Yankee All-Star Appearances, 1933-2022

Giancarlo Stanton, Most Valuable Player,

2022 Major League Baseball All-Star Game

This list takes into account all times a player was named to an All-Star Team, whether he got into the All-Star Game or not; but not the doubled-up ASGs of 1958 to 1962. It does not include managers. And it only includes berths in the Game while with the Yankees, not with other teams.

Also, while the All-Star Game was canceled twice, in both cases due to travel restrictions, in 1945 because of World War II and in 2020 due to COVID-19, All-Star Teams were still named in those seasons.

Keep in mind also that the All-Star Game did not start until 1933. If it had started earlier -- say, in 1920 -- Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig, in particular, would have had many more appearances.

Mickey Mantle, 16: 1952 through 1965, 1967, 1968
Yogi Berra, 15: 1948 through 1962
Derek Jeter, 14: 1998 through 2002, 2004, 2006 to 2012, 2014
Joe DiMaggio, 13: 1936 through 1942, 1946 through 1951
Mariano Rivera, 12: 1997, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2013
Bill Dickey, 11: 1933, 1934, 1936 through 1943, 1946
Elston Howard, 9: 1957 through 1965
Whitey Ford, 8: 1954, 1955, 1956, 1958 through 1961, 1964
Dave Winfield, 8: 1981 through 1988
Lefty Gomez, 7: 1933 through 1938, 1940
Bobby Richardson, 7: 1957, 1959, 1962 through 1966
Alex Rodriguez, 7: 2004 through 2008, 2010, 2011
Lou Gehrig, 6: 1933 through 1938
Red Ruffing, 6: 1934, 1938 through 1942
Joe Gordon, 6: 1939 through 1943, 1946
Thurman Munson, 6: 1971, 1973 through 1977
Don Mattingly, 6: 1984 through 1989
Tommy Henrich, 5: 1942, 1947 through 1950
Phil Rizzuto, 5: 1942, 1950 through 1953
Allie Reynolds, 5: 1949, 1950, 1952, 1953, 1954
Gil McDougald, 5: 1952, 1956 through 1959
Mel Stottlemyre, 5: 1965, 1966, 1968, 1969, 1970
Graig Nettles, 5: 1975, 1977 through 1980
Reggie Jackson, 5: 1977 through 1981
Willie Randolph, 5: 1976, 1977, 1980, 1981, 1987
Bernie Williams, 5: 1997 through 2001
Jorge Posada, 5: 2000 through 2003, 2007
Robinson Cano, 5: 2006, 2010 through 2013
Red Rolfe, 4: 1937 through 1940
Charlie Keller, 4: 1940, 1941, 1943, 1946
Spud Chandler, 4: 1942, 1943, 1946, 1947
Vic Raschi, 4: 1948, 1949, 1950, 1952
Bill "Moose" Skowron, 4: 1958 through 1961
Bobby Murcer, 4: 1971 through 1974
Rich "Goose" Gossage, 4: 1978, 1980, 1981, 1982
Ron Guidry, 4: 1978, 1979, 1982, 1983
Rickey Henderson, 4: 1985 through 1988
Wade Boggs, 4: 1993 through 1996
Paul O'Neill, 4: 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998

Dellin Betances, 4: 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017
Aaron Judge, 4: 2017, 2018, 2021, 2022

Ben Chapman, 3: 1933, 1934, 1935
Joe Page, 3: 1944, 1947, 1948
Hank Bauer, 3: 1952, 1953, 1954
Tony Kubek, 3: 1958, 1959, 1961
Roger Maris, 3: 1960, 1961, 1962
Joe Pepitone, 3: 1963, 1964, 1965
Sparky Lyle, 3: 1973, 1976, 1977
Jason Giambi, 3: 2002, 2003, 2004
Curtis Granderson, 3: 2010, 2011, 2012

Babe Ruth, 2: 1933, 1934
George Selkirk, 2: 1936, 1939
Frank Crosetti, 2: 1936, 1939
Johnny Murphy, 2: 1937, 1939
Monte Pearson, 2: 1936, 1940
Tiny Bonham, 2: 1942, 1943

Hank Borowy, 2: 1944, 1945
George McQuinn, 2: 1947, 1948
Bob Turley, 2: 1955, 1958
Ryne Duren, 2: 1958, 1959
Tom Tresh, 2: 1962, 1963
Roy White, 2: 1969, 1970
Jim "Catfish" Hunter, 2: 1975, 1976
Tommy John, 2: 1979, 1980
Bucky Dent, 2: 1980, 1981
Dave Righetti, 2: 1986, 1987
Steve Sax, 2: 1989, 1990
Jimmy Key, 2: 1993, 1994
David Cone, 2: 1997, 1999
Andy Pettitte, 2: 1996, 2001
Roger Clemens, 2: 2001, 2003
Alfonso Soriano, 2: 2002, 2003
Hideki Matsui, 2: 2003, 2004
Gary Sheffield, 2: 2004, 2005
CC Sabathia, 2: 2011, 2012

Mark Teixeira, 2: 2009, 2015

Luis Severino, 2: 2017, 2018

Gary Sanchez, 2: 2017, 2019

Gleyber Torres, 2: 2018, 2019

DJ LeMahieu, 2: 2019, 2020

Aroldis Chapman, 2: 2019, 2021

Gerrit Cole, 2: 2021, 2022

Tony Lazzeri, 1: 1933
Marius Russo, 1: 1941
Buddy Rosar, 1: 1942
Johnny Lindell, 1: 1943
Rollie Helmsley, 1: 1944

Nick Etten, 1: 1945

Oscar Grimes, 1: 1945
George "Snuffy" Stirnweiss, 1: 1946
Aaron Robinson, 1: 1947
Frank "Spec" Shea, 1: 1947
Billy Johnson, 1: 1947
Tommy Byrne, 1: 1950
Jerry Coleman, 1: 1950
Eddie Lopat, 1: 1951
Johnny Mize, 1: 1953
Johnny Sain, 1: 1953
Irv Noren, 1: 1954
Billy Martin, 1: 1956
Johnny Kucks, 1: 1956
Bobby Shantz, 1: 1957
Bob Grim, 1: 1957
Jim Coates, 1: 1960
Luis Arroyo, 1: 1961
Ralph Terry, 1: 1962
Jim Bouton, 1: 1963
Al Downing, 1: 1967
Fritz Peterson, 1: 1970
Bobby Bonds, 1: 1975
Chris Chambliss, 1: 1976
Mickey Rivers, 1: 1976
Ron Davis, 1, 1981
Phil Niekro, 1: 1984
Scott Sanderson, 1: 1991
Roberto Kelly, 1: 1992
Mike Stanley, 1: 1995
John Wetteland, 1: 1996
Tino Martinez, 1: 1997
David Wells, 1: 1998
Scott Brosius, 1: 1998
Mike Stanton, 1: 2001
Robin Ventura, 1: 2002
Javier Vazquez, 1: 2004
Tom Gordon, 1: 2004
Nick Swisher, 1: 2010
Phil Hughes, 1: 2010
Russell Martin, 1: 2011
David Robertson, 1: 2011
Masahiro Tanaka, 1: 2014

Brett Gardner, 1: 2015

Carlos Beltran, 1: 2016

Andrew Miller, 1: 2016

Masahiro Tanaka, 1: 2019

Giancarlo Stanton, 1: 2022

Jose Trevino, 1: 2022

Nestor Cortes, 1: 2022

Clay Holmes, 1: 2022

Based solely on most All-Star berths, this would be the all-time Yankee lineup:

1B Lou Gehrig
2B Bobby Richardson
SS Derek Jeter
3B Alex Rodriguez
LF Dave Winfield
CF Joe DiMaggio
RF Tommy Henrich
DH Mickey Mantle
C Yogi Berra
SP1 Whitey Ford
SP2 Lefty Gomez
SP3 Red Ruffing
SP4 Allie Reynolds
SP5 Mel Stottlemyre
RP Mariano Rivera

Did Yanks Turn Season Around vs. Mets?

