The Broken Ankle That Started It All

Many baseball people like to argue that the "Dynasty" era of Yankees baseball ended with Luis Gonzalez's bloop single off of Mariano Rivera that won the Diamondbacks the 2001 World Series. Others claim that it was Josh Beckett tagging Jorge Posada out in the middle of the first base line that won the Marlins the 2003 World Series.

Personally, I believe the Dynasty continued on long after that, but ended one year ago today - October 14th, 2012.

The day before, October 13th, had made most of the Yankee faithfuls believe the Dynasty was alive and well. The Yankees took the field for Game 1 of the ALCS, just a handful of wins away from a trip to the 2012 World Series. After suffering through an inept offense for much of the ALDS, they were given a second chance to back up their "Bronx Bombers" mantra. And wow, did they ever!

Down 4-0 in the 9th, facing Tigers' closer Jose Valverde, Ichiro Suzuki roped a two-run home run that curved just inside the right field foul pole, cutting the Detroit lead in half. With two outs, Mark Teixeira was able to work his way on with a walk, and up came Raul Ibanez. The 40-year old New York native had provided plenty of clutch moments for fans to enjoy all season, including game-tying and game-winning home runs in Game 3 of the ALDS just a few days prior.

And after swinging and missing for strike one...this happened:

As TBS announcer Ernie Johnson proclaimed, "He's done it again!", Raul HAD done it again. It was unbelievable, and with a win seemingly inevitable, his home run would go down with the likes of Reggie's three homers in '77, Bucky's go-ahead shot in '78, Leyrtiz's in '96, Brosius' in '01, and so on. If anyone said otherwise at the time, I probably would have called them insane.

If not already, ALCS Game 1 was becoming an instant classic as the game went into extra innings and each team failed to score. With Miguel Cabrera, Prince Fielder, and Delmon Young due up in the top of the 12th, most people felt a momentum shift, if only slightly. 

Cabrera led off with a single, but David Phelps then got Fielder to ground out. Young then laced a fly-ball into right field, in which Nick Swisher swatted at and missed completely as it went to the wall. Cabrera scored the go-ahead run, and the Tigers were now up 5-4.

Then came the knockout blow. Not just for 2012, but for everything that had happened up until this moment:

It was known that it was sore, but Derek Jeter's ankle finally snapped. After suffering only a handful of minor injuries that resulted in little-to-no time lost throughout his career, at age 38, the Yankees shortstop had suffered as bad a "break" (no pun intended) as any infielder can have. He was helped off the field and wouldn't return for the remainder of the playoffs -- which in reality was only a few days, since Detroit made quick work of New York and swept them aside.

Since Game 1 concluded in the wee hours of October 14th, Game 2 began later that afternoon, in which I was in attendance for. At no fault of their own, Yankees fans were terribly demoralized, as the Captain was done for the year and hopes for a pennant were as bleak as they'll ever be in mid-October at Yankee Stadium. 

The stats say that 47,082 fans made their way to the Bronx, but you wouldn't believe it by all the empty seats there were. The crowd was deathly silent all throughout the game, as was the lineup, which was only able to muster up 4 hits against Anibal Sanchez and Detroit's bullpen, headlined by 2009 Yankee alumni Phil Coke. It was like being in some alternate universe, where you could hear a pin drop at Yankee Stadium and Derek Jeter was not playing shortstop for the Yankees in October.

It was so surreal, but it was a perfect preview of this season and beyond. The game featured an 11-strikeout game by Hiroki Kuroda, but Jayson Nix was at shortstop and the lineup was putrid. With Mariano Rivera on the bench nursing a torn ACL, there also was no chance Mo could jog in from the bullpen and close out a win, which will become the norm come 2014. 

While the streak of winning multiple championships ended in 2001, the Yankees continued to be at the top of the division almost every season, always putting themselves in a position to add more titles to their illustrious history. They even did, of course, win it all in 2009, with the Core Four leading the way. 

Now, Andy, Jorge and Mo are all gone, and Jeter is still trying to limp back onto the field and be an everyday player. Even if he can, next season very likely will be Derek's last, so there is no denying that their time as the core of the Yankees is over, though it did live on way longer than many people ever expected.

