez (10 strikeouts) fires seven innings of one-hit ball and the Yanks erupt for four runs in the eighth off Greg Maddux and John Rocker to beat the Braves, 4-1, in Game 1 of the World Series. O'Neill's two-run single off Rocker snaps a 1-1 tie. Rivera (1 1/3 scoreless innings) notches the save.

24 -- Cone (four strikeouts) allows just one hit in seven innings while the Braves' Kevin Millwood (five runs) can't get out of the third in Game 2. Williams strokes three hits and Martinez adds two hits and two RBI for the Yanks.

26 -- Curtis' leadoff homer in the 10th, his second of the game, caps a five-run rally that produces a 6-5 win in Game 3. Knoblauch ties the game with a two-run blast against Glavine in the eighth. Martinez' seventh-inning solo shot brought the Yanks within 5-3. Rivera earns the win with two scoreless frames.

27 -- Clemens (one run in 7 2/3 innings) redeems himself for a subpar season, leading the Yanks to their 25th world championship with a 4-1 win in Game 4. Martinez' two-run single highlights a three-run third. Rivera, the Series MVP, fires 1 1/3 scoreless innings, extending his postseason streak to 25 2/3 shutout innings.

Yankees win series over Braves 4-1