1929
Babe Ruth cranks what would have been his longest home run in an exhibition game at Ossining’s Sing Sing Correctional Facility against the New York Giants, allegedly reaching 620 feet into right (or more like 520, depending on whom you ask).
1941
Lou Gehrig, seven-time All-Star and the first player to have his jersey retired, is buried at Kensico Cemetery in Valhalla.
1960
After facing prejudice in a largely white San Francisco neighborhood, Giants centerfielder Willie Mays buys a $75,000, 15-room pad in New Rochelle’s Croft Terrace. Though his family lived there full-time, Mays rented a smaller house in San Francisco during the season.
1962
Hall of Fame outfielder Ralph Kiner broadcasts his first Mets game on WOR-TV. Kiner lived in Rye and announced 53 straight seasons, despite suffering from Bell’s palsy.
1996
Yankees manager Joe Torre wins his first World Series and becomes a resident of New Rochelle, later buying a house in Harrison, a home he and wife Ali maintain to this day.
2013
Pitcher Mariano Rivera, professional baseball’s all-time saves leader, retires from the Yankees to his home in Rye. On March 13, 2014, the Pentecostal Christian congregation led by his wife, Clara, finds a home in the New Rochelle church Rivera restored at a cost of $3 million.