Still, October 14th, 2012, may be the date we look back on in a few years when the Yankees are either A) Suffering through a period of mediocrity, or B) Returning to glory without their familiar playoff heroes. The future ensures a lot of change, and maybe its for the better. But wow, it's a shame how abruptly the Dynasty ended, isn't it?

Is the Yankees season a bust?

So the Yankees are still fighting in the Wild Card race (along with 5 others) for one of the two Wild Card playoff spots. What happens if we don’t make it? Obviously, we will all be disappointed and it will be the first time since 2008 that we didn’t make the playoffs (and only the second time since 1995 – 18 years!) but does that mean the season will have been a bust?

Let’s think about this. The Yankees are expected to make the playoffs every year, no questions asked and no excuses if they don’t make it. George Steinbrenner was renowned for high expectations and not taking any excuses for poor performance but this time, there may be an argument that we should still be proud to be where we are.

I am like all other Yankees fans and want to see the team succeed, win playoffs and most of all championships. The problem is we do sometimes have to be a bit more pragmatic. Like I pointed out in my last post, the Yankees are an old team and they have seen a huge number of players take trips to the DL. The Yankees have used no less than 56 different players so far this season – 3 shy of the record set by Cleveland in 2002 San Diego in 2002 and 2008.

We’ve had season ending injuries, we’ve had recurring injuries and we’ve had niggly injuries. All of these combined to form what at times has been a real rag tag bunch of ball players, some old, some young, some veterans, some making their debut. No other team has come close to matching the number of unique players used this season. The performance of all these players can only really be described as hit and miss. We’ve seen hot streaks and we’ve seen real cold streaks. Remember May/June when the Yankees were on a real run and showing some good form? It seems like a long time ago now.

The main thing to remember is that all season long, we have fought. At times we have been overwhelmed (Boston being the major antagonists here) and at times we have actually been overwhelming. Despite all of the problems we have had, we have found ways to manufacture wins and keep the season semi respectable.

Let’s get this straight. We are not the World Series winning team of 2009; we are not the team of the late 90’s who could rarely put a foot wrong. We are a team that is in transition. Come the end of the season, we will have people retire (Mo, likely Pettitte), we may lose key players (Cano is a free agent and A-Rod may have to take his suspension), we may have to adapt player’s roles (Jeter).

Nobody knows what the future holds but can we expect the Yankees to bounce straight back next year and be at the top of our game? I’m not sure we can. Hopefully we will have fewer injuries and the lineup will be more consistent but if we look back on this season, you could say it’s been an experiment. Though most definitely, an accidental one as I don’t think anybody would want to go through this. With everything that has happened, we have given certain players who may not have been called up otherwise, a chance to show what they can do. We have been able to evaluate their strengths and weaknesses in different situations. We have provided big league experience to guys who otherwise may not have got this for at least another year.

There have been some strange decisions this year regarding who to play/not play and when to take pitchers out of the game but at the end of the day, we are still in the hunt for a playoff spot. A lot has been made of the schedule for our last 13 games and with any luck it will work to our advantage. Right now, all we can do is focus on winning our games. If we can do this and take at least 10 or 11 wins from 13, we can hold our heads high at the end of the season and know that we have done our very best.

At the end of the day, if the Yankees don’t make the playoffs, it will be disappointing but personally, I don’t believe the whole season will have been a bust. We have shown real heart in our games all year and dealt with adversity. We have not rolled over and written off the season (unlike a lot of the analysts!), we have shown real tenacity and that is part of what being a Yankee is all about. We can hold our heads high knowing that we are the Yankees and we have fought all the way. We also know that we will be back and fighting hard again next season.

Obviously, should we make the playoffs and lose in either the wild card playoff or in the divisional championship (most likely to be played against the Red Sox), no doubt people will again claim it’s been a bust. Since halfway through the season nobody expected us to reach the playoffs, I don’t see how it can be.

The Yankees should be proud of their achievements and the fans should be proud of their team.