Why Are You a Yankee Fan?

My dad was originally from just outside of NYC and was raised a Yankee fan. My mom also became a Yankee fan in the mid-70s. So basically, I didn’t have any choice, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. I was shoved in Yankee gear since I was a baby. I’m sure if I looked, I could still find the Yankee hat I wore when I was 3.

Or likes baseball teams, specifically. My stepdad likes it in general, but he would never pretend to be a fan of a certain team. Basically, I was looking for a way to bond with him and watching sports was the thing to do. I’m not sure how I ended up going with the Yankees, honestly. Because they were a popular team? Maybe (Prior to this I had been to one baseball game ever. Athletics against someone (?) when I was 7). But since I picked them, I’ve stuck with them. I remember looking at Schilling and his damn bloody sock on my TV screen and wanting to puke.

And with all that being said, I’m really excited for the season to start. Thank you, ESPN, for hooking us up with a TV game tomorrow.

so it pretty much just happened

I spent the first eight years of my life in Western New York (Niagara Falls followed by Olean.) The first specific Yankees game I remember was the Bucky Dent game (which I eagerly turned on when I got off the bus from school, and ended up watching the end of at Angee’s Restaurant.) I guess the home run came when I was home, but my clearest memory was seeing it at the restaurant – must’ve been a replay.

We moved back to WNY (a speed trap called Belmont) from Central Ohio (where I did manage to get to a few Columbus Clippers games) when I was a sophomore in high school – pretty much at the time Donnie was at his peak. Of course, I had to wait until I was in grad school before I got to see something even approaching the glory of that Bucky Dent homerun.

I began collecting baseball cards with my classmates at age 6 and started reading the New York Newsday sports section at age 7 to find out who these players were and because it was in color.

and I loved Don Mattingly, and my first Yankees game was a 1995 ALDS game where Mattingly hit a home run and the Stadium just shook. Experiences+family+an idol does a good job making you a fan of a certain team, and I truly idolized Don Mattingly.

my mom’s Italian so her family was split between the Yankees, Dodgers and Giants and she tells me all the time how everyone would get together and argue. I think my grandfather somehow got me into the Mets? I remember wearing Mets stuff and thinking the Yankees top hat and bat logo was scary or something. then I think I stopped paying attention, not that I was, being in kindergarten. Then 1996 happened I remember my parents making a big deal about how the Yankees were in the world series again and I watched the final game and it was awe inspiring. that’s when I learned about the legacy of the Yankees, the history and how now the Yankees were on top again. It wasn’t necessarily about winning but about being the best, being THE team that defines the sport and has such history and class. The final inning of 96 is one of my earliest most vivid memories and I actually use that event as a placeholder when determining when events happened (Before Yankees/After Yankees). I watched the dynasty run, but I wish I was as into baseball as I am now because I don’t remember a lot of it : ( and now I can’t get enough!!

Even though I grew up in Tennessee, I am 3rd generation Yankees fan on both sides of the family. Some of my earliest memories are of my maternal grandfather sitting as close to the black and white TV with the sound cranked up to 12 on a scale of ten because he was damn near deaf listening to Dizzy Dean and Pee Wee Reese broadcasting the Yankee game. He lived to age 86 and could still tell anyone who bothered to ask exactly how far ahead or behind the Yanks were in the standings. He would tell me stories of things like hitchhiking to Nashville to see the likes of Ruth and Gehrig as the teams barnstormed their way back North. He would always tell me or my cousins to pay attention as Ole Yogi was coming to bat. I grew up during the M&M boys era of the early 60’s and my favorite player was the Mick-no big surprise there. I always tell the same story after moving to NYC in 2007: I’m from TN my wife is from Queens-no problem; I’m Baptist my wife is Jewish-no problem; I’m 3rd gen Yankees fan my wife and all her family are Mets fans-BIG problem.

mostly because my family. I was born into it. I guess you can say what sealed it was going to the old Yankee stadium seeing Clemens pitch vs. the Blue Jays. The other cementing moment was the 2003 playoffs when my friend and I started talking about the ALCS. We were in 3rd grade and now will stay home and watch the home opener tomorrow together. The Yankees have and always will be my #1 favorite team out of any sport and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Yankee Stadium smelled like my first dump. I loved it.