UPDATE and Spoiler Alert: No, they didn't.

The COVID-19 pandemic forced postponements in Major League Baseball to the point where the Yankees had to play 5 games against the Mets in 2 days -- or, as it turned out, 39 innings in a span of 48 hours, with the doubleheader games limited to 7 innings.

The Friday games turned into utter disasters for the Pinstripes. Jordan Montgomery pitched 5 strong innings in the opener, and was given a 4-0 lead after just 2 innings, including a home run by Clint Frazier.

But Montgomery got shaky in the 6th, and then Chad Green finished blowing the lead. The Mets scored 5 runs, and won it, 6-4. WP: Walter Lockett (1-0, and, no, I'd never heard of him, either). SV: Edwin Diaz (2, and you know you've had a bad game when you let Edwin Diaz nail down a save). LP: Green (2-2).

*

The nightcap was even worse. Because this was the rescheduling of a game that was meant to be played at Citi Field, the Yankees were officially the visiting team: Still wearing their home Pinstripes, but batting in the top halves of the innings.

Jonathan Loaisiga was, in effect, an "opener," and allowed just 1 run over 3 innings. But, because Brian Cashman is the operational manager of the Yankees, and Aaron Boone is just his press secretary, taking the hard questions so that the coward Cashman doesn't have to, Boone had to pull Loaisiga.

At first, this worked, as Adam Ottavino pitched a scoreless 4th. So, leave him in, right? Wrong: Cashman told Boone to pull him, and bring in Nick Nelson, to protect a 3-1 lead. He allowed a run. Then Cashman told Boone to bring in another relief pitcher, in this case the known unreliable Luis Cessa. He was okay in the 6th.

But for the 7th and last inning, Cashman told Boone to bring in another relief pitcher. Seriously: How many pitchers does it take to pitch 7 innings? It should only take one.

This time, which pitcher was being brought in was understandable: Aroldis Chapman, the closer. Except...

Cliche Alert: Walks can kill you, especially the leadoff variety. Chapman walked the leadoff man, Jeff McNeil. Then he gave up a home run to Amed Rosario. Game over. Mets 4, Yankees 3. WP: Jared Hughes (1-1). No save. LP: Chapman (0-1).

A walkoff home run for the Mets, over the Yankees, at Yankee Stadium. That had never happened before, in either Yankee Stadium.

The preceding Monday, the Yankees were 16-6, and led the American League Eastern Division by 2 1/2 games over the Tampa Bay Rays. Now, they were 16-13, and 4 games behind the Rays.

Seven straight losses. Including 2, at home, in ghastly fashion, to the Mets.

The season was looking over. It looked like, for all their complaints about their own general manager, Brodie Van Wagenen was the best GM in New York baseball.

And the thought of firing Brian Cashman has still never crossed Hal Steinbrenner's mind. Maybe he was adopted.

*

The Saturday game would be the only game intended as 9 innings. And it looked like the Yankees would lose their 8th straight game. Every team in Major League Baseball has had at least one losing streak of at least 8 games since 2007 -- except the Yankees, who hadn't had one since 1995.

But DJ LeMahieu and Gio Urshela were back, off the Injured List. This would turn out to be huge. Huger still: J.A. Happ, the Yankees' worst starter so far this season, pitched beautifully, going into the 8th inning (but only 90 pitches, so maybe Cashman didn't feel like he was having a stroke), allowing no runs on 3 hits and no walks, striking out 5.

And then Boone, probably on Cashman's orders, took Happ out after getting the 1st out in the 8th. Worse, he brought in Ottavino. As Papa Bear would say in the Berenstain Bears stories, "That is what you should not do. Now. let that be a lesson to you." The score was only 1-0, thanks to an early Luke Voit home run. Ottavino gave up a homer to Wilson Ramos. Tie ballgame.

It was still 1-1 in the bottom of the 9th. Who comes in to pitch for the Mets? Ex-Yankee Dellin Betances. Cliche Alert: Walks can kill you, especially the leadoff variety. He walked Clint Frazier. He struck Brett Gardner out, then allowed a single to Jordy Mercer, a longtime journeyman for the Pittsburgh Pirates that the Yankees had recently signed. Frazier got to 3rd.

And, with backup catcher Erik Kratz at the plate, Betances threw a wild pitch. Frazier came home. Ballgame over, Yankees... You know the rest.

Yankees 2, Mets 1. WP: Chapman (1-1). No save. LP: Betances (0-1).

What a Mets way to win the game. So much so that John Sterling did not turn to Suzyn Waldman and say, "You know, Suzyn, you just can't predict baseball." The Mets will never be a complete surprise with the way they lose games. They will always be a team with its roots in the 40-120 inaugural season of 1962, when former Yankee manager Casey Stengel said, "Come and see my amazing Mets! I been in this game 100 years, but they've shown me ways to lose I never knew existed before."

*

Did that game turn the season around for the Yankees? Mike King started yesterday's opener, and he was a little shaky. Brooks Kriskie came in to relieve, and he was a lot shaky. Between them, Ben Heller and Green pitched 3 scoreless innings.

It didn't seem to matter. Rick Porcello, given up for dead by most baseball fans, allowed only 2 runs over 5 innings, and it looked like the Yankees didn't deserve to win. They went into the bottom of the 7th and last inning trailing 7-2, and it looked hopeless.

But among the things that can cause as much damage as a leadoff walk is a leadoff error, and Andres Giminez mishandled Mike Ford's leadoff grounder to 3rd. Hughes got the next 2 outs, but then, well, here comes that cliche about walks again. He walked Tyler Wade. Then he loaded the bases by hitting Thairo Estrada with a pitch. Voit singled home 2 runs.

Met manager Luis Rojas brought in his closer, Diaz. Estrada scored on a wild pitch. And then Aaron Hicks hit a screamer that just got over the right field fence. Tie ballgame.

It went to the 8th, which, under the current rules, takes the form of the 10th, and it starts with a runner on 2nd base. I don't like this rule, and it should go before next season. This time, though, it helped the Yankees. The runner on 2nd was Mike Tauchman. With 1 out in the 8th, Ford worked Diaz for a walk. Diaz got Gardner to fly out to center, but Urshela singled Tauchman home.

Yankees 8, Mets 7. WP: Green (3-2). No save. LP: Diaz (1-1).

As John Lennon would have said if he were a baseball Met fan, "Nobody told me there'd be Diaz like these. Strange Diaz, indeed. Most peculiar, Mama!"

*

The nightcap, also with the Yankees serving as the visiting team, featured the major league debut of 21-year-old Dominican righthander Deivi García, one of Cashman's precious "prospects" he's been building around since the infamous Trade Deadline Surrender of '16.

He didn't allow a baserunner through the 1st 3 innings, and the Yankees gave him a boost through a home run by Tyler Wade leading off the 3rd. But an error by Voit in the 6th led to the Mets tying the game, and denying García the victory. Jonathan Holder pitched a scoreless 7th.

