I am 73 and go back a ways The great Yankee teams of the past would have won that game in th bottom of the 9th last night. This crew has been leaving men on base in critical situations all season long last night just fit the pattern Stanton was a mistake They actually pay him ? they need first rate pitchers and players who can’t stand to loose thes guys don’t know how to play the game!!!
3
The bottom of the ninth of game 4 was a microcosm of the Yankees' season. There they were, facing a closer who seemingly could not find the plate with a map and compass. All they had to do was lay off bad pitches and keep the conga line moving to tie the game or win it.
Stanton flailed at pitches out of the zone and struck out when he was all but handed a walk. That was the pivotal, wasted at bat - a gift to the Red Sox.
Voit had the sense to walk. Walker took one for the team. Sanchez tried to win it with one swing, and did bring in a run. But now you're down to your final out, and it's still 4-3.
It's hard enough to beat a really good team like the Red Sox. It's close to impossible to beat them when you beat yourself at critical moments.
All season long, the Yankees stranded way too many runners in scoring position; because with few exceptions, their guys just wanna crush the ball when a single would score a run or two. They've got all the power they need; but with an inconsistent starting rotation, talented but currently error prone young infielders and a seeming inability to capitalize when opponents show weakness - like Stanton striking out when a walk would have been the most productive and readily available option -- all of this team's fatal flaws were exposed in this four game set.
The Orioles were among the worst teams in the history of major league baseball - yet the Yankees didn't play that well against them. That was the 'tell' for this year's Yankees.
6
This is why everybody else hates the Yankees: “That makes nine seasons in a row without a championship.” What a sense of entitlement! Had the Yankees won “only” one championship every nine years over the 115 years of their existence, they still would have won almost 12 of them, which is still more than any other club (St. Louis would be close with 11). Seven teams have never won a World Series. Another nine have won only once or twice. How about feeling it for those teams and their fans?
6
I suggest the Yankees adopt a radically different defensive alignment. When Sanchez is catching, put a fielder behind him to catch the passed balls. A lot of opposing base runners who now advance on the passed balls would stay put.
1
The Yankee offense was put together to take advantage of the short distances to the outfield walls. Everything is oriented toward home runs. No scratching out base hits, stealing bases, or other balanced baseball. How often do the Yankees bunt?
As a result, the team is vulnerable to pitching that takes away the long ball. Perhaps they should move back the fences, or make them taller. Then the front office will get some contact hitters, and the field manager might actually learn how to manage small ball.
6
Boone made some rookie mistakes that I hope he will have an opportunity to learn from next season. MLB Playoffs are a completely different beast than the regular season, even for 100-win teams. That said, it's nuts that Giancarlo Stanton strikes out this often. The Yanks clearly signed him, instead of someone like JD Martinez, only for box office and merch revenue. He's signed for another ten years....when he'll turn 38, and the decision to bring him on reeks of the worst roster decisions of the last twenty years--including Giambi and A-Rod. (Especially A-Rod.) One thing that is crystal clear: The Yankees truly need an unabashed Ace. A Scherzer. A deGrom. A Bumgarner. Lavish the money on a starting pitcher who can strangle an offense. Finally, a bench coach with experience, rather than a crony of Boone's, would have at least helped the rookie Manager make some better postseason choices. Missing Don Zimmer quite a bit today.
3
Generally speaking, the more runs, and how often, a team scores, the more games it should win. How those runs are scored is really immaterial.
For the season NY had more home runs than Boston, but fewer total hits, walks, double and triples and 168 more strike outs, or as Kruk & Kuip would point out, unproductive outs.
Anyone remember the 1960 World Series? The Yankees had twice as many home runs, a scored a third more runs and made twice as many errors. The Yankees scored 16, 12, 10 and 9 runs against Pittsburgh. The double digit runs games were the only ones the Yankees won.
Baseball. Ya gotta love it.
2
At the trade deadline the media buzz was whether the Yankees could put a package together and get Jacob Degrom. Andujar seemed to be a necessary part of that package. Think about this series if the Yanks started Degrom in game one, had Happ for game two and Tanaka game three. the entire series turns around. And Andujar batted .111 for the series and didnt even play in game 4. We need an ace.
1
The Sox were slightly better than the Yankees according to sabermetric statistics. Based on OPS, there was little difference between the two teams.
As for batting average, it is an old-fashioned statistic that doesn't mean much.
But what Mr. Kepner seems to forget, and what is most important is that, while the numbers have meaning, you still have to play the games.
1
I love that the Red Sox won, and I love the Sox-Yankees rivalry. But i don't like the behavior of many fans who takes these games too seriously - throwing beer, yelling obscenties at the players, taunting fans of the opposing team in the stands, etc. Baseball is still a game mainly for young kids. It's a coming of age experience. Last time I went to a game at Fenway, there were several 30-something males dead drunk and stumbling around in the aisle; 60-something males wearing Red Sox jerseys and cursing at the players. I haven't been to Yankee Stadium in years, but the behavior their is worse. Seriously, get a life. Have fun at the game. And always consider the youngsters around you.