I was born into it, but I took it way farther than any of my family members ever did. I never really had a choice when it came to fandom though. That’s just destiny.

I’ve played the game for 16 years now, starting off in tee-ball when I was four. I had a foam bat when I was 2.

And like nyyrocks said, growing up with an idol like Derek Jeter playing for your home town team goes a long way.

But baseball is more than about being a fan for me. Its gotten me through so much. That 2009 World Series run was during an extremely difficult time of my life and the Yanks were what helped me keep my chin up. Baseball is a way for me to be happy, be with friends, see my Uncle when he visits from Texas. I could go on and on.

Also, I think I have the most awesome childhood Yankee picture ever. Its a picture of 7 year old me at Fenway Park, with the press box in the background and the words “Fenway Park” glowing, with an old school Yankees hat and a Rugrats t-shirt on. So epic.

So you know what’s like to live in Queens

No real story for me. My grandpa and my dad both grew up in Washington Heights, so we’ve been Yankee fans for 80+ years in my family. Just always seemed part of the deal, like being Catholic.

We’ve also got a lot of family Massachusetts, so there’s plenty of intra-brood rivalry across the Munson-Nixon Line.

When I moved into my old neighborhood in 1999, my neighbors first introduced me to Major League Baseball at the age of 7. My Dad was a Mets fan, but never took the initiative to get me into baseball. Unfortunately, he was sick with cancer for all of 2000 and until he passed away in 2001, so I never got to talk baseball with him the way I wish I could have. My mother wasn’t really into baseball, but followed the Mets and Red Sox. My neighbors were huge Yankee fans and are essentially the reason I started watching the games. I loved the sport and played little league ball with them and eventually became an avid Yankee fan. The rest is history. My mom and sister are now Yankee fans too (Mom gets to go to Opening Day tomorrow while I study for my two exams and watch in my dorm). Regardless, I’m thankful that I’m where I am now.

My family isn’t all that into baseball but when they made that run in 1996 (I was 10), all my friends (even family) were pretty excited. So I decided to see what all the hub-bub was about and quickly fell in love.

Berra used to show up to the door wearing nothing but boxers.

Stories like that really make ya a fan for life…

I’m from Albany, so around me is split fairly evenly between Yankees fans, Red Sox fans, and Mets fans. I figured I’d go with the team that doesn’t suck.

My Dad and my brothers are Yankees fans as well, but extremely casually in comparison to my mania.

I moved from Brooklyn to Queens when I was young, only a few blocks from Shea Stadium. Didn’t matter, I was physically closer to the Mets, but my heart just kept getting closer to my Yankees. After all, it was in my blood, preordained before my birth. Even now as I live in the midst of Brewer country, I proudly sport my Yankees cap.
Spent some time in Europe after high school graduation. Was even more proud to see the Yankee hats all over England, France, Italy, it was awesome! I always knew we were big here, but you get a whole different source of pride when you see how big we are throughout the rest of the world.

As is my older bro, so naturally I was raised the proper way. One of my earliest memories was my family taking me to a Yankee game when I was 5. I’ll never forget the sight of the field, the sound of the crowd, and the smell of….well everything in the air. I was pretty much raised among the Bleacher Creatures, the greatest fans in all of baseball (at the time anyway) and I’ve been hooked every since.

My sister and I were the only ones really interested in sports in my family. We grew up near Cincinnati, and would go to Reds games with my parents every once in a while. We both loved Paul O’neil and Tony Fernandez. Although we went to Reds games and rooted for them, I wouldn’t say we were hardcore fans. My family moved to New York when I was 11, which happened to be around the time Paul Oneill and Tony Fernandez came to the Yankees. The Yankees were our new home team, and there were some familiar faces, so they became my favorite team then. I think when I became a hardcore fan was when I was dating this girl who was a hardcore fan. It really rubbed off on me.

