27!

The Yankees are once again the champions of Major League Baseball. Andy, Jete, Jorge, and Mo were all on the field when the final out was recorded. This time it wasn't Tino Martinez catching the final out from the second baseman, but Mark Teixeira. Nonetheless there was something familiar about this feeling.

One thing that was a little less familiar was the absence of the the Boss, George Steinbrenner, who watched the team from Tampa. His kids were there though, all of them. And they got to enjoy something he had passed on to them.

Few of us have a baseball team handed to us by a parent, but all of us received baseball from someone. And as the Steinbrenner kids would have to celebrate without their dad last night, a lot of us are celebrating another great baseball moment without one of the people who helped bring us this game, who introduced us to this team, who taught us about being fans. Unfortunately, many of us are separated from one of those individuals by more than distance.

For my brother and I, that person is our grandfather (Abuelo), who passed down his love for the Yankees to us through our mother. And while he isn't around for us to call and congratulate on another successful post-season, he is a great reminder of why baseball is our pastime.

Baseball is about the legacies our teams create and that we, as fans, pass on. So on the morning after our team has once again added to that legacy, I hope we'll take a moment to think about the people who passed this game on to us so that we could stay up past midnight some November and enjoy another celebration by the pitcher's mound. Give them a call if you still can, congratulate them. Just sober up first, seriously.