Why The New York Yankees Are The Greatest! Part 1

Nick Swisher recently commented on being traded to New York: “Every little boy at some time dreams of being a New York Yankee.”

So many players, throughout the years, have expressed similar sentiments.  But why have so many, including some of the best, dreamed of being a Yankee?

It is more than 26 World Championships.  It is more than the many hall of fame players who have dressed in the clubhouse in the Bronx.  It is more than having had the most celebrated stadium in all of sports.

Cynics will say that because New York is the media capital of the world and of the sports universe, the Yankees will always get more headlines and more publicity than any other team. That is what so many players have craved. 

And critics will always say that the Yankees have simply bought all those championships by having more money to spend than any other team; that players have come there only for the money.

But isn’t there more?

The story of greatness of the New York Yankees, of course, began with Babe Ruth.  Prior to Ruth, baseball was a game that had fans, and in some cities was followed fervently. One example would be ‘Nuff Sed McGreevy, and the Royal Rooters of the Red Sox in the very early years of the 20th Century.

But with the ascendancy of Babe Ruth, baseball became celebrated everywhere.  He became a mythical figure, not only throughout the United States, but as far away as Japan. This was at a time when there was no television, no Internet, and no instant communication around the world.

Babe Ruth was bigger than baseball; bigger than life.  He was interesting, profane and raucous.  He loved the spotlight and was loved by those directing the spotlights. He loved the fans who who sat in the cheap seats blinded by the spotlight.

Stories are told of people who would travel many miles in a wagon to see him play a barnstorming game in Oklahoma or Kansas.  Many people have their own personal stories to tell of the efforts undergone to see the Babe.

He was seen across our country and in other countries in newsreel films that proceeded movies in the Roaring ‘20s.  He was the first big league star to actually be in the movies.  Without any question, his name was known more than any other person, let alone baseball player, of the era in which he lived.  Even people who have never cared about baseball knew the name of Babe Ruth.

It has been argued that he did more than any other player in history to change the game.  Before Ruth, the game was mostly about pitchers and runs were scarce.  The game was played station to station.  Pitchers could pace themselves only bearing down when necessary because a single wasn’t going to hurt them. 

But with Ruth it became possible to score runs with one swing of the bat.  He made big offense imaginable.  Ty Cobb detested this new type of baseball and many others regretted the advent of home run ball.  They especially hated that Ruth alone hit more home runs than other teams in the majors.

It has also been debated whether Ruth was the greatest player in the game.  Not only was Ruth by far the greatest slugger of his time. He was also one of the best pitchers before he was converted to the outfield so he could hit every day.  When that is considered the argument can certainly be made that there has never been a better all round player than Babe Ruth.

Ruth was just a part of one of the most storied teams in baseball history, the Yankees of the mid and late 1920s who became known as "Murderer’s Row."  Hitters such as Tony Lazzeri, Mark Koenig, Earl Combs, and Lou Gehrig joined the Babe to make up what has been considered by many the greatest team ever assembled. 

This was also the era of The Great Gatsby; great hope, great ambition, and great consumption.  It was the Roaring '20s, a time unlike any other that the U.S. had known.  It needed characters.  It needed drama.  It needed excess. 

And with Babe Ruth, it got all of that and more.  Babe Ruth, more than any other player in the history of the game, became baseball’s brand. Ruth put the New York Yankees on the minds and lips of fans everywhere.  Without Babe Ruth, it is doubtful that the Yankees would have had the fans, the money, the appeal, and the championships that have come to them through the years.

Would Ruth have been as big if he had not been traded from Boston?  Or would he have been the giant he became even if he had played for the Brooklyn Dodgers or the New York Giants?  No one will ever know that. 

But consider for a moment that iconic photograph of the back of Babe Ruth, with his number “3” on the pinstriped uniform, as he appeared for the last time in Yankee Stadium.  Babe was dying of cancer; lacking strength to stand without using a baseball bat for support. 

The picture was shot from below making him appear bigger than life, silhouetted against the massive decks of the ballpark.

Now, with the perfect vision of hindsight, it is hard to imagine that scene in any stadium other than Yankee Stadium, or with him in a uniform that wasn’t pinstriped.

The glory of the Yankees began with Babe Ruth and has continued ever since.  What Babe began has led to more recognition of the pinstriped uniform and the interlocking N/Y than any other sports insignia of any other team in the world.  Babe is the first reason the Yankees are the greatest.