June 23 – The Mayor’s Trophy Game
- Sal Maiorana
- Jun 23, 2017
- 2 min read
NEW YORK – Once upon a time in baseball, major-league teams actually played exhibition games in the middle of the season. It seems crazy to think about it now, that in the midst of a grueling 162-game schedule, players were asked to spend a day or two extra playing games against the triple-A farm club, or, in the case of the Yankees and Mets, the annual Mayor’s Trophy Game.
The origins of the game dated back to 1946 when the Yankees and New York Giants agreed to play an exhibition to benefit sandlot baseball programs in the city operated by the Amateur Baseball Federation. The Brooklyn Dodgers also participated, but when the Giants and Dodgers bolted for the West Coast following the 1957 season, the game went on hiatus. It was revived in 1963 after the Mets entered the National League as an expansion team the previous year.
The Yankees-Mets game was played for 17 straight years, and it raised more than $1.7 million. There was no game in 1980 or ’81, with the teams each making contributions to the ABF, and after playing in 1982 and ’83, it was discontinued.
By 1977, fans no longer cared much about the game, even though it was the only opportunity to see the two New York teams play against each other, long before interleague play became a thing.
It was, after all, an exhibition, and the teams had begun using backup and minor-league players in order to give their regular starters a day off. The Mets’ 6-4 victory, on the strength of two-run homers by Joel Youngblood and Ron Hodges, was played before only 15,510 at Shea Stadium as position players like Reggie Jackson, Thurman Munson, Graig Nettles, and Mickey Rivers sat on the bench. The Yankees started Dick Tidrow who pitched two innings, then gave way to minor-league call-ups Larry McCall and Roger Slagle.
The following year, only 9,792 showed up at Yankee Stadium, and it was clear the end was near.
Perhaps the most enduring moment in the history of the game had nothing to do with the competition. On Aug. 16, 1948, while the Yankees and Giants were playing at the Polo Grounds, an announcement was made in the stadium that legendary Babe Ruth had passed away. Everything stopped and the players and fans observed a lengthy moment of silence.
In 1951, the game drew an exhibition game record crowd of 71,289 at Yankee Stadium and they roared when Gene Woodling’s home run won it for the Yankees in the 10th inning. The last game, on April 21, 1983, was played at Shea in front of 20,741, and was contested with four college umpires because the National League umpires were angry at George Steinbrenner for comments he had made questioning their integrity in spring training, so they boycotted.
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