A Promise to Be Kept
Being a New York Yankees fan and being a native New Yorker are one and the same. Both are associated with greatness, there is disdain from those that don’t belong, and there is a higher expectation for success.
My first Yankee memories were from the Subway Series in 2000. I remember people in my neighborhood talking about how exciting it was to have an intercity championship matchup. This was during the height of the Yankees success as they were striving towards a three-peat; this was evident through myself and other classmates wearing Yankees gear representing the Core Four of Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Jorge Posada, and Andy Pettite.
What separates being a Yankees fan from being a fan of other New York teams is that making the playoffs isn’t what you hope for, it’s what you expect. Throughout elementary and middle school, this was a yearly reality for the Yankees. The New York Post would have special medallion collections for Yankee greats; I remember being so obsessed with the team that I basically forced my Dad to go with me to the newsstand every morning before school so that I didn’t miss any of them. These collectables would be the first thing on my mind when I woke up, needless to say Yankee fandom was a part of my DNA from an early age.
A shot from the first game I attended at the new Yankee Stadium in 2009.
Going to Yankee games as a kid was always special. Of the many moments from games I attended growing up, two stand out the most. The first was a game I went to with my Mom; there was an hour or more of a rain delay so fans cleared out assuming that they were going to postpone the game. We kept patient and by the time the game had resumed, the stadium was nearly empty. We worked our way as far down as we could and made it to the third baseline next to Jeter and Alex Rodriguez, it was the closest I had ever been to the field. Towards the end of the game, a player on the opposing team hit a grounder that went foul and it was my opportunity for the moment that every kid dreams about before arriving to the stadium - going home with a game ball. Being the only kid in my section, it was an obvious call for the ballboy and that baseball still sits in my room at home to this day.
The other moment that comes to mind was when the Yankees were playing the Red Sox in the midst of the heated rivalry during the early and mid 2000’s. As a young child being unaware of the effects of alcohol, I wasn’t sure why certain fans might be so loud or feel the need to scream out random things during games. Coco Crisp was on the Red Sox at the time and every time he came up, one fan in our section would scream out things like “What type of fucking name is Coco anyways? Who names their kid Coco?” This guy was a legend to my younger self, now I understand that he was probably a few beers deep ready to rattle off whatever came to his head.
After what can only be considered a drought to Yankees fans (an 8 year run of only making the World Series twice), the acquisitions of CC Sabathia and Mark Teixeira in the 2008 offseason set in place a feeling of inevitability that we were destined to win another World Series. The 2009 World Series run was particularly special because it featured an all-time performance from a player that meant a lot to our family. Hideki Matsui was my Sister's favorite player; from bobbleheads to jerseys, “Godzilla” was well represented in our house. His World Series MVP run served as validation for a great career on the Yankees, and made the championship that much sweeter for my family to enjoy. The night before the championship parade I remember pleading to my parents to let me skip school and attend the parade, but they were firm in their decision that I had to go to school. A few friends went to the parade that day and back at school I was devastated. My Dad's response? “Don’t worry, we promise you can go to the next one”. That’s the type of thinking that Yankees fans have, that championship parades are guaranteed.
Captured after the Yankees beat the Astros 4-1 in Game 5 of the 2019 ALCS.
Unfortunately, that was the last time that we were champions. After a relatively forgettable start to the 2010’s in terms of team success, an exciting rise in the youth movement of Baby Bombers to now World Series favorites have put us back in the position we know well. It’s hard not to think about the what-ifs and what could (or should) have-beens taking into account the Astros tarnished title, but Yankees fans don’t make excuses - the team hasn’t lived up to the Yankee expectation in recent years. Reminiscent of the 2008 offseason, the signing of Gerrit Cole has brought back a feeling of inevitability to add a championship with the most storied franchise in all of professional sports. These days, it certainly does seem like the Evil Empire is back. And whenever that championship parade does happen, in whatever capacity it may take place, one thing I know is that I will be there. After all, that was the promise made.