The game went to the 8th inning, with Gardner as the man starting on 2nd. Drew Smith was on the mound for the Mets, and, well, what do I say about leadoff walks? He walked Frazier. He got Urshela to fly to left, but it was enough to advance the runners. He intentionally walked Tauchman to load the bases and set up an out at any base.

Boone sent Gary Sanchez to pinch-hit for Kratz, and Yankee Fans everywhere lost their minds, because Sanchez has been hitting so poorly. Sanchez crushed a grand slam deep into the left-center Bleachers. Michael Kay said, "Boy, did he need that!"

Holder got a strikeout to start the bottom of the 8th, but walked a batter. Uh-oh... He got a forceout, but then allowed an RBI single, and another single, and Boone had to take him out. And he put in Cessa. There was no reason to do that: Chapman hadn't pitched all day. But Cessa struck Ramos out to end it.

Yankees 5, Mets 2. WP: Holder (1-0). SV: Cessa (1). LP: Smith (0-1).

*

So the Yankees lost the 1st 2 games of this series with the Mets, and won the last 3. They could have lost all 5, but then, they also could have won all 5.

Now, the Rays come in, and the Yankees trail them by 3 1/2 games, but just 2 in the loss column. There are 28 games to play.

If we can just get through today's trading deadline without Cashman trading any established major league players for a bunch of prospects...

Yankee Injury Update

On the team website, the Yankees issued the following update as to when the injured players should return:

* Gary Sanchez: Maybe tomorrow. He caught 5 innings in a rehab game for Class A Charleston last night, and Cashman hinted that he could be called up for the game in Anaheim tomorrow night. That sounds a little soon. I'd give him a full series at Double-A or Triple-A first. Maybe play him for Trenton tomorrow, and then the weekend for Scranton. Plus, the way that Austin Romine and Kyle Higashioka have played in his absence, there's no reason to rush El Gary back.

* Giancarlo Stanton: May. He is with the team on the Coast, and, according to Cashman, is "moving closer to on-field batting practice."

* Aaron Hicks: May. He is at the minor-league complex in Tampa, swinging a bat and throwing. Boone says he "probably isn't too far off from being ready to play in rehab games."

* Troy Tulowitzki: May. He's at the Tampa complex, taking batting practice and ground balls.

* Dellin Betances: May 25. He will be cleared to resume throwing on May 4, and Brian Cashman says he expects him to return "three weeks after that." So Hicks and Betances give us as close as we're going to get to clear short-term good news on any of these guys.

* Miguel Andujar: Not clear, since they don't yet know if he's going to have surgery on his shoulder. But they are encouraged by his progress, so he could return in May. If he decides to have surgery, though, he's out for the season.

* Aaron Judge: May, probably. Cashman says, "There is no timetable for Judge's return," but, "It will be more than two weeks." Two weeks from today would be May 7.

* Greg Bird: May or June. Given his foot injury, his poor hitting at the start of this season, and the rise of Voit, Bird's return is hardly a priority. We don't want him to be in pain, but having him on the Yankee roster, and fully able to play, wouldn't help much. He may be a career backup from this point onward, through little fault of his own.

* Ben Heller: June. The reliever had Tommy John surgery in April 2018, and is now throwing off a mound.

* Didi Gregorius: Sometime in the Summer. He's at the Tampa complex, taking batting practice and making infield throws. Cashman says his recover "has gone off without a hitch so far." He could be back in June. Then again, Cashman isn't exactly Joe Namath when it comes to making predictions.

* Luis Severino: July. With his recent rotator cuff setback, he's been shut down until May 21. If German can continue to pitch decently as a spot starter, this loss won't be all that big. If Sevy can come back the way he was, it will be a huge boost. Cue another Arsenal reference: It would be "like a new signing."

* Jordan Montgomery: July. He had Tommy John surgery in June 2018, and is working on building up his velocity in Tampa.

* Jacoby Ellsbury: Who knows. He's become the Carl Pavano of position players: Hurt the Yankees in postseason play for another team, came to the Yankees, helped a little, got hurt, and has barely played since. He hasn't played since October 2017, had hip surgery in August 2018, and has been limited to light running.

*

This is also a good time to do a countdown update:

Days until Arsenal play again: 1, tomorrow, at 2:45 PM New York time, away to Wolverhampton Wanderers of the Birmingham area. Despite having advanced to the Semifinal of the UEFA Europa League, Arsenal laid an egg on Easter Sunday, losing 3-2 at home to a not very good team, Crystal Palace of South London, seriously denting their hopes of qualifying for next season's UEFA Champions League and finishing ahead of North London arch-rivals Tottenham Hotspur.

Days until the New York Red Bulls play again: 4, next Saturday night at 7:00, at home, their 1st-ever competitive game against MLS expansion team FC Cincinnati.

Days until the next Yankees-Red Sox series begins: 37, on May 30, at Yankee Stadium II. (I previously had this incorrectly listed as being at Fenway Park.)

Days until the next Women's World Cup kicks off: 45,  on Friday, June 7, in France. Under 7 weeks. The U.S. team is 3-time and defending Champions.

Days until the Red Bulls next play a "derby": 46, on Saturday night, June 8, against the Philadelphia Union, at Talen Energy Stadium in Chester, Pennsylvania. The next game against New York City FC will be on Sunday night, July 14, at Red Bull Arena. The next game against the New England Revolution will be on Saturday night, August 17, at Red Bull Arena. The next game against D.C. United will be on Wednesday night, August 21, at Audi Field in Washington.

Days until the U.S. national soccer team plays again: 56, on Tuesday, June 18, at the brand-new Allianz Field in St. Paul, home of Minnesota United, in the opener of the 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup. Exactly 8 weeks.

Days until the Yankees and Red Sox play each other in London: 67, on June 29. Under 10 weeks.

Days until Arsenal play in America: 83. Under 12 weeks. On July 15, they will visit the Denver suburbs to play the Colorado Rapids. On July 17, they will visit the Los Angeles suburbs to play Bayern Munich. On July 20, they will visit Charlotte to play AS Roma. And on July 23, they will visit the Redskins' stadium in the Washington suburbs to play Real Madrid. This almost certainly means no Emirates Cup this Summer.

Days until the next North London Derby: Unknown, as both Premier League matches, and a League Cup match, have been played this season. The next season starts on August 10, which is 109 days from now, but the PL never puts a Derby on the opening weekend. The Gunners and Spurs usually play each other in N5 in October or November, and then in N17 in February or March.

Days until Rutgers University plays football again: 130, on August 31, home to the University of Massachusetts. A little over 4 months.

Days until East Brunswick High School plays football again: Unknown, because the 2019 schedule hasn't been released yet. Usually, the next season begins on the 1st Friday in September, which would be September 6, which would be 136 days. It has been announced that East Brunswick and its arch-rivals, Old Bridge, will no longer play each other on Thanksgiving Day. In fact, many of the local Thanksgiving rivalries have been moved back to the opening night, September 6. Whenever the Big Green play the Purple Bastards, it will be under a new head coach, because Bob Molarz, in charge for the last 6 seasons, has resigned.

Days until the New Jersey Devils play again: Unknown. Traditionally, a new NHL season begins on the 1st Thursday in October, which would be October 3, which is 163 days from now. The new schedule is usually released around June 20 or so. We shall see.

Days until the New Jersey Devils next play a local rival: Unknown. But the Devils never open against either the New York Rangers, a.k.a. The Scum; the New York Islanders; or the Philadelphia Flyers, a.k.a. The Philth.

