It all started in December, I suppose. Just a couple months after enduring the most painful inning of baseball any of us had ever seen, likely before some of us were ready to move past the disappointment of the World Series loss, and even before some of us had come to terms with the subsequent “loss” of Juan Soto, we were asked to look forward to next year, like it or not.
It isn’t quite the same as Brooklyn Dodgers fans consoling each other with reminders to “wait ’til next year,” or Cubs fans of a bygone era hoping for a World Series before they die, but it can be difficult to turn the page when the chapter you’ve just read was so painful. There’s a temptation to put the book down for a while.
But then there was Max Fried and Clay Bellinger and Paul Goldschmidt and Devin Williams. Sure, the generational talent of Soto was gone, but suddenly the roster looked younger and more athletic, the defense looked better, and the bullpen looked dominant.
And so we picked up the book and turned the page.
Like any good story, the 2025 season grabbed us right away. Aaron Judge set the world on fire, and even though everyone knew he couldn’t possibly keep it up, he would. Max Fried was better than we could’ve expected, and Carlos Rodon quietly became the pitcher the team had hoped he’d be when they signed him before the 2023 season. The Yankees raced out to a lead in the American League East, and all was good in the world.
But stories don’t necessarily hold our interest when they go in a straight line. There are detours and disappointments. The romance fizzles, the hero is thwarted, the enemies storm the gate. And so the Yankees fell into their now-annual June swoon, inventing new ways to lose each night and forcing even the most faithful among us to wonder how we ever could’ve been fooled. When Judge was suddenly feeling elbow pain, all of us — even the Yankee brass, apparently — feared the worst. If we’re to believe recent reports, the Yankees considered becoming sellers at the trade deadline as they considered a season without the best hitter in baseball.
But fear not, dear readers! The Yankees didn’t just return to the plot, they did so with a vengeance. Trent Grisham, Ben Rice, and Jazz Chisholm, Jr., all had the best seasons of their careers, Max Fried recovered from his midseason malaise, and even Devin Williams remembered how to get batters out.
And Judge.
I could write for pages upon pages about the greatness of Aaron Judge, but I’ll be brief here. We have been spoiled as Yankee fans, and not in the way that fans of other teams might think. The World Series wins have been nice, but the greater gift has been this. For the past thirty years — without interruption — we’ve enjoyed the fortune of watching one all-time great after another wearing Yankee pinstripes. From Derek Jeter to Mariano Rivera to Alex Rodriguez (whatever you might think of him) to Aaron Judge, we’ve always had a legend to root for. For most franchises, a player like Judge would stand alone in a team’s history, but in Yankees Universe, Judge is just the next in line. That isn’t to say we should take him for granted, it’s just a reminder that we are members of the most fortunate fanbase in sports.
But Yankee history is a double-edged sword. Unlike any other franchise in baseball, the only currency that matters here is the World Series ring, and as fans we’ve come to accept that. We cannot celebrate last season’s American League championship — and there is no evidence of it among the banners at Yankee Stadium — because any season that ends without a ring is a disappointment, as the previous captain so often reminded us.
And because of this myopia, we will only judge this book based on this final chapter. And as if there were an actual author behind the plot, the possibility of an epic ending lies before us. Imagine a postseason run in which the Yankees first beat their greatest rival in the wild card round, dispatch the equally evil Blue Jays in the division series, eliminate Cal Raleigh and the Seattle Mariners in the ALCS, and then avenge last year’s loss by beating the Dodgers in the World Series. As Aaron Boone is fond of saying, the pen is in their hands, and they get to write these final pages.
So where does that leave us? All we can do is read and find out what happens next. The final chapter begins tonight.
[Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons]
Lineups:
Boston
1. Refsnyder, DH
2. Story, SS
3. Bregman, 3B
4. Gonzalez, 1B
5. Narvaez, C
6. Eaton, RF
7. Duran, LF
8. Rafaela, CF
9. Sogard, 2B
New York
1. Goldschmidt, 1B
2. Judge, RF
3. Bellinger, LF
4. Stanton, DH
5. Rosario, 2B
6. Grisham CF
7. Volpe, SS
8. Wells, C
9. Caballero, 3B
I know the plan is to stack righties against the left-handed Crochet, but since we can assume runs will be at a premium tonight, I'd happily concede on 0 for 3 from McMahon in exchange for his defense. Oh, well.
