By Paul Semendinger
June 7, 2021
***
It’s a frustrating time to be a Yankees fan.
Very very frustrating.
This was supposed to be our time.
Our era.
We waited and waited.
Since 2009.
We know that for some franchises that wait doesn’t seem so long.
But these are the Yankees.
Our Yankees.
We love them.
And we want them to win.
***
The fully operational death star never came to be.
I wish Mr. Cashman had never said that, had never uttered those lines.
They gave false hope.
It was a false promise.
***
I am so frustrated that this team, a club that has some of the highest prices that they ask fans to pay cares on the other end so much about the luxury tax.
They’ve passed on so much elite talent – talent that would have resulted, most probably, in pennants.
What a shame.
As a Yankees fan, I want to know that the owner of my team wants to win as much as I do. It is clear that the Yankees owners do not.
And that’s a shame.
A crying shame.
Flags fly forever.
There haven’t been flags in the Bronx in a long time.
Staying under the cap is no prize.
In many ways its an insult to the fans who have invested so much themselves in the team.
***
I never understood hiring a guy who never managed to lead the Yankees into this new era.
It made no sense.
The results were all too predictable.
All
Too
Predictable.
Aaron Boone might be the greatest guy.
He might turn out be a great manager one day.
But he wasn’t the manager for this team, at this time.
Oh, what could have been!
***
Dallas Green wasn’t the right manager either.
Or was Stump Merrill (although I was happy for him that he got that shot).
Clyde King…
Even, numerous times, Billy Martin.
They weren’t the right guys either.
***
But I never stopped rooting for this team.
With all my heart and passion.
***
That’s what makes this tough.
I love this team.
Ever since 1977 and 1978, magical years for a little boy just understanding this wonderful game.
I loved the Yankees when they had that disappointing and sad 1979 season.
I loved them when the Royals defeated them in the playoffs.
I loved them when the Dodgers got their revenge.
I loved them in the 1980s
And 1990s.
And I loved them during the glory years.
I loved them when they won.
I loved them when they lost.
It hasn’t been all sunshine and rainbows, there been many (many) bad seasons, frustrating decisions, and pennant droughts.
But the Yankees have always been a part of me.
Have always held a special place in my heart.
Love is eternal.
Yes, these last few years have been so frustrating – because they had come so tantalizing close…
But I haven’t, ever, stopped caring, and stopped loving this team.
***
I hope a new decade of glory years is on the horizon.
It doesn’t seem likely too soon.
I fear that as bad as these days are, that it’s going to get worse before it gets better.
A lot worse.
I hope that the Mets’ success makes the Yankees reevaluate their fixation on the luxury tax cap.
I long for the days when the mission statement of the Yankees was to bring in the best players – no matter what.
“We’re the Yankees, we win.”
Period.
I like that.
No.
I love that.
***
I loved the Yankees when they finished in the cellar.
And I love them still today.
That love sometimes is reflected in frustration.
and disappointment.
Because I know it could have all been different.
This could have been the next great Yankees era.
***
It’s not.
I’m sad about that.
But hope springs eternal.
And when the winning comes again.
It’ll be that much sweeter.