Days until the next Rutgers-Penn State football game: 221, on Saturday, November 30, at Beaver Stadium in State College, Pennsylvania. A little over 7 months.

Days until my 50th Birthday, at which point I can join AARP and get discounts for travel and game tickets: 239, on December 18, 2019. Under 8 months.

Day until the premiere of the final Star Wars film, Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker: 241, on December 20, 2019.

Days until the Baseball Hall of Fame vote is announced, electing Derek Jeter: 273, on January 21, 2020. Under 9 months.

Days until the next Summer Olympics begins in Tokyo, Japan: 458, on July 24, 2020. Under a year and a half, or a little over 15 months.

Days until the next Presidential election, when we can dump the Trump-Pence regime and elect a real Administration: 560, on November 3, 2020. A little over a year and a half, or under 19 months.

Days until a fully-Democratic-controlled Congress can convene, and the Republicans can do nothing about it: 621, on January 3, 2021. Under 2 years, or under 21 months.

Days until Liberation Day: 638, at noon on January 20, 2021. Under 2 years, or under 21 months. Note that this is liberation from the Republican Party, not just from Donald Trump. Having Mike Pence as President wouldn't be better, just differently bad, mixing theocracy with plutocracy, rather than mixing kleptocracy with plutocracy.

Days until the next Winter Olympics begins in Beijing, China: 1,018, on February 4, 2022. Under 3 years, or under 34 months.

Days until the next World Cup is scheduled to kick off: 1,308, on November 21, 2022, in Qatar. Under 4 years, or under 43 months. The charges of corruption against Qatar may yet mean that they will lose the tournament, in which case it will be moved to a nation where it would not be too hot to play it in June and July.

It's Getting Late Early Out There

Have I used that title, A rewrite of a Yogi Berra quote, before? I don't care. It really is getting late early out there.

Yesterday, before beginning a 3-game home weekend series with the Chicago White Sox, the Yankees got not one, but two bad pieces of news on the injury front. Gary Sanchez had to go on the Injured List. This left them with only Austin Romine as a catcher, and Romine is not a major league quality player. Fortunately, previously injured backup Kyle Higashioka was ready to be called back up, and was.

Then they found out that reliever Dellin Betances had an injury setback, and will be out at least another 6 weeks. So, we're looking at June 1 at the earliest.

As a Yankee Fan and an Arsenal fan, I began to think, "Oh, Santi Cazorla... "

Bryan Hoch of MLB.com wrote on Twitter:

UPDATED. So... when are these guys expected back, anyway? 

Andujar: May? (Maybe 2020) Betances: ??? Ellsbury: ??? Gregorius: June-August Heller: June Hicks: May? Montgomery: August Sabathia: April 13 Sanchez: late April? Severino: July? Stanton: late April? Tulowitzki: May?

About sums it up.

*

As for the game: The weather was a factor all the way, and I'm surprised that they got any of it in. Of course, the amount of it that they got in did not work in the Yankees' favor.

The Yankees led 4-1 after 3 innings, but then starter J.A. Happ fell apart, allowing 2 runs in the 4th and 4 in the 6th before being removed for Jonathan Holder. He and Chad Green were not appreciably better, each allowing a run in the 7th.

Brett Gardner hit a home run in the bottom of the 4th. But it was 7-5 White Sox after 5, at which point a rainout would have made it an official game. The Yankees closed to within 7-6 in the 6th, but the White Sox scored again in the 7th.

It was White Sox 9, Yankees 6 going into the 7th inning stretch, when the rain made it impossible to continue. WP: Lucas Giolito (2-1). SV: Nate Jones (1). LP: Happ (0-2).

The Yankees are now 5-8, with key players Didi Gregorius (shortstop), Troy Tulowitzki (the backup shortstop signed to fill in for Didi), Miguel Andujar (3rd baseman), Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Hicks (outfielders), Gary Sanchez (catcher), Luis Severino and Jordan Montgomery (starting pitchers), and Dellin Betances (relief pitcher) all injured.

If Bryan Hoch is right, Stanton and Sanchez may be back by the end of this month; Hicks and Tulowitzki next month; Gregorius, Severino, Montgomery and Betances, sometime in the Summer; and Andujar could either be back next month, or not until next season.

The season for which general manager Brian Cashman threw away 2016, 2017 and 2018 is close to being reduced to ashes, and we're only in mid-April. It has gotten late very early out there.

The weather should not be an issue this afternoon. CC Sabathia is scheduled to make his injury-delayed season debut, and starting for the White Sox is former Yankee Ivan Nova. We shall see if Cashman made another mistake in letting Nova go.

Yankees Go Wild to Beat A's, So Bring on Boston

The Yankees beat the Oakland Athletics in the American League Wild Card Game, 7-2 at Yankee Stadium II.

Okay, I said I would rather lose this game than win and then lose the AL Division Series to the Boston Red Sox. Nevertheless I am quite pleased that we won.

And it does seem as though the Yankees are peaking just in time to face The Scum. Of course, there is the worry that they used up so many runs on the A's, but they won't have them to use against the scum.

Manager Aaron Boone started Luis Severino, in spite of a difficult 2nd half, because he thought Sevy's speed was appropriate to face this particular team. And for 4 innings, it was a brilliant choice: Despite 4 walks, Sevy didn't allow the A's a single hit.

He could pitch with confidence, because the game began with Brett Gardner singling and Aaron Judge hitting a home run to make it 2-0 Yankees.

But in the 5th inning, Sevy allowed 2 hits, and Boone came out, and replaced him with Dellin Betances. Sevy got a nice hand from the fans.

Replacing the starter already wasn't a crazy idea, but with Betances? Who's usually good in the 7th and/or 8th inning? (But not the 9th.) This looked like a panic move, one even Joe Girardi wouldn't have done. Or was it a hunch, the kind that Casey Stengel, Billy Martin and Joe Torre used to win big games for the Yankees?

It worked: Betances got out of the jam, and pitched a scoreless top of the 6th. That must've given the Yankees a big boost, because they scored 4 runs in the bottom of the 6th, thanks to back-to-back doubles by Judge and Aaron Hicks, a walk to Giancarlo Stanton, a triple by Luke Voit, and a sacrifice fly by Didi Gregorius.

David Robertson pitched a scoreless 7th. Zach Britton allowed a home run by Khris Davis to make it 6-2 in the top of the 8th, but Stanton launched one down the left field line, just fair, measured at 443 feet. And Aroldis Chapman pitched a scoreless 9th to end it.

Ballgame over! Yankees win! Theeeeeeee Yankees win! Holy cow! How about that!

Yankees 7, A's 2. WP: Dellin Betances. Not a save situation. LP: Liam Hendriks.

This was the 4th postseason meeting between the Yanks and the A's, following the 1981 AL Championship Series and the 2000 and 2001 ALDS. The Yankees have now won all 4 such rounds.

So, bring on The Scum. Game 1 is on Friday night, at Fenway Park. Game 2 is on Saturday at Fenway. Then a day off, and Game 3 is at Yankee Stadium on Monday. If necessary, Game 4 is at Yankee Stadium on Tuesday. And, if necessary, another day off, followed by a deciding Game 5 will be played next week's Thursday at Fenway.

Come on you Bombers!

Good Pitching Will Beat Good Hitting, Except When It Doesn't

This past Thursday, the Yankees began a home series against the Detroit Tigers. J.A. Happ started, but couldn't get out of the 5th inning. The 1st batter of the game was Jeimer Candelario, and Happ served him up a home run.

