If you’re a Yankee fan, how could you not be proud of the 2017 team. They battled and overachieved. They always competed. They didn’t always win, but they never quit and never showed any sign of panic, or self-doubt. These are traits that would be admirable for any team, but even more-so when you consider how many young players were on this Yankee team.
Obviously it would have been great if they had won Game 7 of the ALCS and punched their ticket to the World Series. It is a bitter disappointment when you get that close and fall short, especially when you had a 3-2 series lead, but you have to look at the big picture.
Without going into a long recap of all the highs (and lows) of the season, let’s say the Yankees showed right from the start of spring training that this was a gritty and talented bunch. They ended the spring with a 24-9-1 record (best in MLB). The regular season was full of ups and downs, but certainly more ups when you consider they finished 91-71. They won the season-series from the rival 1st place Red Sox, and they swept the Subway-series from their cross-town rivals the NY Mets, who had proclaimed before the season started that this was “their town now”.
91-71 secured the 1st Wild Card spot. Many felt the Yankees needed to win that game to validate the season, and the Bombers not only got the W but did it in dramatic fashion, falling behind 3-0 in the 1st inning before roaring back to a decisive 8-4 victory. Speaking of roaring, the 49,000 fans at the Stadium were roaring. They were as LOUD as any crowd has been in the new Yankee Stadium.
The Yankees had to face the team with the best American League record in the ALDS. The 102 win Cleveland Indians jumped out to a 2 games to none lead in the series, before the resilient Yanks won 3 straight, including a game 5 on the road vs. the likely Cy Young winner Corey Kluber.
The ALCS was very similar. Another 100+ team. Another 0-2 game deficit to dig out of. Once again the Yanks battled back, this time vs. the Houston Astros. The Bombers swept 3 straight in the Bronx, again with the help of a LOUD Stadium crowd (ask Keuchel & other Astros) extending their post-season home record to a perfect 6-0. Their dominance at home was a trend all year. The Yanks had the best regular season home record in the A.L. (51-30). They unfortunately dropped the last 2 games in Houston. This also was a trend as the Yanks had a sub .500 record on the road all year (40-41 regular season & 1-6 postseason).
The season was a success for reasons far more than getting to within one win of the World Series. Didi Gregorius along with the Baby Bombers, Severino, Judge, Sanchez and Bird established themselves as the future of the franchise. They competed on the biggest stage, and never did they act like the moment was too big for them. Severino went from 0-8, 8.50 era as a starter in 2016 to 14-6, 2.98 era & a Cy Young candidate with the third lowest era in the A.L. behind only Kluber & Sale. Aaron Judge broke the MLB rookie record for home runs with 52. He also set the Yankee single-season record for home runs at Yankee Stadium with 33 breaking none other than Babe Ruth’s record of 32 set back in 1921. Sanchez hit 30 homers despite missing nearly a month on the DL. Same can be said for Didi who missed all of April yet hit 25 HRs & drove in 87. Even more memorable was his 3R HR vs. Santana and the Twins in the WC game to tie the game at 3 and send the Stadium crowd into a frenzy. All he did in game 5 of the ALDS was hit 2 homers off of Corey Kluber. And Greg Bird despite missing most of the season gave us possibly the most electrifying swing of the season when he turned on an inside 96 mph fastball launching it into the 2nd deck at the Stadium off Andrew Miller in game 3 of the ALDS v Cleveland. The Yankees won that game 1-0 behind the 7 inning gem by Tanaka, and avoided elimination. Yeah you can say that was a big HR and a big postseason moment.
Chad Green & Jordan Montgomery are young & also without question part of the pitching staff’s future thanks to their outstanding 2017 performances. Many veterans made major contributions also, like CC with a 10-1 record after Yankee losses (including postseason) and who can forget back in May the 3R HR Brett Gardner hit in the bottom of the 9th with 2 out & 2 on at Wrigley to turn a 2-0 loss into a 3-2 win. I was at that game (bucket list) and remember thinking to myself that if the season became a special one you can circle this game as a turning point.
Management correctly showed support for the team at the trading deadline, adding DRob, Kahnle & T. Frazier in a trade with the White Sox, and added Sonny Gray to the rotation in a last minute deal with the A’s. Some very good prospects were traded .. Kaprielian, Mateo, Rutherford and others.
The farm system is loaded with more than just Gleyber Torres & Clint Frazier. Keep an eye on Florial, Adams, Sheffield, Andujar Acevedo, Abreu & others.
There are moves, adjustments and improvements that need to be made to take this team to the next level, but those are topics for another day.
For now let’s realize that 2017 was a huge step in the right direction, it was an exciting glimpse into the future, not to mention a helluva RIDE …
Pinstripe PRIDE !!
