How My Son Became a Yankee Fan
I’m Sorry - This Was Never the Plan
"How did you let Eric become a Yankee fan?!"
My friend's question made me laugh as I looked down at my son dressed in his full Aaron Judge Yankees uniform at Halloween last year. "I don't know… It just happened." I then got defensive. "Yeah, I don't know - I grew up rooting against the Yankees."
Yankee Haters
My favorite team as a kid was the Los Angeles Dodgers - Steve Sax, Fernando Valenzuela, and Orel Hershiser, led by the colorful Tommy Lasorda. My younger brother loved George Brett and the Kansas City Royals.
Both our teams battled the Yankees in those early years. This included the Dodgers victory in the 1981 World Series, the Royals sweep in the 1980 ALCS, and the infamous pine tar game featuring George Brett.
We grew up rooting against the likes of showboat slugger Reggie Jackson, intimidating closer Goose Gossage, hot-tempered manager Billy Martin, and owner George Steinbrenner’s fat checkbook.
Although the Yankees went through an uncharacteristic dry spell in the '80s and early '90s, the Yankees rebuilt their farm system and regained their historical winning ways in the mid-90s during the Derek Jeter era, taking the World Series four times in five years.
Our family disliked the Yanks so much that we cheered for the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 2001 World Series, only a few weeks after 9/11. Each October, we found ourselves as new fans of random teams like the Angels, Marlins, and Red Sox - anyone who could knock off New York.
So, yes, this was a valid question - why is my son wearing pinstripes?
Derek Jeter
I searched my journal for answers.
I then pulled up my Amazon order history. The smoking gun was my purchase of The Contract by Derek Jeter in May 2021. This children's book was the first in a series based on Jeter's childhood in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
The Jeter books described little league baseball in great detail right as Eric was starting his first season of house league ball. The books contained terrific lessons. Jeter's parents spoke to Derek about the importance of working hard at school, not just sports. The books mirrored our family values.
Down the Rabbit Hole of Yankees History
I found an old DVD chronicling baseball's all-century team. I dug up a personal DVD player and gave it to Eric. He wore out that video, watching highlights and memorizing facts about baseball's greatest legends. Of course, that all-century team is chock-full of Yankees - Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Yogi Berra, and Mickey Mantle.
Next came a World Series history DVD, dominated by highlights of the Yankees' record 27 world championships.
We watched the Yankees lose to the rival Red Sox in the 2021 AL Wild Card game. I saw Eric cheering for the Yankees. They now had Anthony Rizzo, whom I had always liked on the Cubs. And this Aaron Judge guy seemed pretty good.
I chose to go with the flow, just thrilled that Eric loved baseball.
For Christmas, Santa brought him a boxed set of Yankeeography DVDs - in-depth biographies of all the Yankee greats. We watched Pride of the Yankees as my heart began to soften toward the evil empire in New York.
The Yankee Bond Grows Stronger
Eric began his second year of house baseball in the spring of 2022. We came home disappointed at what we saw at his first practice.
"If Casey Stengel saw our practice tonight, he would be rolling in his grave," Eric said from the backseat. I looked away from the rearview mirror. I did everything I could to keep Eric from seeing me laugh at his reference to the legendary Yankee manager from the 1950s.
Unfortunately, he was right about his team that year. Things never improved. But we kept working on his fundamentals, especially his pitching and fielding.
Meanwhile, Aaron Judge and the Yankees were tearing up the Major Leagues. We watched as many Yankees games as possible in between Eric’s and Elizabeth's games. Eric saw his first in-person Yankees game in May when we watched them lose a close one to the White Sox on a beautiful night at Chicago's Guaranteed Rate Field on the south side.
The Bronx Bombers jumped out to a scorching 64-28 in the first half of the season. Judge clobbered homers at a record pace, hitting 12 in 14 games during a stretch in July. It was beginning to look like Roger Maris's AL and Yankee home run record of 61 was in jeopardy.
