It's been 15 years since the Yankees last opened champagne bottles and shared beers to celebrate advancing to the World Series.
But in Saturday's Game 5, Juan Soto hit a game-winning home run in the 10th inning, Luke Weaver had the last three outs of six, and the Yankees beat the Guardians in the Progressive Field clubhouse. A celebration began inside. 2.
It all comes down to Soto winning the ALCS trophy, the rest of the Yankees rallying around him, and, in Jazz Chisholm Jr.'s estimation, staying in free agency as an outfielder, no matter what. It started when he took charge of pitches from his teammates. , $700 million — players around him began spraying champagne and jumping up and down as he slowly lifted the trophy into the air.
“This is a great feeling,” Soto told YES Network midway through the celebration. “I mean, we've been doing this since day one. … Hey, we're going all the way.”
The ALCS trophy remained the center of everything.
Giancarlo Stanton subtly shook it up at the beginning of the interview by mentioning the Guardians' Josh Naylor in the 2022 ALDS, but it was passed down from player to player throughout the celebration.
Anthony Rizzo tried to throw an entire bottle of champagne at Gleyber Torres during his post-game interview.
Jasson Dominguez, who scored on Soto's home run from a pinch runner for Wells, stuffed two Budweiser bottles into his goggles, embarrassing Gerrit Cole, making the Yankees ace likely to start in Game 1 of the World Series. , joked: “The Martians just passed by.”
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The Yankees didn't necessarily have the Mets' playoff pumpkin or Jose Iglesias' anthem “OMG,” but Saturday night was their fourth champagne-filled celebration of the season. The first celebration was in Seattle, when they clinched the championship. The second time they qualified for the playoffs was inside Yankee Stadium after clinching the AL East championship, the other time was after winning the ALDS deciding game at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, and most recently. The clubhouse at the Guardians' stadium was flooded.
And if they win four, they have a chance to get one more in the World Series, starting Friday against either the Dodgers or the Mets.
