NEW YORK (AP) 鈥 For the New York Yankees, the real opening day is World Series Game 1.
A little bubbly for a , the , the and their were just warmups.
World Series rings are the only numbers that count when you are measured not among the living but against the ghosts: Yogi, Joltin鈥 Joe, the Iron Horse, the Babe and the Mick.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 why we鈥檙e here. That鈥檚 why I get up every single day. That鈥檚 why I put in the work not only at the field but in the offseason, is to just bring a championship home back to the city and back to this team,鈥 Yankees captain .
鈥淚t鈥檚 been quite a long time since we鈥檝e got to that finish line," he added, "but I think a lot of the guys and pieces that we鈥檝e added into this room, especially a couple of changes we made in approaches, guys we brought in, it鈥檚 all going to push us towards the right direction, which is ultimately being the last team standing.鈥
The Yankees are in the World Series for the first time since winning title No. 27 in 2009, starting Friday at the Los Angeles Dodgers or in the Bronx against the New York Mets.
A core in its 30s covets a championship as validation as much as accomplishment. Giancarlo Stanton is in his 15th major league season, Gerrit Cole his 12th and Judge his ninth.
Stanton has been restrained in his assessment.
鈥淎s far as I鈥檓 concerned, we haven鈥檛 done nothing,鈥 he said after Game 4 against the Guardians.
Stanton's edge was visible during Saturday night's celebration when Gleyber Torres handed him the AL championship trophy, saying 鈥淭ake the baby. Take the baby.鈥 鈥 an apparent reference to when he connected against Cole in the 2022 ALDS.
Baseball's winningest tradition is in the players鈥 faces from the day they arrive at Yankee Stadium. Oversized photos of pinstriped greats line the tunnel leading to the clubhouse. The walls of the locker room corridor are filled with paintings of recent luminaries.
Players don鈥檛 have to be reminded that Yogi Berra won 10 titles, Joe DiMaggio nine, Babe Ruth and Mickey Mantle seven each (though only four of Ruth's were with the Yankees), and Lou Gehrig six. Hall of Famers Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera, both five-time champions, mingled with the current players in August when the 2009 champions were honored on Old-Timers鈥 Day.
鈥淲hat makes the Yankees the Yankees is winning and winning a World Series鈥 said Anthony Volpe, a 23-year-old shortstop who is in his second big league season.
The Yankees , skidding to an 82-80 record and .
Expectations soared after they in December, and he set an attitude when he arrived at spring training wearing a The free-agent-to-be turned to the dugout and pounded his chest after the Yankees' signature shot of the postseason thus far, his 10th-inning, three-run homer that won their 41st pennant.
A 50-22 start raised confidence but a 10-23 slide from mid-June through late July sparked skepticism. The ahead of the trade deadline injected some energy, and New York finished an AL-best 94-68, clinching a playoff berth in Game No. 152 and the AL East in No. 159.
Stanton (.294, five homers, 11 RBIs in the postseason), Soto (.333, three, eight), Judge (two homers, six RBIs despite a .161 average) have provided key hits and Torres has reached leading off in eight of nine postseason games.
Bullpen contributors include Tim Hill (signed in June after he was released by the woeful Chicago White Sox), Jake Cousins (purchased from the White Sox in late March), Tim Mayza (signed in July after he was released by Toronto) and Mark Leiter Jr. (a trade-deadline arrival added to the active roster Friday after Ian Hamilton got hurt).
Aaron Boone reminded players in February to be ready no matter their depth chart status.
鈥淚 talked to those guys first day of camp,鈥 the manager recalled Saturday. 鈥'You're sitting in here right now, you think, ah, I probably won鈥檛 be with the big club this year or whatever.' I'm like, 'You might find yourself in the batter鈥檚 box or on the mound in the biggest moment of the year, so try and prepare that.'
"And then there鈥檚 always the X factors of the trade deadline that happens, but even the other moves like getting Tim Hill and Jake Cousins that have become really significant parts of our bullpen that were in a way cast-offs from other organizations. So you never know how it鈥檚 all going to shape up."
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