When the New York Yankees arrive at Yankee Stadium on Monday afternoon, hours before Game 3 of the World Series, they’ll hope for some help from the “ghosts” of past franchise legends that Aaron Judge likes to talk about. Down 2-0 in the best-of-seven series to the Los Angeles Dodgers, they’ll take any magic they can get. Maybe it’ll come from something hanging in their lockers.
The Yankees will cross their fingers that a little bit of the team’s Derek Jeter-era glory will rub off on them from old-school turtlenecks they’ve been wearing this October.
“I saw Jeter wearing it when I was younger,” Jazz Chisholm Jr. said. “That’s why I wore it, too.”
Navy with long sleeves and logos for MLB and the Yankees on the neck, the vintage turtlenecks had recently been unearthed from cardboard boxes deep in a storage room at their ballpark. They had been an October staple for the dynastic Yankees of the late-90s and continued into the 2000s.
Jeter wore one for his walk-off blast in Game 4 of the 2001 World Series, a home run that earned him the moniker “Mr. November.” Closer Mariano Rivera wore it in the ninth inning to finish off the Subway Series in 2000. Third baseman Charlie Hayes wore one when he caught the final out to clinch the 1996 World Series — a victory that launched a dynasty.
Derek Jeter was wearing a turtleneck when he swatted his iconic walk-off home run. (Al Bello/ ALLSPORT)
That 1996 team also faced a 2-0 deficit in the best-of-seven World Series. They became only the 10th team ever to come back and win the championship. They remain the last team to accomplish the feat. The 2024 team hopes to change that. If they do, it’ll be as they pay what Game 3 starting pitcher Clarke Schmidt called “a little bit of homage” to the franchise’s storied past.
Tapping into the franchise’s “ghosts”
Ace Gerrit Cole grew up a Yankees diehard in Newport Beach, Calif., and he said wearing them gives him a connection to his “childhood heroes.” Shortstop Anthony Volpe — another lifelong Yankees fan — said “everyone’s in on them.”
But there’s more to it than good vibes. Game 3 is scheduled for an 8:08 p.m. start and temperatures could drop to 49 degrees, according to the National Weather Service. And several players said that the undershirts — manufactured by Majestic Athletic, some of them three decades old — are more comfortable and better suited for the chill and the winds that can swirl inside Yankee Stadium than the Nike-designed gear approved by Major League Baseball.
In an interview on Fox Sports before Game 1 on Friday, Jeter asked Aaron Judge why the Yankees had brought the turtlenecks out of retirement.
“We had to go old school, man,” Judge told him. “That’s when it was made with some quality.”
“It’s warmer,” Chisholm Jr. said. “I wear two of them. I’m from the Bahamas, bro. It’s cold.”
“It does definitely keep you warmer up here,” Cole said, touching the middle of his neck. “Some guys cut the sleeves off, wear the proper sleeves and just keep the center and the turtleneck to keep the neck warm.”
Nike hasn’t been thrilled about the Yankees’ use of clothing from a different brand, multiple team sources told The Athletic. In 2019, Nike and Fanatics made a 10-year agreement with MLB to ensure that Nike would be the sole provider of on-field uniforms. Earlier this season, Nike and Fanatics came under fire when players ripped their newly designed jerseys for everything from their look to their feel.
Yankees director of clubhouse operations Lou Cucuzza and equipment manager Rob Cucuzza each declined comment. However, a league source said that MLB was “comfortable” with the Yankees continuing to wear the turtlenecks since they were previously issued and kept in stock. Messages to Nike, Fanatics and Majestic Athletic went unanswered. Fanatics bought Majestic Athletic in 2017.
“Old-school Majestic is the way to go,” Schmidt said. “ … It looks dope and it fits (well).”
Aaron Judge is one of several 2024 Yankees donning the iconic turtleneck of past teams. (Sarah Stier / Getty Images)
Several Yankees luminaries were tickled to see the turtlenecks back in action. They loved hearing that these Yankees wanted to pay respect to those who came before them.
“That’s a really nice compliment,” said Girardi, who was a catcher on the 1996 Yankees team. “I applaud them for that. … It’s special. It’s nice that they want to be a part of what we did. We want to be a part of what they do. We’re all pulling for them. We’re all excited for them.”
“I love the look,” retired pitcher and YES Network analyst David Cone said.
Core Four member Andy Pettitte has been with the Yankees throughout the playoffs to help as a pitching advisor.
“I got one hanging in my locker,” Pettitte said on the field at Dodger Stadium before Game 2. “It’s just a little warm out here now to have it on.”
The first of the turtlenecks to return to the field was in Game 162. It was a Sunday afternoon game against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Though it was 61 degrees at first pitch, rain delayed the game for an hour and a half, and winds and gray skies made it feel much cooler. Volpe asked a clubhouse staffer if the team had something else he could wear other than the Nike-issued long sleeve. The staffer went digging in the back, pulled out the first box of Majestic Athletic turtlenecks and handed one to Volpe. It was an XXL, a size too big for Volpe, but he didn’t care.
“I like how it looks,” he said.
Schmidt said he was considering wearing his on the mound Monday night.
“A lot of us like the vintage look,” he said, “and it’s warm. It’s the material. It’s like a thicker cotton. It’s just when you’re at home, or Cleveland was really cold too. But, obviously, the feel of it. It’s the classic Yankees look.”
Girardi won World Series rings as a player with the Yankees in 1996, 1998 and 1999, and as their manager in 2009.
“I always felt (the turtlenecks) were comfortable,” he said. “I think you feel like your neck is warm. Your head is covered with a hat or with a mask or a helmet. If your neck is warm, you feel warm.”
“I love the material,” Pettitte said. “The material is soft. The Nike stuff for me is clingy, and I don’t feel like I have the 25-year-old body anymore. Give me a little bit of loose stuff, right?”
“Some guys don’t like the moisture-wicking (material) as much,” Cone said. “They like the old-school cotton.”
For Cole, the obsession goes back much further.
In February 2020, he arrived at his spring training locker at George M. Steinbrenner Field for his first official day with the Yankees. After all those years of being a fan, finally, hanging in front of him were his very own team-issued set of pinstriped pants, hats with the interlocking NY and workout gear. His heart warmed at the sight.
But something was missing. He pushed aside the hangers, looking. Then he searched for Rob Cucuzza.
“Do you have any more of those turtlenecks?” he said.
Cole said he’s kept several of them in his locker but breaks them out sparingly, trying to “selectively wear it so it doesn’t get worn out in the washer and dryer.”
And they get Cole closer to the Yankees he loved as a kid, the ones this team hopes to channel Monday — as it tries to win the World Series just like they did, wearing the turtlenecks just like they did.
“It looks like my childhood heroes,” Cole said. “[I can] put on their superhero costume.”
(Top photo of Anthony Volpe wearing a 90s era Yankees turtleneck during the ALCS: Maddie Meyer / Getty Images)