It was the night of March 31st 2013. Many of us Yankee fans were getting ready for Opening Day the next day. It was late, already dark for several hours. When out of the cold windy night I heard an unfamiliar sound. Between the gusts of wind on this particularly chilly March night, I heard the sound of chains rattling. The sound continued for some time, seemingly getting closer with each rattle. I began to feel my nerves jumping with each thrash of metal that now sounded like it was outside my bedroom door. I locked the door hoping whomever was out there would be stopped, but I was mistaken. The door swung open with brut force and the chains were thrown at my feet.
Connected to these many links was a familiar man. Though it couldn’t be him, it was, staring me directly in my eyes. I said, “what are you doing here?” Nervous yet excited to hear his answer, hear him speak. He told me of a crime committed against the game of baseball. He said it was a injustice to the game. I asked him who was to blame expecting any answer other than the one I received. “Yankee fans.” He replied in a stern voice. I told him he must be mistaken. That we Yankee fans are among the best in baseball. He emplored me to listen to his reasoning but I interrupted.
“You see sir, this city is the greatest city in the world and so is this team. Winning is our legacy and October is our birthright. We live and die by the World Series.” I believe I spoke passionately, enough to sway him and make him see that we Yankee faithful could not be guilty of a crime. To my surprise, I only angered him. “You do not see the error of your ways!” He said, but continued “there is still time for you to learn what I never did, during the coming months you will be visited my three ghosts. The Ghost of Seasons Past, Present and Yet To Come.” And with that, he was gone. I woke up the next morning believing I had some strange dream the night before. The season started that day.
Before long I was visited by the first ghost. The Ghost of Seasons Past:
He emplored me to pay close attention to Mariano Rivera. Mo had already announced that this would be his last year but after spending almost a full season on the DL with a torn ACL, you wondered how affective he would be this year. The ghost showed me that it was wrong to wonder. Mariano would not blow his first save until late May and would be just as dominant as ever. In his final act, he would take us back to 1996 and show us just how truly special his career is. Watching him has been like watching a man frozen in time and the ghost expressed to me how much I need to cherish the past and be grateful that some things haven’t changed. But then the ghost left and late May is where it all went south for this team.
Everyone was hurt and the guys that weren’t hurt, couldn’t hit to save their lives. No righty power was present. The team would constantly lose low scoring games. The Ghost of Seasons Past was right but this team wasn’t the same anymore. No way they can win a World Series. And as if things couldn’t look any bleaker during the Yankees hitting woes, the Ghost of Seasons Present showed up.
The Ghost of Seasons Present:
The ghost showed me players that the Yankees had failed to re-sign this past offseason. He showed me Nick Swisher that by the All Star break, was having his usual offensive year that could have strongly benefited this Yankee team, but he was doing it in Cleveland.
The ghost then showed me Russell Martin who’s offense had not only improved but who also had become a clutch hitter for the Pirates. A leader for the Pirates as well, being not only a presence at the plate but also behind it. Martin was helping them become one of the best teams in baseball. Meanwhile our catcher was hurt and linked to a steroid scandal and we were stuck with a lack luster tandem of Chris Stewart and Austin Romine.
The ghost finally showed me a player that wrote himself into Yankee playoff history. A player that tied an October game in the bottom of the ninth with one swing and later won it with another. He showed me Raul Ibanez. Ibanez at 41 was having a prime season. One of the league leaders in home runs through the All Star break, missing out on him hurt badly. Especially with the injuries to Curtis Granderson, Mark Teixiera and Alex Rodriguez, the team’s home run threats.
Realizing this could just be a lost season. A season decimated by injuries, the anger faded but the disappointment was still strong as the Ghost of Seasons Present left and the final ghost arrived.
The Ghost of Seasons Yet To Come:
This was the ghost I feared the most. This was the ghost that showed me what the Yankees would be like without its beloved captain. Derek Jeter broke his ankle last October only to re-break it in march. He then came back after the All Star break only to injur his quad in the first game. He came back about 2 weeks later only to injur his calf. He’s provided a small spark each time he’s come back but the ghost was showing me just how little time could be left in the story book career that I and many like me have been blessed to whiteness since day one. The ghost made me realize how much I need to stop obsessing about certain things and just enjoy watching the team I love play the game I love. The players won’t always be the same but the game always will. I have to cherish it no matter what. Find the joy in it even when they’re down because that is the whole point of baseball. It’s a game meant to entertain.
The final ghost left me and I awoke the morning of August 31st. I hadn’t missed it. The season wasn’t over! And miraculously, the bruised and battered Yankees are only 4.5 games out of the Wild Card. Jeter is back again and with the return of guys like Rodriguez and Granderson and the addition of Mark Reynolds, things are looking up. Austin Romine has really come around and shown this team he belongs here and with a gift from the Ghost of Seasons Past, Alfonso Soriano, the Yankees are a threat from both sides of the plate, capable of making any pitcher pay.
They may not make it to October, but they are fighting. They are grinding it out. We Yankee fans are a proud bunch but if October doesn’t end with a parade it’s “bah humbug!” We need to realize that October is not a right, it’s a privilege. And maybe a visit from these 3 ghosts will make us smile a little easier, cheer a little louder and beam a little brighter when our team grinds it out hard enough to have the honor of October baseball. This year, or seasons yet to come.
I think that’s what The Boss’ ghost was trying to teach me, trying to teach us all.
