Why The Yankees?

Baseball has been a big part of my life for as long as I can remember, and that all stems from my grandfather's love for the game and the Yankees in particular. My grandfather, or Papa (which is what we referred to him as), played college baseball at American University and when he had kids he coached all 9 of them throughout little league, and even prepared a few of them to play college baseball as they got older. Now our family has 22 grandchildren from his side of the family, some who play or have played baseball in college, and the rest who may not play but definitely have an appreciation for the game and what it has meant to our family.

My Papa was a die hard Yankee fan who would watch every game and I used to love going over to my grandparent's house with my brothers to spend time with him watching the games, and of course taking the occasional break to go outside to have a catch or play whiffle-ball. Learning about the players and asking him questions always seemed to fascinate me because of how knowledgable he was about baseball in general.

Every so often on special occasions, such as my birthday or opening day he would bring me and my brothers to a game in the old Yankee Stadium. We used to love it because we would bring our gloves and go early to watch batting practice in hopes of catching a ball. Those experiences I will cherish forever and hopefully I have the opportunity to do the same thing with my kids and grandchildren in the future. Papa passed away a little over two years ago but because of him I will always be devoted to family and I will always be a fan of the New York Yankees.