It was still 1-0 in the bottom of the 3rd, when Giancarlo Stanton tied the game with a home run. The teams traded homers in the 4th, Ronny Rodriguez for us, Gleyber Torres for them. But a Victor Martinez homer in the top of the 5th made it 5-4 Tigers, and Happ was done.

But a Detroit throwing error allowed the Yankees to tie the game in the bottom of the 5th, and a double by Stanton and a home run by Luke Voit, in the 7th, gave the Yankees a 7-5 lead.

Chad Green had gotten the Yankees through the 6th. Did Aaron Boone leave him in for the 7th? No, he brought David Robertson in. Robertson got through it 1-2-3. Did Boone leave him in for the 8th? No, he brought Zach Britton in. Britton pitched a scoreless inning. Did Boone leave him in for the 9th? No, he brought Dellin Betances in.

Three times, Boone had the chance to leave a pitcher who was pitching effectively in to continue pitching effectively. Three times, he pulled a stupid movie right out of Joe Girardi's binder. The 1st 2 times, it didn't hurt the Yankees.

The 3rd time, it did. Betances struck out the side, fanning Mikie Mahtook, Rodriguez and McCann. Unfortunately, between Mahtook and Rodriguez, he walked Nick Castellanos (Cliche Alert: Walks can kill you), and gave up home runs to Martinez and Niko Goodrum. The Yankees went down quietly in the bottom of the 9th.

Tigers 8, Yankees 7. WP: Alex Wilson (2-4). SV: Shane Greene (28). LP: Betances (4-4), although this one was clearly on Boone.

*

Again on Friday night, the Yankees scored 7 runs. This time, it was enough.

Luis Severino started, and struck out 10 batters and walked none in 6 innings. But he also allowed 3 runs on 6 hits. But the Yankees bailed him out in the bottom of the 6th, with 3 home runs, hit by Brett Gardner, Aaron Hicks and Miguel Andujar. It was 4-3 Yankees.

But Jonathan Holder got in trouble in the 7th, and Britton allowed the tying run before getting out of it. Britton allowed another run in the 8th. 5-4 Tigers. Given the circumstances, Britton should not have gotten credit for the win if the Yankees were to come from behind to win.

Which they did, and he got credit for the win. Gardner led off the bottom of the 8th with a double. Stanton, in a clutch situation, struck out. Hicks drew a walk, but Andujar struck out. Voit drew a walk to keep it going. Torres singled Gardner and Hicks home. Neil Walker was walked intentionally, and Austin Romine singled Torres home.

Robertson got into a little trouble in the 9th, but didn't let the Tigers score. Yankees 7, Tigers 5. WP: Britton (2-0). SV: Robertson (5). LP: Joe Jimenez (4-4).

*

Sometimes, you score 7 (or more) runs, and it's not enough. Sometimes, you score 2 (or even 1), and it is. On Saturday afternoon, Masahiro Tanaka pitched brilliantly for 7 innings, allowing just 1 run on 7 hits and 1 walk, with 6 strikeouts. Torres hit a home run, and Betances redeemed himself with a scoreless 9th. Yankees 2, Tigers 1. WP: Tanaka (10-5). SV: Betances (2). LP: Daniel Norris (0-3).

Like I said: Sometimes, you score 7 (or more) runs, and it's not enough. On Sunday afternoon, Lance Lynn had nothing. He didn't get out of the 4th inning, allowing 6 runs. Tommy Kahnle couldn't stop the bleeding, allowing a run.

Sonny Gray pitched decently in relief, allowing just 1 run in 4 innings. But Stephen Tarpley, a 25-year-old righthander from Los Angeles, wearing Number 71, made a mess of his major league debut, allowing 3 runs on 3 hits and 2 walks in the 9th. The Yankees were already losing 8-5, but he put a comeback out of reach.

Hicks and Voit homered, and there was a comeback attempt in the 9th. But without good pitching, 7 runs wasn't nearly enough. Tigers 11, Yankees 7. WP: Matthew Boyd (9-12). No save. LP: Lynn (8-10).

Yogi Berra supposedly once said, "Good pitching will beat good hitting, and vice versa." The Yankees scored 7 runs 3 times in the series, and won only 1 of those games; but scored just 2 in the other, and won it. Good pitching beats good hitting, except when it doesn't.

Yogi also supposedly once said, "In baseball, you don't know nothin'."

So the Yankees got only a split. Next up: A Western trip. Not entirely a Pacific Coast trip: Oakland, then Seattle, then Minnesota.

Yanks Get Hosed by White Sox

The Yankees came home to open a 3-game series against the Chicago White Sox. At first, it was the "Baby Bombers," Brian Cashman's precious prospects, who came through. Cliche alert: Walks can kill you, especially the leadoff variety. Miguel Andujar drew a walk to lead off the bottom of the 4th, and then Gleyber Torres hit his 20th home run of the season.

This gave Masahiro Tanaka a 2-0 lead. Ordinarily, when Tanaka gets out of the 1st inning without allowing any runs, that's a good sign. Not this time: He allowed 3 runs in the 6th, and another in the 7th. A.J. Cole put it out of reach in the 9th, his error leading to 2 more ChiSox runs.

White Sox 6, Yankees 2. WP: Carlos Rodon (6-3). No save. LP: Tanaka (9-5).

The Yankees rebounded on Tuesday night. The game was scoreless until the top of the 5th, when Lance Lynn allowed a run. Then the Pale Hose scored 3 more in the 6th, and it was 4-0, and it looked over.

But Andjuar took James Shields deep in the bottom of the 6th to make it 4-2. Aaron Hicks tied it in the 8th with a home run, and Neil Walker crushed one to right-center for a walkoff homer in the 9th.

Yankees 5, White Sox 4. WP: Betances (4-3). No save. LP: Dylan Covey (4-12).

The momentum from that game didn't last into last night. CC Sabathia didn't have it -- or, to be more accurate, had not quite enough of it to overcome a pathetic Yankee attack that got only 6 hits and 2 walks. The only run came on a Ronald Torreyes single in the 5th.

White Sox 4, Yankees 1. WP: Reynaldo Lopez (5-9). SV: Jace Fry (4). LP: Sabathia (7-5).

Yanks Gain Bad Split In Baltimore

A rainout earlier in the season forced the Yankees into a 4-game series against the Baltimore at Camden Yards, including a doubleheader on Monday. The result was a split that was just 4 runs from becoming a 4-game sweep.

CC Sabathia started the Monday opener, but didn't have good stuff, barely making it into the 6th inning before falling apart. Giancarlo Stanton hit a home run, but the Yankees didn't get enough, as the Orioles won 5-4. WP: Mike Wright Jr. (2-0). SV: Zach Britton (2). LP: Sabathia (6-4).

The nightcap, on the other hand... Sometimes, you'd like to take runs from a blowout win and apply them to games you lost, but baseball just doesn't work that way.

Luis Cessa pitched probably the best game of his career so far, going 6 shutout innings, allowing 3 hits and 3 walks. Aaron Boone then took him out, having thrown only 85 pitches. Giovanny Gallegos went the rest of the way, and was terrible.

But he still got credit for the save, because the save rule is as follows: Credit a pitcher with a save if he is the finishing, but not the winning, pitcher for his team, and he meets 1 of these 3 criteria:

* 1. He comes in with a lead of no more than 3 runs and pitches for at least 1 inning. (Gallegos pitched for more than 1 inning, but the Yankee lead was already 4-0.)