4
There would be a tomorrow if Sanchez fly goes out.
1
@AK Didn't Aaron Judge clobber one that barely went foul in Game 3 and other hitters were also jinxed. You could say the Yanks didn't get the breaks at the right time or more likely, chalk it up to effective Red Sox pitching.
Late into the season, as the Yankees pushed toward the playoffs, I could see their heavy reliance on the long ball rather than basic hitting and moving runners along. In their last two games, too many guys were aiming for the fences, trying to be the hero, and did not have the patience to wait for the right pitch or make the Red Sox pitchers sweat a bit.
And Sabbathia, 38 years old? How could he be expected to last long anyway in a crucial October game?
1
Did Giancarlo Stanton play in the series against the Red Sox?
4
NY has a good team with a lot of promising young players who will likely only continue to improve. The problem for the Yankees is that despite setting a new MLB home run record they didn't have any everyday player who hit 300 or above. Boston had two or three. It of course didn't help that several players had significantly sub-years. You can have your everyday first baseman and catcher hit 190 and expect to win it all. The starting rotation will need to be shored up.
Boston basically bought the right free agents in the last couple of years who paid off this season. I am sure Cashman will look to plug those holes in the off season. Overall I'd say the Yankees chances will be good the next several years with the young talent that they have.
1
The Sox played like a hungry club. The Yankees played like post-Jeter Yankees, seemingly expecting stellar credentials and imposing bulk to cow the opposition (Look at how big Mighty Casey is! How powerful his swing!) But baseball is a game for dirt dogs. Games are won with hustle, not good optics, as the 2004 and 2018 scruffy Sox teams proved. It will be a fun series with the Astros. Go Sox.
6
The almighty South Side Chicago White Sox led MLB in strikeouts this year. And our 2nd basemen Yoan Moncada was #1 in strikeouts. But we won the season series 4-3 against both the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees. In a short series anything can happen.
I am happy that the Yankees lost at home in front of their fans. I will be happy if the Red Sox do likewise.
Since 1900 the White Sox have won three World Series Championships -1906, 1917 and 2005. The Red Sox have won three in this century. And Satan's favorite team aka the Yankees has won a few more.
Next year will be 100th Anniversary of New York City gangster Arnold Rothstein's financial interference in the Black Sox efforts in the 1919 World Series involving Joe " Shoeless " Jackson and others.
Go White Sox!
2
I only start watching MLB in October, but watching Kimbrel makes me nervous...and I have a lifelong dislike of Boston!
Only reason the Astros didn't win 110+ games were injuries...with their team in full swing, I like them over the Sox in 5 or 6 games.
A team can slug their way through the regular season, but must pitch to win in the post season. The Yankees just didn't have the starting pitching. There is nothing Boone or any other manager could have done to compensate for the lack of quality starters.
8
I have been rooting for the Sox ever since the Dodgers left town. It was an easy new team for a 10 year old former Dodger fan. We always played the Yankees in the World Series, and but for 1955, always lost. So who better to follow than another team that also disliked the Yankees, and which had Ted Williams?
It was pretty futile for a long time. After 2003 and the extra inning Boone home run, I almost gave up baseball. When we were down 0-3 in 2004, I could barely watch, expecting elimination each night.
I now realize, if you are 20 years old, and started watching the Sox when you were 6, all you have seen is success. None of the decades of futility. Similarly, if you are that age and watching NFL football, all you see out of the Patriots is success. Compare that to this Jet fan. Saw Joe Namath's SuperBowl win as I graduated college, and never saw another. And I am now fully retired.
These youngsters in New England following the Sox and Patriots are totally spoiled. No wonder they behave the obnoxious way Yankee fans did in the 1950s.
16
Elite pitching? Please!
The Yankees couldn’t win the season series against the Mets whose starters are by, & far better than what the House that Jeter built. The Yankees reliance on their “vaulted” bullpen became their undoing.
On a given night when a manager is pressed to push buttons sometimes either the button is broken or the Manager pushes too many buttons. Some nights it’s both.
In the end Stanton couldn’t pitch & one elite pitcher like a de Grom or even a Wheeler would probably have been the difference.
The legendary Yankee GM was not willing to pay the piper in terms of quality prospects & the well spring cross town rivals held their hand. They still have their hand for a new GM, probably the best move the Mets didn’t make since Tom Seaver’s Midnight Massacre.
Guess what Cashman you still need pitching.
5
Odd that there are so many comments today lamenting the decision to replace Girardi with Boone. The Yankees have just gone nine seasons without a Championship and eight of them were under Joe Girardi. Boone's no baseball genius to be sure and the Yankees built a team overly reliant on the long ball. Too many hitters wanting to be the hero and hit it out. Just look at the swings they took in clutch situations last night. Sack flys and singles aren't glamorous. They do win ballgames in October.
