The longtime Bombers outfielder has been overshadowed for most of his career by bigger names and bigger contracts, but seemingly every year the team finds it’s hard to get by without him.
Brett Gardner is the only player remaining from the last championship team in The Bronx.
There were times throughout the offseason when it looked as if Gardner’s days with the Yankees might be finished. But following the COVID-shortened 2020 season, Gardner had no intentions of retiring to his farm in South Carolina. He signed back on just before spring training, determined to play again in front of fans and to compete for another title.
Now the Yankees are fighting for a Wild Card spot, a 13-game August winning streak soon giving way to a brutal stretch in which the team has lost eight of its past nine games. Gardner, at the age of 38, yet again is crucial to the playoff push.
“Just because you want to come back and go to the postseason and win the World Series, things aren’t always gonna go smoothly,” Gardner said. “I know how hard this game can be. It’s probably harder now than it ever has been because of the competition. I never once second-guessed my decision to come back.”