Between the dynasties, from 1982 to 1995, the Yankees tended to go out to the Pacific Coast, to play the teams then named the California Angels in Anaheim, the Oakland Athletics, and the Seattle Mariners, and fall apart. It always seemed to happen in August. And, as a Star Trek fan, I began to retroactively call these "Borg roadtrips": We would lose seven of nine, and resistance was futile.
The roadtrip that just ended would not be such a trip. For one thing, we didn't play the Anaheim team, now named the Los Angeles Angels, even though they're not in the County of Los Angeles, let alone the City of Los Angeles.
Last Tuesday night, the Yankees went into T-Mobile Park, formerly Safeco Field, in Seattle. Luis Gil started the series opener, and after 5 innings, he had allowed just 1 run. Tim Mayza pitched a hitless 6 innings, and Marcus Stroman, not happy about being taken out of the starting rotation, pitched 3 innings, allowing 1 run. Julio Rodríguez, the Mariners' All-Star center fielder, got 4 of his team's 9 hits.
Good pitching like that deserves lots of support, and it came. Juan Soto hit his 40th home run of the season. Jasson Domínguez, having been hurt and then kept in the minor leagues for reasons known only to Brian Cashman, hit his 1st. Aaron Judge went 2-for-4 with 4 RBIs, and Gleyber Torres, who has been a lot better since being put in the leadoff spot in the order, went 3-for-4. The Yankees won the game, 11-2.
Nestor Cortés started on Wednesday night, and pitched 6 shutout innings. But the Yankees didn't hit, and Clay Holmes blew the save in the 8th inning. It was his 13th blown save of the season, 1 shot of Bruce Sutter's 1976 record. But Anthony Rizzo led off the top of the 10th inning with a double, which drove in Domínguez as the "ghost runner." The Yankees won, 2-1.
I suppose it was too much to ask to sweep the series, especially with a dreaded DGANG: Day Game After Night Game. Clarke Schmidt pitched okay for innings 2 through 5, but he loaded the bases with 1 out in the 1st, and an error by Domínguez in left field made the difference in the game, as the Mariners won, 3-2. Jazz Chisholm hit a home run to account for the Yankee runs.
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And so, the Yankees went down the Coast, to play the A's in Oakland, almost certainly for the last time. The team's owner, John Fisher, chairman of The Gap clothing stores and son of their founding couple, was part of the ownership group that saved the San Francisco Giants from moving to Tampa Bay for the 1993 season, and he also owns MLS' San Jose Earthquakes.
In 2005, he sold his share of the Giants to buy the A's, but was unsuccessful in getting a new ballpark built to replace the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, currently MLB's 5th-oldest stadium and, in terms of player and fan conditions, usually considered the worst. It's not just a question of using his $2.4 billion personal fortune to pay for the park himself, as there were legal and logistical issues involved.
So the current plan is for the team to move 85 miles northeast, to Sutter Health Park in West Sacramento, California, just across Tower Bridge and the Sacramento River from the State capital. Built in 2000 as Raley Field, it has been the home of the Sacramento River Cats of the Class AAA Pacific Coast League. It seats only 14,014, but then, the A's are averaging just 10,381 fans per home game, and they're 67-89: A bad record, but not 2023 A's bad (50-112), or 1979 A's bad (54-108), or 1916 Philadelphia Athletics bad (36-117).
They will not take on Sacramento as a team identifier, and will be known as simply "The Athletics" while they play in West Sacramento in the 2025, 2026 and 2027 seasons, and possibly also 2028. The plan is to then move to a new ballpark in Las Vegas for the 2028 or 2029 season, at which point they will, like the former Oakland football team, the Raiders, take on "Las Vegas" as an identifier.
