The 2017 New York Yankees team made incredible progress to begin a dynasty but it also attracted millennials back to the sport.
Baseball is called many things. It’s boring. It’s too slow. It is no longer America’s pastime. Baseball is dead.
Think that’s true? It’s not. Just ask the New York Yankees. This past season has given the Yankees new life and a whole new set of fans.
The demographic that baseball teams are striving to attract just don’t seem interested anymore. That is, until the 2017 Yankees took the field. Now, the millennials are turning back to baseball and all is right in the world.
Is there a reason why? Well, Aaron Judge comes to mind. So does Gary Sanchez. Or even Greg Bird, Didi Gregorius, Clint Frazier and more.
These guys are millennials themselves and are playing the game with a spirit that is infectious. They are slowly, but surely, bringing those young people around to a new era of baseball.
This 2017 squad is not like the teams of years past. They showed a tenacity and a perchance for making the game fun again, instead of slugging through the innings.
Millennials like action. They like something to constantly grab their attention…no moment should pass by without something happening. Millennials whined and the 2017 Yankees delivered in every facet of the game.
Aaron Judge launched home run after home run en route to an MVP-caliber season. Gary Sanchez gunned out runners attempting to foolishly steal bases on his cannon of an arm. Didi Gregorius made play after glorious play, bringing excitement back to the position that Derek Jeter manned for so many years.
Not only that, but Gregorius made Twitter his personal postgame platform. Fans waited in anxious anticipation to see Sir Didi’s hilarious tweets that not only recapped the game but humanized Major League Baseball players. Now, he’s not just another baseball player…he’s a millennial too.
This season was exciting to watch but it drew in a whole new flock of fans who felt they could relate to these superstars. With a crop of incredible, young players climbing through the ranks and making an impact in the Bronx, millennials were forced to stop and watch the magic that was brewing in the Bronx.
It was just what millennials demand: to be entertained and to witness constant action in a sport. Any time a game threatened to get lifeless, another Judge monster shot happened. Dugout got boring? Enter the “Toe-Night Show.” Haters got in the way? The “Thumbs Down” movement was born.
In so many aspects, this Yankees team appealed to those millions of millennials because these players exemplified exactly what millennials want to see. They want young players who are exciting. They want drama. They expect hard work to pay off, whether it be in a job promotion or a World Series championship.
Of course, the Yankees fell short this season. However, that won’t deter this new legion of fans who found themselves as surprising die-hard supporters. The Yankees have done the impossible…they have attracted the millennials back to a sport that was deemed dead a few years ago.
Say what you want about the sport of baseball but the 2017 Yankees had a deafening reply; they don’t care what you think about baseball. They are redefining the sport and bringing back youth to an old, tired game.
Millennials, this year was a once-in-a-lifetime type of team. We are witnessing the start of something incredible. If you thought this year was great, just wait until 2018.
The dream doesn’t end though, millennials. It only goes up from here.