If you don’t understand why the Yankees think so highly of Brett Gardner — and based on my interactions with Yankees fans, a sizable such population exists — I submit Chris Dickerson as the first character witness.
Remember Dickerson? You might not if you don’t qualify as a hard-core Yankees fan. Dickerson, an outfielder, played a total of 355 major-league games from 2008 through 2014. He clocked 85 of those games with the Yankees in 2011 and 2012.
One of those 85 Yankees games stood out in my memory: May 18, 2011, an Oriole Park at Camden Yards contest.