RALLY UP OR STEP OFF!

Do you remember when you were asked by your Little League Coach to “talk it up” in the dugout even when the outcome of the game for your team seemed grim?  I certainly do, good or bad, we needed to rally up or step off.   I will tell you what, Yankee fans, we need to do the same thing.  I can’t take another day of a neighbor or co-worker saying to me, “The Yankees aren’t going to be that good this year.”  Seriously, what kind of attitude is that to take before first pitch?

Now, I realize we are down a few with Curtis Granderson and Mark Teixeira on the DL and projected to miss opening week.  I also realize that Kevin Youkilis might not be the best defensive third base man out there and that Brett Gardner doesn’t have the biggest bat.  But I do know that we have a team with tremendous heart and tremendous strength and with so many games to play, I say rally up or step off. 

We need to be more like Mo whose optimism should be bottled up and poured over Yankee fans like Baptismal waters on anyone who wishes to have forgiveness and salvation.

According to Mike Feinsand’s recent article in the New York Daily News (HERE), “Despite the turmoil the Yankees have experienced this spring due to some key injuries, Rivera has already penned a script he hopes will serve as the perfect conclusion to his historic career. 'The last game I hope will be throwing the last pitch in the World Series,' Rivera said. 'That’s how I envision my last game of my last pitch on the mound. Winning the World Series, that would be my ambition.'”

Naysayers, glass half empty and people with a colder heart listen up, we need to rally up or step off because if we are not going to push hard, we will never be able to forge ahead.  We have CC ready to step up in his first start of the spring, we have already seen David Phelps and Ivan Nova show batters where to stick it and then there is Mo who is hands-down the best closer in the game.  Sure, we are really going to get the opportunity to look at our young players from the farm system this year, but that’s okay- young and old need to work together.  If the work force in the U.S. is doing it, so can we. 

According to Forbes Magazine (HERE), “we will soon have five generations in the workplace at once. In prior years, we have had three or four generations at a time with some but not vast differences in work behavior. Today people are living and working longer leading to this new reality. “  We are seeing these generations working together in baseball from players to coaches to managers to front office staff.  We also see fans span the age universe and baseball has done a pretty good job managing all of these generations through unique and exciting ballpark experiences. 

So, Yankee fans, I appeal to you.  Hold onto your seats and your mouths and just wait.  It’s not the bottom of the ninth inning or the last game of the season, it’s not even the first.  We need to believe in what we have accomplished and believe like Mo, that a World Series is in our future at the onset of every season because everyone has the same opportunity and when you’re the Yankees, there’s no crying, there’s no complaining, there’s no excuses- we need to just rally up or don’t bother showing up.

And the latter is just not an option.  Some say let’s just win one for the Gipper, I say let’s just win another one for the Mo.  

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




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