- jerome avenue (the street on which both my mom AND my dad grew up)
- webster avenue (the street where my mom’s parents lived for much of their lives)
- old-timer’s day at yankee stadium with my dad
- bucky dent earning a new middle name in beantown
- willie randolph
- the “bronx zoo” years, and that wonderful cast of characters—including, of course, billy
- donnie baseball
- the little guys doing big things (scott brosius; aaron boone; heck, let’s include luis sojo, for old time’s sake… u know the kind of guy i’m talkin’ about)
— the cameraderie at pnstripe alley (see what i did there?)

fact is, i grew up playing hoops, above all, with a side order of soccer. i NEVER played organized baseball of any kind. nevertheless, when ur dad is a bronx boy, who even played some minor league ball (down in the old florida leagues)—and whose mom spent weeks, if not months, scouting around for an apartment that would allow her son to have a view of the yankee stadium stands from his room… when ur dad saw lou gehrig’s farewell speech in person (and the babe’s, if i’m not mistaken)… when he was at nyu with ralph branca (!), whom he describes as being a warm and wonderful guy with a bit of wildness in his college-days fastball… well, it’s destiny, isn’t it? destiny + history = yankees—and yankee fan!

hey, what happened? why have some of my lines been "slashed???

My dad grew up in New York and supported the Yankees, but it is his mother that really loves them. I remember when I was just a few years old I was at her house and saw a Yankees pillow, and I instantly fell in love with the team. She told me all about her favorite player Bernie Williams, and I’ve loved the Yankees ever since.

Most of my frienda and family are Mets fans..i remember when i was younh, my father always jought mr mets jackets and hats to wear to school. but there was something so majestic about the yankee logo, the pinstripes, the pinstripes and the way the fans carried themselves…i just gravitated towards it. When 1993 came around…. i started watching baseball myself and realized how much i loved the yankee tradition. i became a yankee for life that year….great timing too…im spoiled by all the championships

It always seems to come down to family. My dad was a huge Yankee fan from when he was quite young. One of the best stories about him is when he and his friend went to the 1976 ALCS Game 5- the game where Chambliss hit a homer to win the pennant for the first time in 12 years. They didn’t get back home to Jersey until very late because the trains had stopped running or something and they needed a cab from the Bronx. They had to wake up his friend’s parents to pay the cabbie at like 2-3 in the morning haha. My dad was a huge Munson fan and was devastated when he was killed, but moved on to Donnie Baseball soon after his debut. When I came around in ‘90, I was plopped in Yankees clothes from the get-go and was brought to the stadium several times when I was a toddler. Sadly, my dad never really got to truly pass on his love of the Yanks to me because he died suddenly when I was four. I didn’t get it into baseball until around 2001, when my mom finally was able to get me interested in it, which was kind of unfortunate since I missed most of the ‘90s dynasty teams. Since then, I’ve been a passionate fan and it was such a great moment when they finally won in ’09 after a decade of playoff collapses.

My uncle took me to my first game, Mickey Mantle’s last. I had no idea who Mantle was, but that has nothing to do with my story anyway. My uncle was actually a Mets fan and that was the only Yankees game he ever took me to. I do remember him telling me about how great a player Mantle was, but I didn’t care, I was hooked on the pinstriped uniforms. It’s funny, he took me to several Mets games in ‘69, the year they won the series. They had Seaver, Nolan Ryan, Jerry Koosman, Jon Matlack, Cleon Jones, Tommy Agee, Ed Kranepool, Bud Harrelson, Jerry Grote, et al, a very solid team at every position, and the Yankees sucked. But I fell in love with the uni’s. No wagoner here. Even tho the Mets were the “winners”, I stuck with the Yankees. Thank God for pinstripes.

hate philadelphia, and have too much self-respect to be a met fan.

He religiously had the games on for as long as I can remember. Every evening after work, WPIX was always on. Phil Rizzuto and Bill White’s voices were a big part of my youth thanks to my grandfathers love of the Yankees. I finally became a die hard fan in 1984 thanks to the emergence of Don Matttingly.

My grandfather was still alive for the late 90s run but some of my favorite Yankee memories concerning him took place in the early 90’s when the Yankees were not very good. Hearing him curse Danny Tartabull’s name was always a highlight,lol. Also hearing him mispronounce a players name like Eckersley’s was always good for a laugh or two.

WWJD, this was a great topic, brought back some wonderful memories of my grandfather and why I love this game and team so much. Lets go Yanks!!

I’m a third generation Yankee fan, from my grandpa to my mom to me. I’m also a third generation Giants and Knick fan. Being from NJ helps.

