CASHMAN ON TANAKA: "THIS IS STEINBRENNER BIG."

Seeing Masahiro Tanaka in pinstripes was wonderful today. I am not a huge fan of getting Japanese pitchers, but after last season, it was evident that the Yankees needed to make a big splash.  Today was a great sight to see. Brian Cashman called it "Steinbrenner Big." I would say he is correct.

When Casey suggested that one of us could possibly write for BYB today (HERE), I was excited.  I happened to be off today. I forgot today was the Tanaka press conference, but was very interested in watching after I logged onto BYB this morning.

Tanaka is a tall man, much taller than I imagined. He carries himself quite well.  He looks confident.  While there has been a lot of talk about his workload in the past in Japan  and what he can do for us in the future,  I don’t care about that.  I can see it in his eyes and I saw it today. He’s thrilled to be a New York Yankee. He wanted to win a championship or 2 here. We should all be thrilled by that.  Tanaka could have picked any team he wanted to. He chose the Yankees.  We should be honored.

The 2 best moments for me as a fan were Tanaka putting on his #19 jersey and saying simply, “I’m very happy to be a Yankee.”  There were silly questions that weren’t needed.  Someone asked about what was the first meal he ate in New York. The answer was sushi.  Someone else asked him what he wanted to accomplish. I think we know what he wants; he wants to win a championship.  For me, it was about the man.  He looked happy and while there was a language barrier, the sight of Tanaka finally in pinstripes was good enough for me.

Welcome to the Bronx Masahiro Tanaka. As a fan for 15 years, I can tell you, with the signings of Jacoby Ellsbury, Brian McCann, Carlos Beltran and now Masahiro Tanaka, I’m proud today to say that I’m a Yankee fan.  Add in our staples of Derek Jeter, CC Sabathia, David Robertson, Brett Gardner and Mark Teixeira… and there is nothing we can’t accomplish.

I’m very excited.

Thank you for the opportunity BYB. I hope you choose me.

 

--Brianna A. Coles “BYB Reporter for a Day”

Thank you to all the Bleeding Yankee Blue readers for continued success.  You've made BYB the fastest growing Yankees fan site in the history of Yankees fandom.  Thanks for reading, sharing and enjoying. Follow me on Twitter @BleednYankeeBlu and join the group Bleeding Yankee Blue (Official) on Facebook, just type it in