Second Yankee season for Spencerport native Aaron Patella Ryan savors milestone celebrations

The New York Yankees have had up and down seasons in 2013 and 2014, the two years that Spencerport native Aaron Patella Ryan has worked as a bat boy. However, that doesn’t mean he hasn’t been able to witness some remarkable, history-making events.

“Even though I might not be able to experience the playoffs,” Aaron says, “I got to see Mariano’s (pitcher Mariano Rivera) and Jeter’s last years.”

Rivera retired at the end of the 2013 season and superstar shortstop Derek Jeter is set to retire at the end of this season. Rivera and Jeter are the last two members of the “Core Four” to retire from the championship teams of 1996-2000 and 2009, composed of catcher Jorge Posada and pitcher Andy Pettitte, in addition to Rivera and Jeter.

Jeter was Aaron’s idol growing up during the Yankee/Joe Torre dynasty years.

“To be around (Jeter and Rivera) and see all they do on a day-to-day basis is amazing,” Aaron says.

He explains that his second season as a home-team bat boy at Yankee Stadium has gone well. “It’s been great,” he says. “When I came back, a bunch of players remembered who I was. My relationship with players carried over into my second year.”

This season has included some memorable events for Aaron.

On Saturday, August 23, former manager Joe Torre’s number 6 was retired during special ceremonies. Aaron says it was an emotional day for fans at the stadium.

“During the ceremony … to see Joe going around to thank every single player, coaches and staff,” Aaron says. “When he got to Jeter, I was getting choked-up.”

Before the ceremonies even began, Aaron had the experience of being just a few feet away as Torre and a bevy of former Yankee greats from the 1996-2000 seasons waited in the tunnel to walk on the field.

“I was staring at my childhood,” Aaron says. “Just watching them all interact – to realize that just five feet away from me was one of the greatest teams in history.”

Aaron says he will be sad to see Jeter retire this fall. Being able to be around him as a bat boy is “just incredible,” Aaron notes.

“He is a genuinely good guy,” Aaron says of the Yankees’ captain. “He’s always joking around with everybody, he’s hilarious. He goes out of his way to make everybody feel comfortable. You can talk to him and treat him as a normal person and he does the same to you. It’s cool.

“I’ve idolized him my entire life,” Aaron says of Jeter. “He’s the last Core Four member. It seems as long as I’ve been alive, Jeter has been a Yankee. To see him go will be a little upsetting.”

The Yankee great has turned to Aaron this season for a little “good luck.” Aaron says that Jeter has asked him “hold his bat to get him a hit” recently and the tactic has been successful.

Jeter, “… asked me to hold his bat before he went up to break the Honus Wagner record (for 6th on baseball’s all-time hits list),” Aaron says.

Jeter got the hit. “I felt like I was giving him the lift to break the record,” Aaron says. (Aaron explained that the celebration came a little early as there was a change to an earlier scoring decision and the run ended up being the one to tie the record).

“I still think it was pretty cool,” Aaron says.

Derek Jeter will play his last regular season game during a series with arch-rival Boston in late September. Aaron does not normally travel with the team, but hopes to be at the game one way or another.

“I want to try to get there if I can,” he says. “Fenway Park is American baseball.”

Aaron says that despite this season’s ups and downs, the mood in the locker room is always upbeat.

“There are jokes and laughs every single day,” he says. “The players try to keep it light. You play 162 games each year. You can’t spend the whole season uptight. If you’re not able to have fun, it would be miserable for everybody.”

He says there’s still a chance for the team to make the playoffs and the players know it. “They know they need to stay relaxed,” Aaron says, “and get to business on a day-to-day basis.”

Note: Westside News Inc.’s first article about Aaron Patella Ryan’s Yankee Experience was printed June 2, 2013. Search the archives for On the field at Yankee Stadium. Aaron is the son of Westside News Inc. Publisher Keith Ryan and his wife Francine.

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