* 2. He comes in with the tying run on base, at bat or on deck. (In other words, 1 of the 1st 2 batters he faces. Gallegos did not qualify here, either.)

* 3. "He pitches effectively for at least 3 innings." What does "effectively" mean? Apparently, it means nothing more than "He didn't blow the lead."

It didn't matter, because, this time, the Yankees got the runs they needed. Brett Gardner and Austin Romine hit home runs, and each man had 3 RBIs on the night. Gardner had 4 hits; Romine, Stanton, Aaron Judge, Didi Gregorius and Neil Walker each had 2.

Yankees 10, Orioles 2. WP: Cessa (1-1). SV: Gallegos (1), though he really didn't deserve it. LP: Yefry Ramirez (0-3, and, yes, I know, the name looks like it's misspelled, but I checked).

*

The Tuesday night game is one of those that will be remembered if the Yankees lose the AL East -- or the AL Wild Card Game -- by 1 game. Masahiro Tanaka did not have good stuff, and he didn't get out of the 5th inning, giving up a home run to Manny Machado to tie the game 3-3, after Greg Bird's home run gave the Yankees the lead in the top half of the inning.

The Yankees made it 5-3 in the top of the 7th, but Machado hit a 2nd home run, this one off Chad Green, and it was 5-5. It remained knotted until the bottom of the 9th. Dellin Betances was sent to the mound, and he began by hitting Caleb Joseph with a pitch. He allowed a double to Adam Jones, putting runners on 2nd and 3rd.

Naturally, Machado was up next, but, with 1st base open and neither his run nor Jones' meaning anything, he was intentionally walked to set up the inning-ending double play, or at least a force play at home.

No such luck: Betances struck Mark Trumbo out, but gave up a game-winning single to Jonathan Schoop, one of those average players who turns into a Hall-of-Famer against the Yankees.

Orioles 6, Yankees 5. WP: Zach Britton (1-0). No save. LP: Betances (1-3).

*

And the Wednesday night starter was Sonny Gray. In the Baltimore bandbox. This is gonna get ugly...

It did, but in the Yankees' favor. Bird hit a grand slam, part of a 5-run 3rd inning for the Bronx Bombers. Tyler Wade hit one out to lead off the 6th. Romine homered in the 7th. And the Yankees got single runs in the 8th and the 9th.

Gray only needed 1 run, pitching perhaps his best game as a Yankee: 6 innings, no runs, 3 hits, just 1 walk, 8 strikeouts. A.J. Cole pitched 2 scorless innings, and Chasen Shreve a perfect 9th.

Yankees 9, Orioles 0. WP: Gray (6-7). No save. LP: Dylan Bundy (6-9).

The games the Yankees won, well, I don't care how the wins come, only that they do. But the games they lost, it's not just that they were lost, but how.

Hopefully, we don't have to remember.

Comeback Not Enough as Sox End Yank Streak

It had to end sometime. Even the 1998 Yankees couldn't keep winning forever.

And if you had told me before this game that the Boston Red Sox would have a 4-0 lead in the bottom of the 7th inning, and would blow it, I would have taken that as a sign that the Yankees would win the game.

Alas...

CC Sabathia started, and, like Luis Severino at Fenway Park last month, had his worst start of the season against the Sox. He went only 4 innings (plus 1 batter in the 5th), allowing 4 runs on 9 hits, although he didn't walk anybody.

Jonathan Holder faced 6 batters, and got them all out. Common sense -- something not found in Joe Girardi's binder, which Aaron Boone appears to have fished out of the dumpster last night -- would have said to leave him in, at least for the 7th inning.

Boone didn't leave him in. Instead, he brought in Dellin Betances. At first, it seemed to work, as he got the Sox out 1-2-3.

Then came the bottom of the 7th. With 1 out, Miguel Andujar singled to right-center. Gleyber Torres singled to right. Neil Walker lived up to his name by drawing a walk to load the bases.

Sox manager Alex Cora brought Joe Kelly in to relieve Heath Hembree. Brett Gardner worked him for a walk to force in a run and put the Yankees on the board. Aaron Judge singled Torres home. The bases were still loaded. Didi Gregorius grounded to 2nd, and the force play scored Walker. With Giancarlo Stanton up, Kelly threw a wild pitch to score Gardner and tie the score. But Stanton grounded to 1st to end the inning.

Boone left Betances in to pitch the 8th. Betances is not a 2-inning pitcher. The 1st batter he faced in the inning was J.D. Martinez, and he hit a home run.

Cliche Alert: Walks can kill you, especially the leadoff variety. And Gary Sanchez worked Kelly for one in the bottom of the 8th. But despite a Torres single with 2 out, the Yankees did not score. Walks can kill you, but that doesn't necessarily mean that they will.

Craig Kimbrel, the goat the night before (and by "goat," I mean "scapegoat," reason for losing, not "greatest of all time"), got the Yankees out 1-2-3 in the bottom of the 9th, ending the winning streak at 10 games and 17 of 18. This, after the Sox themselves had previously won 17 of 19.

Red Sox 5, Yankees 4. WP: Kelly (2-0) -- which really isn't fair, since he's the one who blew the save in the 7th. SV: Kimbrel (10). LP: Betances (1-2).

Already, there are Red Sox fans calling this game Kimbrel's redemption. Bitch, please.

Anyway, ordinarily, I would take 2 out of 3 against The Scum. But the way we lost this game was bad. And we are once again tied with them for 1st place in the AL East.

The Yankees begin a 3-game home series against the Oakland Athletics tonight.

Judge's Cuts & D-Rob's Guts Send Yanks Past Jays

Good news: A new job has come to me at last, meaning income, meaning I can do things like actually going to a Yankee game every once in a while.

Bad news: I will have less time to write posts, although I can take my tablet with me and use that to post on the go.

I got word of this new job right before the Thursday night game. And since I had to get up early on Friday morning, and was busy all day, even after coming home, I couldn't write a post for the Thursday game.

Fortunately, learning how to backdate posts can make it look like I did it on time. So, here goes, and humor me:

*

Tonight, the Yankees opened a 4-game home series against the Toronto Blue Jays. CC Sabathia started, and allowed 2 runs, neither earned. But manager Aaron Boone was thinking of CC's return from injury, and got nervous, and pulled him in the 5th inning.

This was, however, the right move, as Chad Green pitched through the 6th without allowing a baserunner. Dellin Betances pitched the 7th without allowing one. The pitchers were giving the Yankee offense that chance to win the game.

It scored 2 runs in the 2nd, but the Jays tied it in the 4th. A Didi Gregorius single brought a run home in the 6th. In the 7th, here came da Judge. Aaron hit a home run, and it was 4-2 Yanks.

Boone brought David Robertson in to pitch the 8th, instead of trusting a 2nd inning to Betances. This was almost a mistake, as he allowed a single and then 2 walks to load the bases with nobody out, and only a 2-run lead. He got a strikeout, and then, in a pinch-hitting role, came former Yankee (and former Met) Curtis Granderson, who singled home a run. But Robertson got a strikeout and a flyout to end it, and Aroldis Chapman struck out the side in the 9th to finish it off.

Yankees 4, Blue Jays 3. WP: Green (1-0). SV: Chapman (3). LP: Anibal Sanchez (1-2).

The series continues tonight. Sonny Gray starts against Marco Estrada.

(Like I said: Humor me.)

