Welcome to New York... It's Been Waiting for You

I’ve got to confess, I don’t actually harbor any animosity towards the New York Yankees. As a Kansas City Royals fan, it’s kind of expected to detest them, but let me point out two reasons why that doesn’t hold for me. First, I wasn’t around during the fierce Yankees vs. Royals rivalry of the 1970s and 1980s—a time when these teams were giants battling it out. Second, lately, the Yankees haven’t been formidable enough to despise. It’s been over 15 years since New York clinched a World Series title, and during that drought, nearly a third of MLB teams, even those in smaller markets like the Royals and Cardinals, have claimed the Commissioner’s Trophy.

Therefore, as we face off against the Yankees in this first series since they ousted the Royals from the 2024 playoffs, I find it hard to muster serious resentment against a team that has been simply more consistent than Kansas City recently. What I do find irksome, however, are the dollhouse dimensions of the new Yankee Stadium. If ever there were a moment for MJ Melendez to shine, it would certainly be in the Bronx.

However, MJ isn’t taking the field tonight. That seems to say something.

Royals lineup Baseball in the Bronx.

Yankees lineup Starting pitcher: Carlos Carrasco 1. Ben Rice, DH 2. Aaron Judge, RF 3. Austin Wells, C 4. Paul Goldschmidt, 1B 5. Jazz Chisholm Jr., 2B 6. Anthony Volpe, SS 7. Jasson Dominguez, LF 8. Trent Grisham, CF 9. Oswaldo Cabrera, 3B.