7
Not sure if anyone else has mentioned this, but one-dimensional offense is just one of two major problems for the Yankees. The other should be obvious.
This was their starting staff for 2018: Severino, dominant until he lost command of his fastball (which he still hasn't figured out how to recover); Tanaka, talented but erratic and unreliable; Sabathia, gutsy but clearly on his last legs; Gray, one of those players who just couldn't handle the pressure of New York; German and Loaisiga, not quite ready for prime time; Montgomery, who was ready, but was lost for the season; and finally Happ, who was excellent until last Friday--but is only two or three years younger than Sabathia.
If the Yankees are to make any progress next year, this has to be priority #1. Otherwise, we're in for another season of five-inning starts, an overtaxed bullpen, batters constantly forced to rally from deficits... an ultimately, another too-early exit.
4
Romine pitching in the playoffs encapsulates a lot to me. Did Steinbrenner just decide that staying under 197 million was most important this season? Surely the starting rotation was always suspect. Give up on Sabbathia and Gray. Betances is erratic, Robertson isn't reliable anymore. I've been a big fan of Gardner but it appears he isn't effective anymore. Teach Andujar and Sanchez defense.
1
If George were still alive, Boone would be out of a job today.
12
The Red Sox won despite the boorish behavior of Yankees fans. Did you see the full beer that was tossed at Kimbrel as he made his way out of the bullpen? What about the idiots seated behind the plate who tried to distract Kimbrel's pitching by jumping up and down and waving like they do at basketball games when someone make a free throw? as a Sox fan, I absolutely love it when the Red Sox beat the Yankees and I love that Jacoby Ellsbury has to watch his former team go on. The best thing about going to see the Sox play the Astros this weekend is that I will not have to endure obnoxious Yankees fans. Bucky Dent, how pathetic.
12
@George
I love the fact the Yankees are paying Jacoby Ellsbury.
9
Let's be clear: Sev & CC have been unreliable--dazzling then dismal- throughout the season. Stanton not only failed to get a hit in the 9th inning- he watched a strike and swung at two balls way outside the zone. Boone made key errors in judgment.
The fault in the Yankee stars seems to be choking. This may reflect pressure from Cashman; was Boone a leader to a team that seemed hot & cold ? Were they counting on young Aaron Judge to inspire ??
Cora is feisty & bold, Betts & J.D. unintimidated by pressure (despite Betts weak showing last night). Maybe the elders on the Red Sox coaching staff have been especially stabilizing and encouraging.
Boone & Stanton should be released.
5
The Yanks are the epitome of what’s making the current game awful. Scoring only via the homer, fewer hits than strikeouts. The opposition hardly needs to put fielders out. The home rumn, without a dramatic context, is a pretty boring event. Compared to extra base hits, sparkling double plays, fielding gems. Yet the networks and some fans are addicted to Yankee baseball. We baseball lovers barely get to see teams like the Indians, Rockies, and Brewers, which is awful when the playoffs start. Hope this trend changes soon.
6
Interesting article (and comments from the readers.) You would think by the tenor that the Sox played Perfect ball to the Yankees mistakes. But what No One mentioned was that Boston left THIRTEEN men on base, with the bases loaded twice. I guess it's true: History is written by the victors.
And with that as backdrop, the Sox now face the best starting pitching in baseball. I expect the opening game of the World Series to be scheduled in the Central Time Zone, in Houston.
3
@Connecticut Yankee
It's fair to HOPE Houston takes the series--that's what being a fan is about. And in an October series, dominant pitching is usually King. But Yankee fans have underestimated Boston all season long. Personally, I'd like to see LA v. Boston. Would be good for the game. God knows baseball could use the ratings.
6
@Connecticut Yankee, so if the Red Sox didn't play well and still win, what does that say about the yankees?
3
Is it the case that manager Boone wants his hitters to work for walks? Does he think the statistics favor taking close pitches? Is this why the Yankees strike out ratio is so high? Whatever became of protecting the plate -- even Gardiner who is good at long at bats has an annoying habit of always taking a first pitch, even when he is seeing the pitcher for the second time.
Steinbrenner/Cashman wanted a less tightly wound manager than Joe G (a man with an engineering degree from Northwestern). Boy did they get what they wanted. If Boone were less wound, his limbs would fall off. If Boone is around next season, one little thing that could change: wear that pinstriped uniform, not a hoodie. Look like a ballplayers' manager. On balance the managerial experiment has failed -- total wins could be a function of weak teams.
1
@Jay65 Alex Cora had a sweatshirt on. Everyone knows who the manager is. That's not the issue.
4
Ceding defeat gracefully, and deciding to have some fun and see if Brock Holt could make baseball history, was not comedy. It was what we call sportsmanship, Tyler, and I was extremely proud to be a Yankee fan at that moment.
5
@mimi I don't think they put Romine in there so Brock Holt could hit for the cycle; they did it to keep the relievers fresh for the next day.
