LOS ANGELES — The photo immediately went viral this week. It was of the New York Yankees’ World Series parade in 2009. A crowd of fans, decked out in Yankees gear, were jammed together behind a metal railing. In the front, there was a boy. He wore a wide, buck-toothed smile. It was Anthony Volpe.
“It’s a funny picture,” he said Thursday. “My teeth have gotten a lot straighter since.”
Anthony Volpe at the 2009 World Series Parade (courtesy of his mom) pic.twitter.com/mlIhLY8fAO
— Dani Wexelman (@DaniWex) October 20, 2024
Volpe’s dream career began when his childhood favorite team drafted him in the first round in 2019. It’ll hit its highest peak so far when he starts at shortstop against the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 1 of the World Series on Friday night at Dodger Stadium.
For the 23-year-old, it still hasn’t sunk in yet. That’s why not long after the Yankees beat the Cleveland Guardians in the American League Championship Series on Saturday, his mother, Isabelle, had to pull him to the side.
“There’s moments my mom — right after the ALCS, (she) kind of pinched me and helped me realize,” he said before a team workout at the stadium Thursday.
“But once we win it — hopefully we win it — everything will sink in,” Volpe continued. “But it’s been a wild ride up to this point.”
His father, Michael Volpe, could barely contain his excitement. Michael and Isabelle raised Anthony to be a die-hard Yankees fan living in Manhattan before the family relocated to New Jersey, where Anthony attended the Delbarton School before the Yankees picked him.
“I’d be happy with the Yankees just being in the World Series,” Michael Volpe said. “But to have my freakin’ son on the team? My wife and I still can’t believe it. It’s incredible. This whole thing has been an incredible ride and we aren’t done yet.”
Anthony Volpe still remembers the parade, though at the time he was just 8 years old. Thursday, he recited the entire lineup off his head.
“Just the excitement of the city,” he said. “I remember Jay-Z performing. Those are core memories for me. How the team won. My sister’s favorite player was Hideki Matsui and he won the (World Series) MVP. Just all moments like that. Still with my friends, as we’re going through this now, they remember the same things and we have the same memories and it’s what we talk about.”
If the Yankees end their World Series drought this year, Volpe will have played a big part. He’s hit .310 in his first postseason with a .459 on-base percentage and more walks (eight) than strikeouts (six) in 37 plate appearances, starting all nine games.
It came after a tough sophomore season at the plate for Volpe, who was once again up for Gold Glove consideration but posted just an 86 OPS+ in 160 games. He hit 12 home runs with a .243 batting average and a .661 OPS.
Asked whether playoff Volpe is the real Volpe, he didn’t hesitate.
“Yeah, definitely,” he said.
Volpe said he hasn’t changed his approach, but he has tinkered with his swing. He also posted just an 81 OPS+ last season, hitting 21 homers but with a .209 batting average in 159 games.
Yankees great and former team captain Willie Randolph was on the Yankees team that last faced the Dodgers in the World Series in 1981. Randolph has been around the club a lot through the playoffs, throwing out the first pitch of Game 2 of the AL Division Series. He’s been close with Volpe since the Yankees drafted him.
Thank you to Yankees legend Willie Randolph for throwing out tonight’s ceremonial first pitch 👏 pic.twitter.com/YDMhp0DXHz
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) October 7, 2024
“What’s impressed me is how he’s handled the situation that he’s in,” Randolph said. “I can relate to it because I was there at his age. I’m just really pleased with the fact that he’s able to handle himself the way he has.
“He’s hitting the ball the other day with authority. He’s starting to do that, which is great. That means that he understands that it’s not about the big, grandiose things. It’s the small things. That’s really what he’s going to do best. I’m really proud of the way that he’s kind of learned through this year. Because when you get to this point, players start to get big. At this point of time, you want that to be small. Because the big is going to happen. But when you stay small, you put the ball in play, use your speed, pick up those ducks from third base. That’s the right approach.”
Hitting coach James Rowson said it’s “all coming together” for Volpe, once considered among baseball’s top prospects.
“He’s squaring up a lot of balls more,” Rowson said. “You’re seeing line drives in the middle of the field, more of the line-drive approach, and he’s not really working too many balls up or missing a lot of balls. He’s working down through the baseball more often. Kind of like what he was doing early in the year. But I do attribute that to how you have to go through ups and downs. He started off doing it, and the league made adjustments to him. They make adjustments to everybody in this league. It’s the guys that can adjust back that stay in the league. It’s the guys that can’t make the adjustments that end up fizzling off and not staying in this league. He’s showing that he’s able to make adjustments.”
Thursday, Volpe was still wistful about attending the 2009 World Series parade.
“I think that’s what’s special about playing to win a World Series in New York,” he said. “Fifteen years down the road, they’re still going to be talking about it.”
And if Volpe can keep it up, they’ll be talking about him the same way.
— The Athletic’s Britt Ghiroli contributed to this story.
(Photo: Maddie Meyer / Getty Images)
