New York waited 15 years for this? The Dodgers outplayed and outclassed the Yankees. It wasn’t just that the Yankees lost, but how.
The Yankees qualified for the World Series for the first time since 2009. Then they promptly lost three games in a row, bounced back, and seemed headed West to LA for Game 6. However, an unraveling of major proportions occurred during an error-filled 5th inning, and NYY lost the game and Series, 7-6, to the Dodgers.
In some ways, there’s no need to analyze what went wrong. The Dodgers built their team better than the Yankees. Yes, they bought a championship with $300 million, but here’s what sets them apart. They built a team that knows how to play small ball and grinds out at-bats. This team does not rely on giant, hairy monsters that hit home runs.
I picked the Dodgers in 4 games because they were more battle-tested than the Yankees. They survived a winner-take-all Game 5 of the NL Division Series against a great San Diego Padres, winning 2-0, and then fought off a resilient Mets team in the NL Championship Series. On the other hand, the Yankees never dealt with adversity in the playoffs, so it wasn’t surprising they couldn’t handle their first adversity test when they lost Game 1 to the Dodgers on Freddie Freeman’s epic grand slam.
Before the Series, it was amusing to hear the New York media pick the Yankees to win in a sweep or five games. Fans are fans, but the media should know better. It’s one of the reasons I blog: fans deserve better sports coverage than sportswriters who pander. Local sports radio is no better.
Outside of Giancarlo Stanton, no one on the Yankees played well in the World Series, and Aaron Judge’s inability to catch a routine fly ball symbolizes his lousy postseason (slash line of.184/.344/.408 in 14 postseason games, including going 4 for 18 in the World Series). The bottom line is that the Yankees didn’t instill the fear of God in anyone as they once did during their championship years.
It’s hard to say this season was a success, but I think it’s fair to conclude that the 2024 run will be forgotten soon. Losing is one thing, but losing by making Little League errors is another. It was embarrassing, plain and simple, and that is what people will remember–except for Austin Capobianco assaulting Mookie Betts to take the ball away from him in Game 4.
So, why should Juan Soto sign with the Yankees when he can win a championship with the Dodgers? It sure didn’t seem like he had fun being a Yankee this year, and going down in five games in the championship round should make his decision easy for him to leave.
No doubt, if George Steinbrenner were alive, he would be fuming about what happened. It’s unacceptable that a proud franchise like the Yankees is on a 15-year title drought. New York deserves better, and it didn’t get it … again ….