2
Perhaps the Yankees "don't measure up" because of their inability to play smart, "situational" baseball, as noted in accompanying article:
"the Yankees’ ... inability to deliver productive, situational at-bats... Martinez, who has distinguished himself not just as a slugger but a situational hitter lifted a fly ball to center field that easily scored Benintendi to give the Red Sox a 1-0 lead."
The Yanks have mostly either homered or struck out (the latter being more common) all year, and so were erratic, failing when it counted most. Maybe the team needs a new hitting coach, manager, and/or hitters who don't always swing for the fences? Long fly-ball outs and whiffs with men on base seem to be symptoms of bad baseball -- viz the Sox moving on while the Yanks go home...
8
Aaron Boone was chewing gum and blowing bubbles as the last out was made. How do you pay a man to lead your team and he blows bubbles all game long, and in the most critical moments as well? It's a bad look, but not as bad as Yankee starters totaling 13 innings and 15 runs in the series. That's a 10.38 ERA if you're counting. Even with 100 wins, Yankees were always pretenders.
16
@Mo Sorrisi
Your worried about "a bad look"? Blowing bubbles is your concern from last night?
2
@Mo Sorrisi Has a point. Boone certainly fulfills management's desire for a low tension guy. His bad decisions have been discussed elsewhere, but he certainly lacks the bearing of a leader. Not just the bubble bum, but also and especially his failure to wear the uniform. I don't care what Alex Cora does, the manager of the Yankees should wear the pinstripes at home and the traditional road uniform elsewhere. The Red Sox played well, but I don't care for the little league style outfits they wore in their home park.
@Jay65Boy, You know the Yankees are bad when their fans complain about uniforms that the Red Sox are wearing AT FENWAY! On the other hand, it is interesting to hear men complain about what men are wearing. Usually the wardrobe comments are reserved for women.
What a spectacular finish. I’m a Sox fan, but the Yankees are relentless and the Stadium is a snake pit for opposing teams. While Boone is now the designated whipping boy—every story needs a villain—you could also criticize Cora for his questionable use of the bullpen. His most glaring mistake was removing Sale from the game after pitching a perfect eighth inning. What could’ve justified that decision? Kimbrel gave up the home run to Judge in Boston and demonstrated in that wild ninth why Boston fans can never relax when their team is leading. Sale would have had three days of rest before the ALCS started and a loss last night would’ve been catastrophic going back to Boston. Sometimes the obvious moves are the ones you should make.
6
@AlNewman
Why, in any case (asks this Yankees fan), did Cora 'lift' Porcello after only 5 innings -- 5 very well pitched (with a low 'pitch count').
5
I remember last year when the NYPD posted signs around Yankee Stadium telling people their cars would be towed if they violated parking regulations during the World Series. These of course were posted before they were dispatched by the Astros, who then went on to defeat the mighty LA Dodgers, another team that also showed them little respect. If the Sox have the same attitude, they will be facing the same sadness being felt in New York today.
2
@HKS I would add only this. In MLB, as in any sport, you must respect every opponent. On any given day, that opponent is the only player or team on the planet that can beat you. As a coach in a team sport, I always ask my players to raise their hands if they think today's opponent isn't good enough to beat us. That's how I know who will NOT be in the starting lineup.
4
The Yankees window is closing, only two more years with Jacoby Ellsbury. The worst contract in Yankees history and that is saying a lot.
5
I wondered if the Times would open this column up to the unwashed—particularly Bostonians like the undersigned. Tyler Kepner has long been one of my favorite baseball writers—I’m partial to Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe—but here I don’t think he’s being too hard on his Yankees.
The difference in this series was managing. Alex Cora had exhibited a season-long “feel” for the game that Aaron Boone seems not to have grasped. He looked afraid to me, all year—I say this from afar—trying to manage like Earl Weaver, waiting for the three-run homer.
And Brian Cashman is not without his share of blame. How valuable was Giancarlo Stanton under pressure? Homering off a mediocre pitcher in June isn’t the same as looking overmatched in the ALDS by an obviously ineffective Craig Kimbrel in the ninth inning of a close-out game. C.C. Sabathia should have been eased out of the rotation before mid-season. Luis Severiano was never as good as the Yankees thought he was. The team’s pursuit of power at any expense exposed a deficiency behind the plate that added up to subtle stresses in a pitching staff that was eminently hittable.
This remains a team with great talent and even greater promise. I don’t subscribe to some of the theories emanating from Boston this morning that the Sox are now the Pinstripers’s “daddies.” But surely, somewhere this morning, Joe Girardi is waking up to a smile. I think a lot of Yankee fans now rue his leave-taking.
The Yankees remain a team without patience.
29
@Soxared, '04, '07, '13 Excellent comment here.
