On the Yankees beat

Hearing the thunderous cheers for Jim Leyritz, David Cone and Darryl Strawberry at Saturday’s Oldtimers’ Day introductions at Yankee Stadium makes you realize you don’t need to be a once or future Hall of Fame player to become wildly popular with Yankee fans. Sure, the loudest cheers for generations of Oldtimers’ Days were reserved for Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle. Then, more recently, for Yogi Berra, Whitey Ford and Phil Rizzuto. Yogi was there Saturday, but Whitey and Scooter were absent and remind us of their advancing age and our own mortality. But it’s clear the next generation of Yankee fans will have their own Oldtimers’ Day icons, and enshrinement at Cooperstown isn’t needed. As long as you have a link to the Joe Torre Championship Era – like King, Coney and Straw – you will forever be the object of adoration in the Bronx.
Can you imagine the decibel level of noise that will echo around the new Yankee Stadium in 2009 when such Bleacher Creature favorites like Paul O’Neill and Bernie Williams – neither bound for Cooperstown – return for Oldtimers’ Day? What about that day down the road when Mariano Rivera, Derek Jeter and Torre himself make their triumphant returns? And, dare we ask, what about Alex Rodriguez, lately Nay-Rod to Yankee fans? Assuming he leads the team to a World Series title before his career his through, even Rodriguez one day will be the toast of this town. After all, Hall of Fame candidates are welcome, too.