Opening Day Rememberances - 1996

With opening day less than a week away and temps at an abnormal 77 degrees, I think of the snowy opening day of 1996. The Yankees had lost in heart breaking fashion to the M's the prior October, so the new season couldn't come fast enough. There was a new manager, Donnie Baseball was gone, and a rookie prospect was the new shortstop.

As snow fell that day, 2nd year man Andy Pettitte took the mound against the Kansas City Royals. The Bombers came home after losing 3 straight in Texas, dropping their record to 2-3. One of those wins was at Jacobs Field where Pettitte defeated the Cleveland Indians 5-1.

The game was scoreless in the 2nd when Jim Leyritz lead off with a double against lefty Chris Haney. Tino Martinez's 1st at-bat as a Yankee was a productive one, as he grounded out to the right side to move Leyritz to 3rd. Bernie Williams' sac fly to center brought him Leyritz to give the Yankees a 1-0 lead.

The Royals tied it in the 5th when Johnny Damon, yeah that Johnny Damon, singled and later came home on a force out. But the Yankees bounced right back in their half of the inning, quickly loading the bases on singles by Gerald Williams and Wade Boggs sandwiched around an error on a ball hit by Derek Jeter. Paul O'Neill followed with a 2-run single to give the Yankees the lead for good, 3-1. Leyritz, who was 3-3 on the day and would have the biggest hit of the WS in October, singled to push the margin to 4-1.

Pettitte did what he did all year, give the Yankees a chance to win. He raised his record to 2-0 by limiting KC to 3 runs over 6 1-3 innings, and though Mariano Rivera wasn't involved, the bullpen shut the door on any comeback.

April 9, 1996 Yankees 7 Royals 3

OPENING DAY LINEUP

3B Boggs
C Girardi
RF O'Neill
DH Leyritz
1B Martinez
CF B. Williams
2B Duncan
LF G. Williams
SS Jeter