'Bronx Bomber' legacy returns to Yankee Stadium as bats awake

It’s a warm, muggy matinee showing at Camden Yards. With the score tied at 6-6 heading into the bottom of the ninth inning, the sweat slowly drips down the necks of the thousands scattered around. Runners poised on first and second, Anthony Santander steps up to the plate. On the first pitch he sees the Venezuelan bashes a breaking ball down the left field line. Going… Going…Gone. The Baltimore Orioles walk off the New York Yankees 9-6. But here there is something different, something distinct. The Yankees stroll off to the road dugout with heads risen true, seemingly impervious to defeat. For as the Yankees depart for home brazen to the bone, they can rejoice in their prior triumphs, their 28-10 record; their finest start in 24 years.

Tuesday, May 19 1998. Yankee Stadium is a restless, ravenous sort of place as Mike Stanton steps on the mound in the top of the eight inning with his band of pinstripes down 5-3 to the Orioles. By the time he returns the following inning, his team are up 9-5. Bernie Williams and Tim Raine send the white pearl soaring; Stanton earns the win, the Yankees’ record improves to 29-9. This was Bronx supremacy: where the Yankees would win four World Series titles in five years, where shortstop Derek Jeter would surge as a Hall of Famer in the making, and where the regal vibes would return to the pinstripes.

In those glory days the Yankees had Joe Girardi, David Cone and Jeter. In 2022 they have Giancarlo Stanton, Gerrit Cole and Aaron Judge. When the Yankees dominated baseball at the turn of the century their iconic sobriquet ‘The Bronx Bombers’ had returned. So it is to the surprise of many that in those four championship winning seasons they did not have a single hitter in the list of top 10 home run leaders. Shocking, when their roster was flooded with such generational talent: Tino Martinez, Jeter and Williams all combining to send Yankee Stadium into an inferno for opposition. No one wanted to sink their studs into that luscious, foredoomed turf.

But as we return to the present, where the Yankees prepare for the Chicago White Sox’s visit having lifted just one World Series since 2000, the murky clouds above are receding. What’s this brilliant blue in the sky? It comes with the sound of ash smacking leather, high into the bleachers. In 2017 President Randy Levine proclaimed that “the Yankees stand for tradition, excellence and winning.” Well, yes. With a $246 million total payroll you’d expect nothing less. The Yankees have always been big spenders. Like some club of monomaniacs they throw the bills at those with the

best numbers, the best stance, the best haircut. So

where did it all go wrong?

As the nineties became the noughties people started to listen to Bill James and sabermetrics became a thing. Brad Pitt hired Jonah Hill and swiftly the Oakland A’s were competing in a league typically ruled by big-market franchises. We’ve all seen the film. Sluggers were replaced with computers and soon team’s looked less into home runs and ERA and more into position and pitching placement. The analytics age was here, and the Yankees could not keep up. To the most casual follower of the sport you’d think Kevin Cash had been a manger for two decades, and the Rays were a top five spender. Oh, how the cunning mind prevails…

The 2010s is hailed as a lost decade for New York sports. If the Yankees are bad, then the city is bad. Over Queens that sun slowly starts to strike Citi Field too, but it needs a monsoon to end the Mets’ prolonged World Series drought. Across the East River there is now a golden cluster of bats. The very definition of power hitting, the ‘all or nothing’ approach has swirled around the seats for decades. It’s as if someone in the shiny offices just shouted ‘sod it, let’s just buy the bloody thing!'

Three of the current top eight home run leaders play for the Yankees. They have the highest OPS, SLG, and the second largest number of homers behind only the Houston Astros, all have walked away defeated a measly four times in their past 25 games. That’s impressive and, in reality, really quite scary. In that span they have crossed the plate on 148 occasions, giving up just 78 runs. Yes, seven of those games were against the Orioles. And yes, only nine were over .500 or above teams but you know what? It’s a long season, and each one of these games carries its own significance.

162: a mammoth game of snakes and ladders. Where series wins hold the foundations to success, and where one defeat can turn into a slippery slide of dolorousness. Want to avoid it? Then sign Anthony Rizzo. Not satisfied? Throw in Joey Gallo as well. Oh, and when it comes to the offseason, why don’t you just throw in Josh Donaldson to really spice things up? The Yankees were two games over .500 at the time Gallo and Rizzo were announced last year. Their GM, Brian Cashman, previously

claimed their performance “stinks to the high

heavens”. Well, Cashman, we do hope you’re

satisfied now.

It’s Friday, May 20th 2022 and the Yankees have yet to crumble. With the second lowest ERA and third lowest WHIP in baseball their pitching remains as integral as their hitting. Challenges still exist through the Los Angeles Dodges and Houston Astros, and even the Mets (yes, you heard correct) are providing the Queens district with constant evening fireworks. Competition has scarcely been more intense. But for a Yankees franchise who search to re-espouse a doctrine of control, the present auguries are charged with real promise and prosperity.

As the late George Steinbrenner explained, “when you’re entrusted with a tradition, you’ve got to protect it.” Well, George, with each trodden home plate the Yankees close in on recapturing a forgotten past. Optimism returns to Yankee Stadium.