By TARA CANGIALOSI
Out with the old, and in with the new.
That seems to be the motto for all sports teams these days, including my beloved Yankees. Over the past few years, there is no doubt that Yankees general manager Brian Cashman has succeeded in bringing impressive talent to the Bronx. With the acquisition of CY Young winner CC Sabathia in 2009, Japanese sensations Hiroki Kuroda in 2012 and Masahiro Tanaka in 2014, in addition to the signing of Carlos Beltran, Jacoby Ellsbury and Brian Roberts, Cashman hasn’t done a bad job.
These pick-ups performed outstandingly with their previous teams and will surely benefit the Bombers this season, but it is all a little bit of a strange reality for me.
With a Bronx native and Yankee enthusiast for a grandfather, and a dad following in his own father’s footsteps, I was born a Yankee fan.
I often sat up with my Dad, well past my childhood bedtime as a kid, to watch the 10 p.m. games on the West Coast. When he would not let me stay up, I secretly listened to John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman’s radio broadcasts on my miniature alarm clock. In elementary school, while other kids were well-versed in Pokémon and video games, I could spit facts about the trade deadline. I even understood the Daryl Strawberry controversy, though it was a little before my time.
I knew every player on the Yankees growing up, from their position and number to a ballpark guess of their average based on performance. I watched so many games with my dad that baseball simply became second nature.
This knowledge, however, has altered in recent years. It has not exactly tailed off, for I am still in the know regarding major MLB headlines and news involving the Yankees. It is hard to put my finger on what exactly, but something has changed.
My passion for the game is still there, but the change that baseball has undergone has taken the wind out of my sails, per se. This change, in my eyes, lacks the tradition baseball used to have.
Nowadays, it is all about the money, the trades and the branding of teams. Players barely stay put anymore. Due in part to the controversy over wages, the problem of injuries and illegal substance abuse and, sadly, the aging of players, the tradition of maintaing a sole role on one team for the duration of one’s career is a thing of the past.
In the days of Mantle and DiMaggio, some 50 years ago now, it was the hard-nosed, solid play that gave players the memorability factor. Fame came with outstanding play, but it was never sought purely through commercial and monetary means.
Though I may be biased due to my support of the Yankees, it seems to me that Derek Jeter is one of the only players in the major leagues who still embodies this past tradition.
Jeter came up with the Yankees in 1995 and made his MLB debut at shortstop in 1996, where he won the Rookie of the Year Award. Within the next four years, Jeter led the Yanks to victory in three out of four World Series, where he garnered immense popularity and respect from players around the majors. Rightly so, this earned him the title of Yankee captain in 2003.
His popularity as a Yankee never once came from negative press or complaints about an injury. His positive, yet laid-back outlook on the team’s ultimate goals each season demonstrates the true type of leader he is and always will be remembered in the Yankees’ organization.
With the announcement of his retirement following the 2014 season, it is sad to see his career come to a close. For me, Jeter is a player I grew up watching and not only looked to emulate on the field in my softball games, but off the field as a respected master of his craft.
Every personal achievement, from his 3000th hit to his running catch in the stands against the Red Sox, was commended not only due to its spectacular nature, but because of who Jeter is as a player and the sense of tradition he has invoked within the Yankees’ franchise.
There will never be another Derek Jeter, another Mr. November or another “Captain Clutch” in the Major Leagues. The caliber of his talent, quality of his achievements and reputation as a player who stuck with his team for the entirety of his career are not easily replaced.
He will finish out his final season with the Yankees, the team that ultimately enabled him to cultivate a long-lasting tradition that hopefully will not perish once he leaves baseball.
So, out with the old, and in with the new.
We can only hope that these new players will take a look at Jeter’s career come 2015, and see that baseball is not all about the commerciality, but more about finding the value in its tradition.
Tara Cangialosi is Web Editor at the Fordham Ram. You can follow her on Twitter @taracangialosi
