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Flavor Of The Week: Examining ways to replace Ezekiel Elliott, again

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Police: Luzerne County Children and Youth employee assaulted

<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; OK, the election is over and we can move on now to more important matters.</p><p>Who will be the next manager of the New York Yankees?</p><p>I certainly have zero influence with the Steinbrenner family and even less with General Manager Brian Cashman. But for what it&#8217;s worth, I have knowledge of the Yankees and I have some advice to give.</p><p>As with all decisions like this, I urge those making this one to choose wisely.</p><p>Don&#8217;t hire Alex Rodriguez, or David Cone, or John Flaherty. Give serious consideration to Al Pedrique, who has done a good job at the helm of the RailRiders. He&#8217;s a guy who knows all those young Yankee stars and prospects and they love him.</p><p>Did I tip my hand there?</p><p>Since we&#8217;re not playing poker, I&#8217;m OK if you know who I would like to see replace Joe &#8220;Genius&#8221; Girardi. So be it.</p><p>But let&#8217;s discuss these Yankees and try to figure out how they improve on what was a really remarkable 2017 season.</p><p>The Yankees are loaded with stars &#8212; Aaron Judge, Gary Sanchez, Didi Gregorius, Starlin Castro, Luis Severino &#8212; and they have some quality veterans and a minor league system filled with top prospects.</p><p>My point here is &#8212; don&#8217;t screw this up.</p><p>The Yankees have an opportunity here to re-establish their dynasty-like organization. The Yankees could, under the right leadership, be in the running for the American League pennant every year for years to come. This group is that good.</p><p>And as we go forward, I must tell you that I have been a Yankee fan since birth. My dad was a Yankee diehard. He would watch every game he could and he would offer comments that were always insightful, but occasionally unfit for broadcast or a young lad&#8217;s ears. At least that&#8217;s what my mom would say.</p><p>And as rabid a Yankee fan my dad was, his sister &#8212; my Aunt Betty &#8212; was even more vocal.</p><p>Mickey Mantle was the apple of Aunt Betty&#8217;s eye. &#8220;The Mick&#8221; could do no wrong. She would stop everything whenever Mantle came to bat. And Mickey seldom disappointed.</p><p>Mantle was also my childhood hero. This is why my mom and dad would take me to Yankee Stadium for weekend series all the time. Aunt Betty and Uncle Joe would come along.</p><p>We always had great seats and we always marveled at the Yankees and how they played. In fact, a Yankee served in the U.S. Army with one of my dad&#8217;s best friends. Johnny Blanchard, a backup catcher, first baseman and left fielder had a few good years with the Yanks and we loved it when he would get in the games.</p><p>I&#8217;ve told the story of how we left a Yankees-Red Sox game in the eighth inning because the Yanks were trailing by two runs and Mantle wasn&#8217;t due up until sixth in the ninth inning. And then we learned when we returned to the Yankee Motor Lodge that the Yankees came back to win on Mantle&#8217;s three-run homer in the bottom of the ninth.</p><p>Aunt Betty never forgave me for that one, but who knew.</p><p>And there was the time my mom and I were having breakfast in the Yankee Motor Lodge restaurant when Joe Pepitone came in for a cup of coffee. Most of the Yankee players stayed at the lodge when in town.</p><p>My mom loved Joe Pepitone, so I went over to him and asked if he could give me his autograph. I told him my mom loved him. Joe gave me the autograph, then picked up his coffee and walked back to our table. He sat down and gave my mom a hug and a kiss on the cheek. She never forgot it and she bragged about that experience for months after.</p><p>My point is that the Yankees have always been our team. We remember things like Ryne Duren warming up, throwing the first pitch over the back stop just to keep the on-deck batter a bit uneasy. Duren wore thick glasses and would give the impression that he really couldn&#8217;t see home plate, the catcher&#8217;s mitt or the batter, so look out.</p><p>I have met so many Yankees &#8212; Mantle, Berra, Ford, Boyer, Kubek, Richardson from those great 1960s teams &#8212; to more recent stars like Roy White, Bucky Dent, Reggie Jackson, Rick Cerone and Hector Lopez. I even got a chance to see Pepitone when he was at PNC Field a couple years ago. He was glad I told him the story about that day with my mom back in the early 1960s.</p><p>Like all Yankees fans, we really enjoyed 2017. All we want is to see that kind of play continue. </p><p>Choose wisely.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">O&#8217;Boyle </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/web1_Columnshot-1-1-1-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>O&#8217;Boyle </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Bill O&#8217;Boyle</p><p>boboyle@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Bill O&#8217;Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle, or email at boboyle@www.timesleader.com.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Beyond the Byline: Choose wisely, Yankees