Attendance was a near-sellout, 44,081. But, given a rebound in COVID, the Old-Timers Game was canceled, and the oldest of the Old-Timers were advised to stay away. So none of the players from the 1960-64 Dynasty, the last remaining one with any significant surviving representation, were there. The earliest Yankees in attendance were Roy White (who debuted in 1965) and Ron Blomberg (1969).
There was representation from Yankee widows Joan Ford, Jill Martin, Kay Murcer, Diana Munson and Helen Hunter. But Arlene Howard was unable to attend, although she did leave a nice video message, and Pat Maris has never attended. (Cora Rizzuto is already dead, and was only well enough to attend once after Phil died. And, unlike them, Claire Ruth and Eleanor Gehrig, Merlyn Mantle never attended after Mickey died. Carmen Berra predeceased Yogi. So did both of Joe DiMaggio's wives, Dorothy Arnold and Marilyn Monroe.)
None of the living Yankee Hall-of-Famers were there: Reggie Jackson, Goose Gossage, Dave Winfield, Rickey Henderson (if you want to count him as a Yankee), Wade Boggs, Joe Torre, Tim Raines, Mike Mussina, Mariano Rivera or Derek Jeter.
Only 4 Monument Park honorees showed up: Ron Guidry, Willie Randolph, Bernie Williams and Tino Martinez -- but not Jackson, Gossage, Don Mattingly (unavailable, as he's the manager of the Miami Marlins), Andy Pettitte or Jorge Posada. Strangest of all, Monument Parker Paul O'Neill was part of the YES Network broadcast staff, but didn't suit up and take part in the ceremony. David Cone, another YES correspondent, was suited up, but he hasn't yet received either of those honors.
Nor did figures of controversy Roger Clemens and Alex Rodriguez, who haven't received either of those honors. Nor did CC Sabathia, who isn't a figure of controversy, but isn't yet eligible for the Hall of Fame.
From the 1977 and 1978 World Champions, White, Guidry, Randolph, Chris Chambliss, Bucky Dent and, despite his noticeable impairment due to Parkinson's disease, Brian Doyle were there -- but not Jackson, Gossage, Graig Nettles, Lou Piniella, Ed Figueroa or Sparky Lyle.
And from the 1996-2000 Dynasty: Bernie, Tino, Cone, Jeff Nelson, Graeme Lloyd and Homer Bush; but not Torre, Jeter, Rivera, Pettitte, Posada, Boggs, Raines, Clemens, Joe Girardi (recently fired as manager of the Philadelphia Phillies, so available), Jimmy Key, David Wells, Mariano Duncan, Chuck Knoblauch, Scott Brosius, Jim Leyritz, Cecil Fielder, Chili Davis, Mike Stanton, David Justice, or Darryl Strawberry or Dwight Gooden, the latter 2 leaning more toward their Met heritage lately. And, as I said, O'Neill was there, but not suited up.
Aaron Boone, the current manager, and his hitting instructor, Hensley "Bam-Bam" Meulens -- doing more for the team in that role than he ever did as a player, despite his massive promise as a "prospect" -- were introduced as "old-timers."
Due to the fact that COVID prevented the last 2 Old-Timers Days, meaning it had been 3 years since the last one, there was an unusually long post-introduction tribute to "members of the Yankee family" who had passed away since the last one. Also come if there was no game for the Old-Timers.
There was one for the current players. Nestor Cortes started, and went 5 innings. Aroldis Chapman, without the pressure of being the closer, pitched a perfect 6. Clarke Schmidt pitched 3 scoreless, qualifying him for the save regardless of the lead.
And the Yankees got the lead immediately. Their 1st batter, DJ LeMahieu, hit a home run. Next, they got a single from Aaron Judge, a walk from Andrew Benintendi and a double from Gleyber Torres.
In the 2nd, with Jose Trevino on base, Judge invoked memories of Ruth, Mantle and Jackson with another long blast. It was his 42nd home run of the season. He is now on a pace for 67. It was also the 200th of his career. (It seems like a lot more, but he has had some injuries.)
Before the ceremony, Meredith Marakovits interviewed Cone, and asked him how he would pitch to Judge. He said, "Is first base open?" She also interviewed Guidry, who said he'd pitch to the hole in Judge's swing. Given that his ceremonial first ball, to Thurman's son Michael Munson, bounced before getting to the plate, I'm not so sure that would work. (Guidry's team record of 18 strikeouts in a game looks safe, but his single-season record of 248, also set in 1978, is in danger: Gerrit Cole has 162, and probably has at least 9 starts left. If he averages 8.6 per start, he'll break it.)
In the 4th, the Yankees got runs on a single by LeMahieu and a sacrifice fly by Benintendi. In the 6th, Isiah Kiner-Falefa drew a leadoff walk, reached 2nd base on a balk, tried to steal 3rd, and got a bad throw that allowed him to score. (Seems to me I've heard before that leadoff walks can kill you, especially the leadoff variety. But this wasn't a "kill": The Yankees were already up 6-2.) And Matt Carpenter homered in the 7th.
Yankees 8, Royals 2. WP: Cortes (9-3). SV: Schmidt (2). LP: Jonathan Heasley (1-6). That's the 1st 3 of this 4-game series.
The series concludes this afternoon. Jordan Montgomery, who doesn't get much run support, starts against Zack Greinke, whose 222 wins and 2,856 strikeouts might make him a Hall-of-Famer, although he's struggled a bit this season. Looks like the Yankees might not get the sweep.