The New York Yankees made it to the World Series for the first time in 15 years, and while the series against the Los Angeles Dodgers didn’t end well for the Bronx Bombers, the team and fans sure had fun along the way.
Bars, restaurants and sports shops near Yankee Stadium brought their A-game to the thousands of fans who flocked to the Bronx for the home games in the best-of-seven series, as well as those who avoided the sky-high ticket prices by watching on TV from the comfort of a local sports bar.
In the series, the Dodgers won the first three games, but the Yankees clawed back to win Game 4 at home. Momentum was with the Yankees, but in Game 5, one terrible inning of errors cost them the win that would have forced a Game 6.
In the off-season, the 26-year-old popular Dominican Yankees player Juan Soto, who was a free agent, hopped boroughs over to Queens to play with the Mets, who hope his whopping $765-million, 15-year contract will help their team to a World Series title, which they have not held since 1986.
This year, Yankee Stadium also played host to another rare event, a full solar eclipse on April 8 that coincided with a home game against the Miami Marlins. Fans were allowed into the stadium early to see the eclipse through special glasses and received t-shirts to commemorate the occasion.
The Bronx also saw one of its own young sports talents in a rare return to play in his home city. Boogie Fland, a freshman NCAA basketball star for the University of Arkansas, is currently one of the top-rated new players and is expected to be a first-round NBA draft pick this coming year.
Fland grew up around 170th and Grand Concourse and said he had about 100 friends and family members in the stands on Dec. 10 at Madison Square Garden as his team won a tough 89-87 battle against Michigan in the Jimmy V Classic.
