Relive Ron Guidry’s Memorable Night at Capital Region’s Heritage Park

On a summer night in 1986, New York Yankees' standout pitcher Ron Guidry became a Capital Region sports icon.

Guidry, who played his entire career with the Yankees, became famous in our area for his modern-day barnstorming performance at Heritage Park in the 1980's. I did a bit of digging, and found a piece by Chuck Miller on how, and why, he ended up in Albany.

Ron Guidry Was One of New York's Finest Pitchers

For a time, no one in baseball was throwing the ball better than the left-hander from Louisiana, Ron Guidry. As a 27-year old in 1978, "Gator" pitched to a 1.74 ERA in 35 starts, won the Cy Young Award, and was second in MVP voting.

From then on, Guidry found a mark of consistency, living in the "three's" in ERA, and continuing to be a reliable arm in the rotation for the New York Yankees. He pitched in 368 games in his career, all with New York, and won 170 games between 1975 and 1988.

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It was later in his career, 1986 to be exact, when Guidry took the Capital Region baseball scene by storm.

Guidry's Injury Becomes Albany's Gain

As the story goes, Guidry was pitching in July of 1986, when he took a line drive directly off of his pitching hand. Guidry was removed from the game, his hand bleeding in the process, and was forced to miss a few weeks' time.

Enter Albany-Colonie Yankees president Ben Bernard, who proposed to the major league affiliate that they let Guidry come up to Heritage Park for his rehab assignment. As Miller's article explains, players would typically go to Triple-A for their assignments.

This time, however, the New York club made an exception, and Guidry was on his way to Albany to make his minor league start.

Thousands Flooded Heritage Park to See Guidry

Simply put, Bernard's plan worked to perfection. Heritage Park was sold out within 24 hours, and traffic lined the streets of Albany for hours ahead of first pitch. Guidry took the mound to a standing ovation, and threw 41 total pitches over three innings.

While Guidry would soon return to the major league ranks, and finish out the remaining two-plus years of his career, the impact he had on baseball in the Albany-Colonie area was felt for much, much longer.