Yankees fans didn’t waste any time getting their hands on World Series merchandise.
After waiting 15 years for the Bronx Bombers to capture another American League championship, fans were lined up Sunday morning to get into the team store at Yankee Stadium to buy apparel, including Yankees caps with the World Series 2024 patch stitched on the side.
The Yankees defeated the Guardians in five games in the ALCS, securing the pennant Saturday night in Cleveland after Juan Soto etched himself into franchise lore with a three-run, 10th-inning home run to put the Yankees up 5-2.
The last time the Yanks were in the World Series was when they won the title in 2009.
And while Saturday was a celebratory night, just getting to the big stage isn’t going to be enough for the Yankees and their championship-starved fan base.
“We didn’t come here for this,” Aaron Judge told reporters as champagne was sprayed all over the visitors’ clubhouse Saturday night. “We came here for the ultimate prize.”
They await the Mets or Dodgers, with the Mets trailing in the NLCS 3-2 entering Sunday night’s Game 6 in Los Angeles.
Should the Yankees face the Dodgers, it would mark the 12th time the two have met in the Fall Classic; the Yanks have won eight of their 11 World Series meetings, though Los Angeles captured the last one in 1981 in six games.
A meeting with the Mets would mean the second time in history there would be a Subway World Series; the Yankees defeated the Mets in five games in the 2000 series.