THE YANKEES INSPIRATION STARTS AGAIN ON OPENING DAY

"You only get 1 shot to not miss your chance to blow, this opportunity 

only comes once in a lifetime."

-- Eminem, Lose Yourself

I wear a faded Yankees cap and rarely wear a tie.  When I do, I've been accused of "cleaning up nice." When I write at night, I will sip a Dos Equis or a Corona and I never finish it.  I also used be a student of creative writing and had my balls broken on several occasions by teammates, roommates  and fraternity brothers in high school and college. But I liked to write and stuck with it. I'm not great, I am good and it’s a release for me. 

Bleeding Yankee Blue is my baby. I made it out of frustration and it’s turned into something special, because of you.  2 years into Bleeding Yankee Blue, I continue to keep grinding it out, like Jorge Posada did for so many years before. I'm passionate about what I do because I know you look for us and this writing thing has actually become therapeutic for me. Getting rants on paper, or computer, allows me to lighten my brain a bit.

 

But quite often, I think about Jorge Posada and what he would do. He'd stick around, but more importantly, he'd want to make it better. Giving up wouldn't cross his mind and I sure as hell don't want it creeping into mine. BYB is relevant now and I've realized something pretty significant 2 years in...it's no longer just about me. It's about the readers, the great writers we've collected and about the New York Yankees of course.

Today is Opening day. My Yankees are not quitters and at the end of the day, we are handed a team of 25 guys that we have to rely on, whether we like the personnel or not,,, they wear the pinstripes and as fans, that’s what we sign up for. 

It’s our team whether Derek Jeter’s out there or Bobby Meacham is out there.  Bottom line, the Yankees are our team and we’ve seen some special moments over the years.  We’ve seen players who contributed hard, end up leaving New York due to free agency and we’ve seen big players sign in the Bronx, only to become distractions, not athletes.  But at the end of the day, there are always fans who like 1 guy and hate another, but they are still our team and over time, we learn to like the players who do their job.  Look at Kevin Youkilis… a guy no one wanted on the Yanks, but this Spring, he’s been a pleasant surprise.  Look at the kids, Melky Mesa, Ronnier Mustelier, Zoilo Almonte.  It’s great when they come on in the Spring and shine.  Hopefully we see them in 2013 contributing when it counts the most… the regular season.

Look at Vernon Wells, a guy who no one really saw coming to the Bronx, but he’s here and when he puts the pinstripes on, our job is to embrace him. 

I laugh because I was re-living the lousy off season in my mind.  I was reading though old comments, old posts by BYB and fans writing stuff on Facebook. I laughed.  We Yankee fans just don’t know what we want! Me included!  I mean think about this… many of us bitched about not getting a good signing this off season.  And, the Yankees signed Ben Francisco… we poo pooed it.   

They signed Brennan Boesch, and there were complainers, and yes, some liked it, but it was almost like it wasn’t good enough.  The Yankees signed Travis Hafner, another big name, but even I wrote that I’d rather have him in 2006, not now.  Then the Yankees signed Vernon Wells, a guy with a good career with the Blue Jays and a lousy career after that.  Yet, half of us love this signing, pointing to his great Spring... and the other half hate it, pointing at his crappy time with the Angels.  Yet, if you think about it… aren’t the Yankees doing exactly we want? Sure, we’d probably like someone better, but who’s really out there? Who could we really get?   

I mean, no doubt, last season when the Yankees signed Ichiro, for me personally, I loved it. I mean I have to crush on this dude and the way he plays the game.  For me, it was the best! (Plus, we predicted it here at BYB, and we were the only ones. Read ICHIRO TO THE YANKS IS MY PIPE DREAM for guidance.)  Now though, we sign big named guys like Wells or even Lyle Overbay and it’s STILL not good enough.  What do you make of that? Why the hell are we so picky?

Truth be told, and maybe this is me being older and wiser, (I kid, I kid)… I think I’ll root hard no matter who’s out there. After all, Opening day is new life, a clean slate and today is the best time of year for baseball... this, and the playoffs.  These are my Yankees and sometimes when players have a lousy season somewhere else, they feel the power of the pinstripes and things happen.  Players change, the ghosts come out and magic happens.  Look at Ichiro? Look at good old Scott Brosius.  Look at Aaron Small and Shawn Chacon?   

Sometimes the Yankees make a player better.  Maybe it’s the tradition, maybe it’s us fans… and maybe, just maybe it’s being given another chance, like Darryl Strawberry or Dwight Gooden… or even Vernon Wells.  A new team, new life and maybe, just maybe a championship with us fans as the backdrop. 

So, for all those new Yankees, grab the reigns, seize the moment and realize what you represent when you put on the pinstripes today!  And don’t worry about us fans… sure we’ll complain and bitch and moan about how nothing’s good enough, but at the end of the day, we want wins and we want players who believe in themselves,  like the guys who wore the pinstripes before you.  At the end of the day, don’t give up and we won’t give up on you… that’s honesty….and that’s the damn truth.

I put this video together for today... alittle inspiration with some great music to psych you up and some great quotes from some inspirational films... take it all in, feel the love for the Yankees and root hard... the Quest for 28 is here... it's Opening day!

I hope you pass this post along and thank you all for reading and believing in Bleeding Yankee Blue. You are the reason why we're successful.   

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