Many Reasons To Heart Yanks

Mid-February, around Valentine’s Day, is always a good time to reflect on some of people and other things we love.

I love my wife, my cat and my family, of course, but for this post I will focus on my love for all things Yankees of the past.

I loved (and miss) George Steinbrenner: He wasn’t perfect, no one is, but “The Boss” was more good than bad. I appreciated how he always invested in putting the best possible product he could on the field. I love that he loved the Yankees.

(Understand how secure I am in my masculinity too to use the “love” word so much too … but hey, they are MY Yanks!)

Here are some other Yankees of the past I love, and why:

Babe Ruth: Like “Big Stein”, Ruth had a HUGE heart and still remains one of the most talented men to EVER take the baseball field.

Joe DiMaggio: Brought class, grace and a hint of mystery to the Yanks. Ridiculously smooth and boasting that 56-game hit streak that’s never been approached.

Lou Gehrig: Great player, great retirement speech that still gives me goosebumps just thinking about it…

Whitey Ford: Chairman of the Board was a class act and a heckuva pitcher too.

Yogi Berra: So funny you almost forget what a GREAT ballplayer he was. My favorite Yogi-ism is: “No one goes there anymore, it’s too crowded.”

Mickey Mantle: So good he was my idol and I never even got to see him play. I would have been REALLY in awe of ”The Mick’ if I had.

Don Mattingly: Too bad ‘Donnie Baseball’ never got to play in a World Series, he did just about everything well, especially striding into second base with all those doubles.

Phil Rizzuto: The ‘Scooter’ was a pleasure to watch on the field and he brought his joy for life into the broadcast booth, as well. “Holy Cow” indeed!

Willie Randolph: So smooth you almost took him for granted. Solid, consistent hitter too.

OK, that’s just a sampling of Yanks I love. And I have used that word enough to last a while, too!

This list could be worthy of a part two … stay tuned!