Believe it or not, your New York Yankees were once considered Terrors of October. From 1927-1941, they won all 8 World Series they were in, by an almost unbelievable margin of 32 wins to 4 losses, or .888 ball.
After a loss to a great Cardinals team in 1942, those Yankees went another tear, winning the next 7 Series they played in from 1943-1953, with 28 wins and 12 losses.
Yes, that's 15 World Series wins in 16 tries, with a total record of 61-20, or .753 ball.
Cut to the late 1990s.
From 1996-2000, the Yankees went 46-15 in all playoffs and the Series, playing .754 ball. At the white hot center of that streak, they again put together an almost unbelievable record, going a combined 22-3 in 1998-99. That's .880 ball, my friends.
One of the many, sadly remarkable facts about the Yankees this century, is how often the team didn't even, really, show up. From 2002 on, in the last games of their playoff seasons, the scores read like this:
5-9, 0-2, 3-10, 3-5, 3-8, 4-6, 1-6, 2-3, 1-8, 0-3, 0-4, 3-4, 4-6, 1-2, 2-6, and whatever other awful score they will lose by tonight. That's a cumulative 32-82, or losing by an average of almost 3 1/2 runs a game.
And most of these games haven't even been as close as the scores indicated. Of those 15 losses, maybe 6 were closely contested.
The rest were more of the same: either nobody hit, or nobody pitched, or both. At home or on the road, it has been just more dreary, dull, awful game after another.
Already, the media has started to chime in with their annual, completely mixed message, to which they remain happily oblivious:
Boy, those Yankees fans sure are spoiled, complaining about a team that wins so many regular-season games and playoff spots! And hey, their team sure got owned by Houston/Boston/Whoever in the playoffs!
I dunno, I'd like to know who these other mysterious fans are, who are supposedly content to have a winning regular season, and then watch their team get smashed every year in the playoffs. I doubt they actually exist, as no team underachieves in the playoffs—probably no team in all of pro sports—with the consistency—or the wretchedness—that the Yankees do.
Just once more, I'd like to see them show up in October.
Indeed, history gives the lie to that infamous Cashman saying "playoffs are a crap shoot".
ReplyDeleteEverything in this Yankee organization has been fucked up since about 2010. And, with the sole exception of 2009, for some years before that.
I think that, in the beginning of the Yankee demise, it was mostly stupidity and poor management. But since 2009, there has been a different flavor to their demise. It's been mostly self-inflicted. And by that, I mean that it's been intentionally done.
Since 2010, they've mostly stopped trying to win. Many other things have taken over on the priority list and winning hasn't even made it on to the list.
I think that HAL is happy that they're on the brink of elimination. This is what they did last year as well. This year they advanced one series. I don't think HAL was happy about that. The plan (or at least the hope of ownership/management) was probably to lose to the Guardians.
The Giants are fun to watch. I bet they pull this one out.
ReplyDeleteBarkley is great.
ReplyDeleteJags penalties here are funny.
ReplyDeleteThis is the most entertaining the Giants have been in years! GO BIG BLUE!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteBack to baseball -
ReplyDeleteCan't really blame the pitching staff so far. From "Savages In The Box" to "Sedated In The Box"
Yankees
hits 12
Strike Outs 41
Wins 0
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Astros
hits 21
Strike Outs 19
Wins 3
They need offense, so Boone plays Trevino and Donaldson instead of Higgy, moving IKF to third and putting Peraza at short.
ReplyDeleteWe'll die the way we've lived. Moronically.
Every last true Yankee fan I knows is in despair, knows what the deal is, and even wants them to lose - incredibly - if it were to mean that Cash would get canned.
ReplyDeleteSadly, we all know that won't happen.
Bonnie is going to be the next Lee Harvey Oswald. He's the patsy. He'll get canned and Brian will get another puppet. Jack Ruby is already starting to walk down the hallway.
Giants hung on, but that was a fucked up last minute.
ReplyDeleteLineup is in.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely Fabulous!!!!
I'll say, but what a gutsy win by the Giants.
ReplyDeleteHugely screwed by the zebras—once on what should have been a game-ending interception, once on a perfectly legitimate hit on the QB (and in which the reply showed not one but two Jaguars clearly clothes-lining a Giant rusher)—they nonetheless hung in and secured the win by stopping a receiver on the 1-yard line.
Would that a certain other New York team could show that sort of heart and resilience in the face of adversity.
Nobody's getting canned...Yanks spin machine will call this a successful season...
ReplyDeleteAaron Broom
ReplyDeleteGot my Nasty Nestor shirt in dryer. Figured it was best worn today clean and smelling Yankee fresh. . .
ReplyDeleteRe: The Giants
ReplyDeleteThat last minute started to resemble the USA vs. USSR in Olympic basketball that year when they gave the Russians chance after chance to win and eventually they did.
Fortunately today was a better result.
That had more to do with the refs than the Giants....Home team must have paid them handsomely 😂
DeleteAB -
ReplyDeleteHe wanted to be a Yankee but Brain knew better. We had Hicks, and Frazier so there was no room for him. What a putz!
Great analogy to the 1972 basketball game, Doug.
ReplyDeleteYeah, it got ridiculous. I really begin to wonder if one of the refs isn't betting on games like that, now that it's so easy and anonymous.