HOW THE YANKEES AFFECTED MY LIFE

August 6th 2001. I'm entering the Cathedral for the first time. The Cathedral in question is Yankee Stadium. It's the first baseball game I've ever attended. It's over 90 degrees for a 1.05 start. As me and my dad take our seats high above the 3rd base line. I'm caught in a mixture of curiosity and excitement. I feel like I'm about 8 years old. Two and three quarter hours later, I'm hooked, and so begins part of the problem. 

I think of some of the players I saw that 10 years ago. The likes of Jeter, Knoblauch, Posada, O'Neill, Williams, Martinez, etc. I wondered aloud that day if I'd ever be back in the presence of greatness. Seeing that game was part of my vacation, and after I've travelled back to England, I'm surrounded by people who see the Yankees logo on a cap and see it as a fashion statement rather than an emblem of what's great about the game of baseball. I followed the team and the game so intently from that day forward. Trawling the Internet for stats, pictures and game recaps became near enough a daily ritual. But still I seemed to feel like I was in a minority. A true Yankees minority.

Fast forward nine years. June 11th 2010. A Friday night game in the new Cathedral across the street. It's a warm night as you'd expect in mid June. The team still has the familiar faces of 01 like Jeter, Pettitte and Posada, but now there's names like Swisher, Chamberlain, Cano and Granderson to watch and marvel at. The sights and sounds are so vivid. Hearing Enter Sandman as Mo came out to pitch for the save will stay in my mind as long as I live.

The UK baseball culture is changing, with a national radio station designating full shows to broadcasting games and satellite television broadcasting games. The power of social media such as Twitter enables such great interaction between fans and players alike. 

So to the present day. September 9th 2011. The Yankees are in first place in the AL East, 2.5 games ahead of that team in Massachusetts. The playoffs are near enough just around the corner, and the team are primed to make a run for Championship number 28. While the team is still loaded with veteran players like Jeter, Rivera, Teixeira, A Rod etc, the new breed of Yankees are upon us, in the form of Montero, Robertson, Nova et al

There will always be those who still see the Yankees logo as a fashion emblem, but they will be overtaken by those that see the logo represents more than fashion. What they see it represent can be summed in three P-words

PRIDE

POWER

PINSTRIPES