From the Time Heals All Wounds Dept.: Bobby Meacham Returns to the Yankees

Sometimes I surprise myself with the things I remember that I forgot. Honestly that wasn’t a poor attempt at homespun Yogi Berra quote.

A couple of years ago I went to see the Diamondbacks play the Marlins at Chase Field and saw blast from the past Bobby Meacham coaching third base for the Marlins. What was it about him, I asked myself, that I remember (or didn’t in this case) about his tumultuous stay in the Bronx?

Today Bill Madden answered the question:

[O]n Aug. 4, 1984, when both Meacham and Dale Berra were tagged out at home by the White Sox’s Carlton Fisk. For the record, the Yankee third base coach that night was Gene Michael, who was more than happy on Sunday to explain how it all transpired.

“It wasn’t Bobby’s fault. It wasn’t my fault,” Michael said. “It was just one of those freak things. Rickey (Henderson) hit a ball into left-center that looked like it might drop. Bobby was on second, and Dale on first. Bobby held up briefly at second and then starts coming to third. But Dale was running head down, all the way, and he’s right behind Bobby coming into third. I know we’re gonna have a situation where there’s two men on third, so I wave Bobby home. Since there’s gonna be an out, it might as well be at the plate. But I couldn’t stop Dale! Through the years, I’ve always told the story that, as I ran off the field, Fisk tagged me, too.”

“All I know is that when ‘Stick’ sent me home, I tried to knock the ball loose from Fisk,” said Meacham, “and then I hear the crowd yell again and I say: ‘Wait a minute, he (Berra) didn’t? Yes, he did!’”

You must read the whole article to find out why Madden describes Bobby Meacham thusly: A Yankee for parts of five seasons, from 1983-88, he was subjected to some of the imperious and impulsive owner’s most notorious indignities.