Have been a Yankee fan since 1956. Thought today's ceremony was lame. Fine with not having an embarrassing three-inning game, but it seemed that the cast of characters, generally, didn't find me on memory lane. Maybe that is because of free agency or vax wary guys. Who decided that the long.... long.... walk in from center field was better than negotiating the challenging dugout steps? Cerone was there.... looking healthy. Too bad they couldn't have found a bigger jersey for him. Glaring absence of Jeter. Did Kay, O'Neil, Flash mention it or did Yankees/YES kind-of censor them? I know he has never appeared as an OTer. Jorge not there either and Rivera had a prior engagement. C'mon Mo, Mick, Yogi, Phil, Whitey, and Joe D. never had "prior engagements." Thought the whole thing was a tad depressing.
Yankees Old Timers' Day
- Thread starter MBF72
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Yankees’ lowly-attended Old-Timers’ Day was missing actual game
The Yankees’ Old-Timers’ Day returned, but the game itself did not.
nypost.com
Yankees’ lowly-attended Old-Timers’ Day was missing actual game
By Mark W. SanchezThe Yankees’ Old-Timers’ Day returned, but the game itself did not.
Saturday marked the 74th Old-Timers’ Day in The Bronx, the 12th at the current Yankee Stadium and the first since 2019, but there was no exhibition to accompany the ceremony.
A Yankees spokesman cited a variety of factors that led to plenty of waving from team icons, but no waving any bats. Several icons were on the virtual injured list — including David Cone, who is recovering from hip replacement surgery, and Bernie Williams, who said he would have a leg procedure soon.
Mariano Rivera was not in attendance because of a scheduling conflict. Several other former Yankees would not have been allowed on the field because they are unvaccinated.
Add it all up, and the Yankees realized they were lacking several marquee names and opted against playing the game. The turnout — about two dozen — was notably lower than it had been in past seasons.
Before the Yankees’ game against the Royals, the Old Timers met in Monument Park and walked to the infield when John Sterling and Michael Kay announced their names. Ron Guidry threw out the ceremonial first pitch to the late Thurman Munson’s son, Michael.
“I’ve been disappointed,” said John ByDook, a high school basketball coach in New Jersey who came to the Stadium for the first time this year to watch Old-Timers’ Day. “Not necessarily the people they brought back, but to have no game … I’m disappointed how they brought them out from center field, rather than bring them out from the dugout, like they used to.
“They changed everything.”
The roster that did show included four Monument Park inductees: Guidry, Williams, Tino Martinez and Willie Randolph. Manager Aaron Boone and assistant hitting coach Hensley Meulens also joined the ceremony.
Derek Jeter has not attended Old-Timers’ Day since he retired in 2014, and did not again, though he is no longer CEO of the Marlins. Jeter will be honored at the Stadium on Sept. 9 to salute his 2021 Hall of Fame induction.
The consensus from the fans appeared to be less annoyance about the starpower and more annoyance about not seeing their heroes play.
“I missed the game. I’ve been down here for the last 15 years. It’s always been a great day,” said Marty Flint, who was at the park for the game and is the mayor of the Village of Remsen in Oneida County. “We were a little disappointed that we didn’t get to see them actually play. Other than that, I was kind of hoping that Mo would show up. And he didn’t show up. … But all in all, it’s always good to see the representation of the legends.”
The Yankees had asked fans to arrive early for the “ceremony,” and a few fans said they were not aware beforehand the game would not be played.
Boone is among the many who would like to see the game return.
“I think it’s cool,” said the manager, who mentioned wanting to face Roger Clemens. “I haven’t played in the game, but I’ve gone out there and taken [batting practice] a couple years. That’s fun — to get in a group with the Old Timers and take BP like you used to do it. Hopefully some form or fashion of that returns as we strive to get to more normal and more normal.”
Martinez said he was “a little bit” bummed that there was no game, but that it was “still great to be here.”
Williams smiled and said he was glad there was no game because his leg would not have enjoyed it.
“But I’m looking forward to maybe next time if I’m in better physical [condition],” the longtime center fielder said.
Some fans were just happy to see the players they grew up rooting for.
“I was wondering how this was going to be without the game, but it was very well done,” said fan Ted Ducary, who had been at Old-Timers’ Day in 2019, when he saw Reggie Jackson — who was not present Saturday. “But I would prefer the game.”
Interesting. I'm not a Yankee fan and I didn't know yesterday was Old Timer's Day (although I was curious when I noticed the game seemed to start later than normal).
That there wasn't a game wouldn't have bothered me that much. I loved the game when I was a kid but now, like pretty much all exhibitions, I couldn't care less.
Given that according to the story only 25 or so players showed had to have been an issue. You need 16 players to field the positions and as noted, several of the attendees were nursing physical issues of some sort.
By contrast the Mets are holding an OT Day, for the first time in many years, in late August. They are expecting over 60 former players and a game is planned as Dwight Gooden has said he is pitching. On the other hand, Darryl Strawberry, in the announcement that he would be there, said he wouldn't be able to play.
We do sort of forget that these people are in our age range and have a lot of wear and tear on their bodies even if they're still in decent shape.
That there wasn't a game wouldn't have bothered me that much. I loved the game when I was a kid but now, like pretty much all exhibitions, I couldn't care less.
Given that according to the story only 25 or so players showed had to have been an issue. You need 16 players to field the positions and as noted, several of the attendees were nursing physical issues of some sort.
By contrast the Mets are holding an OT Day, for the first time in many years, in late August. They are expecting over 60 former players and a game is planned as Dwight Gooden has said he is pitching. On the other hand, Darryl Strawberry, in the announcement that he would be there, said he wouldn't be able to play.
We do sort of forget that these people are in our age range and have a lot of wear and tear on their bodies even if they're still in decent shape.
Shame after all the money the NYY paid them they wanted to take some fans money for worthless signatures instead of going to the old timers game.
Surprised at Mariano. I know nothing about this except for this thread. If my interpretation is all wet, sorry
It could be that they committed to the AC event first and thus were contractually obligated to make the appearance.