          When I was little my dad would always watch the games. I’d run in and talk to him and color and ask him questions about what was going on and who was who. Eventually I became really interested and started watching the games with him. He taught me about the game and the players and all the rules. The strategy and slow pace of the game intrigued me eventually I became an obsessed fan. But of course, none of my friends are very interested in baseball and somehow I found PA. I love coming here and being able to talk to all these people that understand my obsession and don’t find it odd or stupid, but instead share it. Baseball, there’s nothin’ like it.

I think my love of the Yankees started when I was about 7 years old. I grew up in Pelham NY, and in the summer the Recreation dept would sponser buses for the kids to go to Yankee and Mets games (I think the tix were $1.25 for bleacher seats) I though Joe Pepitone was cool because he had long hair But I think the clincher was seeing the Mick hit a blast not 5 rows from my seat. (I just wish I could’ve seen him in his prime) and I also liked the old stadium and yes, at 1st I thought the monuments were where those guys were buried

I was born and lived in NY until age 9 or 10. One uncle and grandfather are/were Yankee fans and another uncle and dad are Met fans…but only two heavily follow baseball and I didn’t spend a terrible amount of time with either nor did they or anyone else try to get me into baseball (fools).

I was brought to my first game 8/16/99 at The Stadium vs the Twins with Clemens starting. We left the game with it scoreless somewhere between the middle of the 7th and the 8th to “beat the traffic”, listened to it on the way home and heard them scratch across what would be the 2 winning runs and also missed seeing Mariano pitch 1/3 of an inning to save it. I just found the ticket to that game in my parents attic along with a hand signed 1979 WS MVP Willie Stargell ball!

Can’t remember if it was before or just after that but I watched a handful of games across the league that year randomly. I really got into and and watched my first season intensely from beginning to end in 2000 and haven’t done anything but get sucked in deeper and deeper since.

I still regret to this day not getting into baseball sooner and really want my little brothers to tighten up and get onboard.

Great idea for a post, thanks.

I am a third generation New York Yankees fan. My grandfather was a second generation Italian American born in the Bronx but moved to Northern New Jersey when the family’s bootlegging operation grew too big for their small apartment. He would go to the stadium with his brother when he was younger and he raised my father a Yankees fan. When he was the sheriff for a small town in Northern Jersey, he would frequently open the gates to the resevoir so that Yogi could go fishing. Don’t ask me why, but he always talked about how massive he thought is hands were and that’s where he got his power hitting from.

My Father raised me a Yankees fan. I couldn’t tell you the first time I went to Yankee Stadium because it is all one great memory from childhood meshed together. I remember collecting baseball cards and cheering for Donnie Baseball, Dave Winfield, Ricky Henderson, Don Slaught, Matt Nokes, Kevin Maas…no matter how far back from first they were. I was lucky enough to watch the late 90’s dyanasty during my high school years when I was able to comprehend the significance of their accomplishments.

I have two boys of my own now. My oldest was not yet 3 when I woke him up so he could see the World Series celebration after they won in 2009. My youngest’s room is painted pinstripes (I don’t recommend it took way too freaking long, but it does look pretty awesome).

I am a Yankee’s fan because my dad is a Yankees fan as was his dad. Hopefully, my boys will continue to be as well.

I was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY until I was 10 (before moving to Maryland). Most of my family are Yankee fans: Mom, Dad, Aunts, Uncles, and cousins. My brother and one cousin are the few Mets fans.

I had been to the old stadium a few times. One of my clearest memories is going to a Yankees/Angels game in the early 80s (probably 82-83) and watching Reggie Jackson play (and even though he was on the Angels, the whole stadium was chanting “Reggie, Reggie.”

I’ve followed the Yankees almost all my life. I’m a huge fan of Don Mattingly and he was my baseball role model (he’s the reason I wanted to play first base).

There is one striking memory of one of my other favorite Yankees, Dave Righetti, and I need someone to confirm this happened. I remember there was a game were he had blown a lead and threw a ball from the pitcher’s mound area all the way over the wall in the outfield. I remember it, but I need confirmation, if anyone can oblige me?

Something else that’s interesting is that in my family, a few were Dodgers and Giants fans before they left for LA. A few of them will still never root for a NY team for that reason (even the Yankees), and the others immediately switched to being Yankee fans, regardless of the fact that the Dodgers and Giants are still MLB teams (I guess because they’re no longer in NY, they lost some of their fanbase by leaving).

