To be a Yankee blogger

Let’s see, what should I call my Yankee blog? If I were a Yankee blogger, I don’t really know what I would call it. If I were a Yankee blogger … aw heck, it’s only a dream. It must have been something to watch Jorge Posada hit a grand slam two days in a row. I didn’t even get to see it on MLB.TV, because the game was blacked out, since it was showing on television, somewhere. It sure wasn’t here. Instead, I listened to it via MLB.TV, since it was broadcast on WCBS, the Yankees radio network. But a friend of mine, Bryan Hoch (pictured at the right), got to see it first-hand. Bryan is a Yankee blogger for MLB, and he gets to see all the Yankee games. Yep, he blogs on his “Bombers Beat” for MLB.com. How do I know this? Well, I have been emailing him for the better part of the last year. He in fact told me near the end of last season, he thought I would get to see the Yankees win the World Series. That’s what his crystal ball indicated, and a crystal ball never lies.

It never hurts to dream, though. A decrepit old Yankee lover such as myself would never fit it in at Yankee Stadium press box. It would be embarrassing to yell in the Yankee Stadium press box. I’m such a Yankees fan, you know, that I would probably be so excited to just be in the pinstripe surroundings. I would forget about my upbringing as a sportswriter, when I remained cool, calm and collected through everything I covered. The few times I took Cynthia in the press box, I gave her specific instructions to be quiet as a mouse and not to show any emotions. She was to follow my lead.

I might be different in the Yankee Stadium press box, however. Seems Bryan (you, know, my friend who is on hand for every Yankee home game), got his start via the internet and just getting word out that he was available, and the fact he went to a few MLB meetings. He first covered the Mets games in Shea Stadium, and before long the Yankees needed a blogger, too. Well, I’ll let him explain is his own words:
“I would have to say that generationally I was very lucky to come along when I did, because without the Internet, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be covering the Yankees right now. I knew in my early teen years that I wanted to be involved with baseball. I can remember racing to the mailbox to flip through each week's issue of Sports Illustrated, skipping right to the baseball pages, and I also had subscriptions to Baseball Weekly and Baseball Digest littering the floor of my bedroom. Having the Internet available at that age allowed me to try my hand at not just reading, but also writing about the game I loved. All of that writing helped me get my name out there to some extent in the late 1990s, and the Mets offered me an unpaid internship to help them out with Mets.com for the second half of the 2000 season. Quite literally, I went from my high school graduation to sitting in the press box at Shea Stadium in the matter of a week, so I actually wound up being in the press box for both of the Yankees' World Series wins in the 2000s,” he said.

“While I was covering the 2006 Winter Meetings for MLB.com, there were rumblings that the Yankees beat might be opening up for 2007, and I made sure to tell the right people that I would definitely be interested in being considered. Needless to say, something went right. The last three years with the Yankees have been an absolutely wonderful experience, and truly life-changing for me. I honestly can't envision doing anything else.”
So maybe I will start a Yankee blog. How about “The Blog that Ruth Built”, or “Pinstripe Alley,” or “Blogging the Bombers.” Nope, already taken. I can’t think of a catchy enough phrase. Of course, I would have to move to New York, anyway. I don’t see Cynthia going for that. Like I said, it’s only a dream.