WHY WE NEVER GIVE UP ON OUR YANKEES

(photo: NY Daily News)
There are plenty of things that happen around Opening Day. Raw fan emotion for 1. For 2, raw player emotion, yes, it's just a job to them, but they still want to win.

For the fan watching, we anaylze very simply. We look at the at bats for instance. In 4 or 5 plate appearances, us Yankee fans get a batch report of what a player may or may not do that season. Yes, it's a small batch, but put simply, this is where fans gauge players. It's not fair, but that's how our minds work.

The reality is, anything can happen after Opening Day, but comfort level of an individual player is tested and the fan knows that. Butterflies are in everyone's stomach on Opening Day, and as days move on into weeks, comfort becomes dominant in a player's psyche. That confidence at the plate usually will translate to the fan, hence, jersey's are purchased, kids formulate who their favorite player is, females want to marry that player.

Sometimes as the season progresses, certain players can't get that confidence. The mind doesn't sync up with the body, they're slow at the plate, they're booed at the plate. Fans leave, and no one's asking for autographs anymore. Bottom line, you see that happening a mile away, the player knows too, but sometimes you have to just chalk it up as a slump.

One thing I've noticed as a Yankee fan though, We never give up on our guys, EVER. Yes, we get hasty, we want the big hit, but we never ever desert our players. We love our Yankees. I've seen crappy players come and go but whenever they come back, Opening Day or Old Timer's Day, there's alwayshuge applause.Look, I rooted for the Yanks when Bobby Meacham and Dale Berra were the left side of the infield. Those were dark days. But no one faults a bad Yankee player. They may be bad sometimes, but he was qualified to wear the pinstripes, so over time, he's embraced. We, the fans love our Yankees and if you wear the pinstripes and get out there and do all you can do, we salute them... Why? Because Yankees keep fighting, no matter what.I joked about how bad Sergio Mitre was for us. Well, he was, but he gave it his all, it just turned out, he wasn't terribly good, but he never gave up. Remember Kevin Maas? He was crushing homeruns early on in his career, then, once teams figured out he couldn't hit anything but fastballs, he eventually vanished, but he never gave up. And still, to this day everyone remembers Maas, and if he showed up at Yankee Stadium, people would love to see him.

How about Glennallen Hill, or Jack Clark... maybe Matt Nokes. All these guys were Yankees, all had flashes of greatness for the Yanks, but none of them panned out the way we wanted, yet, Yankee fans know those players, and we love our Yankees. Why? Because they never gave up.
There's something that happens to players when they put on the pinstripes. They become super heroes to us all. They are leaders, they walk with pride, they never stop fighting. That's what I grew up watching. Today, nothing's changed, except of course the athletes themselves. At the end of the day, It's the unique history and a unique pattern. Yes, it's great to win every year, but year after year we remember every player good or bad who ran out on the field as a New York Yankee. Because when you wear the pinstripes, you never give up and the fans never give up on you.

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