Bronx ready to roar as the World Series finally returns to Yankee Stadium

It won’t be long before everyone gets used to it again. Fifteen years may seem like an eternity when you’re talking about Yankees appearances in the World Series, but when you have muscle memory that strong, it all comes back pretty quickly. The sights. The sounds – especially the sounds. The energy.

And yes, the magic.

The Mets may have captured the October magic this time around, but they never put a down payment on it. Yankee Stadium has been the home office for the magic of October – for the magic of the World Series – since a time when silent movies were the most popular form of entertainment.

We could list all those memories, but that would be redundant because if you’re a Yankees fan, you know them all by heart. If you’ve been lucky, you may have seen one or two over the years, either at the current address or at the old address across the street.

The others, you’ve seen enough, read enough about them, that it doesn’t take much to believe that you were in the stands those days and nights. Yankee Stadium in the World Series is a civic treasure passed down from generation to generation. It’s your turn now.

“We have the greatest fans in the world,” Aaron Judge said Saturday night, after the Yankees tried to create another forever October moment but fell one stroke shortdropping a 4-2 decision to the Dodgers and falling into an 0-2 hole in this, the 120th edition of the World Series. “They will be behind us. They always do that.”

The vast majority of Yankees fans understand the joy of having followed such a franchise, and while overflowing with confidence is generally their default position, they can also recognize a seminal moment when it presents itself, like the one in so many World Series has happened. over so many Octobers, over so many decades. That’s Game 3. That’s Monday night.

The mouth breathers who gave the rest of Yankee Fandom a bad name on Saturday, were caught on film cheering Shohei Ohtani’s injury at Billy’s and gave a few vulgar one-finger salutes do not represent the majority of Yankees fans. And those fans – the good ones, the loyal ones – were certainly happy to hear Dave Roberts’ words late Sunday afternoon: saying Ohtani will likely go Monday night.

“Shohei felt good this morning, range of motion and strength,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “If he feels good enough to go, I don’t know why he wouldn’t be there. Guys have had and played this before. I don’t see him being compromised.”

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True Yankees fans, those who have been with them for parades and for predicaments, never shy away from seeing teams at their best. In fact, they welcome it. And while Ohtani can expect a loud wave of boos when he’s introduced before the game, and if, as expected, they double that in the top of the first inning when he opens the game, he’ll get a fair reception from the lucky one on the stands.

It’s not the Dodgers that the bleachers will be most concerned about. Forget the LA superstar’s health; the Yankees need their offense, which scored 815 runs this year (third best in all of baseball), to show signs of life to show how robust it can be.

Yes, this will be helped if Aaron Judge — and again, maybe turn the amp up to 11 when he’s introduced Monday night — can pull himself out of his October funk. But it also means that the bottom of the setup must also appear.

The Yankees lost Game 1 from the front and Game 2 from behind, but what they could really use is a lopsided number, as early as possible, especially on Monday. Give yourself a little room to breathe. Give the mass some material to work with. The Dodgers are ruthless, frustratingly enough, but they are also human.

An early hole and a deafening and sustained roar would pave the clearest path to shaving the Dodgers to a 2-1 lead in this series. Let the Dodgers hear the grudge for a few hours, then let them cook on it overnight. That’s the immediate mission here.

And they have come to the right place. It’s not surprising that the Yankees are responsible for 40 percent of World Series comebacks when a team starts 0-2 (four out of 10), since they’ve played in more World Series than anyone else. And there are no players on the roster who were around in 1996, or even alive in 1978, 1958 or 1956.

Doesn’t matter Monday. It doesn’t matter in The Bronx, where an old friend, the World Series, returns, where the faithful have waited and where they are ready. The countdown has begun for roll call, Fall Classic edition. Clear your throat. We’re almost there.