Twenty years ago, one New York native got to live out a lifelong dream. John Flaherty, already an established Major League Baseball catcher by 2003, joined his hometown Yankees and spent the last three seasons of his 14-year career in pinstripes.

News 12 spoke with Flaherty, now a Yankees broadcaster with the YES Network, about his first opening day in the Bronx.

"When you get introduced in front of the Yankee fans, you're wearing the pinstripes for the first time, and Bob Sheppard announces your name, it's a real moment. I was 35 years old at that point, I had already spent 10 years in the big leagues, but I felt like I finally arrived. I felt like I was finally on a team that was expected to win a world championship, and I kind of thrived under that pressure of trying to perform," Flaherty recalls.

On July 1, 2004, a game against the rival Boston Red Sox, a game remembered for Derek Jeter's bloody face, ended with Flaherty's victory swing.

"The YES Network is so nice and sometimes, they'll play a replay of that game," Flaherty says. "The three years that I played for the Yankees, the games against the Red Sox were the highlight of my career."

Flaherty spent his three years in the Bronx as a teammate of the captain Derek Jeter. Aaron Judge has now taken the reigns as the team's new captain.