About Yesterday: Yankees 6, Pirates 4

By Mike Whiteman September 30, 2024 On this day in 1927, Babe Ruth became the first player to his 60 home runs in a season.

How dominant was the Babe's season? He alone outhomered every other team in the American League. On this day in 1934, Babe Ruth played his last game for the Yankees. His numbers for the season (.288/.448/.537, 160 OPS+) would look awfully good in today's lineup, but by that point in his career he was a slow, banged up 39 year-old player who was frequently pulled late from games. The Yanks were ready to move on. For the record, Ruth was hitless with a walk in his last Yankee action. https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/WS1/WS1193409300.shtml

In 1935, Ruth made the ill-fated move to the Boston Braves to become an "assistant manager, second vice president, and star player". He was well known to have a desire to manage a big league club, and he hoped this position would set him up. Sadly for the Babe, he never was able to reach that goal, and the most iconic player in the history of the sport ended his playing career with a whimper, batting .181 in part-time work. Quick Stats: The Yankees are 94-68, American League East Champions. Big Story: With absolutely nothing of consequence to play for on a rainy day, I suspect the goal for yesterday's game was to get it over with, and in light of Anthony Rizzo's injury, get it over without anyone getting hurt. In that spirit, the Yankees originally posted a lineup with Aaron Judge in centerfield, then a second one without him - seemingly to not risk an injury to the presumptive American League MVP. Even with the team having clinched all that could be clinched (division title, home advantage through the playoffs), there were still some things that could be accomplished - specifically at bats or innings for those on the playoff roster bubble. In just his third start in a month, Trent Grisham homered and drove in three runs for the Yanks. With the game tied in the bottom of the eighth, Alex Verdugo singled in two runs in the bottom of the eighth to break a 4-4 tie. Clay Holmes tossed a nice, clean ninth inning for his 30th save of the year. Yankees win, 6-4. Notable Performances: The Yankee bullpen held Pittsburgh scoreless when starter Clarke Schmidt left the game after four innings....Holmes has a 2.25 ERA since losing his closer role earlier in the month....Leiter has thrown four scoreless outings in a row as he hopes to earn a spot on the ALDS roster. Better to Forget: Ben Rice was hitless with two strikeouts in three at bats. While I suspect one game won't determine if he is on or off the playoff roster, he certainly didn't help himself. They Said It: "These guys should be proud that they’ve answered every challenge this year. It hasn’t always been easy, but proud of the fact that we’ve put ourselves in this position to take our shot." - Aaron Boone on his team My Take: The Yankees are the AL East champions! This is a bit of a big deal, as they came back from the disappointment of 2023 to reach their first goal of the season. How enjoyable has it been watching another epic season from Aaron Judge - maybe even better than his record-breaking 2022 - and the historical 1-2 punch of Judge and Juan Soto? For the second time in his career, Judge had a 10+ WAR season. Per baseball-reference.com, there have been 60 seasons of 10+ WAR for position players in almost 150 years of recorded data. Of those seasons, 48 were completed by those who are Hall-of-Famers, and three more by Mike Trout and Mookie Betts, who look to be on their way to enshrinement. Here's the list of position players with multiple 10+ WAR seasons: Babe Ruth, Barry Bonds, Honus Wagner, Tris Speaker, Lou Gehrig, Rogers Hornsby, Willie Mays, Mike Trout, Ty Cobb, Mickey Mantle, Carl Yastrzemski, Cal Ripken, Ted Williams. So, Aaron Judge joined a group of true greats this season, and looks to be on his way to Cooperstown. How gratifying is this after the uncertainly of his health and slow start in the early going of 2024. The offseason addition of Soto was clearly a game changer for this team, and worth every bit of the price paid in the huge trade made with the Padres. Soto added not only his generational bat - .288/.419/.569 with 41 home runs and 109 RBI - but also swagger and confidence that was lacking. He sure looked like he enjoyed playing for the Yankees, and hopefully after the season is over he signs a contract that keeps him in Pinstripes for a long, long time. There are plenty of impressive numbers that illustrate the Yanks' successful regular season. Here's an interesting stat that's not discussed much: they had five hitters with 600 or more plate appearances. Last year, they had two, in 2022, one. When the everyday players a team builds around stay healthy, that team tends to win. From my outsider's view, it also seemed like the Aaron Boone went away from the much maligned "load management" strategy, and put his best players out there more often - Judge, Soto, Anthony Volpe, and Gleyber Torres all started over 150 games. Judge in fact started 158 games, the most of his career. Who would have predicted that in March? While the headliners for this team has been the Judge and Soto show, that wasn't the only act. Rookies Austin Wells and Luis Gill will finish in the top-five of Rookie of the Year voting. Carlos Rodon bounced back from his disastrous 2023 season to be a reliable piece of the rotation. Gerrit Cole missed a big chunk of the early season with injury, but has rounded into vintage form just in time. Luke Weaver emerged as a trusted reliever. At the trade deadline, the Yanks picked up Jazz Chisholm, who immediately plugged the hole at third base and looks like he can become a long term asset. A team that looked old and listless in 2023 showed life in 2024, and made for an enjoyable and successful regular season. While the regular season achievements are nice, the Yankees don't fly flags for them. It's time for some postseason success. Perhaps more than any time in the Boone era, the baseball promised land is "right in front of us". Go get it. Next Up: Playoffs! On Saturday, October 5th the Yankees host either Baltimore or Kansas City in Game One of the American League Division Series. Gerrit Cole (8-5, 3.41) will almost certainly take the mound for the Yanks.