Yankees Will Stop Playing Frank Sinatra’s “New York, New York” After Losing Games

The Yankees are making a major music change. A spokesperson for the New York baseball team confirmed to MLB.com that the Yankees will no longer play Frank Sinatra’s “Theme from New York, New York” when the club loses a game.

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Instead, after a Yankees loss, a rotating selection of Sinatra songs, excluding “Theme from New York, New York,” will be played. The change has already gone into effect. When the team lost their Feb. 23 spring training game, Sinatra’s “That’s Life” filled the stadium, per the outlet.

As for the reason for the change, CBS Sports reported that Yankees players were tired of hearing the song after losses. Knowing that, the club decided to switch things up.

The Yankees’ History With “New York, New York”

The first outlet reported that the Yankees’ relationship with “New York, New York” dates back to 1980. At the time, the Yankees’ principal owner, George M. Steinbrenner, heard the track at a nightclub and reached out to the singer’s reps.

“Sinatra wrote back and said that he would be very pleased to have the song played at the stadium,” John Fugazy, the Yankees’ then-marketing director, told The New York Times, per MLB.com. “After one game, I noticed people were standing in the aisles at their seats listening or singing the song. And this was after the team lost. The song makes you feel like you’ll win tomorrow anyway.”

The outlet further reported that, at one point, Liza Minnelli’s version of the track briefly alternated with Sinatra’s take on the song. The team also occasionally played Sinatra and Tony Bennett’s duet or the song. Now, those at Yankee Stadium will only hear the iconic song if the home team pulls out a victory.

The team’s decision, which comes shortly after the club’s long-standing reversal of a facial hair ban, doesn’t mean the Yankees are losing their identity.

“The New York Yankees are different,” General Manager Brian Cashman told The New York Times. “We want to remain different. This is a special place in baseball history. That logo has a lot of meaning behind it. We want our past and present players to recognize that and the future players to recognize that.”

Cashman added, “There’s still going to be things that we’re going to hold on to that are important for us, which is always trying to be a championship-caliber franchise and chase winning.”

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