Volpe Brings a New Hope

As the curtain rose on Opening Day in the Bronx this season things felt different. There were of course, tributes to the past and the iconic Yankees moments still surround the team. Mariano Rivera threw out the first pitch and as it crossed home plate the mood in the stadium went from nostalgic to all eyes to the future.

Even though Aaron Judge is coming off of his iconic and record breaking MVP season, Judge didn't receive the loudest ovation. That was reserved for the newest Yankee Anthony Volpe. Volpe's massive local ties contributed to the ovation, but it's more of what he represents to the Yankee fan. Volpe is the future, and the future is now.

Anthony Volpe with the Somerset Patriots during a 2022 game in Altoona, Pennsylvania. Jeffrey Hyde / Wikipedia

It's not a stretch to say the fans were not fully on board with the team last year. They were not exactly unlikeable, but there is a difference between being beloved and just tolerated. Yankees fans didn't embrace this team like we have watched in the past, but that seems to all be behind them now. Besides Volpe, Cabrera got a huge applause, Michael King received the loudest cheers from the bullpen arms and Nestor Cortes was the fan favorite for starting pitchers.

This is a team New York can get behind. They have become a very likeable team and it's all led by a very likeable player in Anthony Volpe. The new #11 "gets it'' as evidenced by him calling another Yankee fan favorite Brett Gardner and asking him if he could wear his old number. From an outsider's eye the new look Yankees might look an awful lot like the old look Yankees, but fans are seeing this team much differently. The Yankees might not win it all this season, but it looks like the fans are gearing up for a very fun summer.