In a week during which elderly Yankee figures seem to be meeting their demise with frightening regularity, it is worth noting that the Yankeemobile of Hawthorne train station–the pinstriped, Yankee-logo-d Jeep Cherokee that graced the Hawthorne lot over the past year–has not been seen in months.
We first spied the Yankeemobile in September 2009. For a while this season, it seemed as though the driver only took the Yankeemobile to the station following Yankee wins, but that theory was disproven by the end of April.
Every time, it sat in a prime spot, backed into the space so that all at the station can take in the full glory of its face–a wide grille smiling like a smug first-place team.
But the Yankeemobile seems to have gone the way of the baseball-cap bullpen cars. Was it a short-term lease, sent back to the dealer after the Yankees captured championship #27 last fall?
Or has the driver been sleeping in a bit, relaxing after the pressure of winning the title has been lifted, and is taking his chances in the lot down by the ballfields?
Anyone seen the Yankeemobile of late?