David Lennon: Yankees more than OK with not being biggest stars at their own stadium
The Knicks' Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart after throwing out the ceremonial first pitch on Wednesday at Yankee Stadium. Credit: Howard Simmons
With Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart — the dynamic duo of the newly crowned Knicks — throwing out the ceremonial first pitches before Wednesday night’s game in the Bronx, it was only logical to ask a few Yankees the question they weren’t used to hearing.
Did it feel strange not being the biggest stars in their own building?
“That’s funny,” Jazz Chisholm said, laughing. “But they just won a championship. If anything, I’m super-excited for them. I’m a big fan of these guys.
“I’ve met them a number of times before and they’re just great people. To see great people like that win in the same city, and share the love with the fans, they’re it.”
Presented with the same question, manager Aaron Boone initially seemed amused by the idea. The Yankees aren’t accustomed to taking a backseat to anyone — never mind the Bronx, but anywhere they go on the planet. Boone also realizes, however, that the Knicks now own the city, the tristate area and every corner of the globe occupied by a basketball-loving New Yorker.
“It’s OK, man,” Boone said. “We’re celebrating champions, and in this case, a couple of really great guys, too.”
Hart also has Yankees ancestry as the great-nephew of Elston Howard, the first Black player to wear pinstripes, a four-time world champ and AL MVP. He’s worn No. 32 in the past to honor Howard, but went with his own No. 3 Wednesday night, alongside Brunson, who donned his No. 11.
The two Knicks took the field to a roaring standing ovation, accompanied by the “Go New York Go” soundtrack. After delivering the pitches, Hart and Brunson joined the Yankees along the first-base line for the national anthem — at the front, ahead of Boone — then exchanged hugs with the manager.
Brunson got a round of the “M-V-P” chants typically reserved for Aaron Judge in these parts, and as they both ducked into the dugout, the Knicks were given another standing ‘O’ upon their departure.
Maybe just being in the glow of these golden Knicks, who just ended a 53-year title drought, might help some of that magic rub off on Boone’s crew. The Yankees, still trying for their first World Series ring since 2009, definitely could use some of the Knicks’ mojo that propelled them to 13 consecutive playoffs wins, and a five-game knockout of the Spurs in the Finals.
“I think it’s been awesome,” Boone said.
“What a fun team to get behind and the story of how it’s kind of come together over the last couple of years. A lot of grit, a lot of mental fortitude, and to see the fan base galvanize around that club has been a lot of fun to witness.”
Many of the Yankees show up at Madison Square Garden during the Knicks’ regular season, so the players do cross paths, either chatting postgame or seeing each other out in the city. But the Knicks are in a different stratosphere now having attained New York immortality, maybe even a level above the Yankees’ dynastic run from 1996-2000 and definitely higher than the Giants’ two Lombardi trophies in a five-year span, notably the ’08 stunner over the previously undefeated Patriots.
“You deliver a championship to the city and they’re going to treat you like a god for the rest of your life,” Cam Schlittler said. “That’s something they deserve. I’m happy to be in New York and see another team win a championship, especially when we couldn’t do that last year. Hopefully we can bring them another one in October.”
Schlittler grew up in Walpole, Massachusetts, which is the neighboring town to Foxborough, home of the Patriots’ Gillette Stadium, and roughly a 35-minute drive to Fenway Park. He was born in 2001, the start of a Boston sports renaissance that racked up 13 championships over a 13-year period for the local Big Four teams.
Since putting on the pinstripes, however, Schlittler has fully embraced New York.
“Greatest city in the world,” Schlittler said.
“We should be winning championships here. That’s really the only thing that matters. Probably one of the greatest playoff runs I’ve seen, so I’m happy for those guys. Now it’s time for us to lock in and try to win another one.”
Even if the Yankees do finish the job this time and earn the long overdue No. 28, these Brunson/Hart Knicks will remain in a league of their own. The best comp is probably the ’96 Yankees, who switched up Joe Torre for Buck Showalter and won their first World Series in 18 years, an eternity by Bronx standards.
Subsequently, the Yankees made ticker-tape parades an annual event, as regular as the floats’ pilgrimage to Macy’s every Thanksgiving.
But New York has likely never experienced the type of spectacle that will take place Thursday morning when the Knicks are worshipped along the Canyon of Heroes.
“They’re legends,” Chisholm said.
Chisholm said he considered attending the parade, but ultimately can’t make it (the Yankees play the series finale vs. the White Sox at 7:05 later that night). He was already out celebrating with the Knicks when the two teams returned from the road Sunday night.
Brunson and Hart dropping by Yankee Stadium was just one of the Knicks’ many stops on their victory tour since hoisting the Larry O’Brien Trophy. The party will be going on for a while.
“I’m sure they’re having a pretty good week,” Boone said.
Make that a lifetime, from here on out.
David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.