Amid the Yankees' hot streak, ESPN aired "The Captain," a seven-episode documentary about Derek Jeter's career. They interviewed his family and friends and showed footage of Derek working hard at baseball as a kid. It was fun watching the highlights from his career, his clutch performances in those tense playoff games in the 1990s and early 2000s.
Even though the Yankees cooled off and ultimately lost in the ALCS, it was exciting to watch Aaron Judge break Maris's record. It was neat seeing Judge's parents in the stands, his mom sitting by Maris's son as they followed big #99 from stadium to stadium during his chase for the record.
Travel Ball
Eric's love affair with baseball reached new heights as we decided to jump from house league to 9U travel ball.
Indoor practices started in December, with the team working out twice weekly. Multiple dads commented on Eric's work ethic and maturity. One dad caught on to Eric liking the Yankees and wearing #2. "That is Jeter’s number, right? That makes total sense. He acts like him. He is always locked in.”
As the season began, I was tickled to see Eric having some fun moments, especially on defense at shortstop and on the pitching mound.
Our team peaked at the end of the summer season and won the league championship, finally defeating a team in the finals that had beaten us twice during the regular season.
The fall league included a dramatic win in a tight game against our biggest rivals. Eric snagged a grounder up the middle, alertly stepped on second and threw a strike to first to nip the runner and end the game on a bang-bang double play.
It was even more special because my mom, brother, and sister-in-law were in the bleachers to see it. It happened on the ninth anniversary of my wife (Eric’s mom) passing away. The timing made me think the little guy had some help on that last play.
More important than the wins and excellent play, I was thrilled with Eric’s attitude and behavior. I loved the way he hustled on and off the field. How he didn’t pout or show up the umpire when a call didn’t go his way. I was proud of his poise as a pitcher, especially in tough situations. I enjoyed the way he bonded with his team, his leadership, his warmth. That mattered way more to me than his batting average or ERA.
Batting Practice Bliss
The summer ended with another Yankees game versus the White Sox in Chicago. We arrived early so that we could catch as much of Yankees batting practice as possible. We entered the gates and sprinted to our seats in right-center, leaving Elizabeth and my mom in the dust.
As soon as we walked down to the first row of outfield seats, Eric yelled out “Kahnle! Tommy!” after the reliever shagged a ball in the outfield. Kahnle turned around and casually tossed the ball to a smiling Eric.
Minutes later, relief pitcher Jonathan Loáisiga fielded a line drive. For some reason, he seemed to lock onto Eric and threw him a second ball. Amazing.
Despite another solid effort from Gerrit Cole, the Yanks would lose to the Sox. But it was a day we will never forget.
My Conversion
These last couple of years with Eric and baseball have been some of the best of my life. This time has brought me back to something I loved, allowing me to experience it again from a new perspective.
I never expected to come out the other side as a dreaded Yankee fan, but that has been a blessing as well. I have enjoyed learning more about a vast section of baseball history now that I am no longer resisting it. More than that, I am happy that the Yankees culture has been an example for my son.
Last week, I bumped into that same friend again on Halloween. Eric wore his Aaron Judge uniform for the second consecutive year. This year, my friend asked, "Does Eric gravitate to role models like Derek Jeter and Aaron Judge on his own? Or are you pushing that? My son now likes this guy named Justin Jefferson - it drives me nuts.”
I said, "I can’t believe I’m saying it, but I think I got lucky that he likes the Yankees. They seem to have a higher standard for how their players act.”
A friend from work emailed me last week about a recent documentary about Yankees legend Yogi Berra.
It sounds like a good thing for us to watch on Sunday afternoon after church.
Links:
The Contract - Derek Jeter
“The Captain” (Derek Jeter Documentary) - Hulu/ESPN+
"It Ain't Over" (Yogi Berra Documentary) - Netflix
Image credit: Shutterstock
Sharing Midwestern values through the stories of a hard-working single dad, all for the glory of God.