The New York Yankees had a rough September, posting a 14-16 record for the month, and finalized it by losing the AL East to the Tampa Bay Rays.
Regardless, getting closer to the goal of repeating entails making the postseason and that first step has been accomplished.
Coming in as the wild card team has not fared well for the Yankees in the past, never getting past the Division Series. Maybe starting the postseason in the Bronx is more important than their regular season away-game record reads. In any case that historical stat is not relevant enough to be a reason that the Bombers are doomed.
For now, the Yankees are heading to Minnesota to face the Twins in the ALDS. The Twins won the AL Central back on September 21, which earns the Twins the rights to play host for the first two games this Wednesday and Thursday night.
The ALDS is a best of five game series, whose shorter length is a continuing debate amongst baseball professionals and fans over extending it to seven games to match the Championship Series and World Series.
Some consider that winning three of five games can be unfair because it does not give a team enough of a fair shot to win. The main problem is no one wants to extend the season any longer because last year it went into November and that leaves little or no off-season already.
The Yankees need to win, at minimum one of the first two games in Minnesota. Coming back to New York either tied or two games up on the Twins will be crucial.
The Yankees and the Twins both went 3-7 in their last 10 regular season games, not the best way to head into the postseason.
The Twins finished the season with a 53-27 record at home, but when playing against AL East teams they are 15-20. Not really surprising considering the Twins have characteristically been frightened of the Yankees and Red Sox for years. Another problem with the Twins stems when the opponent is a National League team, going 8-10 during inter-league play proves
The Yankees road record is not one of a homesick ball-club sitting at 43-37 on the year. Against AL Central teams, the Yankees have a 23-13 record. That shows me the team can win because knowing how to beat another team is so important, especially in this short series.
Over the next few days the comparing and predictions for the outcome of this series will be plentiful. This series, in particular could go either way since both teams seasons concluded on a low.
The foretelling sign will be the conclusion of the first game on Wednesday night, as one of the two will set themselves apart and that is depending on which Yankees show-up on the field.
It's the Yankees series to lose, let's hope it goes better than the AL East division's outcome.
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