April 2, 2007: Elijah Dukes starts major-league career with a home run, but Yankees beat Devil Rays on Opening Day

On Monday, April 2, 2007, an emotionally charged Opening Day unfolded at Yankee Stadium, where the New York Yankees hosted the Tampa Bay Devil Rays before a crowd of 55,035.1 While most of the attention was focused on the Yankees, Tampa Bay rookie Elijah Dukes temporarily stole the spotlight by hitting a home run in his first major-league at-bat. Dukes’ homer wasn’t enough to prevent a 9-5 Yankees victory.

Before the game the Yankees honored Cory Lidle, who had pitched for the Yankees the season before and was killed in a plane crash at age 34 just four days after New York concluded its season with a loss to the Detroit Tigers in the American League Division Series.2

Each Yankee wore a black armband in honor of Lidle.3 His wife and their son threw out the ceremonial first pitch against the backdrop of a video tribute.4 They were escorted to the mound by New York first baseman Jason Giambi, Lidle’s high-school teammate.5 Standing beside the Yankees’ dugout were Lidle’s parents and brothers, while Yankee Stadium public-address announcer Bob Sheppard intoned, “Now pitching for the Yankees, number 30, Cory Lidle.”6

Also honored before the game was Bobby Murcer, a four-time Yankee All-Star and longtime radio and television broadcaster. In December the 60-year-old Murcer had undergone surgery to remove a malignant brain tumor and he was currently undergoing chemotherapy and radiation treatments.7

Manager Joe Torre, in his 11th year at the Yankees’ helm, reflected on the atmosphere prior to the game. “Everybody had a lump in their throat before the game,” he said. “You couldn’t help but choke up.”8

Seven years had passed since the Yankees won a World Series, and their most recent AL pennant was in 2003. They started 2007 with the highest payroll in the major leagues, amounting to $193.69 million.9 “When we go to spring training every year, we talk about getting to the World Series,” Torre said. “We don’t talk about having a good year, let’s have a good record and all that stuff, it’s getting to the World Series. So you know what the requirements are.”10

With both Yankees pitchers Chien-Ming Wang and Andy Pettitte sidelined due to injuries, Torre named Carl Pavano as his Opening Day starter. The decision came despite Pavano’s own struggles with injuries over the past two years. The game was the 31-year-old righty’s first major-league start since June 27, 2005, a span of 644 days.11 As one columnist noted, making reference to New York’s 1910 season opener, “The last time their first starting pitcher of the season hadn’t started a major league game the year before, William Howard Taft was in the White House, the team was known as the Highlanders, and the game was called after 14 innings because of darkness.”12

The Devil Rays, who had lost 101 games in 2006, began their 10th season by fielding the youngest Opening Day lineup since the 1983 Minnesota Twins.13 The average age was 24.79 years.14 Tampa’s projected payroll was $24 million, $35 million less than the previous year, and $169.69 million less than the Yankees’ payroll.15

Andrew Friedman, Tampa Bay’s 30-year-old executive vice president of baseball operations, expressed optimism about the team’s future, highlighting the emergence of promising young players. “We’ve seen over the last couple years the talented players that we have begun to blossom and develop,” he said.16

Pavano surrendered a hit to the first batter he faced, the fleet-footed Carl Crawford, who singled to left field. Crawford would stand out as a key figure in the Devil Rays’ reconstruction efforts. In 2006 he had hit .305 and swiped 58 bases, clinching his third AL steals crown.

True to form, Crawford stole second and then took third on Rocco Baldelli’s one-out fly ball. Devil Rays first baseman Ty Wigginton then hit a routine foul pop down the third-base line. But the Yankees’ third baseman, Álex Rodríguez, overran the ball, and was charged with an error. Pavano, however, retired Wigginton on a comebacker to strand Crawford and end the inning. In the bottom of the first, the Yankees went ahead against 23-year-old lefty Scott Kazmir, Tampa Bay’s sole All-Star in 2006. Giambi delivered a timely single that drove Johnny Damon and Bobby Abreu home, providing Pavano with a 2-0 lead.

