No matter what stage of their career they’re in, baseball players always get extra amped for certain games. Opening Day is their first day of school, where dudes are antsy to flaunt the hot bod they put together over the offseason and show everyone that this, emphatically, will be their year. The postseason obviously turns the lights up to their absolute brightest, and is the time of year when players truly forge their legacy.
But there’s one other part of the baseball calendar that has a way of injecting life into everybody involved. Whether it’s players, coaches, or broadcasters, stopping off at Yankee Stadium is, frankly, a much bigger deal than the trips to Kansas City or Phoenix. The Yankees are the Yankees, winners of 27 World Series and unquestionably the most iconic franchise in North American sports. Getting to the big leagues in the first place is always the first milestone for a player, but taking the field at Yankee Stadium is a huge rite of passage as well.
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Even though it’s not the same exact building that Ruth, Gehrig, and DiMaggio once roamed—that was one demolished and replaced in 2009—it’s still the type of place that gets the juices flowing a little harder. Especially, as was the case this week for the three-game showdown between the Yankees and Baltimore Orioles, when two American League East rivals are fighting atop the standings.
“This is an awesome place to play,” said Orioles manager Brandon Hyde.
“You know it’s gonna be packed,” added Hall-of-Fame-pitcher-turned-Baltimore-broadcaster Jim Palmer.
“I mean, it’s the AL East,” said O’s MVP candidate Gunnar Henderson. “It’s gonna be really good intensity.”
This time last year, the Yankees were shrouded in mediocrity, languishing in third place in the division, and all-world outfielder Aaron Judge had just sprained his toe running into a wall. This year, with Judge back to his normal self, they’ve been Major League Baseball’s best team. Heading into the series with Baltimore—a splendid team in their own right, who are right on their heels—no team in the league had more wins than the Yanks. The vibes have skyrocketed as a result.
“I think from the beginning [of the season], everyone showed up and right away you got the sense that everyone was using last year as motivation,” Anthony Volpe, the prince of the Yankee infield, told GQ. “Having that focus early—and obviously carrying it over to a fast start—that just propelled everyone more.” Standing at his locker, catcher Austin Wells provided his own assessment of the feeling he gets walking into the clubhouse every day. “You can really feel the trust and the care that everyone has for each other,” Wells said. “And just the will to win every single day. The chemistry is great. I think it helps when you’re winning.”
Winning is old hat for the New York Yankees’ organization, but it has eluded the guys that make up this year’s squad in all the big ways. The Bronx Bombers have enjoyed several strong seasons in recent years—back-to-back 100-win campaigns in 2018 and 2019, 92 wins in 2021, 99 more in 2022—but have not made it to the World Series since 2009. In fact, at the time of this writing (with first baseman Anthony Rizzo on the injured list), only one player on the Yankees’ active roster has tasted championship champagne. Juan Soto, the certified wonderboy who has set the Bronx ablaze again, won a ring with the Washington Nationals in 2019. His addition during the offseason—along with the shrewd pickups of players like Alex Verdugo and Marcus Stroman—has done more than just bolster the lineup card.
“Spring training was a lot of fun,” Wells smiled. “The new guys clicked right away and became staples of the clubhouse. Having those guys added a lot of energy. It’s been a lot of fun.”
In the first game of the series, the fun train kept chugging along for the men in pinstripes. With Bob Costas on the call—always a good sign that a certain game is a Big Deal—they beat the O’s 4-2. The matchup with Baltimore attracted 47,429 people (a sellout), including actor Luke Wilson and GQ cover star Kevin Costner, and also saw Judge get drilled by a pitch in his hand. While no structural damage was done, the captain did have to leave the game, and said afterward that he was “pissed” about Oriole pitcher Albert Suárez’s inability to throw inside without plunking him. Verdugo, who’s taken on a bit of a provocateur role, chimed in as well. “We don’t take what happened lightly,” he assured, the diamonds from his custom No. 24 chain dancing across the locker room. “None of us are too pleased about it.”
The blow to the hand definitely added some extra fuel to this rivalry—which stands to get more heated as the summer unfolds—and it also caused Judge to miss Wednesday’s affair, which the Yankees dropped in extra innings. In the rubber match on Thursday, he was back in the lineup and punched a home run into the right field seats, but the crowd was slightly subdued all afternoon after the home team fell behind 7-0 in the top of the second inning. Baltimore won by a commanding 17-5 score—marking by far the most lopsided loss of the Yankees’ season—and signaling that the birds mean business. Taking two out of three brought the Orioles within a half game of the Yankees for the division lead, and the full on domination on getaway day certainly put them in good spirits. “We’re clicking right now,” said first baseman Ryan Mountcastle. “It’s a lot of fun to be a part of.”
Expect the intensity to only ramp up as the calendar flips and both teams, presumably, remain in prime playoff position. They’ll meet six more times before the season’s out, including three games in New York at the end of September that may very well decide the AL East—and are guaranteed to be even more lit. The Orioles definitively proved that they aren’t scared of the Evil Empire, but few teams in the entire world are as much of an institution as the New York Yankees. And love ‘em or hate ‘em, they carry an undeniable aura.
“Well, I grew up in New York, I was a Park Avenue kid,” said Palmer, who played for the Orioles from 1965 to 1984, mixing in some underwear modeling for Jockey during that span. “I always wanted to be a Yankee. I’d run down to the end of the driveway to [get the newspaper and] see how the Yankees did.” Instead, he wound up a lifelong Oriole, and became very familiar with the Big Apple as an opponent. Palmer pitched 25 games in Yankee Stadium, and was certainly not immune to some ribbing from the bleacher creatures, who were an even rowdier bunch back then. “They’d throw underwear,” he remembered. “If it was Jockey, I didn’t care. If it was Fruit of the Loom or Hanes, then it was very offensive.”
Things are a little tamer if you’re wearing the NY cap. Wells, who hails from Las Vegas, says he’s been getting recognized by fans in public more than ever before, though he attributes that mostly to his well-kempt mustache. He was not afraid to admit that the feeling that comes with being on a high-flying Yankee team has exceeded even his wildest expectations.
“Not growing up around here, I never realized, I guess, the passion that the city and the fans have for the Yankees. Win or loss. I don’t think you can get that anywhere else.”