Anthony Volpe’s father Michael posted a picture on Instagram of the Yankees shortstop as a young boy at the 2009 World Series parade earlier this week, which got plenty of fans fired up for a potential sequel, this time with Volpe on a float as opposed to in the crowd.
For Volpe, the picture offered memories of how profound of an impact those Yankees had on the city after winning their first title in nine years, and how intensified it would be to have a parade after winning a championship for the first time since that 2009 celebration.
“I just wanted to throw as much toilet paper as I could,” Volpe told Rob Bradford of the Baseball Isn’t Boring podcast. “You just wait the whole day to see the guys go by on the floats. It seems like they’re larger than life. They accomplished something that to me and young guys in the city, that’s what you dream of.
“I feel like if we win, it’ll be crazier than what I remember.”
The 23-year-old Volpe famously grew up a Yankee fan as a New York native, idolizing Derek Jeter before becoming the Yankees starting shortstop himself. Now, after an up-and-down first two seasons in the pros, Volpe is hitting .310 in the postseason and looking to become one of those larger-than-life figures for a new generation of young Yankee fans that would flood the Canyon of Heroes if the 2024 Yanks were able to put together four more wins.
“The eight-year-old kid would probably be mad that it took that long to get back to the World Series,” Volpe laughed when asked what his younger self would think of this moment. “But it would be cool to look back on it. Just looking at pictures and having family tell stories of what they remember has been a lot of fun.”
Still, the job isn’t finished, and a young Volpe would not have lined up with countless other fans along the streets of New York City had the Yanks simply won a pennant in 2009. There is a job to finish in order to truly be remembered forever among the history of baseball’s most successful franchise ever.
“It’s definitely surreal,” Volpe said. “But when I look back and what you dream of as a kid, it’s to win the World Series. Not just to be here playing. So there’s a lot of work to do.”