One other thing. I've got basketball practice tonight, so I'll be watching on delay. Keep the chat going here without me tonight!
Let's Go Yankees!!!!
nice start!
Hmm, no Jazz tonight
Rats, that was a good opportunity
Fried looks good so far.
Fried looking good!
I’d finally have some respect for Bergman if he sat out the game tomorrow night.
Bregman.
Volpe!!!!
Volpe!!!
BOOOM!!!!
Volpe!
Who was Volpe pointing at?
[15] Whoever told him to be ready for an outside fastball into the seats. GO YANKEES!
FWIW. I've listened to a bunch of innings and games on Sirius this season. The new radio guy, David Sims, does not make me miss John Sterling. I am glad the Yankees hired him.
Tarik Skubal had 14 Ks today??
[18] That is incredible! Maybe he will get worn out for a later series.
phew!
not doing much at the plate overall. Not surprising but never fun to watch.
The 4-3 put out made me realize Jazz is not playing.
That's a terrible walk. Rats!
Phew
another tight inning
I hate when Bregman comes up with men on. Glad it worked out.
Fried got squeezed there
Yes!
That was a beaut.
Amed fielded that ball, looked at Volpe heading to cover the bag and said, “nah, I got it”
FUCKING BOLLOCKS! x2
Well done, Fried
Great start from Fried. Now we need the bullpen to lock it down!
Covering 1st at full speed is always recommended. What a play on both ends. What a great start by Fried.
phooey
yikes
Er . . .
Barf.
Crap
Stupid walk
Well done, Weaver. super.
bad outing from Weaver. Bullpen makes me so nervous.
grrrr
Not good
ok. just one run. We can do this.
Time to walk the terrorists
Bellinger has not had good at bats tonight
terrible. didn't work those at bats at all.
bad Williams.
That was a strike for Boston. All night. But a ball for us.
A four pitch lead off walk. Yikes.
Williams did good in the end.
Well that didn’t work
Well I suppose it's interesting baseball to have this come down to the heart of order presumably against Chapman in the 9th. But we have to hold them in the top o the 9th first of course.
Taking Bednar out seems weird to me.
Ugh, and now my streaming app isn’t working
oh that sucks. Bad time for a streaming app to go down
Man. Just caught up to the live broadcast. Well, here we go.
Get on base. Then clear them.
Buckle up…
Step 1. Complete.
Here we go…
Don't love this matchup.
70% Jazz. 70%.
Had to delete and the reinstall is going slow
Man.
Classic.
Ugh, loss. And teams that win game 1 win the series 90% of the time
Chapman is nasty.
Can’t load the bases with no out and then have no bat to ball strategy for three straight batters. I guess that insurance run was the killer.
A PR for Goldy would’ve helped a tiny bit.
Somehow I feel a lot better about this loss than I thought I would twenty minutes ago. Can’t believe they didn’t get a run in that ninth inning, though.
1st and 9th they had their chances. Nothing in between though.
I feel like we have a chance against their game 2 and game 3 starters. But obviously no room for error now.
Nice to be back on the Banter though.
I don’t really have a problem with how Boone managed this one. There’s just no excuse for Weaver walking Rafaela there in the seventh. Weaver was the problem. And Crochet, obviously.
Weaver was obviously not good tonight. Agree.
But also, Bednar needs to shut them down. If it is 2-1, we pinch run for Goldy and we possibly score on fly ball out to right. Fallacy of pre-determined outcome not withstanding.
One possible narrative for tonight, Cora stuck with his ace and Boone didn’t.
I don’t know that Fried looked particularly gassed after that last AB. Obviously we can’t run it back and compare vs anything but it’s hard not to notice the disparity between his exit and Weaver coming in and not helping matters.
Really interesting discussion about the Fried decision on the YES postgame right now. Michael Kay almost swayed me against Boone, but I still think it was the right move. Weaver needs to be able to get the eight and nine hitters out.
But they HAVE convinced me that Jazz should’ve been in the lineup.
I think Boone screwed up when he brought in Weaver. Although he has been good lately, he hasn't been good most of the season. If the Yanks lose to Boston, the Yanks should finally fire Boone.
This is a great team and I think they'll take the next two, but who knows.That's baseball Susan.
The more I think about it I think Boone managed this like it was just any game in July. From the lineup construction to how he managed his pitchers.