Aaron Judge and the Yankees exceeded our wildest expectations this season.
I was born in 1996, which as many baseball fans already know, was the year the Yankees won their first World Series in eighteen years. To be honest, all I’ve ever know the Yankees to be is a winning team; I was fortunate enough to have just dodged the Kevin Maas and Andy Hawkins Yankees of the early 1990s, and since I’ve been alive, the Yankees have won thirteen American League East Championships, played the role of the Wild Card four times, represented the American League in the World Series seven times, and raised banners in the Bronx five times. I’ve seen all-time greats like Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera come and go, rookie phenoms like Shane Spencer and Joba Chamberlain getting people’s attention, and two guys named Joe steer the Yankees. However, what I’ve never seen in my time as a Yankees fan is a losing season, something that I thought for sure would change coming into the 2017 season.
Tomorrow, the Yankees play the 102 win, defending AL Champion, Cleveland Indians in Game 5 of the ALDS. To say it’s been a roller coaster postseason thus far has been an understatement; just to make it out of the wild-card round against the Twins, the Yankees needed 8.2 innings of relief after Luis Severino put them into a 3-0 hole three batters into the game. But the bullpen delivered, and unlike many Yankee teams have in the past, refused to give up early, with home runs by Didi Gregorius and Aaron Judge propelling the Yanks to an 8-4 win. Even two days ago, with the Yanks down 0-2 in the ALDS, having been shut down by Trevor Bauer in Game 1, and falling victim to managerial miscues after scoring six runs against Corey Kluber only to lose in Game 2, the Yankees refused to pack it in, with Greg Bird, a left-handed hitter, swatting a solo home run off of all-world relief pitcher Andrew Miller to give the Yankees a 1-0 win. And Severino, the guy who almost got the Yankees knocked out of the playoffs in the Wild Card game? Well there he was in Game 4, rebounding with seven innings of three-run, nine-strikeout ball, to give the Yankees a 7-3 win.
What I thought was going to be the first losing Yankee season of my life has instead developed into one of the most fun, and memorable Yankee seasons I’ve had the pleasure of tuning into. I rose as Aaron Judge hit 30 home runs in the first half of the season, and put on a show to win the Home Run Derby. I also sat down as Judge struggled through July and August, but cheered him once more as he hit fifteen home runs in September en route to breaking the single-season rookie home run record. I watched as Gary Sanchez, despite his defensive miscues, released the Kraken on opposing pitchers, hitting 33 home runs, and exciting us with one of the best arms in baseball. I watched as All-Starlin returned to form as a .300 hitter, while next to him, Sir Didi emerged out of The Captain’s shadow by putting up numbers that not even the great number two accomplished. I watched as Chase Headley had his strongest year as a Yankee, and showed his willingness to win by switching to first base after the trade deadline.
In the outfield, I watched as Brett Gardner, now the longest tenured (and still the most underrated) Yankee along with CC Sabathia continued his late career power assault, with his usual brand of speed and outstanding defense. I watched as Aaron Hicks blossomed into the player that was once a top fourteen pick in the draft, setting career highs across the board, and balancing the Yankees lineup as a switch hitter. I watched as Red Lightning took Yankee Stadium by storm, only to be outdone by the Chief reminding us he still has some gas left in the tank with a September to remember.
I watched as Luis Severino became the ace he was destined to be, rebounding from a Triple-A stint in 2016, to routinely pumping 100 mile per hour fastballs late into the game. I watched as CC Sabathia channeled his inner Andy Pettitte to become a crafty veteran, while another left-handed starter, Jordan Montgomery, showed flashes of the young lefty that Pettitte once was. I watched as the Yankees made a trade to make their Grey skies Sonny, and watched as their former ace reminded people what Tanaka time is all about with a fifteen strikeout performance to end the regular season, which was then followed up by seven scoreless postseason innings.
And the bullpen. Oh, the bullpen. I watched as a Cuban Missile lost his footing one summer night in Boston, only to regain his killer edge, and strike hitters out like never before as a multi-inning reliever. I watched as number 68 cemented his Yankee legacy with his fourth straight All-Star appearance, and cheered as the Yankees welcomed back an old friend, and watched as D-Rob dominated hitters like it was 2012. I watched as the Yankees turned a failed starter Green, who proceeded to set a record by striking out seven of eight batters in one appearance. Last but not least, I watched as the Yankees got a new weapon in the form of a Tommy gun from Chicago, who has already cemented his legacy with two scoreless, multi-inning, playoff appearances.
And most importantly, I watched as the Yankees defied the experts and my own expectations, winning 91 games en route to returning to the postseason. This season brought the future to the present and gave Yankee fans hope for the first time in a long time. Basically, win or lose tomorrow in Cleveland, it’s been one hell of a season in New York.