Dave Winfield and Ron Kittle Gave Me a Great Birthday Present

It’s very hard to remember Major League Baseball games in the regular season. Sure, no hitters, perfect games and heroic individual offensive displays (think three or four home runs by the same player) are certainly memorable. There are literally thousands of games that I have born witness to either by viewing them or reading about them over the past 44 years. However, there are a handful of contests that stick out to me for extraordinary circumstances. One such game took place on my 14th birthday, June 29, 1987.

I had just graduated 8th grade. The New York Yankees got off to a wonderful start to begin the season but in typical 1980’s Yankee fashion, they faltered in the second half. Dare I say that this game on the night of June 29th was the high point of their season? The Yanks beat the Toronto Blue Jays by a score of 15-14 but it was how they did it that made it such a classic. Two Yankees in particular gave me a 14th birthday to remember: Ron Kittle and Dave Winfield.

In the top of the first inning, Kittle, the 1983 American League Rookie of the Year for the Chicago White Sox, lifted a fly ball to right field that confounded the Blue Jay outfield. By the time the ball was retrieved and thrown in, Kittle, not exactly a burner, raced around the bases for a two run, inside the park home run. I’m telling you, that play felt like it took five minutes from beginning to end. That gave the Yankees an early 4-0 lead. It was the beginning of a slugfest for the ages as New York tacked on four more runs for an 8-3 lead after two innings. After the Blue Jays scored a run in the fourth inning, the Yanks scored three more times in the top of the sixth for an 11-4 lead. It was then Toronto’s turn to pile on the offense, scoring four runs in their half in the sixth and then pouring on six more to take a 14-11 lead going into the eighth inning. It was then that Winfield delivered the biggest blow, a grand slam that was the difference in the game, ending it at 15-14.

To show you that memories can be fuzzy, I thought this was the game that Yankee closer Dave Righetti, after giving up a late home run, threw the ball over the fence in frustration before being taken out of the game. Alas, that happened in June 1986. Nevertheless, on the day of birthday number 14, Dave Winfield, Ron Kittle and the Yankees gave me a night and a present to remember.

Author: Tom Lynch

Family is everything to me. Baseball is a close second. What better way to combine my two favorite passions than to write about them! My three children each have a different baseball team, hence the title, "Three Unassisted". I write about not only my thoughts but also the musings of Ryan (Yankees), Caitlyn (Phillies) and Matthew (Mets). I may have grown up a Yankees fan but since family is greater than ball, I also root for the Phillies and Mets. I love talking about my kids. I love talking about baseball. That lethal combination will keep you coming back for more. Happy reading! View all posts by Tom Lynch