However, my dad would watch the world series and I remembered him telling stories of Mickey Mantle (i.e. hitting one completely out of the stadium). The first time I really remember watching a Yankees game was the 1998 World Series team, and I liked Jeter and Mo and Bernie and Scott Brosius, and it really just sort of grew from there.

Of course, my father passed away when I was fifteen in 2002. Most of what he watched though was Indiana Hoosiers basketball, and that’s partly how I became so passionate a Hoosier fan. Off topic though.

Because Darth Vader came into my room one night and told me he would melt my brain.

when my great grandparents immigrated to the US (from italy) they obviously settled in NYC 1st before moving to West Virginia. Fav player of all time is MICKEY MANTLE part because of my father who when i was old enough to appreciate it, gave me a ball signed by Roger Maris & Mickey that he got when both were golfing in myrtle beach ( which is rare, Roger didn’t golf much Mickey had finally talked into going) my grandfather was 1 of about 8 italian men who started the West Virginia Italian Heritage Festival which started the year i was born (1978) & in 79’ our festival grand marshall was Joe D. & even though he was italian, wasn’t my fav after how he treated Mickey…i have many mantle cards, (looking for 61 topps, i already have Maris 61 topps, have been to 3 WS games..games 1 &2 in 98 (during which i slept in my suv, in parking lot, sleeping arrangements had fallen thru) which to this day is craziest thing i’ve ever done… & game 5 in 01.. Still haven’t been to new stadium but hoping to make it this season, & my father in law went to NYU, is from NY & a yankee fan as well…. growing up being Italian & a yankees fan was like PB & Jelly… they just went together… but i am a diehard, & am passing it along to my daughter & hopefully a son soon…GO YANKEES….

My story here.

….grew up in Atlanta, and so I was weened on the glory days of the Braves, and I still root for them to this day. However, when I was in 3rd grade, I met this kid from the Bronx, and we became really good friends. He was a born and bred Yankee fan, and so for the 3 or 4 years that we hung out, we’d watch Yankee baseball. That’s how I became a fan, and I currently pay $30 a month for MLB.tv to feed my addiction. =]

He grew up a huge Yankees fan. Got to see Mick & Co. play in the old Yankees Stadium and was a fan ever since. He got me into them a young age, though my first real memories of watching them on a regular basis was in 1995 or so (I was 7). I got really into them in 1996 (thank you Jeter, Tino, and O’Neill) and I’ve been a Pinstripe Junkie ever since.

took me to my first game when The Mick was in his last year and I was only 6. I fell in love with the stadium and it’s team. As I grew, I read a lot of books. And being as I was a sports fanatic, baseball specifically, I read about Mick, The Babe, Lou Gehrig, Yogi, Murderers Row, etc. I grew to love the legacy too which further ingrained them into my persona. I remember being a kid in CT and turning on WPIX and watching Horace Clarke, Roy White and Bobby Murcer. And every year me and my friends would buy our Strat-O-Matic teams and argue over everything about them. It was such fun. And I have been a diehard ever since.

Growing up, I just always enjoyed watching the Yankees when they were televised. My favorite player has always been Jeter as well.

I grew up in Alabama (and for the most part, no it’s not as bad as the media portrays it), so naturally almost every person you encounter is a Braves fan and they act as if the Braves are an unstoppable force, which is hardly the case. Whenever I tell people I’m a Yankees fan, all I ever hear in response is “you’re a bandwagon fan” and I get sick of hearing that because I’ve been a fan of the Yankees since before I ever knew how legendary their storied history is. Anyway, I loathe the Braves, even to this very day.

I was able to attend my first Yankees game in 2008 and I was blown away by the experience. Lame-ass Turner field pales in comparison to Yankee Stadium (new and old).

