| Jeter, Cano and company have been here plenty of times before. (US Presswire) |
By virtue of Sunday afternoon's comeback victory and the Rangers' beating the Angels Sunday night, the Yankees" data-canon="New York Mets" data-type="SPORTS_OBJECT_TEAM" id="shortcode0"> have clinched a playoff berth.
Have you stayed with us before? The Yankees rarely miss October these days. Since the inception of the wild card, the Yankees have now made the playoffs 17 out of 18 seasons. The most storied franchise in baseball history has 27 World Series titles, 40 American League pennants, 17 AL East titles and four wild-card berths.
How did you enjoy your last visit? Nope. It's pretty simple with the Yankees. If they don't win the World Series, it's considered a failed season in the Bronx. Last year, they lost in the ALDS to the Tigers, three games to two.
Frequent flyers? Um, yes, the Yankees have just a few players with a little playoff experience (please note dripping sarcasm).
What's on your itinerary? It's still up in the air. The Yankees could be anything from the top seed in the American League to a road team in the one-game wild-card playoff. The good news for the Yankees is their three remaining games come against the hapless Red Sox.
How long will you be staying with us? The Yankees have a pretty good formula for October success. They have three real strong starting pitchers in CC Sabathia, Hiroki Kuroda and Andy Pettitte, which includes an ace (CC, obviously). They have a very strong back-end of the bullpen in closer Rafael Soriano and setup man David Robertson. They have the most powerful offense in baseball, with five players having at least 20 homers and 10 with at least 14. There's also the experience, swagger and aura. On the other hand, the Yankees are also older than most teams and have dealt with injuries and inconsistency throughout the second half. Getting bounced early wouldn't be a shock, but it's a better bet to believe the Yankees go deep and hanging banner number 28 is a distinct possibility.
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