George Sewell thought about the New York Yankees and all that he’s seen since becoming a diehard fan. He first fell in love with them in 2017 when a rookie Aaron Judge led an upstart group of so-called Baby Bombers to Game 7 of the American League Championship Series, only to lose in heartbreaking fashion to the cheating Houston Astros. Then there was the sting of eight seasons that ended too early, including a crushing defeat in the 2024 World Series.

But at 16 years old, he hasn’t been alive long enough to watch his beloved Yankees pop champagne after the final out of the playoffs — something his father, Chris, had experienced five times by his age.

It’s been that long since the Yankees last won a World Series.

“It has been a lifetime,” the younger Sewell said.

Sewell was born in November 2009 — the month after the Yankees’ last World Series title. Back then, his father was the diehard, and like many Yankees fans with children, he hoped to introduce his son to another stretch of Yankees greatness similar to what he watched when they won four titles in five years in the late 1990s.

But as owner Hal Steinbrenner’s team prepares to start spring training Wednesday in Tampa, Fla., the Bombers yearn for this year to end a 16-season championship drought — tied for the second-longest run of futility in franchise history behind a 17-season span from 1979 to 1995.

It’s by no means the longest dry spell in the majors, and the rest of the league isn’t shedding any tears for the Yankees. Cleveland hasn’t won a World Series title in 77 seasons. Pittsburgh (46 seasons), Baltimore (42 seasons) and Detroit (41 seasons) are behind them. In fact, 14 clubs have endured longer droughts than the Yankees, including the New York Mets (39 seasons). Five teams still haven’t won it all: Seattle, San Diego. Tampa Bay, Milwaukee and Colorado.

But for the Yankees faithful who remember late owner George Steinbrenner’s “championship or bust” mantra, and for a franchise that profits off memories of its rich history at every opportunity, 16 years might as well be eons.

Especially for Yankees fans who are now parents raising kids who have no idea what a World Series victory feels like.

Charlie Hayes reacts after making the final of the 1996 World Series, ending a 17-season title drought for the Yankees. (Tom DiPace / MLB Photos via Getty Images)

Vinny Rosano, 45, remembers the euphoria he felt after the Yankees broke their 17-season drought in 1996. When he watched third baseman Charlie Hayes haul in the last out to defeat the vaunted Atlanta Braves, he was 15 years old and in his father’s pizzeria, Rocco’s, in New City, N.Y. His 14-year-old son, Rocky, has heard the story countless times.

“Now,” the son said, “every time I go into the restaurant, I think, this World Series, or hopefully soon, we’ll be back in this restaurant (watching a victory).”

John Paglia has a room dedicated to the Yankees in his home in Massapequa, Long Island. Every day, the 15-year-old walks past black-and-white pictures of Lou Gehrig and Mickey Mantle, and rows of signed baseballs from bygone championships. The walls are blue and white. Much of the memorabilia was collected by his 71-year-old grandfather, who is also named John.

On a recent Saturday, the pair were together, wearing Yankees-branded shirts at the Pinstripe Pride autograph signing event in New Jersey. They were waiting for a chance for retired outfielder Ricky Ledée to sign their baseball filled with names from nearly everyone on the team that won the 1998 World Series, which was 13 years before the younger John was born.

“Obviously,” the high schooler said, “they’re going to win one in my lifetime. It’s just a matter of when.”

Actually, it could happen this year.

FanGraphs projects the Yankees to have the best chance to win the American League East (31.3 percent) and gives them the fourth-best odds to win the World Series (5.5 percent) — behind the juggernaut Los Angeles Dodgers (27.7 percent), the Braves (10.8 percent) and the Seattle Mariners (7.8 percent). The odds don’t feel far-fetched after the Yankees finished last season tied with the Toronto Blue Jays for the AL’s best record, then brought back much of that roster for a 2026 season that will see a healthy Gerrit Cole return to the rotation.

“I’ve been openly willing to challenge anybody that we don’t have a championship-caliber roster and team,” general manager Brian Cashman said in late January.

But it’s hard to feel too bad for Yankees fans, who haven’t been forced to watch a single teardown and rebuild, like virtually every other team in their division. The Yankees’ record of 33 consecutive winning seasons is the longest — by far — of any team in the four major North American men’s professional sports. Since they last won the World Series in 2009, they have missed the playoffs only four times. And for the last 10 seasons, they have been powered by Judge, arguably the best hitter in the game, who has won three MVP awards and will one day wind up in Cooperstown.

“In some ways, it’s painful,” said Christopher Brancato, of Kinnelon, N.J. “And in some ways, it’s hard to believe that 16 years have gone by that quickly.”

Brancato was with his sons Chris, 11, and Brandon, 9, at the autograph event. He said he feels like “the (Derek) Jeter dynasty was just yesterday” and that “we were privileged” to watch it in real time, while the kids need to find clips on YouTube.

Christopher Brancato with his sons, Chris and Brandon. (Courtesy of Christian Korchma)

Christian Korchma, of Brooklyn, was too young to remember the Yankees’ World Series win in 1978 that preceded their 17-season drought, but he said the time between titles made the 1996 World Series win that much sweeter. He tries to explain what that was like to his 18-year-old son, William, who was too young to remember the 2009 title.

“But you really can’t,” the father said, “You can explain that joy and excitement, but it’s primal. Especially that first time after a long time. He’s not going to know that until he experiences it.”

For David Rifkin, of Long Island, it goes beyond titles when he talks about past Yankees glory with his 12-year-old son, Lazar. Back in the 1990s and 2000s, Rifkin said, it was like, “We get the players we want. We win at all costs. It doesn’t matter.”

“It doesn’t feel that way anymore, right?” said Rifkin, a longtime season ticket holder. “Like, we thought we were going to get Freddy Peralta. We didn’t get Freddy Peralta. We were not in on (Kyle) Tucker. We didn’t keep (Juan) Soto. We got (Cody Bellinger) back, but we had to overpay for him, and now that maybe slows down different things that we’re doing. It just feels like (the franchise) is being run (in) a very different way.”

David Rifkin and his son, Lazar, take in a game at Yankee Stadium. (Courtesy of David Rifkin)

In the Sewells’ home in Cedar Grove, N.J. — about an hour’s drive from Yankee Stadium — Chris has told his son what it was like to watch the Yankees in their dynasty years with Jeter and company. And George has seen countless replays of the final out of the Yankees’ last World Series win: A weak grounder to Robinson Canó, a toss to first baseman Mark Teixeira and a wild celebration on the mound around Hall of Fame closer Mariano Rivera.

Chris raised George to be a Yankees fanatic, coaching him in Little League and watching him start his own podcast on which he dissects every move Cashman makes. But the father remembers what it was like when the Yankees towered over the sport.

Like so many parents, Chris wishes the drought would end so his son could taste a Yankees World Series win like he did. It’s been 16 long years.

“Now,” he said, “it feels like forever.”