Almost everyone who has run Cross Country in New York City has run the Van Cortlandt Park hills at some point in their career. Located in the Riverdale section of the Bronx at the end of the 1 train — conveniently, just a short walk from where new Yankees center fielder Harrison Bader attended high school — the two-and-a-half mile course has everything. It begins with a sprint across an open field that geese use as a bathroom and ends with a long straightaway that passes by numerous baseball and softball fields. In between, however, is a brutal gauntlet whose hills were christened by my high school classmates with names not suitable for print.
The Yankees need a spark to bring back the good vibes
