Biggest Yankees Choke Ever?
Was this year's ALCS loss to the Red Sox after being up 3-0 the biggest Yankees choke ever? Objectively? Maybe. No MLB team has ever lost a playoff or World Series after being up 3-0. Emotionally? Not from my perspective.
Emotionally, the biggest Yankees choke ever was the 2001 World Series loss to the Diamondbacks. That was an amazing series. Two dramatic Yankees 9th inning comebacks in Games 4 and 5 had helped put them in the position of being three outs away from winning the World Series in Game 7. Three stupid outs, and Mariano Rivera, the generally aptly-named Mr. Automatic, comes in and blows it. Totally blows it. That was hard. After the events of 9/11, most New Yorkers really wanted the Yankees to win. Baseball was a way to help take our mind off the tragedy. It was the perfect distraction; it was something to look forward to at a time when there didn't seem like there could be a lot to look forward to. A stunning loss like that was really hard. Had they not come back in Games 4 or 5, losing wouldn't have been so bad. But to be three outs away and then lose it? Man, that was tough.
This year's loss in the ALCS was just not that tough. Surprising? Yes. More improbable than the 2001 World Series loss? Absolutely. Emotionally difficult? Not really. It was inevitable that some team would eventually come back from a 3-0 deficit to win a postseason series. It was never an impossibility. So to the Red Sox fans I know who are gloating because the Yankees now have baggage and are like every other team (you know who you are, and if you aren't sure it's you, it's not)? Sorry. We've had baggage since 2001.
Besides, we're still not like every other team. A big choke doesn't erase the fact that the Yankees are still the most successful sports franchise ever. Do you think we've forgotten that in the aftermath of a big choke? Not on your life. We're New Yorkers, after all. A general feeling of superiority is just part of our mental make-up. If you don't believe me, just remember the New Yorker's view of the world from Ninth Avenue:
Comments
Hey, let me ask you a question. After Alfonso Soriano, another second baseman by the way, hit the go-ahead homerun in the eighth inning of game seven, what award would he have won if Mo hadn't blown the save?
Posted by: Jon | October 24, 2004 08:19 AM
MVP?
Posted by: Lesley | October 24, 2004 08:27 AM
Yes, he would have been the MVP. Remind you of anyone else?
Posted by: Jon | October 24, 2004 08:32 AM
dude the yankees f-ucking suck and they always will suck... baseball is a year to year sport so all of the past years dont mean anything... all that matters is this year and the yankees blew it and the red sox kick a-ss so live with it
Posted by: tyler | November 11, 2004 10:09 PM
The only thing worse than a sore loser is a poor winner. I won't bother to explain to you how you're wrong with respect to this specific post and its point.
BTW, if you're going to curse, which doesn't bother me, please just fucking curse. Don't put stupid dashes in.
Posted by: Lesley | November 12, 2004 06:22 AM
Part of what makes the Yankee collapse so fundamentally earth shattering is that fact that they are, arguably the most storied team in all of baseball history. There is no discussion about any single positions on the diamond that, when discussing the great ones, a Yankee is not far from the top. Same for any all time hitting categories, the record books are litters with Yankees. And when the Yankees fail, they hit the record books hard there too.
This is why the Yankees are arguably the greatest baseball franchises of all time, and that’s why I hate them.
Posted by: Rick DeMent | November 12, 2004 07:32 PM