For the first time ever, the Bronx Pinstripes writers united yesterday in the place where all of our inspiration is drawn from, Yankee Stadium, as a way of catching up with each other while catching a ballgame on a beautiful day in the Bronx. Our outing was quickly spoiled though by a Yankee loss due to yet another offensively lacking performance. Despite what was overall a great union, disappointment over the loss was still visible among us.
As we all parted ways after the game and I began to make my road trip home. On the ride, I couldn’t help but reflect on my 27 years past as a Yankees fan and realize how difficult it has been to adjust to that disappointing feeling that New York baseball fans have been experiencing consistently this season. Sometimes life gets in the way of our passions, which has been the case for me recently and I haven’t been able to keep up with my beloved Pinstripes as much as I normally would, but I still check the scores and standings almost daily and can’t help but be slightly disheartened by what I read.
Growing up a true-blue Yankees fan is a blessing in itself, but growing up watching this historic franchise throughout the 90s and 2000s as I have, has been an especially spoiling experience. In my lifetime, I’ve gotten to witness my team win 13 division titles, seven American League pennants, and bring five World Series titles to the Bronx. Think about it. To see that occur in my first 27 years as a fan is incredible. That’s more than some sports fans can say they’ve seen out of their respective teams in a much longer span of time.
New York Yankees baseball is arguably the most-storied and historic franchise in all of professional sports and I’m proud to say that I’m a small part of a whole lot of history. I’ve watched records be chased and broken, astonishing moments of glory and celebration on the field, and countless Yankee greats sport that infamous pinstripe uniform.
In my time, Mariano Rivera has broken the all-time saves record. The Captain, Derek Jeter, has accumulated over 2,000 hits and continues to climb up the list of all-time hit leaders. No-hitters and perfect games have been achieved. The entire team as a whole have made multiple marks in the books during my life. Just being graced with the on-field presence of these Yankee greats and legends like Bernie Williams, Andy Pettitte, Jorge Posada and many others who have all contributed their fair share of memorable moments in history.
Flash-forward back to present-day 2013. Heading into the All-Star break, the Yankees currently sit at 4th in the AL East and continue with their injury issues and numerous on and off-field struggles. They have a lineup full of fresh-faced youngsters whose names are still slightly unfamiliar to fans as we try to conclude what kind of potential value these newbies have to the club. We as Yankee fans have become so accustomed to consistent success, that we clearly have a difficult time adjusting and settling for anything less than that.
Even though the current state of our team isn’t quite something we are used to, we can’t let our spoiled past, result in spoiled spirits when times are bad. Maybe it’s just time to clear the slate. Start anew from scratch and rebuild once again. We’ve done it before, so history will undoubtedly repeat itself again. We are Yankees, we will overcome, and we will once again be spoiled by greatness in due time.
