IT'S BLEEDING YANKEE BLUE'S BIRTHDAY! LET'S PARTY!

Well… that was fast!  3 years old in the blink of an eye.  Happy Birthday to Bleeding Yankee Blue, climbing all way to the top.... one day at a time.  I remember being frustrated after a game we should have won back on September 14, 2010. The post was called WHY LAST NIGHT WAS IMPORTANT and it was a game where Joe Girardi used his binder alittle too much and Sergio Mitre was brought into the game.  

I remember hearing back then that if those games  were "must win games", we MUST win them at all costs. When Mitre came in... I knew it had to be a joke.  It's because of that that Bleeding Yankee Blue was born.  Say Hallelujah... say Amen.

3 years later the New York Yankees are in the fight of their life, literally clinging to a small deficit in the Wild card race and the possibility of their post-season hopes being shattered because of an injury-riddled season, disappointment… and yes, the Girardi binder.   It seems like we are always in this spot lately. Uncertainty.  As Yankee fans, we are spoiled. As one of our readers said recently, “I like being spoiled.” Hey… me too.

One thing is certain… Bleeding Yankee Blue is alive, well and thriving.  So, how did it all start? Well, word of mouth.  That 1 post above was sent to a few friends who then sent it to a few more. Then came another post and other friends and other "shares."  It started to spread and that was an accident, trust me.  It was going to end there. But then something happened… people understood what we had created.  We weren’t going to sit here at BYB and start feeding you boring stats and we sure as hell didn't act like we were superior to our readers...the other blogs do that, we don't.  Nope... instead we’re just like you!  Fans, eager for the wins.  Fans who like to just chat about our club.  Maybe we razz each other alittle, but in the end, we’re family.  And that’s what Bleeding Yankee Blue is… a family, a true family.  Fans, Yankee fans or not, coming together to chat about baseball.  After all, we’re baseball fans first anyway.  Don’t believe me? Ask Orioles Rob (@SupermanRob2914).

When the Yankees play the Orioles, Rob shows up, he retweets us, he breaks my chops and sometimes it has nothing to do with the Yankees OR the Orioles.  It's about friendships. It's about family, it's about baseball.  This is a die hard Orioles fan, and he likes us. Why? Because we're real, we're honest and we’re not know-it-all dicks.

The point is you’ve all found us, you’ve shared us and sure, the writing has something to do with it, but it’s the sense of community that gives you that family feel.  When Bleeding Yankee Blue evolved, I looked everywhere to see how it could work better.  I figured it out and I wonder why the others haven’t yet.  The formula is simple and we're following it.  We’re here just to have fun and we're not about being the smartest.  Why? Because we’re fans! We write based on passion! It’s been quite a journey and thank God my writers are so talented or you’d never even come in to read us every morning.  You do, and we appreciate that more than you will ever know.

Over the past decade or so, I’ve enjoyed watching, admiring and appreciating some pretty interesting people. These days, my people watching have become bonds.   Laura Posada and BYB are perfect together and I could not be happier with the “friendship” we have.  The Posada family is dynamic, a brand and I have understood Jorge's passion for years.

As a peer, as a guy who works hard every day in his life, you have to admire where he came from, and where he is today.  His wife is his perfect compliment with the same drive and if that isn’t the perfect secret to marriage, I’m not sure what is.  Laura said this about what makes her marriage to Jorge work so well, (THE FULL POSADA INTERVIEW), “I think we respect and support each other even though we might not agree on everything.  It also helps that we share the same interests regarding health and fitness. We understand the things in life that are really important to us; Love,  family and health and we live life to the fullest."

Another great example of friendship; I have read Pete Caldera of the Bergen Record for a long time now.  What drew me to Pete has always been his nuggets in his articles.  You may not realize it, but if you read Pete, there is always 1 nugget that the other writers don’t have.  Maybe it’s me looking too hard for it, or maybe that’s just Pete’s knack, but one thing is for sure, he’s the best.  Sure, you can appreciate guys like Bob Klapisch (I’d appreciate him more if he was following me on Twitter again), but the reality is Caldera is the man.  Not only that, he’s a friend these days and I know he gets what we’re doing here at BYB and I appreciate his support.  If you don’t read Caldera, do it. He's also a great singer as you can see above.

I've met quite a few people on our BYB journey.  Charles and Joey Moses are die-hard Yankee fans from Australia.  I mean, how the hell does that happen?  They are though, and we conducted a great interview with them titled FROM THE BRONX, AUSTRALIA... WITH LOVE. You won't see it anywhere else and that's because we're a Yankee fan site and we love each other like family.  Read it.  You may ask me “Why are you interviewing people I don’t know. Who cares?” You know what? I care.  I love these guys.  I appreciate their family and they are good people…. That’s why.  Sometimes it’s that simple. Sometimes that's the story.

I am honored to say I know and love values of the Hensley Family.  There is something about a kid with a twinkle in his eye and the will and “want” to be the best.  I’ve seen it in my own kid and I saw it in Ty Hensley.  Luckily for me, I can call Marci, Mike and the Hensley boys "family."

(Read THANKSGIVING WITH THE HENSLEYS. Read NEW TY HENSLEY INTERVIEW: CLIMBING THE MOUNTAIN.) They are great people.  I believe in Ty. I know Ty will be great when he hits the Bigs and you should all get behind this kid, he’s something special.  He reminds me of when Derek Jeter started to get talked about.  There’s something there, and you can’t wait to see it.  I appreciate the Hensley family and I appreciate their support of BYB and sticking with us.

