Two relatives of mine (both rabid Yankee fans, btw) were upset that the Yanks "backed in" to the playoffs. I could not disagree more. With the number of games in the regular season, losing a game on the day you clinch is insignificant.
What do others think?
"28" IN TWENTY-TEN!!!
i think it is a ridiculous question.. losing on the day you clinch has nothing to do with backing into the playoffs.. unless that day comes on the last day of the season..
Kyle
The next Yankees win takes care of all that BS talk.
Who cares, they're in. Ask them if the Yanks backed in, in 2000.
Dumb & Dumber
NO. Look at the Yankees record the past month and then ask yourself that question.
A team backing into the playoffs would be the Detroit Tigers.
Tell them fine. Then when the Yankees win their next game, say we walked in facing front. Because that's what would have happened.
"You's a big fine woman, why don't you back that thing up"
"Strickland Propene does not have a vending machine. It smells, and I thank God every day I get home that I didn't get exploded. The end."
Who cares? You either get in or you don't. Simple as that.
I think it's silly.
It might have been Al Leiter who was explaining this last night, and I agreed:
A situation like the Yankees' this year is all good. They took a double-digit lead on their archrivals -- in part by SWEEPING them in a FIVE-game series at Fenway -- and clinched the division with about 10 games left on the schedule to rest. So they happened to lose with a Columbus-heavy lineup on the night they clinched. So what? That's just a sign that they were coasting. If the race had been closer, they probably would have won three of four in that double-doubleheader last weekend.
Now, as Leiter said, if they had a five-game lead with four games remaining, and they lost all four but still clinched, that would hurt a little, mainly in terms of losing momentum and creating unnecessary stress heading into the playoffs.
Nothing like that happened here.
It's a brave new world.
I don't care how we got in but the excessive celebrations in Baseball always irks me. Whatever happened to acting like we have been there before?
Bring back Ted Lilly!
For a whole bunch of them this year, they haven't...Originally Posted by Donnybaseball72
Well then Jeter, Bernie, Jorge & Mo need to tell these guys to cool because we haven't won anything yet and there is a lot of work to be done.
Bring back Ted Lilly!
Wild Card teams back in.
A division team clinching basically a couple of weeks before the season ends... decisively wins.
September 20, 2006 - NY Yankees AL East champions
There is nothing wrong with celebrating on the night that they clinched the division. I doubt that it has gotten so mundane for Jeter/Bernie/Jorge/Mo that they would skip the locker room celebration.
By definition, I would say yes we did, but who cares? We won the division by earning an 11 game lead with 10 to play and by playing .600 ball for 152 games; noone gave that to us.
It funny how an 11 game lead is backing in, I thought backing in is what the SUX will be doing at the country club in a week.
BINGO
Kyle
Sure the loss stinks when you have a chance to clinch but does anyone want to give it back? We earned that celebration, that's for certain.
"Backing in" based on one game is ridiculous. I would say the 2000 Yankees "backed in" by going 3-15 to end 2000 because of a sustained slump.
We even had the series with Toronto won when we clinched.
GO YANKS
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 8 9 10 15 16 20 21 23 32 37 42 44 49 51
"We play today, we win today. 'Dassit!'
In memory of George Steinbrenner & Bob Sheppard. Rest In Peace.
It's not "backing in" unless it happens on the last day of the season.
Pretty sure the Yanks will win a regular season game before the end.
-Lou ~ 27 (on to 28 in 2010)
Cacciatore/Fungaiolo/Juventus FC/Go Habs/Azzurri/Giro d'Italia
Totus Tuus
Not at all.
Alex Rodriguez
Career OPS: .965
Postseason OPS: .977
Exactly. We played our way in.
You dont back it when you whipe out the competition during the season...
Palmer killed Billy Mays
They went in banging down the front door. After the Boston massacre and our play after that, we earned enough credit to clinch even on a day we lost.
This will be forgotten very shortly. Nobody remembers if you won or lost on the day you clinch a pennant.
Maradona good.
Pele better.
George Best.
