Standing at the Altar of Greatness: Yankee Legends

My friends, Happy Opening Day! So begins another big season in the Bronx, despite what many experts may be saying. And even non-experts - my head keeps telling me it's going to be a Boston-Philly World Series. But make no mistake - my heart says as loud and as clear as possible: Mission 28 Will Be Accomplished.

Beyond the annual expectations of a Halloween Champagne Shower, we've got something else to look forward to in the coming six months: Three Thousand, followed by Six Hundred. Somewhere between Memorial Day and Father's Day, the Captain, Shortstop, Number 2, will become the first man ever to record 3,000 hits in pinstripes. Not Lou Gehrig. Not Joe D. Derek Jeter.

And if all goes well, somewhere in mid to late September, The Greatest Reliever in history should nail down Save #600. If he tags on 1 more, he'll tie the record for the most saves by anyone in history. The most deserving record by an individual in history. Total number of saves needed by the Sandman to achieve that? As luck would have it, Forty Two.

Neither is a guarantee, what with the advanced age of these legends. But both plateaus are eminently achievable. And it's not only a great day on the horizon for the future hall of famers themselves, but it's a great day for us. The other day, ESPNNY ranked the 50 Greatest Yankees of all time. Obviously it was an honor to have seen all or parts of the careers of Mike Mussina (50), Coney (45), Rickey Henderson (40), The Warrior (30), Big Dave (28), Jorgie (21), Bernie (19), Gator (17), Andy (16), reluctantly ARod (13) and especially Donnie Baseball (11).

But it's easier to be considered among the Top 10 Presidents of All Time than it is to be ranked as a Top 10 New York Yankee. And that's where we find our Captain (7) and The Closer (5). Of all the players in the Top 10 - none have played as long together as these guys. Sure, you had Murders' Row with Gherig (2) and Ruth (1). Yogi (6) bridged the gap from Joe D (3) to The Mick (4). For most of the Eisenhower Administration, the storied locker room included not only Yogi and Mickey, but The Chairman of the Board (8).

But we're talking intervals of 5 to 8 years of some of these legends sharing the same real estate. Derek Sanderson Jeter and Mariano Rivera have been among the best, if not the best, at their position every season since 1996. As much as it pains me to admit it, as I'd love nothing more than to be 170 lbs and drinking post-Game Six pink champagne till the sun comes up and ready to do it again the next day, that was a long freaking time ago.

It seems like forever since #51 graced center field in the old stadium. Andy's recently moved on. Jorge's in what's most likely his last season in pinstripes. The opening day catcher from that 96 team is going into his fourth season as skipper. But Jeter and Rivera have been the constant over what's arguably - considering expansion of teams and post season rounds - the longest extended period of dominance in the storied history of the New York Yankees.

We've been old enough to appreciate it, and fortunate enough to witness it. What makes it even more special - and yes, this is only the 1,348th time I've probably told you - is where we came from. Baseball as an institution is never better than when you're 10 years old. And when we were 10, the Yanks were brutal. But it's paid dividends one-hundredfold, and has made all of that bubbly taste even sweeter. It's become who we are:

• We are billboards for Brut, Getty, Marlboro and Manufacturer's Hanover Trust
• We are Phil Rizzuto, for six innings before bolting to beat traffic, wishing his paper boy a happy birthday
• We are Roger Maris, hair falling out from chemo - not pressure - embracing The Mick on his last Old Timer's Day
• We are Lay's Jacket Day for all fans 14 and under
• We are Jim Abbot's No Hitter.
• We are the soothing sound of Eddie Layton's fingers gracing the Hammond Organ
• We are #1 1/2 - Robert Merrill, singing the national anthem.
• We are FREDDY SEZ
• We are sitting in a stadium on a May school night with less than 15,000 in attendance against the Blue Jays
• We are the "next Babe Ruth" - Bye Bye Balboni
• We are Donnie Baseball
• We are the Core Four
• We are The Voice Of God, kindly asking us to please direct our attention to the area behind home plate
• We are Wade Boggs - not on a horse, but feebly grounding out to seal Raghetti's 4th of July No Hitter
• We are Paul O'Neill's "Teenage Wasteland" 
• We are Sterling & Kay, and know NYY radio hasn't been the same since they split. 
• We are NOT Kevin Brown, Roger Clemens, Jason Giambi, or Carl Pavano
• We are Danny Tartabull and Andy Hawkins though
• We are Dale Berra and Bobby Meacham both being tagged out at home. At the same time. 
• We are reluctantly accepting of "Cotton Eyed Joe"
• We are not a 40 foot HD Jumbotron, but rather a glorious black scoreboard donning amber light bulbs
• We are forever grateful to Gene Michael and Buck Showalter (And Boggs, O'Neill and Jimmy Key) for the turnaround
• We are Joe Torre - but we're also Stump Merrill
• We are Luis Sojo asking "Coney, Why don't you have a dance?" 
• We are George Michael Steinbrenner III
• We are deserving yet appreciative of the sheer greatness we've seen the last 15 years.

We are the fans, who will tell our children - and their children - that we witnessed the careers of two All Time Legends, from the first time they put on numbers two and forty-two, until the time those same numbers were unveiled in Monument Park.

Play Ball