Injury Issues & Betances Halt Yankees

You didn't think the Yankees were going to go 162-0, did you?

You may have thought, as I did, that general manager Brian Cashman's apparent strategy of having an all-outfield team was foolish.

Doesn't look so foolish now, does it?

In the bottom of the 1st inning at the Rogers Centre last night, left fielder Billy McKinney, who got his 1st major league hit and RBi yesterday, chased a Josh Donaldson line drive, and crashed into the outfield wall -- one of the last few in the major leagues that isn't padded. He didn't get the ball, and Donaldson reached 2nd on a double.

At first, it looked like McKinney had hit his head, meaning that he should be taken out of the game as a concussion precaution. He insisted that his head was fine, and manager Aaron Boone left him in the game. Then Justin Smoak hit one into the left field corner, and McKinney retrieved it, and threw it back to the infield, and it became clear that the problem wasn't with his head, but with his arm. Boone took him out of the game.

This is on top of Greg Bird, Jacoby Ellsbury, Aaron Hicks and Clint Frazier already being on the Disabled List. McKinney was started to give Brett Gardner a day off, but Gardner had to be sent out there.

Boone let CC Sabathia pitch only 5 innings, in which he allowed 2 runs, only 1 of which was earned, 5 hits and 2 walks, with 4 strikeouts. He had thrown 84 pitches, 54 for strikes. This is CC we're talking about: He could have gone longer. But, apparently, Boone cares more about the pitch count than actual results. If you're still going to have a pitch count, then what the hell was the point of firing Joe Girardi?

Boone brought in Adam Warren, who shouldn't be on the Yankees' roster, or any other major league team's roster, because he stinks. He allowed another run and got hurt. So that's another injury, albeit one that will prevent him from wrecking any more Yankee games for a while. Jonathan Holder finished the 6th inning without further damage.

Tyler Austin hit 2 long home runs, a 432-foot 2-run shot in the 5th inning, and a 412-foot solo drive in the 7th. That made it 3-3.

But instead of letting Holder keep pitching in the bottom of the 7th, Boone put Dellin Betances in. Betances got through the 7th without much trouble. Him, Boone left in. And the 8th turned out to be the worst inning of the Yankees' young season thus far.

Yangervis Solarte -- who, you'll recall, Cashman traded away for Chase Headley -- led off the inning with a tremendous blast to center field, 455 feet. Betances struck Randal Grichuk out, but allowed a single to Kevin Pillar -- not to be confused with Kevin Millar, our former foe in Boston, who was so slow (How slow was he?), he certainly couldn't have done what I'm about to describe.

Betances struck Aledmys Diaz out. But Pillar stole 2nd. Betances walked Luke Maile. Then a double steal: Pillar stole 3rd and Maile stole 2nd. And then, Pillar stole home plate. He stole 2nd, 3rd and home in the same inning. All because Betances wasn't paying enough attention, and wasn't throwing enough strikes.

That made it 5-3 Blue Jays, and that's how it ended. WP: Ryan Tepera (1-0). SV: Roberto Osuna (1). LP: Betances (0-1).

It's not just that the Yankees lost, it's how. It could have been avoided, had Boone just let either Sabathia or Holder pitch longer. Instead, he Girardi-ed the game. His 1st screwup as a major league manager. Well, his 1st 2.

The series concludes this afternoon, Easter Sunday, with a scheduled first pitch of 1:07 PM. Sonny Gray will start for the Yankees, Marcus Stroman for the Jays. Then, tomorrow afternoon is the home opener, against the Tampa Bay Rays.

The Girardiest Game Ever

Last night in Orlando, the U.S soccer team beat Panama 4-0, and all but secured a berth in the 2018 World Cup. (UPDATE: Little did we know... )

In spite of this, I am not happy, because Joe Girardi essentially ended the Yankees' season.

I know I've said that before, and he's done it before, and seen the players kind of bail him out. But this time, he screwed them over.

If you were a Yankee Fan from 1982 to 1995, people who hated the Yankees could legitimately call you a frontrunner and a loser at the same time. You had all of the drawbacks of being a Yankee Fan, and none of the perks.

Which is why I do not presume that Brian Cashman's "prospects" will pan out. I have seen Gleyber Torres before, in Hensley "Bam Bam" Meulens.

But one advantage the 1982-95 Yankees had over the 2010-17 Yankees is accountability: The manager was fired when he failed. Sometimes before.

The Yankees already lost Game 1 of their American League Division Series to the Cleveland Indians, 4-0. And, last night, they trailed Game 2 3-2 in the top of the 3rd. But they scored 4 runs in the inning, and 2 more in the 5th, to make it 8-3.

That should have been enough for CC Sabathia, who returned to the scene of previous fine performances for the Indians. But he walked Carlos Santana to start the bottom of the 6th.

Maybe that should have been Girardi's signal to remove him, that he was losing his effectiveness, especially with the dangerous Jay Bruce up next. But he got Bruce out.

You never, ever, ever take a pitcher out right after he's gotten an out.

Girardi took him out -- having thrown just 77 pitches -- and brought in Chad Green.

I would hate to think that the Yankees pounded the billed-as-invincible Corey Kluber for nothing. More than that, I would hate to think that this was CC Sabathia's last appearance in a Yankee uniform, and that he, as usual, gave 100 percent, and that it was wasted.

Now, Green has done remarkable things for the Yankees this year. I don't fault him for what happened next.

He got Austin Jackson -- another good player that Cashman let get away -- out. But then he allowed a double to Yan Gomez

The batter was Lonnie Chisenhall.

Home plate umpire Dan Iassogna ruled that Chisenhall was hit by a pitch. The instant replay showed that he wasn't, that the ball hit the knob of his bat, and that Gary Sanchez, so often criticized for his defense as a catcher, caught it. That should have been called strike 3, and the last out of the inning.

Girardi should have challenged the call. He didn't.

You would think that he would stand up for his team. You would think that, being an ex-catcher, he would at least stand up for his catcher and his pitcher. But he just sat on his ass and did nothing.

The bases were loaded. And Francisco Lindor hit a grand slam to close the gap to 8-7.

It would have been very easy, at that point, to presume that the Yankees were going to lose.

Which they did. The Indians tied the game in the 8th. The game went to the bottom of the 13th inning. Girardi burned through Green, David Robertson, Tommy Kahnle, Aroldis Chapman and Dellin Betances. He let Robertson and Chapman pitch 2 innings each. Green, despite his mistake (which was not his mistake), and Kahnle each could have gone another inning. Girardi didn't let them.

From the 7th inning onward -- after the lack of challenge on the hit-by-pitch -- the Yankees got a single by Todd Frazier in the 9th inning, a walk by Greg Bird and a single by Aaron Hicks in the 10th, Frazier reaching on an error and Aaron Judge drawing a walk in the 11th, and that's it: 5 baserunners in 7 innings.

You can't blame that on Girardi. Or can you? Were the players demoralized by their spineless idiot of a manager not supporting them on an obvious screwing that could have been very easily unscrewed, if only he were not spineless?

In the bottom of the 13th, Betances walked Jackson, who stole 2nd, and allowed a game-winning single to Gomes.

I don't blame Betances for that. Maybe he should have been in the game earlier. Maybe the score never should have gotten worse than Yankees 8, Indians 3.

Instead, it ended Indians 9, Yankees 8.

