Number 27!

If you read this blog, you know that I am a die-hard Yankees fan.  I've been one ever since my parents took me to see the Angels play the Yankees back in July of 1964.  I remember that game like it was yesterday. 

The game was at Dodger Stadium because Anaheim Stadium had not yet been built.  My sister got Albie Pearson's autograph on my baseball glove (he was an Angels outfielder and a leader in the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, and I still have that glove).  Jim Bouton pitched for the Yankees--I remember that his hat kept falling off because of his odd follow-through.  The Yankees won 5-0.

My folks were hoping I'd become a fan of the new local baseball team (the Angels).  We are Orange Countians after all, not New Yorkers.  But when the Yankees took the field, it was love at first sight.

And now here we are, forty-five years later and I am as thrilled today, as I was on July 29, 1964.

Don't give me the same old line about A-Rod and Pettitte being cheaters, or that the Yankees bought the pennant.  They've spent big bucks every year from 2001-2008 and didn't win the World Series.  A-Rod and Pettitte came clean and the PED issue is a much bigger story than these two guys. 

The Yankees won this year because they played very good fundamental baseball, which made them a blast to watch, and in the end ensured their twenty-seventh World Series victory!  And I am thrilled!

Comments

[matt]

I can't stand the Yankees and yet there was something about this particular team that was different. And who can't enjoy Mariona Rivera, the greatest reliever of all time (hands down).
Perhaps what the Yankees needed those last few years was a different manager?

Congrats and enjoy it!

[Lloyd I. Cadle]

Give the Yanks credit. At least their owner spends the money to win. What more can a fan of a sports team want?

[George]

One of the things that was "different" about this year's Yankee team, in my observation, was excellent management. Sure, they've got the talent, but you can still lose with that if you don't take proper advantage of it. I think manager Joe Girardi along with his coaching staff did just that. Plus, there was team captain Jeter always making sure that he was aware of everything that was taking place on the field defensively, especially changes in the pitching signals. As much as a hate to say it, my hat's off to that team this year.

[Charlie]

Did I hear a Te Deum this morning? :)

[Dave]

The last several years, I have gone from being a Yankee hater to one who is fairly indifferent to baseball. One helped to lead to the other. I do not like the direction MLB has gone. The Yankees this year have been effective in utilizing free-agency and the economics of baseball in general to field a very strong team. Sure, the things money cannot buy came together this year as well. I really don't have any bad feelings about any Yankee player. I had the opportunity to shake Joe Girardi's hand at a Starbucks in Costa Mesa last year, when things were not going well for him. He seemed like a very nice guy. (I would have preferred to bump into D. A. Carson there, but this is not a perfect world.) I realize that MLB is first and foremost big-business and secondarily sports. Genuine competition seems to be eroding. That is just the way things are and I accept that. Still, the net result for me as I get older is that baseball seems to be an unneccessary diversion from things that matter so much more.

[Kim Riddlebarger]

Dave:

I guess baseball's not enough of a diversion from what really matters to keep you from taking your valuable time in drafting such a long reply . . .

You could have just read the post and not commented, or even just offered a brief word of congrats. Oh well . . . As for me, I'll enjoy the moment. These diversions are way too short and way too infrequent not to.

[Brian Davilla]

A soon as I heard the Yankees won it, I thought of you, Kim. I'm rather happy about it myself since they had a 9-year dry spell and they are probably the greatest franchise in the history of team sports.

[DSY]

How is this for a short response? ugh.

DSY

[Denise]

I really appreciated this post! I'm a huge Yankees fan as well! Born and raised in upstate NY. Although I currently live and work in Philadelphia so the last few weeks have been interesting to say the list. The city of brotherly love is currently bitterly loud.

[Raymond]

Ball game over. The Yankees win. Thhhhhhheeeee Yannnnnnnnkeeeeessss
win!!!!!!!! John Sterling could not have said it better. Great to see them and thanks for the post. For a Yankee fan from the South, living in the Boston area, it could not have been sweeter.

[Barb]

I'm just glad that loving the Yankees isn't one of the basic tenets of the Reformed Faith.

[Luke]

Boo!! I remain a (jealous) Yankee hater. My only consolation comes in that I was sitting in the 300 level of then Bank One Ballpark when Luis Gonzalez hit a flare over the glove of Derek Jeter, driving in the winning run in game seven of the 2001 World Series.

I do offer my congrats to the Yankee fans though and think that Jeter and Rivera are two of the game's true greats.

[John]

I'm a Yankee fan all the way down in Alabama...started pulling for them becasue my dad pulled for the Braves! Let's Go Yankees!

[Richard]

Congratulations, Kim! I think you're taking this WAY too seriously though--just kidding.

[Felix Ayala]

Yankee fans living outside of the NY area are an absolute violation. Root for your teams in CA.

Felix Ayala
Philadelphia PA

[Lloyd I. Cadle]

Pastor Kim:

Like you said, enjoy the moment. For those of us that love our theology, sports can be our one true worldly pleasure!

[Richard]

Felix is right. Go, Phillies.

[David Q]

Let's see...Ken Samples team (L.A. Lakers) took the NBA Championship and now Pastor Kim's Yankees win the World Series. That can only mean one thing - my team (Denver Broncos) will win the Super Bowl this year.

It is a GREAT year to be a member of Christ Reform Church.

[Roger Smith]

Yep. Only took 9 years of the highest payroll in baseball and the raiding of other teams' best players to finally find that right combination. Most teams scout and develop talent. The Yankees, they just buy the best players until a good combo is found.

[hb]

Big congrats to you!!!! ( I guess some people are just sore losers, huh?) And you know I remember that day in '64...