The New York Yamkees

I was about five years old when I went to my cousin Tom's room and he had the Yanks on the radio and a big poster of Joe DiMaggio hanging on the wall. The pin stripe uniform looked great on someone who was an Italian stallion before anyone ever heard of Sylvester Stallone.  He was the toast of the country with a song that led the charts with lyrics that said "Joe, Joe DiMaggio we want you on our side!".

The Yanks were my team through the war years WW II and on as they built a baseball dynasty that seemed like they'd never lose, but they did and years through the middle 1960's through the late 1979's were miserable until they won again with Reggie Jackson hitting three home runs in one World Series game.

Teams left us, The Brooklyn (Dem Bums) Dodgers and The New York Giants went to the other coast but the Yankees stayed home always giving the fans the best they could. The Mets came along in 1961 I believe with a first year line up that resembled the Brooklyn Dodgers but the team that left gave us only aging ball players that tried hard but truthfully didn't have much gas left in their tank.

Another dynasty was built in the 1990's with the core four led by Derek Jeter and the glory years returned. I have been a Yankee fan for 78 years and saw great teams and great players but the Yankees of 2017 will be my favorite from now on even though they didn't get to the World Series. Why? one may ask! I'll tell you why, because they played the game with joy, gusto and elan never losing the fact that it really doesn't matter if you win or lose (winning is nicer though) it's how you play the game that counts.

They Played the game with joy. They looked like they enjoyed every minute of the time they were out on the field including work out times. They never scowled when they lost or were in individual slumps and future stars were seen giving ball to kids, taking selfies with them and always smiling. They didn't cheat, the younger guys had respect for the veterans and the veterans had respect for the younger budding stars.

For me they brought back memories of so long ago when I played sandlot ball loving every minute of being on that baseball field. They may have lost the big baseball prize but they won the hearts of the fans young and old alike because they brought the game back to us, to me anyway, of when I was young and the game was full of heroes and fun to play win. lose or draw.

Thank you Yankees of 2017. You guys are great!