In the second, Tampa Bay’s Akinori Iwamura hit a feeble groundball toward the Yankees’ shortstop. Derek Jeter – whose illustrious career would include 14 All-Star selections, five World Series titles, and induction into the Hall of Fame on the first ballot – threw wildly to first. The lapse permitted Iwamura to advance to second base.

Pavano retired the next hitter, Dioner Navarro, and walked rookie Elijah Dukes. Then Melvin “B.J.” Upton, an emerging star for the Devil Rays, delivered a single to center field, driving in a run. Tampa Bay cut the deficit to 2-1.

In the fourth inning, the Yankees enhanced their lead courtesy of catcher Jorge Posada, a five-time Silver Slugger Award winner, who deposited a ball over the fence between center and right field against Kazmir.

Pavano sailed smoothly with the 3-1 lead until the top of the fifth inning. The Devil Rays’ center fielder, rookie Elijah Dukes, led off.

It was the 22-year-old Dukes’ second big-league plate appearance; he had walked in the second inning. Dukes’ ascent to the major leagues was eagerly anticipated by those in the organization who had observed his impressive capabilities during his time in the minor leagues.17

With the count 1-and-1, Dukes connected with a pitch from Pavano, sending the ball soaring over the center-field wall. He became the 98th player to hit a homer in his first official at-bat in the majors,18 and the second in Tampa Bay franchise history.19

After Dukes homered, the Devil Rays added three more runs, giving them a 5-3 lead.

The Yankees struck back in the bottom of the sixth. With the bases loaded, Jeter delivered a single on a 3-and-1 pitch from Devil Rays reliever Shawn Camp, driving in Posada from third and Robinson Cano from second, tying the score, 5-5.

Riding the wave of momentum, the Yankees kept advancing, led by Giambi and Rodríguez. In the pivotal seventh inning, Rodríguez singled to left field and stole second base. Giambi knocked a groundball into right field against Brian Stokes, bringing Rodríguez in from second base to secure a 6-5 lead for the Yankees.

One inning later, after a single by Abreu that brought Doug Mientkiewicz home, Rodríguez seized the moment with a first-pitch two-run homer off reliever Juan Salas. It was the 465th homer of Rodríguez’s career. The shot secured the Yankees their eighth and ninth runs, capping off a formidable offensive display for the hometown crowd.

Closer Mariano Rivera struck out the side in the top of the ninth inning, clinching the win.

With the victory, the Yankees recorded their 15th win of their last 16 home openers.20 After the game, Rodríguez said, “It’s good to get the Opening Day jitters out of the way. I started out like a moron there.”21

The Yankees went on to a 94-68 season, securing the second spot in the AL East, just behind the eventual World Series champion Boston Red Sox. New York earned the AL’s wild-card berth, then were eliminated from the postseason by losing the AL Division Series to the Cleveland Indians in four games.

The Devil Rays came in at the bottom of the division, posting a 66-96 record. But in 2008, the franchise, now known simply as the Rays, shocked the baseball world with an unexpected appearance in the World Series.

As for Dukes, in 2007 he set a new club record for rookies by hitting seven home runs in May. He topped the rookie charts with nine extra-base hits and 15 RBIs for the month. By early June, he had hit 10 home runs. On June 22, however, Dukes was sent down to the minors and placed on the temporary inactive list following allegations of misconduct off the field. Dukes ended the season with a batting average of .190 and 21 RBIs in 52 games. He was traded to the Washington Nationals after the season.22

Dukes’ major-league career concluded after three seasons. Over the course of 240 games, he recorded a batting average of .242 (199 hits in 824 at-bats), along with 31 home runs and 123 RBIs.

Sources

In addition to the sources mentioned in the Notes, the author consulted Baseball-Reference.com, Retrosheet.org, and MLB.com.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NYA/NYA200704020.shtml

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/2007/B04020NYA2007.htm

Photo credit: Elijah Dukes, Trading Card Database.

Notes

1 Tampa Bay’s American League franchise was known as the Devil Rays from its founding in 1998 through 2007. In 2008 the team’s name was changed to the Rays.

