Rainy New York
A sad day the world of baseball: Tonight’s Angels-Yankees Game 6 has been postponed due to rain, delaying New York’s inevitable playoff collapse by at least one day. The teams are set to make up the game tomorrow night at 7:57, with a possible Game 7 scheduled for Monday.
In the spirit of what’s to come, here’s a look back at how the Yankees have bowed out each of the past eight years:
Luis Gonzalez, playoff hero
2001: New York reached the World Series and grabbed a 3-2 lead over the Arizona Diamondbacks with three straight one-run wins in Games 3, 4 and 5 at Yankee Stadium. A young little Andrew Pettitte came nowhere close to slamming the door in Game 6, as the D-Backs scored 15 times in the first four innings and won 15-2. The Yankees took a 2-1 lead to the ninth in Game 7, but playoff choker Mariano Rivera coughed it up on a Luis Gonzalez single over a drawn in infield.
2002: Winners of 103 games in the regular season, the Yankees bowed out in the first round to the eventual champion Angels, starting a history of dominance by the Men in Halos that is very likely to continue over the next two days.
2003: The Yanks reached the World Series after beating Boston in a seven-game ALCS that featured Bret Boone’s walk-off winner. The momentum didn’t carry over, however, as they lost the Fall Classic in six games to the Marlins.
2004: Again, please refer to Pitch, Fever.
2005: Once again, New York was disposed of in the first round by the Angels, this time in five games. Ervin Santana — then a 22-year-old rookie — picked up the win in Game 5 in relief of starter Bartolo Colon, who left in the second inning with a hand injury.
2006: After winning Game 1 of the ALDS at home against Detroit, New York dropped three straight, the third of which saw Joe Torre famously bat a scuffling Alex Rodriguez in the eight-hole.
2007: For the third straight year, the Yankees fell in the first round, this time to Cleveland in four. The highlight of the series was Joba Chamberlain losing a bout with a few flies in Game 2, a 2-1 Indians win in 11 innings.
2008: In a sign of all that’s right in the world, the Yankees missed the postseason.
2009: Stay tuned!
just got me so pumped
By: cj on October 25, 2009
at 12:38 pm
Who wouldn’t be pumped for a Yankee collapse?
By: Jeremy on October 25, 2009
at 1:33 pm
[...] the Yankees won last night. Egg on my face. Now I go from never having cheered for the Philadelphia Phillies to being their biggest fan. Step [...]
By: You’re all winners! « That's what I'm saying, guy… on October 26, 2009
at 12:03 pm