Rudy Giuliani on the Yankees, Leadership, and Character
Editor's note: The former New York City mayor, a die-hard New York Yankees fan, agreed to write a column for Page 2 about his love for the team.
I have been an over-the-top Yankees fan since I was a little boy. It's not just a passion. It's not just a long-standing love affair. To me, the Yankees represent a prism through which I have learned about leadership and about life.
I'll tell you what I mean.
Phil Rizzuto once told me a story about Joe DiMaggio. One time, The Scooter jogged out to take his shortstop position at Yankee Stadium in the top of the ninth inning. The Yankees were getting clobbered, and obviously had only one more set of at-bats coming in the bottom half of the inning. Rizzuto happened to turn around as the warmup tosses were criss-crossing the outfield. He noticed DiMaggio in center field and immediately had the feeling, "We're going to win this game." Whenever he thought they were mired in a bad losing streak, he would look at DiMaggio, just watch him standing there, and think, "I know we can win this game." That taught me about leadership.
Growing up a Yankees fan in Dodgers-crazed Brooklyn taught me character. My father came from Manhattan, and was a devoted Yankees supporter. After my parents were married, they moved to Brooklyn, where all of my mother's relatives lived. They lived within a mile of Ebbets Field, and my mother and her entire family were enthusiastic Dodgers fans. My father bought me a Yankees uniform and regaled me with stories of past Yankees heroes -- Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Bill Dickey and Waite Hoyt. As often as he could, he brought me to see the Yankees who were destined to add to the legend -- Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, Jerry Coleman, Whitey Ford, Allie Reynolds and Yogi Berra. It was dangerous to be a Yankees fan in Brooklyn, and sticking to my guns taught me character.
Going to games with my father provided some of the most cherished memories of my childhood. My father always wore a jacket, tie and hat, and we'd ride the train for about an hour-and-a-half from Brooklyn up to the Bronx. In those days, it was a rare treat to catch a game on television -- and that was in black and white, of course. Walking into Yankee Stadium, I'd be overwhelmed by the vividness of the colors -- the shocking green of the outfield, and the bright white glowing in between the pinstripes of the greatest uniform in sports.
Around the time I was attending games with my father, they used to stage a yearly exhibition game called the "Mayor's Trophy Game," in which the Yankees would take on either the Dodgers or the Giants. At the end of the game, the fans were allowed on the field and the kids could run the bases. My dad would take me to see the monuments in center field -- which were actually on the playing field, rather than behind the fence as they are now. My dad and I would look at the plaques honoring Yankees greats, and the feeling of being on the field itself -- the actual ground on which so many Yankee greats created those memories -- was electrifying. Years later, when I took my own son out onto the field after the Yankees won the 1996 World Series, I saw the same feeling of awe in his eyes that I had experienced years ago with my own father.
That joy I felt seeing the Yankees with my dad has never left me, and I'm grateful to have had the chance to experience so many great Yankees moments in person. I was sitting along the first-base line on Oct. 1, 1961, when Roger Maris blasted his 61st homer of the season into the right-field seats. I watched in awe as Reggie Jackson hit three home runs in Game 6 of the 1977 World Series. As mayor, I was there to see Joe Torre lead the Yankees to their first championship in 18 years. I was there in 1999 to see David Cone throw a perfect game on Yogi Berra Day. I was there on Oct. 30, 2001, when President Bush threw a stirring ceremonial strike before the first World Series game played at Yankee Stadium following the attacks of Sept. 11. And I was there at the beautiful new Yankee Stadium last week to see the Bronx Bombers win their 27th World Series championship.
The New York Yankees are not just a baseball team. They represent a tradition of excellence unmatched anywhere else in professional sports. More than that, the New York Yankees provide a link to a glorious past, and an inspiration to create a remarkable future.
Rudy Giuliani served as mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001.
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