And for the cherry on top, I’m an admirer of the legendary college football Bear Bryant. I’ve also been an admirer of “The Boss” for some time. Ironically enough, they were close friends back in the hay day:

My grandfather grew up near the Bronx and went to tons of games at the stadium. He loved the Yankees and passed that tradition down to my uncles and my dad who all grew up in Connecticut. I lived in Boston as a young child but I was raised to be a Yankee diehard. My dad took me to my first Yankees game when I was 5 against the redsox. We went with my grandparents and sat behind my favorite player at the time, Paul O’Neil. The Yankees came back from down one with a Tino Martinez grand slam and I will never forget the feeling. I have been devoted since then. I live in Minnesota now and go to a fair number of Twins games but still nothing compares to my love for the Yanks. My brothers and I are all obsessed with the team and its a tradition that I hope to pass on to my kids someday.

Wow, I finally got around to reading these stories, and they were great. Really awesome reads.

I’m first and foremost a dedicated Cincinnati Reds fan, and a fan of the National League in general. However, being a huge MLB fan in general, I’ve wanted to pick a favorite AL team to follow for a few months now. I supported the Texas Rangers during their playoff run last season—young, exciting, smaller market team, had never been to the World Series before—and still do to some extent. Also like the Orioles. But I wanted to pick one single favorite AL team to complement my one favorite NL team the Reds. And, being from Indiana, which doesn’t even have its own MLB team, I didn’t feel very obligated to pick a particular team.

So I recently chose the New York Yankees.

Recently as in yesterday.

For a few years, I took an attitude of general distaste and disapproval towards the NYY. After all, being from “Reds Country” and cheering for a smaller-market, Midwest, NL team that—until last season—hadn’t been legitimately good since the Wire-to-Wire 1990 season and the Big Red Machine, how could I like New York? My family all loves the Reds too, and my dad especially looks down upon the American League. So me being a Yankees fan was about as probable as the Cubs winning a World Series anytime soon (no offense to Cubs fans intended!)

But when I went to college and began to follow Major League Baseball outside of the Reds, I decided I ought to pick an AL team to follow as well. The White Sox or Indians, or maybe even Tigers, would make the most geographical sense for me, being from Indiana….but again, Indiana doesn’t even have its own professional ball club, and the Indians suck. I thought about the White Sox, and like them well enough, but something just wasn’t clicking there. Same thing with Detroit. If the city weren’t dying, I might pick the Tigers—I’ve heard Comerica is a great park—but I just couldn’t.

For a time, I nominally supported the Red Sox. I was intrigued by their offseason acquisitions of Crawford and Gonzalez, and the role they are sometimes cast in as the “good guys” or the “lesser of two evils” when it comes to the AL and the Yanks-Sox rivalry. Also, I happen to be from a town where a lot of people wear hats with the Boston “B” design, since my town’s name starts with that letter. So I thought about being a Red Sox fan for awhile, and even bought a Red Sox hat.

But my interest in Boston waned and died over the course of a month or two. Not sure why. Part of it was my discovery or realization that Boston had actually paid more luxury tax than New York this past offseason. So my thought was, well, there’s not much difference between them anymore then, is there. Plus, the Yankees were picked as the underdogs this season in the AL and AL East, so my opinion began to change.

Also, a lot of my new friends here at college are Yankees fans. And I found that they’re all nice people! (not that I thought all Yankees fans were jerks or stuck-up or something, but there are some stereotypes…). And in the process of poking fun at them for being Yankees fans, I came to realize just how much shit Yankees fans always have to put up with. Simply because they are successful overall, and people hate it when other people win a lot. Even when the Yankees aren’t playing well and aren’t winning, they’re still hated and despised.

I also realized the other day that I was “wasting” too much of my time trying to follow too many MLB teams and players on too deep a level, and needed to just pick a few favorite teams and that’s it.

So I picked the Yankees.

I figured that, as a proud NL and Reds fan first, I was entitled or allowed, to a certain extent, to pick a successful, big-market AL team. And why not pick the most successful AL team, overall, and the one with both the best and the worst reputation? I’ve always loved the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry, and actually committing to one of those two teams would mean I had a bigger stake in that rivalry and would care more when watching or following those games. PIcking the Yankees would be a small way of my asserting my independence from my parents, and of establishing a “newer identity” for myself at college. Being a Yankees fan is controversial, and I like that. And, I visited NYC for the first time recently….and loved it there. Had a blast. Didn’t get to see Yankee Stadium but I knew right then that I’d come back and make a visit. And I may get to this summer, when the Yankees host the Red Sox. Keeping my fingers crossed.

