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Saturday, September 26, 2015

The big YES lie: "The Yankees magic number for clinching the playoffs is five"

Last night, in the miserable top of the miserable ninth - as Chasen Shreve was doing what we now expect Chasen Shreve to do: that is, miss the plate by 12 inches - Michael Kay tried to soothe the increasingly hostile Yankiverse - (you know who you are) - with some hopeful pitter-patter. The host of "Center Stage with Michael Kay" reminded everyone that the Yankees' Magic Number for reaching the playoffs is just five. Thus, he said, all the Yankees need to do is win five games - go .500 - and the Yankees will make the playoffs.

Lie. 

If the Yankees win five games, they will make the playoff.

Not "playoffs." Playoff. The one game door prize.

Today, Wallace Matthews of ESPN notes the lack of excitement in the Yankiverse last night, as the team plods toward whatever the hell it's plodding toward.

T]he entire mood, in the stands and in the clubhouse, seems to be one of resignation, if not disinterest. With their team fighting for its playoff life, Yankees fans left about 10,000 seats empty Friday night, which meant about 2,000 more showed up than on Thursday, the night the Yankees honored the memory of the late Yogi Berra. And there were a lot fewer than that left in the ballpark by the time David Robertson -- who was known to blow a three-run lead from time to time during his tenure as Yankees closer -- came on to nail it down for the White Sox.

Nobody cares? Not an exciting pennant race? Well, I'd say Yankee fans recognize a basic truth here:

THE ONE GAME PLAYOFF IS NOT THE POST-SEASON. THE YANKEES WILL CLINCH NOTHING BUT A CHANCE TO MAKE THE POST-SEASON. 

Matthews continues, noting the team's current malaise:

... [S]teadily downhill. Nathan Eovaldi, their winningest starting pitcher, is out for the year. Mark Teixeira, the most potent bat in their lineup, is out for the year. Jacoby Ellsbury, their $153 million table-setter, has looked mostly lost since returning from the DL in July. Brett Gardner, who was supposed to be 1a to Ellsbury's 1, has hit .196 since the end of July. A-Rod has two hits in his past 23 at-bats and his average has fallen below .250. Chase Headley still is making throwing errors.

In July - when the Evils led the AL East by seven - the NYC courtier press enshrined Brian Cashman into Cooperstown and debated which superstar - A-Rod or Tex - would win the Comeback of the Year.

Now, we're limping to a silver medal and the phantom slot, because the lords of baseball expanded the number of teams that can chase the phony "post-season." But NYC fans aren't buying it. The truth is, if Bud Selig's expanded playoff system existed in the 1980s, the 14-year barf, the Yankees several times - with their sorry lineups of Danny Tartabull and Lenn Sakata - reached the Wild Card playoff.

Unless it wins the one game, the 2015 season is another flop.

And until Oct. 6, when the smoke clears, YES ought to get its facts down:

THE PLAYOFF IS NOT THE PLAYOFFS.

THE ONE GAME WILD CARD IS NOT THE POST-SEASON.  

IF WE DON'T WIN IT, WE ARE JUST ANOTHER ALSO-RAN.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

holy sheet ur mad bro

el duque said...

A loss like last night'll do it.

Tom said...

to be fair: the Yankees are in position for the Wild Card playoff slot that used to be a ticket to the Playoffs. I agree, though, that the team has only earned a trip to the One Game Playoff.

Anonymous said...

