Sept 2, oye
Things are not looking real good right now. It would be one thing if the Yanks were playing lights out ball, but not the case. Putting up 13 against Detroit, while almost giving the game away, is not something that makes me feel warm and fuzzy, like swallowing a cat. So here are some stats...
It's Sept 2. The Yanks have 25 games left in the year. They will not win the division, they are 12 games behind Tampa, which I finally agreed is legit. At least regular-season legit. So that leaves the Wild Card, which as of today they are 7 behind the Red Sox, and 4 behind both Minnesota and the White Sox.
Not sure what they have to go in terms of percentage, and what other teams have to do, but its so lopsided that its almost impossible.
Out of those 25 games, they have...
6 against Tampa, which they are 7-5 this year. Not good. They will need to sweep one of the best teams in baseball. First series starts tonight.
3 against Seattle, which is an awful team, and the Yanks are 6-0. They NEED to sweep a team they should sweep.
3 against the Angels, and they are 2-5 so far, and have no chance of beating. So that is 3 losses.
Remember, the Yanks probably have to go 21-4 to have a shot of making the wild card. Just a guess.
4 against the White Sox. They are 2-1 against a team that is playing for their lives in a division that only the div winner will make the post season.
3 against Baltimore. They are a pathetic 8-7 against them this year. Freakin embarrassing.
3 against Toronto, a team that has a slim shot at the post season. Right now they are only a couple behind the Yanks.
3 more against the Red Sox. Its the last series of the year, so who knows what it will come down to. But so far this year, they are one game under 500 against the Sox, at 7-8.
So that made me think of the last time the Yanks did not play in the post season. If you remember, the Wild Card was first started in 94. Well, the Yanks were 70-43 in the beginning of August, and had the second best record in baseball, when players went on strike. Ouch.
So in 1995, the Yankees made the post season as the first wild card team. The Red Sox won the division. Cleveland beat the Sox that year in the division playoffs, and the Yanks lost to the Mariners in a historical playoff series. Great drama that year.
Then the Yanks won the division in 96, Wild Card in 97, the division in 98, div in 99, div in 2000, and every year after until 2007, when the Red Sox won the division. The Yanks made the playoffs in 07 as the Wild Card.
The Red Sox made the post season in 2007, 2005, 2004, 2003, 1999, 1998 (first year living in Boston for me), 1995.
Looking back a little farther, Toronto won the division in 1993 (yankees second place, Red Sox 5th place that year). 1992 Toronto won the division, Yanks in 4th place, Sox in last out of 7 teams. Toronto also won the division in 1991, with the Red Sox wining in 1990. Oakland beat the Red Sox that year in 4 games, then lost a very surprising World Series to Cincinnati in 4 games. I remember that series, it was a huge upset.
So anyway, the Yanks have been in the playoffs since 1995, and would probably have been in 1994. This year it could all end. Just like that.
Well Suzyn, in life all good things come to an end.