Oh, by the way: Andrew Miller pitched for the Indians in this game, when he should have been available to the Yankees. Cashman's biggest bonehead move? No, the 2009-10 offseason trade that amounted to Melky Cabrera for the 2nd coming of Javier Vazquez was worse.

Had the Yankees won this game, they'd have gone back to New York tied. Instead, it's 2 games to none down, and they have to win 3 straight against the defending American League Champions, 1 of the 3 best teams in the majors this season, along with the Houston Astros and the Los Angeles Dodgers.

This game may have been the Girardiest game ever. The only game I can think of that was worse, in both importance and (for want of a better word) reasoning, was Game 4 of the 2010 AL Championship Series, when everyone in America except Girardi knew that Boone Logan was going to serve a home run up to Josh Hamilton, but Girardi brought Logan in anyway, because his damn binder said bring a lefty in to face the lefty.

Would Casey Stengel have done that? Would Billy Martin? Maybe -- but the lefty would have been CC.

This game may have turned the tide. So many of the online fans who claimed that Girardi did a wonderful job with the team this year -- with the Wild Card Game as their greatest evidence -- turned on him.

Still, many people are saying that the Yankees "overachieved" this season.

No. They did not. They aren't winning the World Series. They aren't winning the Pennant. They aren't even winning the ALDS.

That is underachieving.

Don't tell me what the Yankees were "projected" to do. When you're the New York Yankees, you do whatever you have to do to win -- within the rules. (Unlike some other teams we could mention.)

And when you're the manager of the New York Yankees, and you see a bad call that hurts your team, you challenge it. You now have that right in Major League Baseball.

Joe Girardi didn't.

If the 1980s George Steinbrenner were in charge now, Girardi would have been out of a job before he even left the dugout.

Instead, Girardi will still be the Yankee manager on Opening Day 2018.

Will we ever see another World Series?

*

Hours until the Red Bulls play again: 7, this afternoon at 5:00, away to the Vancouver Whitecaps.

Hours until the New Jersey Devils play again: 9, at 7:00 tonight, the season opener, home to the Colorado Avalanche.

Days until the U.S. national soccer team plays again: 3, this Tuesday night at 8:00, away to Trinidad & Tobago. The last -place team in the Group shouldn't be too hard to beat. Even with a draw, we will qualify. But if we lose, and Panama beats Costa Rica, and/or Honduras beats Mexico, we might miss out.

Days until East Brunswick High School plays football again: 6, next Friday night, at 7:00 PM, away to South Brunswick. Last night, in a Greater Middlesex Conference/Shore Conference crossover game against Marlboro, Da Bears won 28-14, gaining their 1st win of the season. Bob Molarz' Green-White Army is now 1-3.

Days until The Arsenal play again: 7, next Saturday at 10:00 AM our time, away to Hertfordshire club Watford.

Days until Rutgers University plays football again: 7, next Saturday at 12:00 noon, away to the University of Illinois in Champaign, Illinois. They are now 1-4 after their 56-0 shellacking by Ohio State last week. They have this week off.

Days until the New Jersey Devils next play a local rival: 7, next Saturday night, against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden in Midtown Manhattan. Their 1st game against the New York Islanders will be on Sunday, January 7, 2018, at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn -- and they'll have played the Rangers 3 times by then. Their 1st game against the Philadelphia Flyers will be on Saturday, January 13, 2018, at the Prudential Center in Newark -- and they'll have played the Rangers 3 times and the Islanders once by then. This is a weird schedule.

Days until the Red Bulls next play a "derby": 15, on Sunday, October 22, against the D.C. Scum, at Robert F. Kennedy Stadium in Washington. Depending on when the new Audi Field opens next year (right now, they're talking about a June 2018 opening), this could be Metro's last trip to RFK. This is the last derby of the regular season. They could play New York City FC in the Playoffs, but the New England Revolution and the Philadelphia Union won't be faced again until next season.

Days until the Alex Rodriguez Contract From Hell officially runs out, and the Yankees can spend his salary on new players: 24, on October 31. A little over 3 weeks.

Days until the next election for Governor of New Jersey: 31, on Tuesday, November 7. Exactly 1 month until we elect Phil Murphy, defeat Kim Guadagno, end Christieism forever, and send the Republicans and their illegitimate leader Donald Trump a message that their time has come and gone. But only if you vote!

Days until the next Rutgers-Penn State football game: 35, on Saturday, November 11, at Beaver Stadium in State College, Pennsylvania.

Days until the next North London Derby: 42, on Saturday, November 18, at the Emirates Stadium. Exactly 6 weeks. This game was moved back to 5:30 PM London Time, 12:30 PM New York time, for TV purposes, but was not, as I thought it might be, moved to Sunday afternoon (morning, our time) or Monday night (afternoon).

Days until the next East Brunswick-Old Bridge Thanksgiving high school football game: 47, on Thursday, November 23, at 10:00 AM. Less than 7 weeks, and thank God it's at home, at Jay Doyle's Green Grove, rather than at that purple shit pit on Route 9.

Days until the next Winter Olympics begins in Pyeongchang, Korea: 125, on February 9, 2018. A little over 4 months.

Days until Opening Day of the 2018 Major League Baseball season: 173, on Thursday night, March 29, as the Yankees open away to the Toronto Blue Jays. Under 6 months.

Days until the Yankees' 2018 home opener: 177, on Monday afternoon, April 2, against the Tampa Bay Rays.

Days until the next Yankees-Red Sox series begins: 185, on Tuesday, April 10, 2018, at Fenway Park.

Days until the next World Cup kicks off in Russia: 250, on June 14, 2018. A little over 8 months. Has Bruce Arena turned our chances around? Maybe. Or maybe, with the tournament on his soil, Vladimir Putin will tell his bitch Donald Trump to tell Bruce Arena to tank the games. Maybe not. Or maybe only if we end up playing Russia. I don't think Arena will listen. If he doesn't, I hope his life insurance is paid up, because Putin has had people killed for defying him.

Days until September 2018 roster call-ups, when we can finally start to expect seeing most of these wonderful "prospects" for whom Yankee general manager Brian Cashman threw away a chance at the 2016 Playoffs, and the 2017 AL East title as well: 329. Under 11 months. Of course, Clint Frazier is already up, but the bubble has already burst on him, and we've hardly benefited enough to offset the cost of Andrew Miller. We could end up seeing another of them sooner than that, but since most of them are at Double-A Trenton now, if that, who's kidding who?

Days until the next Congressional election, when we can elect a Democratic Congress that can impeach and remove Donald Trump from the Presidency: 385, on November 6, 2018. A little over a year, or a little under 13 months.

Days until the Baseball Hall of Fame vote is announced, electing Mariano Rivera: 449, on January 9, 2019. A little under a year and a half, or a little over 15 months.

Days until the Baseball Hall of Fame vote is announced, electing Derek Jeter: 814, on January 8, 2020. A little under 2 1/2 years, or a little over 27 months.

Days until the next Summer Olympics begins in Tokyo, Japan: 1,012, on July 24, 2020. Under 3 years, or a little over 33 months.

Days until the next Presidential election, when we can dump the Trump-Pence regime and elect a real Administration: 1,114, on November 3, 2020. Under 3 1/2 years, or a little under 37 months.

Days until Liberation Day: 1,192, at noon on January 20, 2021. A little under 3 1/2 years, or a little over 39 months. Note that this is liberation from the Republican Party, not just from Donald Trump. Having Mike Pence as President wouldn't be better, just differently bad, mixing theocracy with plutocracy, rather than mixing kleptocracy with plutocracy.