Brett Gardner won't attend 2009 World Series reunion, has reportedly ghosted Yankees

Back in the offseason between 2021 and 2022, it's possible we focused too much vitriol towards Brett Gardner, who'd grown into a leader of the Yankees and one of their standout players of the 2010s.

Our annoyance wasn't aimed at Gardner himself. Instead, it was directed towards the front office, who often seemed content to re-up with Gardy and call it a day on their search for free agent outfielders. By the time 2022 rolled around, Gardner still seemed like a solid bench piece (90 OPS+ in his final season in the bigs), but far from a starting-caliber outfielder and no reason to avoid pursuing, say, Michael Brantley.

Somehow, the Yankees pivoted too far in the other direction that offseason, not engaging with Gardner and escorting him unwillingly towards retirement. That ended up being a mistake, too. After all, they replaced him with ... nothing.

It also appears to have created lingering frostiness between the two parties. Gardner always maintained that he intended to exit the public eye when his playing career was over, but he's taken that declaration to new extremes recently.

The beloved fan favorite won't attend Yankees Old-Timers' Day this week, celebrating the 15th anniversary of the team's most recent championship in 2009. He also, reportedly, hasn't returned any messages sent by the Yankees since his playing days wrapped.

Yankees' Brett Gardner doesn't speak with team, won't be at Old-Timers' Day

Gardner's son's football game notwithstanding, it's really a shame that one of the highlights of a rough stretch of Yankees baseball no longer wants to be associated with the club. The gritty Gardner put up some of the most iconic at-bats of the 2017-2019 resurgence, adding late insurance in Game 5 of the ALDS in Cleveland with a prototypically hard-fought single. The home runs he tattooed in the 2017 Wild Card Game and Game 1 of the 2019 ALDS, capping his best season (117 OPS+, 28 bombs), won't soon be forgotten, either.

There was still a role to play for Gardner on the roster in 2022 and beyond, as long as the Yankees didn't pigeonhole themselves by overpaying him and ignoring loftier targets. Unfortunately, the two sides couldn't shake hands on a happy medium, and the Yankees have received nothing but mediocre-to-dreck play from a revolving door of left fielders ever since.

It's unfortunate that Gardner won't be receiving his flowers from an adoring crowd this weekend. At the very least, hopefully he feels fulfilled, and will be lifting whatever curse he placed on the Yankees' outfield someday soon.