Quite often as I read back on these posts I see that I don't write much when the Yankees are doing well. Maybe it's superstition that I'll ruin the mojo or something (although I'm not really that kind of fan), or maybe it's just that I get more passionate when I see things that I think need changing.
But tonight, with a day to prepare Monday and then the one-game play-in Tuesday night (I already exchanged my theater tickets), I think it's time to say that this has actually been a pretty good season. The team was in first place for a good while, was close for even longer, and secured a playoff spot for the first time since Derek Jeter broke his ankle playing Detroit. Those were all good things.
Also a refreshing change of pace was the confidence shown in some emerging Yankee farmhands. Yes, Toronto got Tulo and David Price at the trade deadline and the Yankees ended up with Dustin Ackley. Know what? We also got Luis Severino, who seems to be the real deal and Greg Bird, who did one heck of a Mark Teixeira impression--but with a higher batting average and not as much defensive flash--in something much longer than a cameo. I would have no problem with Greg Bird as my starting first baseman in the playoffs and beyond.
And guess what? That Ackley guy nobody ever heard of turned out to be pretty good and so did Rob Refsnyder, who's my second baseman next year when Cashman calls and asks. Which he won't, but what the hell.
Didi Gregorius, who looked a lot like Rich McKinney the first six weeks or so of the season, became an asset, making all the routine plays and some of the really tough ones and hitting better than respectably. He's not Derek Jeter. Neither is anyone else except Derek Jeter. That's okay. Cashman did well with that one.
Did some of the team age in August and September? Unquestionably. Mr. Rod remembered he was 40 years old right around the time he became 40 years old and maybe the undercover substances just weren't kicking in like they used to. Brian McCann threw lots of runners out and forgot how to hit for power or average in the last month of the season. As a right fielder, Carlos Beltran makes a hell of a DH.
CC Sabathia came back from that knee thing some people thought would end not just his season but his career and actually pitched quite well, but he's never going to dominate and he'll never see the seventh inning again. Dellin Betances suddenly turned all human on us the last few weeks after pitching something like 3000 innings this year. Chasen Shreve just vanished. There's someone wearing his uniform number now who appears to work for the other side.
It's not time yet to consider next year. It's not even time to consider next week. Right now, there is just Tuesday. But before we get to that, let's revel a little. A team that was picked by more than one to finish last secured a playoff spot. We had some great moments and some really fun personalities for a while.
We also had the past two weeks of truly awful baseball and that's not inspiring going into the do-or-die part of the season, but that's not the point just now.
It's been an entertaining, and if you measure some ways, successful six months. After the past two years that had to recommend themselves only with the farewell tours of two irreplaceable players, that's not nothing by a long shot.
My prediction for Tuesday? The Astros will win. Keuchel and his beard are more intimidating than Tanaka and his scary hamstring. The Yankees aren't hitting Orioles starters with ERAs over 5. Tanaka's been having problems in the first and second innings. This one will be over early. It gets late early out there.
Look, I wasn't going to stay positive the whole time. You can't expect a complete change of personality.
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