Finding Happiness with a Yankees World Series Victory
By Greg Evans
Disclaimer: If you are reading this and aren’t a Yankees fan and cheer for another team, obviously you would substitute that team for the Yankees in this article, but that’s your problem. I have my own problems; 5,705 days of problems.
Up until 2009, I admit that I was a spoiled brat when it came to baseball. The Yankees were at, which I did not know at the time, the tail-end of their dominance (overlooking the nine year gap from 2000 to 2009), the last time they were World Series champs.
In a way I still feel moderately spoiled since we have Aaron Judge; however, it is absolutely imperative that the Yankees take a World Series in the Judge era. Judge is the Babe Ruth of our time. This is a very important time to be a Yankee fan. History, that will live for a thousand years, is being written before our eyes.
Last night, the Yankees won against Washington, and looked great doing it, despite the scare in the top of the 9th after De Los Santos loaded the bases, walked in a run, and then Leiter Jr. gave up the Gram Slam. It was like putting your hand on a scalding oiled hibachi stovetop. I know, I did it once as a kid.
The Yankees have just come off a gritty series with the Red Sox, narrowly avoiding getting swept, and finally beating the Red Sox in the final game of the series for their first win against the bearded rivals in nine tries. For Yankee fans that felt almost as long as the last time they added to their World Series trophy case.
I often structure my weekday evenings and weekend afternoons around Yankee baseball games.
I am a loyal fan. When the Yankees and MLB began blacking out games for hometown fans, and streaming only to obscure channels, I yelled, shrieked, damaged some personal property; but I didn’t throw in the towel, egg Steinbrenner and the MLB royalty while they dine at the Bangkok Supper Club, or replace baseball and the Yankees with figure skating or canasta competitions. No, I sucked it up. I am not one of those people either, who sit in the stands with a mouthful of $40 footlong booing Volpe because of his struggles. No, I still cheer. It’s hard sometimes to do, but I still do. It’s called loyalty.
It is time for another World Series ring. 1923, 1927, 1928, 1932, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1941, 1943, 1947, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1956, 1958, 1961, 1962, 1977, 1978, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2009. That is a lot of championships. I wish I could have been present at every one of them.
I was 31-years old the last time the Yankees won. That was a long time ago. I was only a few months into my college classes for my second bachelor’s degree. Anything seemed possible back then. Anything was possible. And the Yankees won.
The years have gone by. The trophy case collecting dust. But the games are always wonderful, loses excluded... I remember working out in the yard in Charlotte, listening to John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman going back and forth on WFAN through TuneIn. I would listen to every game. On the road, in the kitchen cooking with my daughter, sitting out on the deck with a beer and a cigar. Listening or watching the game and talking to my Dad, play-by-play. Those are moments I cherish. In all that time they haven’t won and it has given me wrinkles and gray hair!
I’d be ten years younger had the Yankees won a few times in the past 16 years. That is the span of time from when you are born to when you can drive. Think about that? Swirl that idea around in your beer for a moment. That’s a heavy gulp to aspirate. Choke and gag for twenty minutes and then get the hiccups.
Currently the Yankees are holding the second Wild Card spot in the American League behind the Red Sox and in front of Seattle. The Yankees have 24 regular season games left. They can still make moves. The World Series is their pearl in the oyster to be taken. Granted, hitting consistency hasn’t quite been there, but lately they are looking on the up and up. The bullpen has struggled all year. Also, some the pitching decisions have questionable, especially lately, such as pulling Williams after he strikes out the side after only one inning of work, which has happened twice now the past couple games.
It is very distressing management behavior. I guess they know what they are doing more than me. (LONG SILENCE)
So, with all things being equal. Finding happiness can come from watching the Yankees win the World Series with my daughter, in the stands at Yankee Stadium, horse from screaming at the top of my lungs, broke from purchasing concessions and merch, giddy from the dopamine high from the victory. Victory I said. It is a word that rumbles within me. A old grizzled man can dream.
For now I will sip my coffee and watch the world go by. 5,705 days and counting until we hoist that Commissioner’s Trophy again, or simply snatch it and run!