Not to take anything away from the fabulous season that the Yankees have put together this year, they have been the best team in baseball since the beginning of June and have looked poised and determined to win their 27th World Championship this season, but, as all baseball afficianadoes know, October can be the cruelest month.
The Yankees have not won a World Series since 2000 when they beat the Mets in five games, and since that time, they have suffered one playoff disaster after another. There was the bloop single by Luis Gonzalez in the 2001 World Series that gave the Arizona Diamondbacks the trophy in game seven. There was the uncompetitive effort against the Angels in 2002. The shocking six game loss to the Florida Marlins and Josh Beckett in the 2003 World Series; who knew that Beckett would eventually become a Yankee killer a few years later in Boston.
Then, as we all know, there was the choke in 2004. A 3-0 series lead over the Boston Red Sox erased by Curt Shilling's bloody sock, Johnny Damon's long hair, and the big bat and the faster feet of Dave Roberts that led Boston back from the dead in seven games.
2005 was a rerun of 2002; another lackluster effort against the Angels; 2006 saw the revenge of Kenny Rogers, as he danced on top of the Detroit Tigers dugout after they slayed the Yankees in four games. Finally, in 2007, gnats and Indian bats demolished the Yankees in the divisional round yet again.
It has been one failure after another for a franchise that will fire even the water boy if it should come to pass that the Yankees should fail to win a game at any point in the season.
2009, on surface, appears to be different. Unlike past years where the clubhouse has been tighter than a drum, the players are loose and fancy free. They care about each other, play hard for one another, and back each other up if one should stumble. A.J. Burnett's "pie-in-the-face" schtick at whoever drives in the winning run, has played a big role in keeping things on an even keel in the clubhouse.
Nick Swisher's happy-go-lucky personality and Mark Teixeria's excellent leadership are other key factors creating a fresh environment in the Yankee clubhouse. This team believes that they can win no matter what the deficit, no matter where they are, no matter how gloomy and cold the night. 50 come-from-behind victories is testament to Yankee fortitude.
Therefore, credit is due to Joe Girardi.
He was the Manager of the Year a few years ago in Miami with the Marlins, and he should be a shoe-in for the honor again this year. Some will cynically look at the Yankees, and the $400 million they spent in the off-season on Burnett, Teixeira, and C.C. Sabathia and say that any manager could win with that Yankees roster.
Not the case.
It is not easy to manage a team full of all stars and overpriced players. Egos could easily raise its ugly hydra head at any moment, and players could easily care more about personal statistics instead of the concept of "team." Girardi has kept this outfit level headed all year by allowing players to be themselves. Last year, during spring training, he made his players play in a team pool tournament to create a sense of camaraderie, and it is now, in 2009, that his strategies are starting to pay off as the Yankees rock and roll into October.
That said, October is one big matzoh ball. It is one thing to play the Texas Rangers, Baltimore Orioles, and Oakland A's in July; it is quite another to play the Detroit Tigers, Anaheim Angels, and possibly, Joe Torre's Dodgers in the biting October air.
At this time next week, the Yankees will be 0-0, and questions will abound about how the Yankees veterans will handle October this time around. Can Alex Rodriguez get past his issues in the playoffs and just play relaxed baseball?
Will the Yankees get the C.C. Sabathia, who has won 55 games in the last three seasons? Or will they get the Sabathia who had two rather mediocre postseason starts in 2007 and 2008?
Will the Yankees get the dominant A.J. Burnett, who could easily pitch a no-hitter when he is on? Or will they get the Burnett who went through a terrible slump in July?
Will Mark Teixeira continue to torch pitchers in his first postseason under the big lights of N.Y.C., the way he did in the regular season?
Can Joba Chamberlain provide a couple of solid postseason outings, instead of imploding as he has at times this year?
These are all legitimate questions that will be answered when the Yankees and Tigers meet up in Yankee Stadium next week for the Divisional Series.
Over the years, the Yankees have not been as clutch in the postseason as in the glory years in the late 1990's. From 2002 - 2007, the Yankees always entered October with one of the best offenses in the league, but when it mattered the most, the bats went silent, particularly Alex Rodriguez' Louisville slugger, and Rodriguez became a sports talk radio punching bag for years.
Thus, Teixeira will be the biggest key to the Yankee offense this month. Teixeira has played in only four playoff games but owns a nice .467 batting average in October. If Teixeira can continue to rake the way he did throughout the year, it should definitely take a ton of pressure off Rodriguez, who has hit .133, .071, and .267, respectively, in his last three postseasons. A relaxed A-Rod means the Yankees should go very deep into October, so deep it could take them to Halloween!
Of course October is also all about pitching. The Yankees likely first round opponent, the Tigers, have some solid starting pitching. Justin Verlander, Jarrod Washburn, Rick Porcello, and Edwin Jackson is a solid rotation for any team with World Series aspirations. All four could match pitches with Sabathia, Burnett, Andy Pettitte and Chamberlain.
It will be imperative for the Yankee starters to out duel that foursome and get the game into the bullpens where the Yankees have a distinct and clear advantage over Detroit. Mariano Rivera vs. Fernando Rodney. Discussion over. The Yankees win the ninth inning battle, and maybe, maybe the series.
This is a golden opportunity for the Bronx Bombers. They have a chance to begin a new era of Yankee dominance that fans have not seen for a very long time. When watching this club in the latter innings through the regular season, it is hard not to believe that the Yankees will find a way to come back and win, and, like clockwork, the Yankees have found that yellow brick road to the glory of the Emeral City one night after another.
Does that make the 2009 Yankees as intimidating as the 1998 or 1999 Yankees? No, not yet. Those teams had the rings, the playoff experience, and the field knowledge that they had been there, done that when the lights were brightest in front of the biggest TV audiences.
The 2009 Yankees can get there; they can do that magic again.
They have the talent to bring back the intimidation that used to swirl around old Yankee Stadium during those radiant years. They can bring back the fear that used to exist in the back of the minds of their opponents, who would look at scoreboard and think about the possibility that the Yankees could come out of nowhere to win the game at the last minute.
This is their chance, their time, their golden opportunity. Unlike the past eight years, the Yankees have to seize the day.
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