@Soxared, '04, '07, '13 No, no no, you don't get it. I usually look for your political comments because we seem to agree about many things, but you are comparing apples to oranges here. Cora was working with players that had the benefits of more experience in "the show" and more time working together in the field. They were better than the Yankees and they deserve the Title and all the accolades that go along with it. Boone was working with very young players and very recently acquired players. It was meant to be a year of building and for him to have gotten the Yankees as far as he did is an accomplishment that also deserves to be celebrated. Indeed, if he can teach them how to hit singles and tighten up their infield work, these Yankees will be a mighty force in the near future.
1
@Soxared, '04, '07, '13
The Yankees’ incessant need to win the WS every year ultimately becomes their undoing.
Longer than bond cycles baseball has a way of evening out eventually.
Dare say that the 19th Century produced the Giants, the Yankees eclipsed them in the 20th, dare say that maybe the 21st the Curse of the Pedro?
The way the Yankees used to own the Red Sox, since '04 the reverse has been true.
8
Heartbreakers, every time.
The Yankees have learned a valuable lesson this season - home runs don't win championships. They're exciting and we all love to see them. But Dave Dombrowski is spot on when he says "We can hit the ball out of the ballpark, but we make contact, guys can run the bases, we’re athletic, and we’re a good defensive club." That is the winning model. Don't go for power exclusively, go for contact, and let the singles pile up, just like they did for the Red Sox in their 16-1 victory.
And this is why the acquisition of Giancarlo Stanton was such a mistake. It was certainly flashy, and his strength at the plate is other worldly. But where are his clutch hits, particularly in the post season? Nowhere. The Yanks would do well by finding him a new home, somewhere, somehow.
So, it's on to next season. The Yanks have a terrific young core of players. They need more seasoning, and the benching of Andujar was the sign that they aren't there yet. But they'll eventually mature into consistent, star players. Now the Yanks need to find starting pitching and a long-term solution for the bullpen that doesn't include rentals. As a good friend says, it always comes down to pitching. And the Bronx Bombers know that.
8
@Max Dither As an impartial observer, the difference between the two teams' approach to player acquisition is stark. Other than Gregorius, it seems every Yankee is bulked-up to the point that his neck is as wide as his head and has NFL running back thighs. I can't envision these Yankees scoring 5 runs without a homer, much less 15.
A perfect illustration is RF; the Yankees are Aaron Judge while the Red Sox are Mookie Betts.
1
Brock Holt is superman one night and happy to sit on the bench and cheer the next. That shows that the Red Sox are a team. Well put together and well managed. I hope the Yankees enjoy their home run record this winter.
28
Perfectly stated, Frank.
4
Congratulations to the Red Sox. It was painful to watch but they deserved it.
I don't think Boone cost the Yanks the series but I still wish we had kept Girardi around. The movement by teams to be so stubbornly reliant on various metrics is incredibly frustrating.
I hope that Cashman doesn't go on a Steinbrenner-esque spending spree this off-season. Some pitching help would be nice, but we don't need Harper or Machado.
7
Re: the other Red Sox vs NYY article, no the Yanks didn't "rally" as much as Kimbrel melted down.
4
I guess the Yankees did not read or see the movie "Moneyball."
4
"Yankees daadaa Yankees daadaa..."
The sign on the Yankees stadium, "Closed" See ya!
6
When Giancarlo Stanton stepped to the plate last night in the ninth inning of last nights elimination game at Yankee stadium, the great stadium in the Bronx was going bonkers, Yankee fans pent up for 8 innings saw a weakness in the form of Red Sox reliever Craig Kimbrel who was on shaky legs. Two men on , nobody out, the Yankees down by three in the bottom of the ninth, the proverbial mythical moment when heroes are born.
The crowd at Yankee stadium was making so much noise they probably heard them way up in Boston, because those Yankee fans knew they had history on their side, a glorious history of great players and great moments.
There is a rule in the ninth inning of any big game, until you get that first out you can't even think of winning the game. That first out greases the wheels and is the necessary ingredient to any eventual victory.
Giancarlo flailed at balls out of the strike zone and every swing and miss took just a little bit of steam out of the crowd, there was a sense, that Stanton would not come up when the team needed him the most, but still the fans hoped for some Yankee Stadium magic. As if the ghosts of past legends would lend to the man at the plate some of the legendary greatness.
When Stanton walked back to the dugout, he had given the Red Sox the out they needed, there would be no magic, no comeback. Reality like cold rain was settling on Yankee Stadium, and the Red sox were getting ready to celebrate on the field of their greatest rival.
17
i have been amazed by several Yankees this year, mostly Stanton and Sanchez, who flail at balls way out of the strike zone. Then the next batter comes up and watches those bad pitches go by.
The pitcher is the same and these guys are all professional players. Supposedly they study the pitchers, have scouting reports and video available. Why are some so consistently fooled by terrible pitches? And why can't they adjust their swings when just a hit, not a dinger is needed?
