I thought we could all use a little 12 Days of a 2022 Yankee Christmas before we round out the year. Good old Kris Kringle was a pretty generous compadre to us this year, especially this offseason. Christmas came early this year with a few re-signings, new signings, and hopefully a few more to come. We've all been asking Santa for the same thing since 2009, surely 2023 will be our year...
The 12 Days of a 2022 Yankee Christmas
On the 1st day of Christmas, the Yankees finished the regular season in 1st place in the American League East Division. This was the first time the Yankees had clinched the division since 2019 and their 20th time in franchise history.
On the 2nd day of Christmas, the Yankees welcomed "the captain" back to Yankee Stadium for the first time since retiring his no. 2 uniform in Monument Park in 2017. The event commemorated his induction into the Hall of Fame Class of 2021. Jeter was accompanied by his family along with teammates, CC Sabathia, Tino Martinez, Andy Pettitte, Jorge Posada, Mariano Rivera and Manager “Mr. T” Joe Torre.
On the 3rd day of Christmas, the Yankees extended their win streak to 11, the biggest of the season, when they annihilated the Toronto Blue Jays 9-1 on May 3rd. Judge and Stanton both went deep to left in this game.
On the 4th day of Christmas, Gerrit Cole made history on October 4th when he garnered the Yankees’ all-time single-season strikeout record, toppling Ron Guidry’s record at 249k’s. Guidry had recorded 248 during the 1978 season.
On the 5th day of Christmas the Yankees were popping bottles at Yankee Stadium, though in moderation, as they were about to hit the road for Houston to commence the ALCS the following day. Giancarlo Stanton blasted a three-run homer in the bottom of the first inning of Game 5 of the ALDS to secure an early lead against the Cleveland Guardians. The Yankees beat the Guardians 5-1.
On the 6th day of Christmas, CBS’ Jon Heyman reported on December 6th, “Arson Judge appears headed to Giants.” This was news to Aaron Judge as his private jet was in-flight to San Diego when the news broke.
On the 7th day of Christmas, Aaron Judge signed a 9-year, $360 million deal with the Yankees on December 7th. The Yankees later held a press conference on December 21st to officially announce the re-signing of Judge. They also named him the 16th captain of the New York Yankees. It remains to be seen how the Giants plan to utilize Arson Judge.
On the 8th day of Christmas, Anthony Rizzo threatened Manager Aaron Boone’s job when he led the Yankees to an 8-3 victory over the Blue Jays in his debut as acting manager with Gleyber Torres acting as bench manager. I’m almost certain the agreement to allow Rizzo and Gleyber to manage went something like this…the boys went out for a few celebratory drinks the night before after a victorious night in Vlad’s house, and when it was time to return to the hotel for some z’s, Boonie said, “you guys go on ahead we’ll catch up with you!” The “we” was Boonie, Rizz, and Gleybae. They decided to stay for one more and the rest is history…literally history. History was made the next night when Aaron Judge crushed home run number 61.
On the 9th day of Christmas, Aaron Judge surpassed no. 9, Roger Maris’, 61-year single-season American League home run record when he blasted his 62nd home run of the 2022 season at Globe Life Field in Arlington, TX.
On the 10th day of Christmas, the Yankees scored 10 or more runs in 21 games during the 2022 season. The Yankees led the American League with 807 total runs for an average of 4.9 runs per game.
On the 11th day of Christmas, the Yankees signed no. 11, Brett Gardner to a one-year, $11 million deal. This has not been confirmed, but boy if it was, it would be quite the Gardy Party. After all, who is going to play left field in 2023?
On the 12th day of Christmas, the Yankees signed LHP Carlos Rodón to a six-year, $162 million deal. The 2022 All-Star and 6th place NL CY Young finisher gave up just 12 homeruns in the entire 2022 season and finished the season out with a 14-8 record, a 2.88 ERA, and a 1.03 WHIP.
On the 13th day of Christmas, there is no 13th day of Christmas, but the Yankees traded no. 13, Joey Gallo, and it felt like Christmas in July.
Dear Santa...
And, yes, it's true. If you did a double take of the photo above, your eyes did not deceive you. It is a Babe Ruth Santa. Thank you 21st century AI art.
Anyway...dear Santa...
In 2023, please keep our injuries at bay. We'll take a healthy bullpen with an extra healthy toe for DJLM. We know that you like Broadway. We watch you parade down it every Thanksgiving. We like it, too. So please lead us to our long-awaited number 28, so we too can be ushered down Broadway.
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