I was little at the time, but I can remember early on watching the Yankees on tv. Derek Jeter was young, maybe even a rookie at the time. At the time I can remember Cecil Fielder playing for the Yankees for a brief period. Bernie Williams was already the everyday Center Fielder and to this day is one of my favorite players.
Those were the days of Yankee baseball that I miss. I remember some great teams and years for the Yankees and some little things this year are making me think back to the old days for me. I remember when our current manager, Joe Girardi was splitting time with current catcher Jorge Posada. I can remember when Right Field was patrolled by Paul O’Neil, who will probably always be one of my favorite players. I remember Tino Martinez playing first, Chuck Knoblauch playing second, getting the yips, moving to left field, and eventually leaving the Yankees. I remember on and off Luis Sojo in the infield. Scott Brosius, Ricky Ledee, Chad Curtis, Chili Davis, and Daryl Strawberry. I watched both David Wells and David Cone pitch a perfect game. I watched El Duque bring a perfect game to the 5th inning in 1999 (I think that was the year).
Now this entry may seem silly, because I don’t ever talk about sports, but it is more of a realization than anything. The players who I grew up with are aging in every sport. I looked at my sign in poster for my bar mitzvah and I am wearing a Curtis Martin jersey and I can’t even remember when he retired. It reminded me of one year when we went down the shore in either September or October, because for some reason it was still warm out and Vinny Testaverde tore his Achilles Tendon and because of a screw up by Bill Parcells, Tom Tupa was stuck playing QB most of the rest of the game. Ray Lucas ended up playing most of the rest of the year if any of you remember him. He was HORRIBLE.
I keep talking to my campers about things and realizing they don’t remember what I am talking about because they were little when it happened, or not even born. It was sad for me on the Barney trip when neither camper new the song Good Riddance when I played it for them off my iPod. The things that have changed since I was only four or five really amuse me and frankly, I am still very very young.
Think about how things are changing around us. Change seems to be the catch phrase in recent history. We all want to make a change that is meaningful, but at the same time, I sort of miss the way things were. I miss the days when Boston Chicken was still Boston Market, when Bernie played Center, and when I had no worries. Things only get more complicated as we mature. Recently a friend reminded me that I am almost 20. The excuse of being just a teenager will be thrown out the window on November 30th, and I am frankly not sure I am ready for that. It wasn’t that long ago that I was a camper at a camp and now I am a counselor. It wasn’t long ago that I said that the year 2008 would never come and graduating from high school would take forever, but it came and passed. Sophomore year of college is just around the corner.
Ross