New year, clean slate

When the clock strikes midnight tonight, a new year will be brought in and 2013 will be in the rear view mirror. The calendar will officially turn over, and in essence - so will the New York Yankees. The "Core Four" has dwindled to one, Robinson Cano is in moose country, Jacoby Ellsbury, Brian McCann and Carlos Beltran are wearing pinstripes. Phil Hughes is in the Twin Cities, Joba Chamberlain is in Motown and Curtis Granderson is a Met. What a difference a year makes, huh? With a new year comes uncertainty. Few people like change, and there's plenty to go around with the Bronx Bombers this winter. But a new year also brings a clean slate - a chance to start over and create a new course of history and memories. The foundation for the Yankee teams we grew to love from 1996-2013 has now really been broken up, but it's time for the new Yanks to make their mark going forward, even though nothing will compare to the "glory days." While it's important to forget some things that happened to us in the year gone by, it's equally important to remember what happened as we move forward. As fans, the same goes for baseball, even though it seems trivial when compared to real life. The 85 win season? Forgotten. Injuries? In the past. Travis Ishikawa in pinstripes. What? But as we move in to 2014, it's important to remember the farewells we saw for Mariano Rivera and Andy Pettitte - which, in some ways, stretched beyond baseball. For those of us who have watched them since we were kids - and they were kids - they will live on in the minds of Yankee fans as years roll on. Their exits reminded us that class, grace and dignity exists - and that there are still legends. The translation of the New Years staple song "Auld Lang Syne" literally means "times gone by." The song is about remembering friends from the past and not letting them be forgotten. I think it applies perfectly to Andy and Mo. As the hours and minutes tick down on this year, it's out with the old and in with the new both on and off the field. From all of us at Bronx Pinstripes, have a safe, happy and healthy New Year!