WHY I MISS THE NEW YORK YANKEES

It happens every November.  It is sort of like a withdrawal from an addiction.  It is kind of like when your best friend goes away or your son or daughter goes away to college.  They are not at an arm’s length.  They are not available.  This quote (HERE), by baseball great, Rogers Hornsby just about sums it up for me, “People ask me what I do in winter when there's no baseball. I'll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring."   

(In Photo: Rogers Hornsby)
I feel this way about the Yankees and it hurts a little bit more this year than in years passed.  As a fan that watches or listens to every game, I feel this void in my life as Thanksgiving approaches and Spring Training feels like a century away.  So why do I miss the Yankees so much?  There are many reasons, but I will narrow them down to three. 

The first reason why I miss the Yankees so much is the thrill of the game.  It is exciting to watch our Bombers battle it out in the field for nine innings.  They always make it interesting.  If it is not the defensive excellence of our first baseman Mark Teixeira, 2012 gold glove winner, it is the hustle of Grandy in center and the professionalism of our other gold glove winner, Robby Cano at second.  They make it look easy and they make the game a thrill to watch.  All three can hit too, usually! 

This brings me to my second reason of why I miss the Yankees so much.  I love the way we win and I love the way we hit our way back into a game.  In an article posted this October (HERE) in the New York Times stated, “The natural rhythms of the baseball season remind us that summer never lasts. In places like New York, the postseason arrives with the cold snap of autumn, the first sign that winter is coming. This is when the Yankees make their mark.”

No other team can do that as consistently as the Yankees can.  And we have been doing this for decades.  In 1923 Babe Ruth clobbered three home runs to beat the Giants in the series.  In 1927, we did it with Murderers’ Row.  That year the Bombers became the first team to sweep the World Series.  They did that again in 1928 and again in 1932, when Babe Ruth hit his famous “called shot.”


We beat up on the Dodgers, the Giants, the Cardinals, the Braves, the Mets and the Phillies.  We did it with hits and when we are unstoppable, we are truly unstoppable.   I am a Yankee fan and I always believe we can win. 

The final reason why I miss the Yankees is I miss Derek Jeter.  I miss his passion and I miss his poise.  I love his confidence.  He is not being cocky when he says we will win, he’s being Derek Jeter, our leader, our captain.  He told us that the ghosts would show up in Boston back in 2009 and they did.  Jeter is a straight shooter, who goes out every day and does his job.  It is not just Yankees fans like you and me who love to watch Jeter, but his fierce competitors love to have him in the game they are playing against the Yankees.

“We all grew up, backyard baseball, wanting to win the World Series either against the Yankees or getting through the Yankees to get to the World Series, especially with Derek Jeter as the catalyst. Unfortunately, it happened. We’d love to see him out playing with us and playing against him, because it is really fun playing the Yankees, especially when Derek Jeter is healthy,” said Detroit Tigers Delmon Young following Jeter’s injury in the postseason. 

So, as the frosts of November hit us in the Northeast and we batten down the hatches for a long winter’s nap, I dream of our Boys of Summer and think about the thrill of the games yet to be played on the green grass of Yankee Stadium in 2013. 

What are you missing this off season? Comment.

--Suzie Pinstripe, BYB Opinion Columnist
Twitter: @suzieprof




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