3
Meanwhile, in the Valley of the Stupid, we hear calls for Boone's head for leaving CC in the game too long. The guy gave up 3 runs in 3 innings, pitching for a team that can't do anything but homer or whiff. That's on Cashman.
11
Fire Joe Girardi, again.
6
I'm a diehard, long-time Sox fan, but I am blown away by the current Yankees team. Watching the Sox pitching to their lineup is like waiting for the shark in 'Jaws' to strike the innocent swimmer. What the heck do those guys take for vitamins? Omg they are huge.
Oh, and I really did enjoy gloating when the Sox celebrated on the Yankees' home field last night.
6
Too bad George isn't around in his prime, at least the aftermath would have been interesting, you can bet that Boone and his idiot coaching staff would be gone, Cashman likely would be canned or on really thin ice for the crappy pitching staff, and Sanchez would be traded to San Diego or some other dismal team, if not outright cut. Ah the good old days, where love or hate the Yankees, there was a lot of fun to be had.
4
@bill Not a whole lot of slow news days with Steinbrenner around.
1
Finally, too late, someone out there saying they strike out too-damn much!
If Stanton struck out 25% less--I think that would be 160 strikeouts--he'd have been at .280 with at least 7 or 8 more homers & 20 more RBIs.
Excessive strikeouts are NOT "the price you pay" for great performance. They are wasted at-bats, wasted innings, rally snuffers.
& I'm worried about both Torres & Andujar. They struck out a lot more as the season wound down. Rookie stuff--or bad coaching--or contagious bad teamwork.
One dimension. Case in point: Sanchez's sac fly in ninth. He goes for the fences, falls short, scores one run: two outs. If he knew how to hit a single--not sure he knows how to hit at all--2 runs score & still one out.
9
In this launch angle, homer or strike out era that the Yankees personify, it’s good for baseball that two teams who have multiple ways of scoring runs will vie for the pennant.
And, yes, I’m a Red Sox fan.
11
The Yankees made the cardinal mistake of messing with team chemistry. Last year at this time Yankee fans were on a magic carpet ride, they loved the Yankee team that toppled Cleveland and played a thrilling seven game series with Houston, playing the eventual world series champs toe to toe. In the course of one year we have seen a radical change in the Yankee team. The addition of Stanton who make 25 million dollars a year in a locker room where all the heavy lifting is done by young players on rookie contracts. Stanton's homerun or strike out style doesn't work in the playoffs, where an 0-4 in the middle of the lineup is deadly. The Yankees also removed Joe Giraldi as manager, a man who had the team moving in the right direction. The loss of good locker room guys like Todd Frazier and Sterling Castro, plus up on Greg Bird for the Johny come lately Luke Voight, all of these things and more destroyed the magical chemistry of last year, and replaced it with a more corporate reality , Players are disposable was the message, perform or get dumped.
The Redsox really are not a team of superstars but they play like a team, in fact they play like last years Yankees, everybody pulling in the same direction and having fun. The lesson is simple, don't mess with what's working , especially chemistry, because we know with the wrong mixture, things can suddenly break bad.
17
@artfuldodger
& don't forget Torreyes--one of the best all-purpose players, & a team-spirit leader--dumped, or tossed aside, I don't know what happened to him.
2
@artfuldodger
They won 100 games!
2
Nothing lasts forever, including sports dynasties.
1
I'm glad and sad at the result. I'm glad because as an ancient Brooklyn Dodgers fan and Mets fan too, I can't root for the Yankees. Ever. I'm sad because I can't root against the Yankees again until 2019.
12
The Yankees were out-managed by the Red Sox. Boone's dependency on stats, and his passivity, cannot compete with Cora's USE of stats but also his ability to make decisions from instinct. The Yankees will not win a championship with Boone at the helm, but sadly it's probably going to take them a few seasons of disappointment to realize this. You can buy good players but nothing replaces the split second, instinctual decisions by brilliant managers. Boone lacks this quality, which can't be taught.
13
@RM
If the Yankees had J.D. Martinez and the Red Sox had Giancarlo Stanton, 'Boone would be Cora and Cora would be Boone.'
(Not sayin' Boone didn't make mistakes with pitching changes -- surely, he was 'mistaken' in Game 3 -- but the players made the difference.)
10
@RM
The Yankees didn't 'buy good players', they have a young, relatively cheap payroll (by Yankee standards, not by the dime store Coupons standard). While Boone's inexperience shows (and why he had a buddy as his bench coach, with no experience, rather than an experienced coach/ex manager boggles the mind), the real villain here was Brian Cashman, in that the Yankees starting pitching is at best mediocre. They won 100 games but it wasn't because of the starting pitching, Severino falls apart when the pressure is on (could be just being young), Tanaka is not what he was, Grey and Happ and lynn are pretty crappy, CC is amusing but is not going to carry you far into a game. You need good to great pitching to win, combine the Yankees with the Met's pitching staff and Boston is history (and likely the world series will be yankees as well).
