Every champion has to find a way to navigate matches like these two. There are no EZ Pass booths to the Canyon of Heroes, no passing lanes to get you through the October angst. In a few weeks, I might be able to laugh on Thursday afternoons and Friday evenings.
In a few weeks, if you're lining the streets of Lower Manhattan and see Mark Leiter Jr. passing by on a float, you'll join the hardy souls in thanking an unlikely October helper. You will be able to shout out your feelings. Giancarlo Stanton, Aaron Judge, Juan Soto. By then, your heart may no longer be in your throat.
But please get used to it. This is October. This is the toll. This is an additional tax on the upcoming ticker shower.
“I want a ring,” Stanton said after surviving the 8-6 torture chamber in the Yankees' win over the Guardians. It was the day after a 7-5 win over Cleveland gave the Yankees something to think about and maybe worry about. .
This is how you get the ring. We have to figure out how to endure it. You have to think about how to survive. In some cases, you may have to find a way to overcome a devastating loss. The only way to do that is to avoid further catastrophic losses.
History is written by the victors.
The surviving team will win the World Series.
“We were trying to get to the goal line, and we just weren't sure how we were going to get there,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said.
Sometimes you have to make up for it as you go along. Sometimes you have to improvise. That's another thing about October. The moment you know for sure how your script will resolve itself, red flags and red flags will start littering the page. At that time, hair grows. And that's when it gets fun.
Soto quickly removed the memory of Thursday's disaster with a home run that gave the Yankees a 2-0 lead. Austin Wells appeared on the offensive line for the first time and added a solo shot. And somehow, Cleveland captain Stephen Vogt hit a double to Stanton, Anthony Rizzo was on deck and decided to warm up the left-handed pitcher in the bullpen, and Stanton made the ball disappear.
The Yankees went on to win 6-2, and Progressive Field seemed to have temporarily accepted what seemed inevitable. But nothing is really inevitable in October. The Yankees' bullpen is exhausted. The arm there hangs carefully. Leiter was inactive Thursday morning, but by Friday night he had two of his biggest outs of the year, closing out the seventh and closing out the eighth.
By that time the Guardians had tied the game. You can stop making jokes about the American League Central. This isn't the same team that the Yankees used to gleefully hurt, like Mike Tyson did with Michael Spinks in 91 seconds. This team is coming back. They returned on Thursday. They returned on Friday. Even after the Yankees made their most recent comeback by scoring two runs in the ninth inning, it's hard to believe they won't come back again on Saturday despite slingshotting Emmanuel Clase for the second day in a row.
“Last night was tough,” a tired Wells said at the end of the game. “This feels good. I'm glad I got through it tonight.”
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Stanton said: “You just have to get it done. There's no other way to think about it.”
With this, they advanced to the World Series for the first time in 15 years. They'll give Carlos Rodon the ball Saturday night, have him sit there starting Sunday, and hope the Dodgers and Mets can beat each other for two more days.
They earned their place. No matter how confident they sounded before Games 3 and 4, the fact is that the Yankees faced their first crucible, their first stress test of the season. And I passed.
There will be more like this. Don't worry. That's the way. That's the route. October is a time of darkness and light, surviving the former and grasping the latter. They get hit in the jaw, hit by the deck, and try to regain their footing. It's like a guy like Mark Leiter Jr. — who wasn't even on the team at the beginning of the season, wasn't even on the roster when the playoffs started — comes down from the sky, throws a few pitches, and steps on the field. It's a story.
Yeah. If you want an easy-to-digest baseball game, move to Chicago and follow the White Sox. This will keep your blood pressure normal and your tears flowing. It's better to crawl to the edge of the abyss every few days and see if you can find footing, if you can find courage, if you can fight back. That's what champions do. That's what floats you in the Canyon of Heroes.
