by Paul Semendinger
October 4, 2021
***
Well, they did it.
Amazingly and unpredictably, they did it.
The Yankees, as a franchise, are in their 57th post season in their fabulous history.
Yesterday’s highlights:
Gio Urshela did his “almost” Jeter impression.
Tyler Wade flew around the bases.
Aaron Judge delivered.
And the pitching throughout was sensational. Six Yankees pitchers allowed just five hits. And no runs. Now the Yankees will play in the Wild Card game.
Amazing.
Today is a needed day of rest. Tomorrow Gerrit Cole gets the chance to pitch the Yankees into the next round of the playoffs.
***
The Yankees will be in their 57th post season. This is, by far, the most in baseball. By far.
Take a look at the list of franchises post season appearances:
Yankees – 57
Dodgers – 35
Cardinals – 31
Athletics – 29
Braves – 27
Giants – 27
Red Sox – 25
Cubs – 21
It will be very interesting to see how the Yankees set-up their rotation for the playoffs (should they make it) against the Rays.
The pitcher, after Cole, who I have the most confidence in is Corey Kluber. This is due, entirely, to his resume. When the Yankees signed Kluber my hopes would that he’d peak in September and be a force in the post season. Well, that time is now.
There was just the sense last night as the game got closer and closer to the end that Aaron Judge would come up in the bottom of the ninth and deliver. He came up and he did deliver. It wasn’t the hardest hit walk-off ever, but it was a walk-off.
It was great seeing the players’ excitement after they won.
Are the Yankees players too cool? One of the knocks on the team is how little emotion they often show in the games. That wasn’t the case at the end yesterday – they were sure excited when they won!
The Red Sox won, coming back after being down 5-1 to the Nationals. They get the home field advantage for the Wild Card game.
Will there be a Bucky Dent or Aaron Boone to deliver a big blow in the game tomorrow?
If Tyler Wade, or Andrew Velazquez hits a big homer (an infielder who wouldn’t be expected to do so) will that person one day be the manager of the Yankees? (It happened for Bucky Dent and Aaron Boone.)
The Yankees have reached the post season in each of Aaron Boone’s first four years as manager. That’s very good. I think he’ll be back as manager next year. I predict that he gets a four year deal.
When the Yankees signed Boone at the start, he was given three years, plus an option. That was sight unseen. They gave three years (plus one) to a novice. Well, that novice now has four seasons under his best – and four post season appearances. I would think that Boone would expect, ask for, and get four years. I also think that Brian Cashman and the Yankees top brass all love him.
Do I think Aaron Boone is a great manager? No. Not at all. But, the results are the results. Baseball managers get graded on the results. The Yankees are in the post season. Anything can happen now. Anything. The manager always gets the blame when teams under perform. When teams win and reach the post season, the manager deserves the credit.
Hey, my big book signing and talk about my new Yankees book The Least Among Them is just a few days away. It will be this coming Sunday, October 10, at 4:00 p.m.at the Yogi Berra Museum. The event is free. Admission to the museum comes with your FREE ticket(s). The free tickets are still available. I hope to see many of you there!
Let’s Go Yankees!
