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UN-FUCKING-BELIEVABLE
by Larry Mahnken

In early May, when the Yankees were tied for last place, there seemed no chance they'd ever do this. A 16-2 stretch made it seem possible again, but they right away lost 6 straight, and 11 of 13 to put them right back in the hole. 6 straight interleague wins at home in early June were undone by a 1-5 stretch against the D-Rays and Mets. On the road, they split with Baltimore and had to win two straight to beat Detroit.

The season turned around on the Fourth of July -- in the bottom of the eighth inning on the Fourth, in fact. I can pinpoint the AB. The batter, even. And the pitch.

The Yanks had blown a 6-0 lead after two to go into the bottom of the eighth down 8-6. Jason Giambi, who had in the second inning hit his first homer since the Pittsburgh walkoff, fell behind 0-2 to Steve Kline, took a ball, then launched a long shot down the line -- just foul.

Two pitches later, after another ball, he launched another one -- this one fair -- and the Yankees were down only 1 run. That sparked the rally, and the Yankees went on to win 13-8, 12-3 the next day.

Exactly two weeks later, they were in first place.

It was a short-lived stay, Joe Torre knocked them out after one day by leaving Wayne Franklin in to lose to Texas, and the Angels knocked the Yankees around that weekend, but they were alive.

Many people felt that the first stretch of games after the All-Star Break would kill the Yankees. 27 of 30 games against teams above .500 at the break, and 3 against the 44-44 Blue Jays. A combined opponents' record of .563. Just breaking even against that schedule would have been a feat. The Yankees went 18-12.

But still they couldn't pull back into first -- were 4½ games out, in fact. The goddamned Devil Rays beat the Yankees 2 out of 3 again, but the Angels split at home with the Red Sox to keep the Yankees close. An 8-2 stretch while Boston played .500 brought them back to 1½, but a 4-3 West Coast trip and another loss to the D-Rays brought them back to the brink, 4 games out with Boston coming in for three. With a magic number of 20, the Red Sox needed just 2 of 3 to bury the Yankees. After splitting the first two, Tim Wakefield pitched brilliantly to put them in position to do just that.

But Randy Johnson was brillianter, the Yanks won 1-0 to pull within 3 games. Still too far back, perhaps too far back to come back from. Heading into St. Petersburg for three, it appeared that, once again, the D-Rays were going to break New York's heart, this time to end the season.

But the Yanks took revenge this time, and three straight from Tampa Bay. Then 2 of 3 in Toronto, 4 straight against Baltimore, 2 of 3 vs. the Jays again, then 3 of 4 vs. the Orioles.

The Red Sox kept chugging along, taking 2 of 3 against the Jays, splitting with Oakland, but then came Tampa Bay, and a major stumble. Leading 4-2 with two outs in the eighth, they collapsed and gave up five runs to give the Yankees back sole possession of first place for only the third day all year. A sweep in Baltimore brought them right back even, and it really looked like it would head into Fenway that way.

But in losing 2 of the first three to the Blue Jays, the Red Sox had given the Yankees back first place, and they needed a late comeback just to stay one game out, with a chance heading into the weekend.

I really, truly felt that the Yankees would regret having lost that chance -- right up until the White Sox won yesterday. Even when the Yankees were leading big, had the Indians won yesterday and again today, and the Red Sox won today, the Yankees would face a possible two playoff games for the postseason, one-and-done each. It wasn't just pessimism that made me fear, but the fact that the matchups weren't that great for the Yankees.

Yesterday morning I felt that their chances to win the division were, at best, 50-50. The intensity of the sudden emotional turnaround is indescribable. It's the first real pennant race for the Yankees since 1995, and it really does feel just as thrilling as that first one did.

Hopefully it doesn't end here. If the Red Sox win today or tomorrow, or if Cleveland loses today, the Yankees play the Angels -- likely in Anaheim to start if the Yankees lose today (another good reason to play really hard this afternoon). Had the Yankees not had their two miracle comebacks against Anaheim in July, which would not have happened had the Angels not played an 18-inning game two days earlier, the Angels would have won 8 of 10 from the Yankees. The Indians may seem the tougher opponent, but the Yanks handled them pretty well during the season.

And hopefully, the Yankees still learn a lesson from this. They won't, of course, looking at this more as a triumph over adversity than a partial triumph over largely self-created adversity. "Successful failure" is a good term to describe the 2005 season.

But that's a rant for the offseason. Today, Secretariat lost.

--posted at 8:39 AM by Larry Mahnken / |

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