Thursday, September 6, 2012

I Could Not Be A Yankees Fan In The 80's


Thankfully I was born in late 1985 and did not get into baseball religiously until the 1995 season because I would be a totally different person right now if I had to watch the Yankees in the 80's and early 90's. I am usually a very calm and collected person but over the last month to month and a half I have been a very edgy and irritable person. The Yankees, behind only my son and my wife, have become my passion over the last 16+ years and I hate to see them lose. I was visibly upset and downright angry when I went to bed Tuesday night after losing and falling into a tie for first place and I got to thinking, what would I do if I was a little bit older, not spoiled by the Yankees recent success and dynasty, and has to watch the Yankees post Billy Martin and Reggie Jackson.


The Yankees won 103 games in 1980 but it was a year after Thurmon Munson's death and we lost in the ALCS to the Kansas City Royals. We had a strike shortened season, which I have never witnessed first hand because I was 8 years old for most of the year in 1994, in 1981 and lost in the World Series to the Dodgers. Then the revolving door of managers and the chaos around the team started and eventually spilled onto the on field product. Hell George Steinbrenner even got suspended from baseball for misconduct if that puts things into perspective for the younger Yankees fans that are reading.


Losing seasons in 1982, 1989-1992, and 1994 were the toughest of times for Yankees fans in recent memories. The team finished no better then 2nd place from 1982-1993 and would not see a season where they "finished" in first place until 1994, the 1994 season that ended premature and cancelled the World Series. The Yankees loss in the ALDS to the Seattle Mariners cost Buck Schowalter his job which is a shame because he would never get to see first hand the team him and Gene Michaels built which included guys you may have heard of, guys like Andy Pettitte, Mariano Rivera, Derek Jeter, Bernie Williams, and Jorge Posada to name a few.

I think all of the younger Yankees fans are truly spoiled, and not to say that that's a bad thing because it is not, and could not imagine watching the Yankees during that 12+ year stretch from 1982-1994. I know I couldn't if I react the way I did to falling into a TIE FOR FIRST PLACE then I could not imagine watching a losing season. I would probably be on my second or third heart attack. I am just glad everything is good in Yankeeland this morning, at least for one more day.

2 comments:

  1. I became a Yankees fan as a kid in 1987 and, while it was tough to see your team constantly losing, it made me appreciate the rise to supremacy that much more. I followed the farm system religiously, seeing the team being built from scratch after stienbrenner's suspension. I wouldn't trade those trying times for anything because I saw Jeter, Posada, Rivera, Bernie, Pettite, etc come through the system as a product of great scouting, not thanked of money. Terrible times for sure, but prospect hugging is so much better when those guys bring the team a few championships.

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    Replies
    1. I am a huge prospect hugger so I can totally relate. I am also greedy and hate to lose though..

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