And what about my "Food Wars" bud Clay Rapada?  Look Rapada was a Yankee, now he's an Indian and it doesn't matter.  He's a good dude. The reason why is this... in this world of social networks, everyone, regular people, celebrities, athletes are all out there.  Now, quite simply, certain athletes and celebrities think they're actually important and they'll Tweet stuff and watch their "Retweets" pile up.  Fans flock to that. They ask questions to these stars, only to never hear from them personally.  That annoys the crap out of me. Clay Rapada doesn't to that.  He engages you, he'll chat with you... he'll break your chops back... and he's great about it. Plus, we talk food alot.

@BleednYankeeBlu Cajun style?
— Clay Rapada (@pada5something) September 1, 2013

Shout out to Rapada, one of my favorite pitchers... even before the Yankees.  I'm damn proud to root you on and tweet food pictures with you any day of the week! Food Wars with Rapada will continue... your move.

To our readers and supporters... Becki Schick and Beth Hucke. To Debbie and Josie and Natalia and Evelyn, Marlene and Rosemari, David and Thomas, Nicole and Dan, Linda and Doug, Jen and Stefie, Dave, Phil, Randy and Ron, Donna and to Eric Handler of the YES Network who's probably one of the most professional guys I've ever met.  To all the people I missed but you know I appreciate you... thanks for sharing us and chatting with us and helping us blossom.  You're all good people and I'm happy you're in the BYB family.

My writers are amazing.  Don’t forget Ladies and Gentlemen… we do this for free.  FREE! This is our volunteer time.  We’re not trying to re-invent the wheel here… we’re trying to make you think, make you laugh, maybe even make you cry… for nothing!  We love to write and we love that you love reading us.  

(In Photo: Linda Bellezza, Jeana Bellezza, Erica Morales, Ike Dimitriadis)
A shout out and much love to our writers, Jeana Bellezza, Erica Morales, Suzie Pinstripe, Ike Dimitriadis, Rudy Laurens, Chad R MacDonald and Steve Skinner.

Oh yeah, and to Mike O'Hara, the former host of Season 1 of the MLB Fan Cave and now, a BYB contributor. It's a pleasure to have you Mike...thank you.  You all go above and beyond and you will never truly know just how special you are to me.  Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Bleeding Yankee Blue is no longer a “thing”. It’s an appointment because of our readers.  You come to us in the morning.  You check in on us at night after a game.  You check to see if we have a fun story or interesting take on something.  You do it because you need it.  Well, I have news for you… we need you too.  It’s mutual, trust me.  Without our amazing readers, we don’t have a website. We have just another stupid thing on the Internet.  YOU made us relevant, not us.  Thank you.

So, what’s next? Who knows.  I’m not here to tell you I’m going to change the world.  I just want to enjoy it alittle too.  We accomplished a lot and yes, there is more to be accomplished.  If I could have anything in the world right this moment, I’d love your support to continue. Buy our products so we can get more stuff made! 

We have a limited supply of Bleeding Yankee Blue shirts, wristbands and coolies. Yes, they are almost gone, and we want to start making new products!  It's crazy to think about it, but the shirts started with a guy who we love here at BYB, Mikey Blue's dad.  He wore the first Bleeding Yankee Blue shirt ever out at a Yankee Spring training game back in 2012.  That's when the buzz started and we are grateful he did it for us.

Now, just a few days ago, he was out again at a ballpark. This time he was enjoying his 75th birthday with one of his sons at Camden Yards.  Yup, that's right, the game the Yankees came back to win 7-5 with a 4 run 8th. He's a helluva guy and a good luck charm for the Yanks and for BYB.  God Bless you and your family sir... you're a huge part of the BYB family and my family personally.

There's that word again... "family."  BYB IS family.  And that's why all this stuff happened.  We, us writers, you readers, get along pretty well, and when you ask for things at BYB, we try to deliver.  You've asked us about stories about our Captain, or about Mo, or about shirts or wristbands... well... we made them! 

(In Photo: Our friend Doug)
Bottom line, the faster we sell our stuff, the faster we can make you new stuff based on new requests.  There have been requests for hoodies, for shorts, tank tops and underwear.  I’m not kidding!  Whatever the case, we want to deliver for you and we love that you want to wear us. SO, help us move our product so we can get more product in for you. Click HERE to buy!

Bleeding Yankee Blue has been a wild ride. I'm looking forward to many more years of this.  Hopefully we improve for you.  After all, the goal is to be better every day. Let me take a moment and say thanks to all of you.  You've inspired us here. You've made us important, relevant, wanted and loved.  Words cannot express what that means to us on our 3rd birthday, so just let me say "Thank you & keep reading". Keep sharing and let's keep the communication open, for now and for always. The readers have driven Bleeding Yankee Blue... and it's pretty incredible.

You all truly rock! Thanks for coming to Bleeding Yankee Blue first, before the others. We'll continue to work hard to give you what you enjoy... posts, news and opinions about our favorite team, the New York Yankees! And hey... if we can make you smile once in awhile, then at least I know we did our job.

-Robert Casey, CEO & Writer for BleedingYankeeBlue.com
Follow me: @BleednYankeeBlu



The Bleeding Yankee Blue store is opened! CLICK HERE TO START SHOPPING! Also, follow me on Twitter @BleednYankeeBlu and join the group Bleeding Yankee Blue (Official) on Facebook, just type it in.