The good news is because this is a young team they can get pitching, there are going to be some good free agents out there, and if Cashman doesn't find good pitchers in FA then he should be fired, because going with this staff next year would be negligence. They will have the money, if they can get rid of happ and Grey and Lynn somehow, and replace them with good pitching, they will win.
5
@Thomas Murray
Yes, & what's with that "ace" thing? Who's my ace, is he my ace, oh what an ace... etc. Severino--total disappointment. Embarrassment, really--shouldn't aces go, like, 6 innings maybe?
The whole dancing thing, the bat-flipping, & for pitchers (for Severino) the chest-beating when you strike out someone (in the 3rd inning) with the bases that you loaded.... Nauseating.
The Yankees team is no class act.
Maybe creating a one dimensional power team in a high school size stadium was not the ticket. Scoring runs through teamwork and good base running, playing great defense. It’s the Kansas City model, and it works. But the Sox bullpen is not like KC, and Houston will take them on this account I predict.
6
@Phaedrus
Houston is Boston only better.
& they both run. ("Run? why run when King Kong is on deck?")
1
We Bostonians will enjoy this series, but we know the Yankees will be back soon. Without the Yankees, baseball in Boston would not be nearly as interesting.
17
@Bob in Boston
And vice-versa, Bob.
1
@Bob in Boston Isn’t it wonderful that we can afford to be so generous in victory?
1
The Yankees may be in a downhill slide. Their starting pitching looks old and overpaid. Their hitting is home run happy. Overall they have a lot of work to do if they hope to compete with Boston.
14
Go Red Sox!
Glad to see the Yankees flame out...
15
I am a diehard Mets fan, when the talk of deGrom being traded was going on I told my Yankee friends, if you want him you give me your top two prospects. All of my friends said no way and I said enjoy CC Sabathia in the playoffs. Prospects who never played a game vs. the most likely Cy Young award winner.
The Yankees have no real pitching and it showed. My bet is on Cashman to go out and get free agent Bryce Harper for an overkill of offense.
10
de Grom for only *two* of the Yankees’ top prospects? C’mon, he’s easily worth four!
4
The Yankees are an electric team but must find a way to have more productive at bats in close games and with RISP. It’s fun and all to watch Stanton hit balls 450 feet into the upper deck when his team is up 6 runs, but if I have to watch another season of him striking out chasing sliders in the dirt with runners on and the team down a run in the 9th inning, I think I’m going to have to watch a little more Netflix and a little less YES network next year.
26
@Steve55
The Yankees are Lucifer's team.
Judge and Stanton are no Altuve nor Betts.
1
I like C.C. but it wasn't Angel's fault tonight, he's bad like C.C. said, and he shouldn't have been umpiring in the playoffs. Maybe he did get in CC's head before the game started. Boston's starters were better and so was their hitting. Every move Cora made seemed to work out, let's see how that goes against Houston.
2
Dramatic and welcoming change in the booth. Brian Anderson and Ronnie D were great. Lesson to others. Stop the 3 person teams. Stop the screaming. Stop analyzing every freaking pitch. Bottom line. Vince Scully.
30
Mostly, stop ARod.
4
Amen, and know when not to say anything.
1
As a lifelong Mets fan, I can attest to Darling’s bona fides in the broadcast booth. Indeed, while the Mets are an afterthought in the pages of the Times (yes, we’ve all noticed how the paper has saved money by relying on AP game recaps when the Mets are on the road) their broadcast team of Gary Keith Ron has never come close to being matched by the Yankees’ listless commentators.
1
Yankes played 5B ball; Baffling Bubble Blowing Buffoon Boone! If called I will take the job.
6
If I weren't a born native Red Sox fan I would be a Yankee fan. I believe deep down in Boston many others feel the same way but just can't come out and say it.
The team we love to hate, The Yankees, suck, NOT.
3
@R L Donahue: Some of my first memories are of sitting on my grandfather's lap listening to Red Sox games on the radio and it's carried on for another 60 years. I have to agree that neither team would be what they are without the other.
5
@R L Donahue I, too, am a born native Red Sox fan and I will NEVAH forget the feeling I experienced during the 2004 World Series . I disagree with with your premise. I do not admire, nor would I EVAH root for the Yankees.
1
Kepner,
Pls accept my sincere condolences.
Looking forward to your applauding pieces after WS when Cashman starts trading.
1
I’ll probably be tarred, feathered and driven out of Boston for saying this, but the Yankees are a good, young exciting team, and when I vacation on Montauk and can’t get the Sox on TV, I happily say “All Rise,” look for Sonya Sotomayor in the bleachers, and watch the Bombers. Yankees fans should take heart. You won 100 games but faced a superbly coached, extraordinarily talented, once-in-a-generation powerhouse that simply outplayed (and out-managed) you. I have no doubt you’ll be back. Stay loose, have fun, and play ball.
20
Just get MLB TV and you can watch the RedSox anywhere in the world, any time, on
any device. No need to go downmarket and watch the Yankees.
