Im a sports guy. Through and through.Pretty much any sport and ill watch it. As long as i know at least one player. Most of the time if thats the case ill pick that team to win. The exception? Boston anything! Red Sox, Celtics, Bruins and Patriots(sorry Erik and James) Im a die hard and thats a very loose statement Yankees fan. I often say i bleed Yankee blue.There is no team in any sport greater than the Yanks. 27 world series championships. Most in any professional sports. 40 pennets. The Yankee greats are a list of hall of famers and future hall of famers. Guys like Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, Joe Dimaggio, Phil Ruzzito, Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, Mariano Rivera, Andy Petitte, i seriously could keep going. Wade Boggs, Don Mattingly(all time favorite) Lou Gerigh, Reggie Jackson. Ill stop otherwise the point of this blog will be lost.
They really are the greatest though.. I really think the thing about sports for me is that it takes my mind off real world events. Whatever maybe going on in my life for a brief moment or game which ever may happen. i can rest my mind. There have been big moments for me personally with sports. This will sound crazy but it seems when im at a low point in life my teams seem to pull me through. Yes thats crazy. Its mainly been with the Yankees though and well my Dad is the reason i love them. My first ever hat was the famous ny symbol. I had that hat up until about 5 years ago. Back in 98 when everybody was glued to the famous homerun race between Mark Mcguire and Sammy Sosa, My Dad was diagonsed with cancer. September to be exact. That year the Yankees won a record 125 games playoffs included, They won the championship that year. It was the first of three in a row. In 2000 when the world had survived armagedon my Dad lost his battle with cancer. June 22 the day my hero was taken from me. I was so lost without him. The Yankees made the playoffs again that year and went on to play in the first ever subway series. It was the New York Yankees vs the New York Mets. I remember thinking we have to win this for my Dad who i knew was watching from heaven. We had to win it for him! We ended up winning 4 games to 1 and clinching our third straight title a feat impressive by any standards. We ended up in the 2001 world series as well. And i think even though the Yankees are dislike dby a lot of people that year people were probably rooting for them. Mainly because of the horrible events that took place that september. Sadly though the championship fell in the desert to the Arizona Dimondbacks when Luis Gonzolas looped the game winning single into center field thus crushing me and all the Yankee fans world wide. We made it to the series again only to lose again and then began the long drought.
Fast forward to 2009. That was one of the hardest years of my life personally. Not just a few days. Or weeks. Or even months the whole year was hell for me. I was liteerally counting down til the end of the year i just wanted it to be 2010! Then at the end of August i was delt yet another hard blow. When the last remaining link to my Dad was laost. My cat Thunder passed away. As if my yaer neede to get any worse. I called off from work that day because there was no way i was in any shape able to focus. I was crushed. I have memories of my Dad but Thunder was like i said the last link to my Dad. So losing him somehow kinda made it...offical. Almost like an ending of that chapter in my life. A chapter i never wanted to end. The off season of 2008 the Yankees did what they do best. They spent money! Alot of it. On two guys that would bolster the lineup and hopefully give us that push to the title. We signed ace pitcher C.C Sabathia and first baseman Mark Teixeira. They were nice signings beacuse C,C gave us our ace pitcher we needed and Mark was a power hitter who would crush homeruns. We made it through the playoffs fairly easily. We ended up facing the Phillies in the series. This worried me. They had some pretty stought pitchers and a decent lineup. This wasnt gonna be easy. Game 1 we lost and i was in panic mode!! Man ive waited almost 10 years since we won a ring and i didnt want to wait anymore!! As a Yankee fan through the 90s i was spoiled. Championships in 96 98 99 and 2000. We ended up winning games 2,3,and 4 giving us a nice 3 games to 1 advantage. Losing game 5 set up for a series clinching title at home in the new Yankee stadium! Finally a bright spot in 09! The Ynakees won the world series!! My Dad was letting me know everything was gonna be okay.I was so overwhelmed and happy that we won! Two shirts, a hooded sweatshirt and a hat are my tokens of a championship.
Ive never been to the stadium yet, But i will go. Even if its the last thing i ever do! Itll be bittersweet though. I really wish my Dad and i could have made it ther at least once. We always went to Jamestown Expo/Jammer games though. Ever since i can remember we would always play catch. And my love for baseball and the Yankees comes from him. One of the best things he passed down to me ;) My Dad is the reason i love the Yankees so much. Its a bond that through the years will never be broken and when they win i know hes smiling down and i can hear him when they lose " Thats okay Bear we will get them tomorrow" We would always leave notes for each other telling of the previous nights score. Well Dad Yanks won tonight 7-0 over the Rays. Andy had 10 Ks. Martin had a grand slam. Oh and by the way we are only half a game outta first. Go get em Yanks.
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