Yankees 2018 season: Pride, power, intimidation, and pinstripes
The Yankees have compiled a mighty club, one that might just shake the baseball world. And their fans are preparing for the wins and home runs to pile up in a dominant performance by the real return of the Bronx Bombers.
Yankees fans have been waiting for this day.
Not just since the acquisition of Stanton, or the end of the ALCS. No, this is a day fans have looked forward to long before those and so many other accomplishments: The Yankees are not only a World Series favorite, but also the most dominant team in all The MLB.
The Legend of the Yankees is built on the almost-twin pillars of championships and home run hitters; fortunately, the two often intersect. Their multitudinous titles are wrapped in baseball’s most significant moments and the postseason’s most prominent home runs.
When the Babe called his shot in the 1932 World Series, he created perhaps the most indelible legend baseball ever digested — or at least tries to.
Not everyone swallows the story, but the home run he hit with his next swing still helped the Bombers sweep the Cubs. That was title number four.
In 1961 it was the M&M Boys. Their Yankees-only Club chase for Ruth’s single-season record while hitting back-to-back in the same lineup captivated the country. It culminated in Maris holding the record, and the Yankees holding the crown.
That was for title number 19.
In 1977, Mr. October answered the whole world and rewarded the Yanks with title 21. The next year saw unlikely hero Bucky “Effing” Dent demoralize all of Boston en route to title 22.
And the Bam-Tino, Tino Martinez, belted an epic grand slam in the bottom of the seventh in game one of the ’98 Fall Classic against the Padres, turning the game and the series around. Another sweep ensued, as did title 24.
In Good Times and Bad
Even when they have failed to win the ultimate prize, the Yankees have hit home runs deep into the psyche of the sport itself; Aaron Boone and Mr. November stand as a testament to that.
But this year, the fans want it all.
They want the wins and the high-fives, and to see the Series back where it belongs; to see it where it shines the brightest, on Bronck’s old farm. And they might get it. It was no less than Dellin Betances who said as much to Pete Caldera of NJ.com on the first day of Spring Training.
“If we don’t win (in 2018), I think it’s not a great year for us. It’s probably the first season I’ve ever come in with those expectations.’’
Likewise, Brian Cashman made for him a very bold statement when he spoke to one of the Deans of Yankees sports writing, Bryan Hoch at MLB.com.
Out of respect for what the Astros, Indians and Red Sox accomplished last season, Brian Cashman refuses to classify his Yankees as World Series favorites, but the general manager is making his objective clear for the upcoming season. “I need another ring,” Cashman said. “I’ve got rings, but there’s other guys in there that don’t have rings. Some have rings somewhere else. They want a Yankee ring. I think having a ring with the ‘NY’ on it means more than any of the other ones out there, in my opinion.”
Amen to That, Brother
That attitude, as well as the team’s success both on and off the field last year, has put a bull’s eye on the Yankees back. And the players are all buying in.
David Schoenfield over at ESPN made that clear.
The Stanton trade — remember, he blocked deals to the Giants and Cardinals — helped reaffirm the whole “Evil Empire” status of the Yankees. The Yankees are ready to embrace that role again. “We have to,” CC Sabathia said. “Last year was last year. I don’t think we’re going to get any free passes like we did last year. This is our reality. We have to embrace who we and what we are, and that’s the Yankees and whatever comes with that.”
That same outlook and attitude is shared by the fans.
And while they all have the same number one goal—to be the last team standing—their delicious expectations are sweetened by the prospect of the Yankees put an absolute beat down on the rest of the American League. That’s how Ruth and Gehrig would have done it.
Making it to the seventh game of the ALCS in what was supposed to be a rebuilding year was a body blow to the baseball world; adding the National League MVP and home run king was a punch to its face.
Immediately and throughout the offseason, the pairing of the two most prominent men and biggest hitters in baseball began to spread fear to the other teams.
From Baltimore and Boston to Tampa Bay and Toronto, AL East opponents seem fully aware of what kind of offense might explode in their parks.
And now they’re scared…and they should be.
More to Fear Than Fear Itself
The loss of Bird takes away what was supposed to be an additional weapon, not one that produced last year, and his nine home runs from last season seem easy to replace. Plus, he is projected to come back by June, when his bat can still be a difference maker.
Even without him, though, the Yankees have three of the ten best power hitters in baseball. And while right-handed pitchers will get some respite, Judge, Stanton and Gary Sanchez will all bat in a row against lefties.
Forget Judge and Giancarlo hitting 100 homers; what about the three of them hitting 150?
That might not happen but it is possible, and it is that possibility that will keep pitchers up at night. Before July, some of the best pitchers in the AL will see Judgian blasts in their sleep.
Yankees fans are seeing them now. And they are likely to go on seeing them, all through the season: Big home runs that fly deep into the night, American League scoreboards changing quickly as uncatchable balls soar past them, and past the faces of gigantic, smiling Yankees.
Soon the sight of Sanchez and Stanton rounding the bases yet again will be burned into their minds. And those of Yankees’ opponents.
Working on a Dream
By August, the specter of the on-going Home Run Derby that will be the Yankees this year will win them some games before the end of batting practice. And that is the real moment fans are waiting for: Cheering not just for a winning team, but for the most feared team in sports. This from Master Sun:
The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.
And, even more, succulent to Yankees fans, this purportedly from Genghis Khan:
The greatest joy for a man is to defeat his enemies, to drive them before him, to take from them all they possess [and] to see those they love in tears…
That is the season they want and expect: To win it all and do so in bloody fashion. And they might just get it.
But those are just hopes and dreams. Now is the time for speculations to end and preparations to close. Now we get the anthems and the dirty uniforms, and the panic of a three-game losing streak. We understand the early leads and the late game losses, and the modern-day version of murderer’s row.
It’s baseball, and it’s back in all its pain and glory.
The Plan is Coming Together
That looks to suit the plan for this year’s Yankees just fine: Pain for their opponents and glory for them. All they have to do now is prove it.
More from Call to the Pen
- Philadelphia Phillies, ready for a stretch run, bomb St. Louis Cardinals
- Philadelphia Phillies: The 4 players on the franchise’s Mount Rushmore
- Boston Red Sox fans should be upset over Mookie Betts’ comment
- Analyzing the Boston Red Sox trade for Dave Henderson and Spike Owen
- 2023 MLB postseason likely to have a strange look without Yankees, Red Sox, Cardinals
To go out and play 162 like each is an elimination game, and warm-up for the postseason. To hit and to hurt and to play through the pain because winning is everything, and the only goal that matters is a title.
That is what the fans expect with this much talent and this much raw power on one team. They expect the Yankees to win it all and restore the crown to it’s by far and away most frequent home: Yankee Stadium. That would be title 28.
But they also expect one more thing: Season-long home run highlights of repeated beat downs in the Bronx, and beyond. They want to see demoralized opponents on the wrong side of lopsided scores, and All-Star relief pitchers with their heads hung low.
And they might get it.
Next: How the Yankees stack up against super six, win-now teams
This is a season Yankees fans have been waiting for. You can almost hear them holding their collective breath in baited anticipation, years stuck in the throat. That’s because the Yankees have the pitching and the hitting, and all the homegrown talent the fans could want. And the power, that scary good power.
So now, finally…Play Ball!