5
“That makes nine seasons in a row without a championship”
People don’t hate the Yankees out of jealousy. People hate the Yankees for spoiled, entitled sentiments like this one. Dear God, get some perspective that New York is neither the center nor master of the universe.
63
@Andrew And yet the teams and towns with this attitude, across all sports, are the ones that win. Why do New York, Boston and California win so many championships? Because someone has to, so it better be us.
1
@Andrew
Per Kepner, Yankees are entitled to be GIVING the WS every year. All teams just have to bow out and accept that as fait accompli.
3
@Andrew I'm guessing you mean not the center of the baseball universe. Because it sure seems to be the center of everything else but surfing!
It's all good...as James Earl Jones aid in field of Dreams..."The memories will be so thick they'll have to brush them away from their faces. People will come Ray. The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game: it's a part of our past, Ray. It reminds us of all that once was good and that could be again. Oh...people will come Ray. People will most definitely come.”
10
In golf, they say, “you drive for show and you putt for dough,” and in baseball, the towering homer is grand to see, but leaving so many men stranded on base tells you the Yankees were driving for show, and putting was a thing they never thought about. Bunts? Sac flies? Not so much, and in the end, a team like Boston, which can do it all, did it all, especially against the Yankees.
Also, erratic pitching and slow managerial reaction to erratic pitching is a death warrant.....
The Sox are a terrific team, and as a lifelong Yankees fan and a rabid hater of all teams Boston, it roils me to say it, but it is true. They earned their playoff slot.
May Houston crush them like so many egg shells!
12
The Sox beating the Yankees at the Stadium? Even that idiot in the White House can't get me bummed out today!
70
@robert thomas, It's only 9:45 am. Give that idiot time.
9
@robert thomas
Wrong color Sox aka red and wrong town aka Boston.
The right Sox aka white and the right town aka Chicago did not make it to the 2018 MLB post season.
@robert thomas
Amen to that brother!
1
The Red Sox win only reinforces my long cherished theory that the sports God's don't like New York. I guess long suffering New York teams don't deserve nice things like pennants, trophies and victory parades in downtown New York City.
I refuse to say "better luck next year.". It just hurts too much.
4
Long suffering NY teams? Surely, you jest. Yankees have how many WS wins? 27? Red Sox have 7 or 8. You're being satirical, right?
1
The better team won.
Congratulations, Red Sox.
And the video cameras turned out to be much better umpires than the human umpires.
37
First off, congratulations to the Red Sox for last night’s victory. The Yankees had a great season. However, the Yankees were truly a one-dimensional team that relied on the long ball and nothing else. The 2018 Yankees reminds me of the 2004 Yankees. In 2004, the Yankees just relied on offense and nothing more. That team did not have a pitching ace. And that came to bite the Yankees back big time when they played the Sox. The Red Sox came back from 3 games down to win the pennant. (Lets not forget the poor managing by Joe Torre, especially in Game 6. He was asleep at the helm.) Excellent pitching, timely and contact hitting, defense and running games win ball games. Relying on the long ball will win some ball games. But at the end, teams that just rely on home runs will come up short.
25
@Eric
Agreed. perhaps batting average is not as overrated as the stat freaks believe.
2
@Bronx7 The Yankees did not have one hitter that batted over .300. That speaks volumes about making contact when it is truly needed.
@Eric
Do you have any idea what it is like being a fan of the Chicago White Sox?
Have you ever heard of Arnold Rothstein or the Black Sox or Shoeless Joe Jackson?
Have you heard of New York Yankee fans Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump?
As a long time Red Sox fan, I'm happy with the results, but also glad this rivalry is back. It just makes baseball more interesting in the same way golf is more interesting when Tiger Woods is competitive again, no matter how you feel about Tiger. The Red Sox cannot be fully the Red Sox without the Yankees on stage.
Also it was nice to see some respectful Yankee comments in this article, and a brawl-free series.
36
@WayneDoc
Amen. As a Red Sox fan, I concur.
The Red Sox -Yankees rivalry is one of the best in pro sports.
As is well known, we Red Sox fans root for two teams, the Sox and whichever team is playing the Yankees. (And I am sure the feeling is mutual.)
It is extra sweet when we win in that rivalry.
Go Sox. Beat the Astros. Three wins down, 8 more to go.
23
@WayneDoc: As I commented upthread, I've been a Red Sox fan for 60 years and have learned that the Red Sox need the Yankees and vice versa. They'd still be good, but the drive wouldn't be there quite like it is, And we wouldn't get to watch the great rivalry. But, that said, I'm quite satisfied with the results.
1
@Joe From Boston
Hey joe I sure hope the Astros kick Boston’s butt,
As a long time yankee fan, their was only a couple of Boston players I loved, the great ted Williams who for some strange reason Boston didn’t like and YaZ( I grew up near him in bridgehampton) Go Houston!