The Yankees missed the postseason last year, but they popped open a bottle to celebrate their return.
The Yankees (89-63) defeated the Mariners 2-1 in a 10-game series on Wednesday night in Seattle to become the first American League team to qualify for the MLB playoffs in 2024. The Yankees appeared to have a lot of fun with champagne after the game, according to video and photos from the visiting clubhouse.
Jazz Chisholm Jr., the Yankees' mid-season acquisition, streamed the team's celebration on Instagram Live, with Juan Soto featured prominently at the booze-filled party.
At one point, postgame footage on Prime Video showed Chisholm being doused in Budweiser with protective goggles on his forehead and saying, “I can't see.”
Soto interrupted a Clubhouse interview with YES Network's Meredith Marakovits for a dance break.
Chisholm also engaged in some friendly banter with captain Aaron Judge, asking, “Why are you still here? You're the first guy I thought would be gone.”
“It's a big part of what we're doing,” relief pitcher Tommy Kahnle said during an appearance Wednesday. About “Foul Territory” It's up to Judge to decide whether to celebrate if the team clinches a playoff berth or wait until they have a shot at winning the American League East, where they currently sit five games behind the Orioles.
“If we were to do that tonight, of course we'd open the champagne,” Kahnle said.
He did more than that: At one point, he was in the middle of a circle of his Yankees teammates, getting showered with champagne, arms up in the air, bobbing his head and soaking up the moment.
“This is him in his natural habitat, I swear,” Chisholm said of Kahnle during the livestream.
Judge clearly felt that this was the right moment to celebrate, but at the same time he was well aware that there was still a lot of work to be done.
“The job's not done, for sure. We want to win the division, but it means a lot to us now that we have a chance to get into the postseason, something that we missed out on last year,” Judge said amid the champagne-soaked celebration. “We've got a special team here. The guys are definitely excited, but we know we have a mission ahead of us.”
The Yankees had little chance to celebrate Wednesday as Clay Holmes gave up a game-tying homer to Justin Turner in the eighth inning and Anthony Rizzo added another run of the game with a double in the 10th.
The Yankees' next step will be to win their second American League East title in three years, after the Orioles did so last year, and, of course, try to win their first World Series since 2009.
If they go through with it, the celebrations are expected to be much raucous than Wednesday's.