Oakland had the NHL's Seals from 1967 to 1976. It had the NBA's Golden State Warriors from 1971 to 2019, when they moved back across the Bay to San Francisco. It had the NFL's Raiders from 1962 to 1981, when they moved to Los Angeles, and again from 1995 to 2019, when they moved to Las Vegas. And they had the A's from 1968 to 2024. Despite nearly moving to Seattle for 1976, to Denver for 1978, New Orleans for 1979, and Denver again for 1980, and threatening to move to nearby San Jose, or possible to Sacramento or Vegas for years, they're finally getting out.
Just as Oakland may be seeing a native, Kamala Harris, be elected President, they are losing their last team.
On Friday night, the Yankees again wasted a nice pitching performance. This time, Gerrit Cole was allowed to go a full 9 innings, since he only threw a total of 99 pitches: 1 run on 2 hits and 1 walk, with 7 strikeouts. But, for the A's, J.T. Ginn (5 innings) and 4 relievers were nearly as sensational, allowing 1 run on 5 hits and 1 walk, striking out 8.
In the top of the 10th, with Domínguez as the ghost runner, Rizzo singled him over to 3rd. Soto suffered a minor injury in the previous game, and did not start this one, but Aaron Boone sent him up to pinch-hit for Trent Grisham. T.J. McFarland threw a breaking ball that broke too much, and A's catcher Shea Langeliers couldn't handle it. It went for a passed ball, and Domínguez scored. Soto then doubled Rizzo home, and Anthony Volpe singled Soto home.
Luke Weaver ran into a little trouble in the bottom of the 10th, allowing a run, but allowed the A's to get no further. The Yankees won, 4-2.
Saturday night was as good a game as the Yankees have played all season. Carlos Rodón pitched 5-hit shutout ball for 6 innings. Home runs were hit by Aaron Judge, his 54th of the season; Giancarlo Stanton, 26; and Volpe, his 12th. The Yankees won, 10-0.
Yesterday was, unless some miracle keeps the A's in Oakland, the Yankees' last game there. Gil had a bad start. But the Yankees unloaded the lumber again: Judge hit his 55th homer, Torres his 15th, and Domínguez his 2nd. The Yankees completed the sweep, 7-4.
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So there is one week left in the regular season. The Yankees are 92-64. They have clinched a Playoff spot. They are 6 games ahead of the Baltimore Orioles in the American League Eastern Division, with 6 games to go, meaning the Magic Number to clinch the Division is 1. And, after a day off today, the next 3 games are at home against the Orioles, so the clincher will happen at home.
If the current standings hold for 6 more days, the Yankees will have the top seed in the AL Playoffs, the AL Central Champion Cleveland Guardians 2nd, the soon-to-be AL West Champion Houston Astros 3rd. The Orioles have the 4th seed. There are 4 teams competing for the last 2 seeds, with the Kansas City Royals and the surging Detroit Tigers 1 game ahead of the slumping Minnesota Twins, and 2 ahead of the Seattle Mariners.
So, if those standings hold, the Yankees and Guardians would get 1st-round byes, and have to worry about going stale while waiting for someone to qualify to play them; Houston would have home-field advantage over Kansas City; and Baltimore would have it over Detroit.
In the National League, the byes would go to the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Philadelphia Phillies; the Milwaukee Brewers would have home-field over the Mets; and the San Diego Padres would have home-field over the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Also: I looked at the numbers Judge has for batting average, doubles, home runs, RBIs, walks and stolen bases this season. Only twice has a Yankee ever matched or topped that performance in all categories: Babe Ruth in 1920 and 1921.
Lou Gehrig topped out at 47 home runs; Joe DiMaggio, 46; Reggie Jackson, 47 overall, 41 as a Yankee. Mickey Mantle topped out at 54 homers. Judge now has 55. Until yesterday, Mantle could match him in each category, but not all in the same season. That's the level that Judge is on right now.
To make the Hall of Fame, Judge needs to keep this up for maybe 4 more years. But to be a Yankee Legend, he needs one more thing: Win a World Series.
For tomorrow night's potential clincher, Schmidt starts against Dean Kremer. Come on you Pinstripes!
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