What’s it gonna be?

World Series – Los Angeles Dodgers v New York Yankees – Game 4 / Sarah Stier/GettyImages

It all depends how the New York Yankees respond on Wednesday night. That’s the story of the 2024 season, isn’t it? Momentum has been tough for the Yankees to harness this year, but they have no better time to respond and rise to the occasion than right now.

Anthony Volpe’s heroics in Game 4 of the World Series kept his team alive. He belted a grand slam in the third inning to put the Yankees up 5-2 and then (perhaps irrationally) legged out a double in the bottom of the eighth that started a five-run inning so there’d be no sweat in the top of the ninth.

The Yankees won 11-4 and Volpe’s memorable night fueled the win despite so many other star players being unable to step up. At the very least, New York won’t be remembered for a lifeless sweep in the Fall Classic (something that hadn’t occurred in 12 years).

At the very most? This is the start of a legendary comeback. Are fans hopeful? Probably not. But they’ll be pulling for their Yankees as long as the team remains in it. As Juan Soto said in the postgame, “these are the best fans in the world.”

To capture the moment and to (hopefully) propel Volpe’s future stardom, the New York Post’s back page featured the Yankees’ former top prospect in a World Series edition fans hadn’t seen since 2009 (and hadn’t really been accustomed to since 2003).

Will it be the start of an historic rally? Or will it be quickly forgotten, serving as a fire starter as the cold weather quickly approaches?

New York Post back page featuring Anthony Volpe could be legendary Yankees moment or quickly forgotten

Volpe’s career arc to date has been a rather tough one for fans to cope with. He was anointed the organization’s starting shortstop despite not proving much of anything. He had an upstart 2021 campaign in the minor leagues (his first full season as a pro) and then a solid showing in 2022 with Double-A Somerset.

With just 22 Triple-A games under his belt, the Yankees made the move. Volpe was named the 2023 Opening Day starting shortstop. Oswald Peraza’s emergence at the big-league level the year prior was essentially ignored. Brian Cashman and the front office passed on a number of superstar shortstops (Corey Seager, Trea Turner, Carlos Correa, Dansby Swanson) at the time to prioritize Volpe’s path to the big leagues.

But Volpe’s been unable to deliver offensively. He won a Gold Glove his rookie season and took a defensive leap in 2024 — which deserves a lot of credit because he plays a premium position — but his offense has been as wildly inconsistent and underwhelming as you could imagine. Across his first 319 career games, Volpe is hitting .228 with a .661 OPS and 83 OPS+. His power saw a downturn this year, as he belted just 12 homers compared to his 21 in 2023. His strikeout woes have continued (323 Ks in 1,290 plate appearances). He still doesn’t walk. His mechanics have gone in inexplicable ebbs and flows.

But there’s no doubt that he’ll continued to be viewed a key piece of the Yankees’ future, whether Tuesday night happened or not. Either way, his effort to quite literally save his team’s season with four RBI and three runs scored in a do-or-die game could be the start of his legend in New York. Derek Jeter’s said it many times: it doesn’t matter what you do in the regular season if you rise to the occasion in October, fans are quick to forget the shortcomings if the ultimate goal is reached.

The unlikely source of production for the Yankees could serve as a motivating inspiration unlike any other. Volpe’s blast got the Yankee Stadium crowd back into the game after it was essentially removed as a factor in the first inning on Monday night. Then, his hustle late in the game opened the floodgates for a Yankees blowout instead of another tightrope ninth inning with the opponent in striking distance. If you’ve watched the Yankees this year, that mattered a lot.

Though Game 4 will be remembered as the night the Yankees avoided utter embarrassment, there’s a glimmer of hope the Post’s back page could be a valuable memento for an entire generation of Yankees fans. And there’s perhaps no better featured player, as Volpe’s up-and-down start to his career has embodied the fanbase’s grind and frustration for the last 15 years.