The logos of the original broadcasters originally were covered by the YES Network logo; eventually, the logos were then replaced by the Yankees logo. The announcers used were a combination of the Yankees radio announcers and national broadcasters used during the telecast, with the audio feed constantly changing during the game from one announcing team to the other, possibly to prevent advertisements or station promos to be heard, or to include Yankee broadcasters Sterling and Michael Kay giving calls of a Yankee home run, or of Sterling's signature victory closing: "Ballgame over! Yankees win! The-e-e-e Yankees win!" Regular season games since YES' launch in 2002 simply take the TV broadcast, with most out-of-date sponsor plugs removed.
Typically scheduled air dates
A specific Yankees Classic often is shown on its anniversary or on a day when the current team is playing the same opponent. Other possibilities include honoring a Yankee on his birthday by showing a Yankees Classics in which he was the game's hero. Games featuring individual Yankee achievements, such as Ron Guidry's 18-strikeout game, no-hitters, and David Cone's 1999 perfect game often are shown, for example, to coincide with programs about Yankee pitchers. As with other re-broadcast games, some innings are skipped due to time restrictions.
Criticism
Yankees Classics has been criticized for showing recent games, including those from the current MLB season, when there are many games which haven't been seen in decades. For example, although the memorable 1978 playoff game against Boston has frequently aired, YES has not shown any games from the 1978 ALCS. Also there have thus far been no shows featuring any of the games from the 1977 ALCS, 1981 ALDS or 1981 ALCS. Curiously, outside of Dave Righetti's July 4, 1983, no hit game, there have been no broadcasts of any Yankees games from the 1980s. It is not clear why this is but some have speculated that complete tapes of the games no longer exist or are technically unsuitable for broadcast. It has also been observed that while episodes of the biographical program Yankeeography make reference to losing efforts in the careers of its subjects, the Yankee Classics series has yet to air anything but games won by the team. This meant that the game in which Derek Jeter surpassed Lou Gehrig's record for most hits as a Yankee, would never be aired as the Yankees lost the game to the Baltimore Orioles. However, this game was later aired on Yankees Classics, only edited until the point where Jeter got the hit.
