TAMPA, Fla. — The Yankees will play Frank Sinatra’s version of the “Theme From New York, New York” only after home wins instead of after all games in the Bronx, going back to the original custom set by owner George Steinbrenner in 1980.
The Yankees said players and staff were tired of hearing a celebratory song following defeats.
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After Sunday’s 4-0 spring training loss to Detroit at George M. Steinbrenner Field, the Yankees played Sinatra’s 1966 recording of “That’s Life,” a 1963 song by Dean Kay and Kelly Gordon. The change occurred two days after the team ended the ban on beards imposed by Steinbrenner in 1976.
The team said various songs will be used after losses.
“New York, New York” first was played at the end of Yankees wins after Steinbrenner learned of Sinatra’s version from a disc jockey at Le Club, a Manhattan restaurant and disco, former team public relations director Marty Appel told The New York Times in 2015.
The song, with music by John Kander and lyrics by Fred Ebb, was first sung by Liza Minnelli for the 1977 Martin Scorsese film “New York, New York” and Sinatra performed it in a Don Costa arrangement for his 1980 recording “Trilogy: Past Present Future.”
For several years, the Yankees alternated the Sinatra version after wins and the Minnelli version following defeats. In recent years, the Sinatra rendition has been played after all final outs.
The Yankees said Friday that they were ending their ban on beards, fearing the prohibition might hamper player recruitment.
Hal Steinbrenner took over in 2008 as controlling owner from his father, who died in 2010.
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