And hell, I also simply like the iconic “NY” hat design.

Bought myself a Yankees Franchise-style fitted cap at the mall yesterday, bookmarked the homepage, added them as one of my favorite teams on Facebook, and followed them on Twitter. Watched most of the game today on FOX.

The rest, and hopefully the best, is yet to come.

- Alex

I’m reading all of these other stories and they are great! Hard to gain a sense of the age differential just based on screennames here too. I only realize how lucky I have been to have had the unique Yankee-related memories that i do.

My dad is a lifelong Yankee fan. He was born in the Bronx in ’51 and spent his childhood going crazy for all the Yankee stars. He went beyond the current guys too and got into Yankee history as well. Like tons of other people, he collected the baseball cards, and of course used many of them as a makeshift motors on his bike too. Same story later, his mom tossed his old baseball cards (which of course included the Mantle rookie cards and such) when he was older. He went to many, many games and when he couldn;t see them in person, he used the radio. So it all translated to my family. We are all Yankee fans. My parents live upstate in Utica, so getting to Yankee stadium is a 4 hour ride. But we have gone to the old stadium a number of times and caught some terrific games.

I remember Jose Canseco with the Athletics… fresh off being pulled over for having a loaded gun in his Lamboroghini (also speeding). Oh man… dude was a monster, but the whole game, we had hecklers around us yellingat him “Done esta la pistola, Jose!” “Donde esta la pistola!!”. Jose just smiled and tried to ignore it. man i love these rabid fans! We also had a chance to sit near the foul pole behind Rickey Henderson during his Yankee time and he was great too. People always have things to yell in NY and I admire when players just handle it and don’t take seriously. Not easy, admittedly.

My favorite game was a game against Seattle towards the end of the season. i forget the exact date, but it was an 11-6 Yankee win complete with homeruns by Griffey, ARod (a Mariner back then), Darryl Strawberry, and one or 2 others (I think Tino Martinez). I even forget who pitched for us, but wow, what a slugfest. We were about 2 section up from the dugout so very close for us and it was something to watch those hits leave yard.
I have few more beautiful images ingrained in my head than Yankee Stadium packed on a sunny afternoon. What a feeling!

My dad has been in a local rotisserie league for about 20 years now (AL only too) so my brother and I got more into baseball players through helping him peg the prospects to get. He knows ‘em all and we knew exactly who to watch for in the minors. We always caught the Oneonta Yankees when they came to town and when we went to Syracuse to watch the Skychiefs, we made sure it was against Columbus. In fact, we caught a game with Jeter, Mariano and Ruben Rivera once!! We got a chance to get autographs from the 3 and I always remember meeting Mo. He only spoke spanish and he had a slight grin on his face but he smudged his signature on the ball I gave him. I actually asked him to sign it again and after a wildly playful crooked expression, he obliged. That’s some ball too… Derek Jeter, Ruben Rivera (well…at the time…), and Mariano Rivera. And just for good measure… we noticed Kevin Maas all lonely so we added his name to it too. Best compliment of his life, probably. Incdidentally, we were so focused on gettign Yankee autographs, we forgot about Carlos Delgado in the “home” dugout! I love Minor League ball. Amazing to be able to get that type of access amd be so close! We actually went to another game the next year (well, a few) and managed to meet Alfonso Soriano and add his name to the same baseball with Jeter, Mo, ruben, Kevin. Sadly, the pen ink has sunken into the leather over the years only Soriano’s autograph is clearly visible. It’s been incased in plastic, but that;s just how it goes. I’d never sell that ball anyways, but another irony is it was on a Skychiefs ball! Theres the authenticity, folks!

Lastly, I’m pretty proud to say that I was able to meet the great Mickey Mantle. He held a signing at Cooperstown and was just extremely pleasant to myself and my brother.

I come from a baseball family and we just love the Yankees through and through. My dad and I share the same extreme disdain for those guys in New England too… but the way I describe my feeling towards “them” is with this tidbit of truth… I have never, nor will I ever, eat at Boston Market, or eat Boston Baked Beans. My dad isn’t that extreme but we hate those guys so much. I have been to their city a couple times and it has made me miserable each time! Haha! Pinstripe blue in my veins, guys. Pinstripe blue!