BRONX, NY – Once a ballplayer, always a ballplayer does not apply to the Old-Timers that gathered into Yankee Stadium last Saturday. The franchise honored the 15th anniversary of the team’s last championship. The 2009 Yankees team of Johnny Damon, Nick Swisher, Jorge Posada, Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter decided to look pretty instead of playing. The traditional Old-Timers Day Game was scrapped simply because the latest alumni did not want to play.
Not all of the teams past took this stance. CC Sabathia, Andy Pettitte, David Cone, and Nick Swisher were ready to rock and roll. Even Willie Randolph looked like he wanted some ground balls, but the other multi-millionaires took a pass.
You need 18 players to field two teams and there weren’t enough players. They held a boring Q&A instead that even had translators involved. The events coordinator, Debbie Tymon, used every excuse possible to explain the non-game, but the real reason was no one wanted in. What you saw last Saturday up in the Bronx is what’s happening to this once great game. It’s crumbling!
The 2009 team made their millions and left their passion behind. It was only a few years ago at this annual game when Hideki Matsui and Nick Swisher went yard. Mickey Rivers was diving out in centerfield to make a catch. That’s all a memory now. Jeter and Posada, who were part of the Core 4, have become a bore. Their quotes of “old age” and “fear of getting injured,” were lame (ironically).
They are now a thing of the past, and the past is what not only Major League Baseball is canceling, but so is this nation. The Yankees used to set the standard for these types of events. The words “used to” is what the Yankees have become.
