My personal Yankees fan New Year’s resolutions

I always tell myself that New Year’s resolutions are a bunch of hooey, that they are merely false promises we tell ourselves before a completely arbitrary point of demarcation in time. That is absolutely true, but it doesn’t stop me from making them. That’s because this isn’t arbitrary. It is no accident that this date takes place just a week after the Winter Solstice; just as humans millennia ago marked the end of their growing season, we mark the end of our fiscal and personal years.

I’m probably not going to read more books than I usually do, or exercise more than I usually do, or whatever other self-help garbage I plan on buying into in 2017. This is a Yankees site, though, so there are probably things that, as a Yankees fan, I can do in 2017 to make my life a little easier, no matter how good or bad the Bombers are.

1. Appreciate Masahiro Tanaka and forget about his elbow.

This is an odd time in Yankees history where there really aren’t any bona fide stars. There are great promises, like Gary Sanchez and Greg Bird, but Tanaka is the ace and star of this team. He’s also very injury-prone, but we were lucky enough to see a full season of work in 2016. I’m hoping we get more of the same in 2017, please. I’ll try to forget that the elbow incident ever happened. What’s out of sight is out of mind, I suppose.

2. Stop staring at Jacoby Ellsbury’s contract.

Ellsbury has the worst contract in New York sports, other than my new hate vessel Dan Girardi. That doesn’t mean he isn’t a pretty good player. He’s been worth about seven wins over three seasons, which isn’t great, but this is a New Year’s post so I’m finding silver linings. The hope is that he’s worth a couple of wins next year and here on out, and then we can at least try to live with that contract. I’m just going to appreciate the player he is and even once was—good defense, singles hitter, and good clubhouse presence. The team is getting younger, and one bad contract will only cost the Steinbrenners two yachts at most.

3. Turn every Michael Pineda game on in the seventh inning.

Nothing gave me more angina in 2016—well, other than all the other bad 2016 things—than Michael Pineda starting a baseball game. It was a constant game of Jekyll and Hyde; he could strikeout out 15, or he could allow five runs over four and a third innings. It was usually the latter. That’s why I’m skipping all of that. I’m going heart-healthy in 2017 and I’m just going to pretend that his starts don’t exist.

4. Go to Yankees minor league affiliate games.

There’s no better feeling than seeing a player in MLB that you’ve seen previously in the minor leagues, like I saw him before he was cool. I try to get to at least one SI Yankees game a year, which I highly recommend. Enjoy the ferry, enjoy the Baby Bombers, wait five years for some to reach the big leagues, and then enjoy even more. You’ll have a story to tell every time they come to bat. I’m also trying to see a Trenton Thunder or Scranton RailRiders game, because there should be a host of excellent prospects to watch—Jorge Mateo, Clint Frazier, Justus Sheffield, and James Kaprielian should all see some time at these levels.

5. Be nicer to Red Sox fans.

Lol, just kidding.

Honestly, though, I hope everyone out there has a wonderful New Year’s with their friends and family, and I hope that 2017 brings nothing but health and happiness. I can’t tell you what our Yankees or what our world will look like in year, but the key is being in the right mindset to take anything next year can throw at us.

So, what’s your New Year’s resolutions, Yankees-related or otherwise?