The making of the Yankees’ championship belt: ‘Literally jewelry’ with gold, crystals
Brett Gardner felt something was missing. It was early 2018, and the Yankees-themed championship belt a superfan made for the team
Gardner wanted another, but this time, it had to be up to Yankees standards.
The new belt had to be classy. It had to be professional. It also had to make its wearer feel like Stone Cold Steve Austin and Babe Ruth at the same time.
So, Gardner asked a Yankees staffer to find somebody who could make it happen. Fast.
Remembering that the Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Railriders had a belt made for their clubhouse recently,
the Yankees staffer reached out to its creator: Dan Van Alst, a lifelong Yankees fan from Albany.
“I love it,” Van Alst said in a phone interview with NJ Advance Media earlier this week.