100% AGREED!.....LIKE JACKIE GLEASON SAID, "I'M GOING BOWLING, BUT I'M NOT GOING BOWLING..." ...WE ARE MAKING THE PLAYOFFS, BUT WE'RE NOT MAKING THE PLAYOFFS...(UNLESS WE WIN THE ONE GAME).....AS AN INSANE YANKEE FAN, THE PLAYOFFS MAKE ME ABSOLUTELY CRAZY...AND I WAS "CRAZILY HAPPY" TO WATCH EVERY SECOND OF EVERY GAME FOR THE 20 YEARS WE KEPT GETTING IN...THEN, WE STOPPED GETTING IN THE LAST 2 YEARS, AND THAT HAS BEEN A SLOW, MADDENING, AGONIZING TORTURE, WITH OUR "NO-HIT, CAN'T GET THE RUN IN FROM THIRD" HOME RUN OR NOTHING STYLE OF PLAY FOR EACH OF THE LAST 3 SEASONS...AS I WATCH GAME AFTER GAME, I AM AMAZED HOW FEW TIMES WE EVEN STRING TOGETHER 2 HITS IN A ROW, (FORGET ABOUT 3 HITS IN A ROW-VERY VERY RARE)...FORGET ABOUT THE "STATS" THAT SAY THE YANKS ARE, WHAT, 2ND OR 3RD IN RUNS SCORED?..WHATEVER IT IS, ITS A MEANINGLESS STAT BECAUSE IF YOU WIPE OUT THE 10 GAMES IN WHICH THEY SCORED AROUND 13-15 RUNS,(EVEN 21 ONE GAME), YOU WILL FIND WE ARE BELOW MIDDLE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE PACK... EVERY GAME IS 2 RUNS, 1 RUN, 3 RUNS, 0 RUNS, THEN...WHOA! A 13 RUN EXPLOSION! (WOW, THIS OFFENSE CAN BE EXPLOSIVE, THE ANNOUNCERS SAY)!.....NEXT DAY, BACK TO THE 2 RUNS, 1 RUN, 3 RUN, CHAIN OF GAMES.......LETS PRAY FOR THE ONE GAME PLAYOFF VICTORY, AND PLEASE LORD..., NO KEUCHEL!!!!!!!!!!! P.S.)LAST NIGHT, REFSNYDER LASHES A DOUBLE TO THE OPPOSITE FIELD, PLUS WALKS, AND PLAYS A CLEAN 2ND BASE AGAIN....(IMAGINE THE POSSIBILITIES)!!!

Anonymous said...

THIS WEBSITE IS LIKE "YANKEE THERAPY" FOR ME...GOD I LOVE IT.

Anonymous said...

The so-called second base "problem" is nothing more than a Scott Boras problem. Cashman does whatever Boras wants,,,
What else is Boras promising beside Bryce Harper?? Btw, Harper has been saying all along that he wants to play for the Yankees.
I've been a Yankee fan since 1947, and with all of the ups and downs through the years, this is the most boring team. They might as well bring back CBS ownership.

Anonymous said...

YOU ARE RIGHT ON THE BUTTON...ACTUALLY THE LAST 3 YEARS HAVE BEEN VERY BORING TEAMS FOR US (MINUS THE MARIANO AND JETER MOMENTS)...HORRIBLY BORING...CAN'T SCORE, CAN'T GET THE RUN IN FROM 3RD NO MATTER HOW MANY OUTS...NO STEALING, NO HIT AND RUN, WE MOVE BASE TO BASE...WE ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS HAVE TROUBLE SCORING FROM 2ND BASE ON A BASE HIT, (AND OUR OPPONENTS NEVER DO-THEY SCORE ALMOST EVERY TIME)..... I REMEMBER AFTER THE 2012 PLAYOFFS WHEN WE JUST COULD NOT HIT AT ALL, A SPORTS WRITER ASKED CASHMAN, "ARE YOU GOING TO TRY ADDRESSING THE OFFENSE IN THE OFF SEASON?" AND SHOCKINGLY, CASHMAN SAID, "WE DON'T NEED ANY HITTING. I'M LOOKING FOR PITCHING, PITCHING, AND MORE PITCHING." I REMEMBER BEING INCREDULOUS!...HOW COULD HE NOT SEE WHAT ALL YANKEE FANS WERE SEEING?...THE SAD AND ENRAGING PART IS...3 YEARS LATER, WE ARE IN THE SAME "NO HITTING" MODE..... I HATE OUR PHILOSOPHY NOW, WHICH IS WAIT FOR THE HOME RUN...TAKE A NOTICE ON HOW MANY RUNS WE HAVE BEEN SCORING LATELY WITHOUT HITTING A HOME RUN...WE DON'T SCORE!!!!!

Leinstery said...

Let's just get the 1 game playoff over with. They'll get blown out at home and we will be spared a 5 game series of disappointment. The Blue Jays and Mets will meet in the World Series and in a few years we will all look back and shake our heads that we held onto over-hyped prospects. But that is not why I am here tonight.

Mike Trout just robbed Jesus of a 3 run home run. Bryce Harper may be the one who inevitably signs with the Yanks, but Mike Trout is always an honorary Yankee.

Parson Tom said...

Mike Trout is some serious, crazy jumping bean.

Anonymous said...

PLAY-IN, NOT PLAYOFFS

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