Remember this day, and keep it holy.

 

Today, October 20th—10/20—is of course Mickmas, the holiest day on the Yankees calendar. It celebrates the birthday, in 1931, of the man who was the first sports hero for many of us. And on this day, in 2024, we find ourselves back in the World Series.

Some hominy: Mm, hominy! homilies fitting to this occasion:

1—Yes, we give Brian Cashman his props. I completely agree that we would have been here many times more in the past 25 years, with almost any other, conceivable general manager.

But...somehow, that dog's breakfast of a bullpen that he put together has, for a change, been largely brilliant. So has his designated replacement for Derek Jeter, Gleyber Torres.

So has his latest shortstop of the future, Anthony Volpe, and his off-season trade, Juan Soto. Not so much his other acquisitions or farm call-ups, such as Verdugo, Rodon, Stroman, Wells, Trevino, and Chisholm. But still. We're in the World Series. The little bastard gets his propers.

2—Yes, Hal spent the money and got it done. He is a seriously weird character. Even on the field last night, he was unable to smile or laugh. I have seen that in an other public men, and they are usually sociopaths. 

I don't say that Hal is a sociopath—just the expected result of growing up with George Steinbrenner as a father. 

Hal, time to unclench. And yes, open up that wallet. You can't let Juan Soto walk away, not after this past season and this last game. Write the check, put him in the outfield with Aaron Judge and The Martian, and we'll see what's what. 

Break the cycle! You can give other people pleasure, even if your father could not give it to you!

3—Yes, we were lucky. For a change, our path to the World Series was as easy as it could have been—unless, perhaps, the Tigers had made the ALCS. We got to skip the Orioles and, above all, our longtime tormentors, the Houston Cheatin' Heart Astros, long may they rot. Kansas City was plucky but little more; Cleveland was maybe the worst team I've ever seen the Yanks play in the championship series.

But as a great man (and lousy Yankees catcher) once said, "Luck is the residue of design." The Yanks built much of their path to the Series by (finally) finishing with the best record in the AL, and bringing enough depth to the postseason to win.

4—Yes, the Yankees played better than I thought they would. Much of the season, obviously (I had them down for all of 66 wins), and especially in the postseason.

No, the team often did not look like they could hit a beachball during the ALDS, especially, and at times in the second round. Their fielding was spotty to start off—though often that was due to decisions by management (A first baseman with two broken fingers? Really, Aaron?).  

But they overcame all that, they made a lot of excellent plays in the field (even Verdugo and Soto in the outfield, and Berti and Cabrera at first). They've seemed visibly steadier and more mature as play has progressed, taking a hard punch in Game 3 in the ALCS and not letting it faze them in the least.

Clutch stat: Your New York Yankees have now played 9 straight games decided by 3 runs or less—two short of the playoffs record (11, the 1980 Phillies). They have won 7 of those games.

5—Yes, they hit. Sort of. Judge's endless strikeouts were maddening at first, and the endless numbers runners left on base were demoralizing. 

But Judge had some big hits, Gleyber has had a stunningly good playoffs leading off, Volpe seems to have somehow turned it around, Rizzo has at least been able to hit singles, broken fingers or no, and even Wells smacked a home run. Basically, everyone except Jazz Chisholm has had some big moments at the plate—and he's been fielding well.

And then there were Stanton and Soto. Six home runs off the Guardians' elite relief corps in five games? Not too shabby.

(It did help that Stephen Vogt managed like...well, Aaron Boone on a bad day. Constantly challenging the Yankees' best and hottest hitters, even when they could easily have been walked? I don't get it.)

6—No, the starting pitching has not been outstanding. This has been our weakest area in the postseason, despite one excellent start apiece from Cole and Rodon. That's not enough. Clarke Schmidt has got to pick it up, and Luis Gil has got to continue to improve, after a promising start in Cleveland. Otherwise, our bullpen will collapse from overwork. Why Stroman is even on the roster is beyond me.

7—No, they will not win the World Series with this team. Unless...maybe. Both the Mets and the Dodgers have obvious holes in their bullpens, and they have been wearing each other down.

It will help us if the NLCS goes seven...though thanks to MLB, it won't help us as much as it should. They will still get to rest from Monday-Friday. Unless it rains in Southern California. Wait—it never rains in Southern California. But girl, don't they warn ya.

Both the Dodgers and the Mets look to have better, deeper lineups than we do. The Mets swept us during the regular season, and would love nothing better than to do so again. MLB would love nothing better than for Ohtani to have a great World Series—and they have that killer gate in right field. And don't expect Carlos Mendoza or Dave Roberts to be anywhere near as stupid as Stephen Vogt.

Either will be very, very tough. But not invincible.

8—Yes, win or lose, we must re-sign Juan Soto. The case will be made that the Yanks have many other needs: a power-hitting, lefty first baseman; another couple of starters, more relievers, etc. 

Bullshit. Juan Soto is a generational talent. At just 25, he is worth whatever insane amount of money he will want. 

All other needs can be met with more of Brian Cashman's vaunted dumpster diving, and his vaunted (in his mind) minor-league system. Give T.J. Rumfield a shot at first. Put Cabrera on the field more...everywhere. Let Rizzo go with our blessings. Let Verdugo go...all right, with more blessings. After all, it was his patented, weak, bouncing groundball to second base that unexpectedly set off that rally last night.

God bless you, Alex Verdugo. Now get out of here. We mean it.

9—Yes, Brian Cashman will probably re-sign Gleyber Torres. For some ridiculous number of years and amounts of money. Sigh. Well, as long as it doesn't interfere with re-signing Juan Soto. If it does...

10—Yes, you guys are the best. You add immeasurably to my enjoyment of this wonderful, silly game, and life in general. Let's go get the World Series. But if we don't, well, we can only remember the words of the one and only hit, Broadway musical made about our New York Yankees:

We ain't fussin'

Cause we got ussin'!

Quick trivia quiz: Who does Joe Hardy rob on the final play of said musical, while playing outfield for the Washington Senators?