WHY LOYALTY & DEDICATION IS THE YANKEE WAY

What's the deal with kids and entitlement? I see is all the time in life and it happens in baseball too. Back in the day, ballplayers like Ron Guidry or Goose Gossage, or even non-Yankee Nolan Ryan fought their way through the ranks of the minor leagues to make a living in the Bigs and then pitched their hearts out for long careers, never giving up and never thinking they were better than the others. They had heart and they had dedication. They did it because that's what people do, they get a job based on talent and they push themselves harder and harder every year to stay on top. You're only as good as your last appearance, so you constantly need to be out there pushing yourself and never giving up, because one day, it's over and the new kids come in.



But I've noticed that when the new kids come in, it's not the same. And sometimes, the quality isn't the same. The attitude definitely isn't the same. True, they worked their way up to get to the Bigs, but many of the "new" kids think that once they're on top, they've made it. But it's only the beginning...not so fast kiddies.



Getting to the top means hard work, loyalty, dedication and you need to constantly stay on top and never flash an ego. Work, work, work. It's life, and once you make it, you can't just sit back and relax and try and change the rules, because, let's face it, the rules are always the same. Kids today feel entitled for what they've done on some minor league stage somewhere, but the big picture is once you make it, you keep your nose to the grindstone and you keep going...hard, in hopes for a long career.

Jorge Posada, Andy Pettitte, Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera are perfect examples and perfect role models of this too. They share 5 championships and they never flashed their arrogance ever. Many see someone like Ivan Nova as the future Andy Pettitte. It's true, I see flashes of that. Never show ego, always show focus.



I write this because it's more common than you think. You can usually pick out these kids who feel like they are entitled all day long and you won't see them 3 or 4 years from now, because they thought they could stop working, they thought they could change the rules. They hold onto a moment that's long past, but they offer nothing more.



Baseball is a game of failure and so is life and at the end of the day the goal is to make each day count, better than the last. You never give up. That's probably why I love the Yankees, they want nothing less and they cut loose the dead weight and arrogance and guess what... they've won 27 championships doing it. Damn... they must be doing something right, huh?



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