My earliest memory of Yankee baseball is watching them win the 1977 World Series. I was 7 and vividly remember sitting on my bed, fingers crossed under my chin, shouting "c'mon guys, c'mon guys" and then holding my breath waiting for the final out and crowned the World Champions.
My love for the Yankees was handed down to me from my father. I was 10 the first time he took me to Yankee Stadium and like every child's first trip to this famous baseball Cathedral, I was in awe. He taught me how to complete the box score, explained the numbers assigned to each position and cheered with me as the Yankees beat the White Sox in extra innings. It is memory I cherish to this day.
As I grew older my love affair with the Yankee team never faltered. Players came and went, some were more special to me than others. But ultimately, if the Yankees signed or drafted you - I was in your corner. For my father and I, it was love of team first. A year after the 1996 World Series win, I met Joe Torre. He had a way of making you feel like you were the only person in the room when he was talking to you. As if he was there to meet you. He had me as a fan for life that night.
So here we are at the beginning of another Yankee season.
Hopefully, I will be cheering well into October for my boys in Pinstripes - fingers crossed under my chin, shouting "c'mon guys, c'mon guys" and then holding my breath waiting for the final out so that they could be crowned World Champions - just as I did when I was 7. Some things never change and I hope they never do. I make no apologies when I say - GO YANKS!
As I grew older my love affair with the Yankee team never faltered. Players came and went, some were more special to me than others. But ultimately, if the Yankees signed or drafted you - I was in your corner. For my father and I, it was love of team first. A year after the 1996 World Series win, I met Joe Torre. He had a way of making you feel like you were the only person in the room when he was talking to you. As if he was there to meet you. He had me as a fan for life that night.
There have been times in my adult life when the Yankees were the only thing that made the rest of my bleak world slightly brighter. Like for so many over the years, the Yankees were an escape. Something else to focus on beside my professional or personal problems. Who can think about being unemployed or a broken heart when CC is throwing a no hitter into the 7th inning or down a couple runs, the Yankees hit a walk off and someone gets pie?
>I have spent years with so many defending my love of the Yankees. I have heard "Of course the Yankees always win, they have all the money". To me, it's the chicken/egg theory. Did the Yankees make money because they were great or were they great because they made money?
So here we are at the beginning of another Yankee season.
Hopefully, I will be cheering well into October for my boys in Pinstripes - fingers crossed under my chin, shouting "c'mon guys, c'mon guys" and then holding my breath waiting for the final out so that they could be crowned World Champions - just as I did when I was 7. Some things never change and I hope they never do. I make no apologies when I say - GO YANKS!
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