2 Associated Press, “Yankees Honour Lidle, Murcer on Opening Day,” CBC Sports, April 2, 2007,

https://www.cbc.ca/sports/baseball/yankees-honour-lidle-murcer-on-opening-day-1.693302.

3 “Yankees Honour Lidle, Murcer on Opening Day.”

4 Associated Press, “Yanks Rally to Beat Devil Rays in Opener,” Middletown (New York) Record, April 3, 2007, https://www.recordonline.com/story/sports/mlb/2007/04/03/yanks-rally-to-beat-devil/52936995007/.

5 “Yankees Honour Lidle, Murcer on Opening Day.”

6 “Yankees Honour Lidle, Murcer on Opening Day.” Lidle’s locker remained empty for the entire season.

7 “Yankees Honour Lidle, Murcer on Opening Day.” In addition to Lidle and Murcer, a moment of silence was also held for former Yankee and eight-time World Series champion Hank Bauer and former Commissioner Bowie Kuhn, both of whom had recently died.

8 Associated Press, “Devil Rays Fall to Emotional Yankees,” Sarasota (Florida) Herald Tribune. April 3, 2007. https://www.heraldtribune.com/story/news/2007/04/03/devil-rays-fall-to-emotional-yankees/28539210007/.

9 Jim Sheahan, “Locker Room Report.” Poughkeepsie (New York) Journal, April 2, 2007: 5C.

10 Ronald Blum (Associated Press), “Yankees Overdue to Deliver,” Binghamton (New York) Press & Sun-Bulletin, April 2, 2009: 28.

11 Anthony Rieber, “Pavano, Opener,” Newsday (Long Island, New York), April 2, 2007: 66.

12 Mike Fitzpatrick (Associated Press), “Pavano Gets Unlikely, Historic Start for Yankees,” Elmira (New York) Star-Gazette, April 2, 2007: 9. New York’s starter in the April 14, 1910, game had been Hippo Vaughn.

13 “Yanks Rally to Beat Devil Rays in Opener.”

14 “Devil Rays Fall to Emotional Yankees.”

15 Fred Goodall, “Will Rays’ Young Stars Align?” Naples (Florida) Daily News, April 2, 2007: 33.

16 Goodall, “Will Rays’ Young Stars Align?”

17 In 2003 Baseball America named Dukes the organization’s best defensive outfielder and the top pure athlete in the Rays system. In 2004 Baseball America named him Tampa Bay’s sixth-best prospect as he batted .313 with 117 hits, 70 runs, 10 home runs, 49 RBIs, and 30 stolen bases. In 2005, after batting .287 with career highs of 128 hits and 18 home runs, and a career-low 83 strikeouts for Double-A Montgomery, Dukes was named by Baseball America as the organization’s fifth-best prospect. In 2006, Dukes earned the Rays’ Al Lopez Award for top rookie in camp, and Baseball America named him the organization’s best athlete and sixth-best prospect, as well as the International League’s 11th-best prospect after Dukes amassed 83 hits, 30 for extra bases (15 doubles, 5 triples, and 10 homers), and a .401 on-base percentage for Triple-A Durham.

18 “Home Run in First At-Bat,” Baseball Almanac, accessed May 16, 2024, https://www.baseball-almanac.com/feats/feats5.shtml.

19The first was relief pitcher Esteban Yan, who achieved the same feat on June 4, 2000, against the New York Mets. Dukes also became the third Devil Rays player to hit a home run in his first major-league game. The first was Brent Abernathy on June 5, 2001, against the Red Sox, followed by Delmon Young in 2007, against the Chicago White Sox.

20 “Devil Rays Fall to Emotional Yankees.”

21 Mike Fitzpatrick, “Yankees Come Back on D-Rays,” Bennington (Vermont) Banner, April 3, 2007, https://www.benningtonbanner.com/local-news/yankees-come-back-on-d-rays/article_ddcffd43-0576-59cb-bbf4-1a172b10e63b.html

22 Chris Jones, “TICK TICK TICK,” ESPN.com, May 5, 2008, https://www.espn.com/espnmag/story?id=3382818.