It's been an offseason of change for the New York Yankees. Some of that change has been negative, like having to wave goodbye to Juan Soto after just one season in the Bronx. Some have been positive, like finally, at long last, allowing grown professional athletes to grow facial hair, amending a rule that had been alienating current players and potential free-agent targets for a generation.
But beards aren't the only big policy change coming to Yankee Stadium this season. The team also announced over the weekend that its home games will be sounding a lot different as well.
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Yankees will no longer play 'New York, New York' after losses
If you know anything about game day at Yankee Stadium, you know about "New York, New York," the Frank Sinatra tune that's become as synonymous with Yankees victories as John Sterling's outrageous radio call. It's a tradition that began all the way back in 1980, just a year after Sinatra recorded his version of the song originally made famous by Liza Minelli in the Martin Scorsese film of the same name.
But while you may associate those iconic horns with New York wins, the team also played it after losses. Until now, that is: After the final out of the Yankees' 4-0 defeat to the Detroit Tigers at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, it was a different Sinatra song — “That’s Life” — that began to play over the loudspeakers
That created something of a stir among Yankees fans, and after the game the team confirmed that it was indeed part of a change in strategy. While "New York, New York" will continue to soundtrack wins, the team will look elsewhere after losses.
“We will be rotating through a number of different songs after a Yankees loss this year, none of them will be ‘New York New York,'” a Yankees spokesperson said, courtesy of the The Athletic.
Which is probably for the best. It was always a bit of a tonal clash, a triumphant song about the glories of the Big Apple playing over scenes of forlorn fans and players. And the team itself can't have been too wild about the optics of it all (especially after, say, the final out of a World Series defeat). Slowly but surely, the Yankees are allowing themselves to be dragged into the 21st century; now, if Hal Steinbrenner can only figure out how to sign a third baseman.