THE YANKEES HEAD TO ALCS, BUT THERE'S MORE...

It was a good night for the Yankees. While still a little sleepy and sluggish, they did what they needed to do to get a victory against a hotter, younger, probably better Kansas City Royals team.  

Gerrit Cole was exceptional and hard on himself, and I like that about him.  He came up clutch when we needed it.  Luke Weaver has proven that he can close out a game with grace and balls.  What an opportunity to shine and he has.  Wow.  And truly, not enough credit is being given to Clay Holmes.  He was pushed out of the closer role and accepted "whatever the Yankees needed" to help the team win and he has.  Bravo to Clay. Total team player and awesome that he was able to reinvent himself.  

But I think we have to understand the bigger picture here and that is Aaron Judge.  Last night he finally showed life, a bat that we definitely need in the post season and partially why the Yankee games have appeared slow and boring.  Sure, Bob Costas was once a legendary broadcaster, but those days are over.  He's old, forgetful, sour and just impossible to listen to.  But it's the big bats that the Yankee fans truly need to drown out old Bob.  I think Judge is coming to life when we need it most.

The New York Post writes:

“Since I’ve been here with the Yankees, we haven’t secured a pennant,” Judge said, looking forward to the ALCS. “The group that we have, just excited for this opportunity. It’s going to be something special.”

Judge wasn’t the driving force behind the Yankees advancing — he went 2-for-13 over four games and continued his career-long playoff struggles — but he came up big in the clincher.

He doubled and scored in the sixth inning, drew two walks and stole a base.

“I think we got a little bit of the ghost from the old stadium,” Judge said. “A little bit of magic there, too.”

Now the ghost bit is overplayed.  He heard about it over the years when the Yankees moved stadiums, and to be honest, I hate the idea of superstition and rooting for something that doesn't exist.  Literally Citi Field wants to give Grimace the key to the city... that's how bad it is in the Mets world.  So, Ghosts? No... we're not going there.  Working out of a slump and seeing Judge contribute like he finally did in the ALDS is vital to the Yankees moving forward and I applaud it.

 

Look, there is no question the Yankees need everybody to contribute in some way to win this year.  I have to give Boone a tiny bit of credit because he is actually making smart moves which is weird because he's a total dunce.  But it's working for now.  The guys have been jumping in when they can.  But much like I wrote in YANKS CAN WIN IT ALL, BUT ONLY IF JUDGE & SOTO ARE ON... Judge and Soto need to be ON.  If they are not, we will not win.  Let's hope they wake up.

Nice clinch Yanks... let's get this ALCS now!