Yankees: Rest in peace Kevin Van Amburgh

Yanks Go Yard says goodbye to one of our own, as columnist and lifelong Yankees fan Kevin Van Amburgh, 39, lost his courageous four-year battle with liver cancer.

After learning that my colleague of almost 11 months, Kevin Van Amburgh, had passed away after a long battle with cancer, I honestly didn’t know if I’d write this article. But then I read his obituary in The News Times. And right there in the second paragraph, it stated that Kevin, who grew up in New York was a true Yankees fan, and that he wrote articles for this very website.

As one of his editors, working with Kevin on some of the 42 articles he wrote, I knew his passion for all things Bronx Bombers-related ran deep. Yet for it to be noted in his obituary that he wrote for Yanks Go Yard signified that the time he spent putting his thoughts and feelings out for all the world to read meant something to him.

I won’t pretend to know Kevin very well — most of our conversations were through email and social media posts. But what I did discover during the past 43 weeks was that Kevin was a knowledgeable, honest baseball fan who went out of his way to interact with his readers because he was an out-and-out nice guy.

I mean, how many writers do you know would pen an article titled, “A Yankees sportswriter admits he was wrong about two players”?

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In the piece, Kevin apologizes for previously saying that Matt Holliday was all but washed up, and made light of the fact he felt Luis Severino was better suited for the bullpen.

Perhaps my favorite part of the entire column was when Kevin said this:

In the end, I’ve never been happier to be wrong. I’ll gladly admit that until the end of time, or this season. It’s just a good thing that I’m not the general manager.

Kevin understood what it meant to be a sportswriter. He gave his opinion based on tangible statistics, stood by what he believed was right and wrote because it was fun. He’d often go a step further and banter with commenters — no matter if they were of the non-friendly variety.

Just a week before his untimely passing, Kevin posted his final article. Can you imagine fighting for your life and still finding time to wax poetic about the Yankees? He certainly didn’t do it for the money or the recognition. Kevin wrote about the Yankees because the ball club was a part of him.

A quick look at Kevin’s FanSided bio says it all.

I’m a lifelong Yankees fan since 1977. My father grew up idolizing Mickey Mantle and passed the tradition down to me. Even during their down years in the late 80’s, early 90’s, I still loved them. The dynasty that took place toward the end of that decade was the reward for sticking with them even when they had the worst record in baseball. I eat and breathe Yankee pinstripes. I am a fanatic to the core.

Next: My favorite article written by Kevin

So thank you, Kevin — for your voice, your insight, humor and most of all, your passion. The Yanks Go Yard team will miss you — our teammate.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to the Van Amburgh Children’s Scholarship Fund: PO Box 459, Ridgefield, CT 06877.