Never a dull moment, right?
If the Yankees were gonna make their first World Series in 15 years, it wasn't gonna come easily. The 2009 playoffs seem like a cakewalk compared to this. Every game against the Guardians has been an absolute war. The second you're calm, they pull something, and it's something ridiculous you weren't expecting. And it's always people like Brayan Rocchio or Bo Naylor or Pedro Avila. And then we can do something but is it gonna be enough? Is the other shoe gonna drop like it always does? Are we gonna be embarrassed while everyone that wants us to watches laughing?
This time, though, after so many close calls and so many moments the umps took from us, all it took was Juan Soto, two men on, and the right placement. Watching that ball travel further and further back was an incredible moment. You hoped it was enough, even if you weren't sure. And then when it landed, and the realization set in...the incredible exhale.
This was already a great game for the Yanks, thanks to Carlos Rodon, Giancarlo Stanton, Jake Cousins and the defense, but those two runs stopped it from being great. It once again needed late theatrics, and after Game 3 I wasn't sure if that could happen. The Guardians are famously better clutch hitters than us, and you know they were waiting for the right pitch. In another universe something goes wrong, Thomas or Noel does something. But it didn't happen. The Yankees really outlasted, outhit and outthought the Guardians, which is something I was never quite sure we could do.
And now we're in the World Series for the first time since I started the blog. Either we're seeing a rematch of the 1970s World Series', or we're seeing a rematch of the 2000 World Series. Either one would be awesome. We have better pitching than both. But...we actually made it. I kept thinking we'd get in our own way more often than not, but...we made it.
And now we've gotta win #28. Stranger things have happened, right?
As for the Guardians...look, they didn't make this series easy for us, and I'm thankful for that. The one thing that gave us the win was figuring out their bullpen, and everything else stymied us still. The lineup is impossible. The starters, like Boyd, Bibee on three days rest and somehow kinda Gavin Williams, were still tricky for us, as they were for anyone. Bo Naylor was the big hitter tonight, dangerous pretty much anytime he was on. There is depth to this team that makes me think they'll be at this for a while.
I think there's a definite path for the Guardians to continue at this pace, and potentially get further in the future. Ramirez is around for a while, this infield might be as well, and the rotation is only gonna get stronger. And if Yanks-Guards is ALREADY tense...it might get even more tense as we go.
Alright, that's one spot down. Today we possibly see who gets the second one. Good luck to both!
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