He kept swinging
Wins Field of Dream contest
Akiva Boyarsky is a young man who understands and appreciates the grind that goes into achieving your goals.
He’s one of the Daily News’ 2018 Field of Dreams essay contest grand prize winners, and he’s certainly put in the work to finally earn the grand prize.
“Over the years I have been lucky to be a runner-up three times,” wrote the 14-year-old in his winning essay on Yankee tradition.
“I am hoping, that with my Yankee perseverance, I will be able to win in my last year” (of eligibility),” Akiva wrote. Well, you did it, kid. The Field of Dreams competition is an annual contest in which young readers from around the tristate area and beyond submit essays on Yankees tradition in an effort to win the grand prize: A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to run out onto the field with the illustrious Bronx Bombers.
Akiva and the eight other winners will stand with the players during the national anthem at Yankee Stadium before the Aug. 1 game against the Baltimore Orioles.
The Teaneck, N.J., native, a huge fan of Yankees icon Lou Gehrig, cited the Iron Horse’s famous retirement speech in 1939 in his essay.
Akiva wrote that even if he didn’t win in his final attempt at the grand prize (the cutoff age is 14), he would still “consider (himself ) the luckiest kid on the face of the earth” for the opportunity to compete in the Field of Dreams contest each year.
He told The News that there’s “no greater Yankee, and no greater example of perseverance than Gehrig,” who for more than five decades held the record for most consecutive games played (2,130).
The same can be said of Akiva and his years-long effort to be a Field of Dreams winner, as he displayed the kind of dedication and commitment to his craft that set Gehrig — and the Yankees — apart from the rest.