Ira Riklis has a wish this week — that the Yanks do not suffer the long-rumored Sports Illustrated jinx now that the Core Four are show on this week’s cover.
Mariano Rivera, Jorge Posada, Andy Pettitte and Derek Jeter all made their big league debuts in 1995 with the Yankees. And since that time (with the exception of Pettitte’s brief trip to Texas), they’ve been together ever since.
Read more here.
President Barak Obama makes no secret of the fact that he’s an avid Chicago White Sox fan. He even wore a White Sox cap when he through out the first pitch at a National’s game this season. But like a true leader and politician he was gracious enough to welcome Ira Riklis’ favorite team—the Yankees—to the White House this past Monday to celebrate their 2009 championship. He allowed as how hard it was for him to watch the Yankees, saying: “For a White Sox fan like me, it’s painful to watch Mariano’s cutter when it’s against my team, or to see the Yankees wrap up the pennant while the Sox are struggling on the South Side.”
While in the area for a series with the Orioles, the team also met with Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, a Bronx native and—like Ira Riklis—a longtime Yankees fan. Their victory tour of Washington, wasn’t all light hearted. The team started out the day at Walter Reed Army Medical Center signing autographs and visiting with wounded soldiers.
It was just over a week ago, at their 108th Home Opener, that the Yankees celebrated their 2009 World Championship with an on-field ring ceremony. It was a grand celebration by Ira Riklis’ home-town heroes. Former Yankee greats and Hall of Famers Yogi Berra and Whitey Ford were there to help pass out the championship rings. The 2009 championship flag, along with flags for each of the team’s twenty-six other World Championships, stood proudly atop the roof of the stadium.
It was a grand celebration befitting a storied franchise. As a true fan, Ira Riklis knows that no other team comes even close to the accomplishments of the Yankees. But not all who led the team to the title last year were on hand for the gala opening. A pair of players—Chad Gaudin and Edwar Ramirez—both now with the Athletics, received their rings in a quieter ceremony yesterday in Oakland. During pre-game warm ups, Manager Joe Girardi assembled his roster around the two players as he dug the boxes containing the rings from a paper bag he’d carried with him. It was a touching moment for the two former Yankees. Gaudin called it, “First-class, and I didn’t expect anything different,” While Ramirez remarked, “Everybody wants something like that, It’s great. It’s exactly what I wanted. I know everybody here, and I feel real, real happy.”
The New York Yankees completed a home stand yesterday with a sweep of the Texas Rangers yesterday. After a shaky first few games, the defending World Champions now stand tied for the best record in this young baseball season with a 9 and 3 record! While the team’s taking nothing for granted, they are feeling pretty good about things. Pitcher Mariano Rivera, who retired the side in the ninth yesterday, put it this way: “…we just love to play the game that we know how to play. We have a tremendous bunch of guys here that want to play the game right… We feel comfortable, feel good, and that’s the reason why we have been doing good so far.” No word on whether Ira Riklis has made it out to see any of the games in person yet this year. But if he has, he, like other fans have been able to feel good, too. It’s great to be able to relax on a beautiful day, while watching your favorite team cruise to an easy victory.
And it’s even nicer when you’re sitting in the Legends Suite at the team’s luxurious new stadium where not only the peanuts and Cracker Jacks, but a whole groaning board of gourmet foods are available for the taking! Fans will have to wait for another home stand to enjoy all the comforts of home again. The talented young men of Ira Riklis’ Bronx Bombers are now heading west for a 9-game road trip.
In only the 4th game of the season, Yankees’ ace CC Sabathia came close to perfection yesterday again the Rays. For 7 2/3 innings, he chased his dream of pitching a “no no”—a no-hit, no-run game—in his second start of the season. Baseball fans like Ira Riklis can appreciate what a feat that would have been. Only 221 no-hitters have been thrown in MLB’s modern era, and only four of those have come earlier than April 10. In what might be a good sign for the Yanks, one of those early no-hitters came in 1984, when Jack Morris, of the Detroit Tigers, beat the Chicago White Sox, 4-0, on April 7 in his team’s fourth game of the season. The Tigers then went on a 35-5 run, wound up the season at 104-58 and won the World Series.
True-blue Yankees’ fans like Ira Riklis would be more than happy to see similar results for their team this year. As it is the team went on to rout the Rays 10-0 yesterday and stand at 3-2 for the young season.
Major League Baseball’s opening day (or night to be more accurate) is just days away now! At 8:05 p.m. this Sunday night, Ira Riklis’ Yankees kick off the 2010 season against arch-rivals the Boston Red Sox. The team is focused on their goal of repeating as World Champions. And if the preseason is any indication (which, in truth, it often isn’t), the Bronx Bombers have a good chance of doing so. They sport the second-highest pre-season winning percentage at 24-10. Now, team managers are making the final, hard decisions of narrowing down the roster and making the last cuts.
There’s a long season ahead, which will surely take many unexpected twists and turns. But you can be sure that Ira Riklis will be following the team all the way, and will certainly make it out to see as many games as he can in person. Last year, he was truly impressed with the team’s new stadium, especially the luxurious Legends Suite. The tickets are certainly pricey, but if you can find a good deal and only have time to attend a few games, the Legends Suite offers the best seats in the house, not to mention the best amenities, including all-inclusive food ranging from the traditional peanuts and Cracker Jacks, to fine dining with in-seat wait service. To paraphrase the old song: “You won’t care if you never get back!”