They won six game in a row just last week against the Orioles and Devil Rays. That's what good teams do, beat up on the weak. They did what they had to do. That's not backing in. Oh, and they beat Toronto 2 out of 3 on the road. Nothing wrong with that.
11 game lead, how did we back in.
come on
Certainly not. The Yanks have been dominant & wiped everyone out early. Since the 19-1 drubbing at the hands of Cleveland, NY has lead in winning %, runs, & team batting average. They kicked the door in & backed themselves into some nice cozy chairs because after their stellar perfomance this year, they deserve some R & R.
Is it really backing in to get beaten by Toronto the day we send Sean Henn to the mound vs. Roy Halladay and we put the AAA lineup on the field? The fact that we kept it close and it was a one run game is a testament to how hard this team has fought. Toronto is a good team, and I don't feel any shame in losing to them. Especially not since we took 2/3 from them on the road.
Now, to get beat 19-1 by Kansas City the night you clinch or to go 3-15 like we did in 2000? Sure. But we do have an 11 game lead in the division, we're only the second team to clinch the division title. I'm not really worried about backing in, or I won't be unless we lose 75% of the remaining games.
"What you fail to understand in your joyless myopia is that baseball is the key to life -- the Rosetta Stone, if you will." -The X-Files
they won the division by a landslide... doesn't sound like "backing in" to me.
anyone listening to Steven A right now? what a fake ass Yankee fan he is... when the Mets clinched, all he could do is hum & haw about how Met fans deserved to be happy & celebrate them winning the NL east, & how proud he was of Omar Minaya & Willie for the jobs they did this season.
today all he can say is that Yankee fans shouldn't act like they won anything cuz there's teams like the Mets, Twins & A's standing in the Yankees' way... excuse me Steven A? why don't u just put on ur Mets cap & stop telling people u'r a Yankee fan... i'd have alot more respect for u if u did that & chose where ur loyalties lied instead of hedging back & forth from team to team all the freakin time.
BANDWAGONER in every sense of the word... stick to hoops, Steven A... please!
Still in a game where only 4 teams from each league qualify for the playoffs opposite to 8 teams in the NHL and NBA for example, winning a division is the only way to guarantee yourself a playoff berth and after playing 162 games that is something that should be celebrated.
"I am the law, bitch"
Torre getting all choked up last night was a bit much.
'Back in' because of a loss to the Blue Jays? No way. The two games before this one were wins. I hoped for a win last night after Halladay left, but come on... we had a rookie on the mound and the goal was to give guys like Posada, Jeter, Giambi, and Damon a rest. There's no point in aggravating their injuries at this time.
The Yankees are 6-4 in the L10 column. If it was 2-8, then maybe I could see "backing in." I think the team is doing just fine.
Studying for the USMLE Step 2 Exam, but still cheering hard for the Yankees.
The reason Kei Igawa looked so good in Japan: http://www.addictinggames.com/shockw...mbaseball.html
He invests a lot into this team, in terms of personal relationships. That's why the players love playing for him. To each their own.
GO YANKS
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 8 9 10 15 16 20 21 23 32 37 42 44 49 51
"We play today, we win today. 'Dassit!'
In memory of George Steinbrenner & Bob Sheppard. Rest In Peace.
Wow... that's a crazy statement. How can you possibly "back in" when you clinch 10 days before the season ends? If anyone is in a position to back in, it's Detroit... huge lead in the summer, now hanging on for dear life.
Ah, dammit! I want pancakes! God, do you people understand every language except English? Yo quiero pancakes. Donnez moi pancakes. Click click, bloody click pancakes!
-- Stewie Griffin
With an 11-game lead, I'd call it backing in with a bulldozer.
Waiting for Sterling to retire so I can start listening to games on the radio again...
The celebration and the accomplishment's still the same. It's really hard for me to view a lead as big as the Yankees had in the division as "backing it in."
As for this, I want to see the Yankees act like they've never been there before each and every time. I want the players to celebrate, let loose and show their excitement. I don't want winning to ever become old or boring. And it's not just a celebration for the players, it's a show/celebration for the fans too. Not to mention as I think others have already pointed out, there's players on the team who haven't been there before - don't they deserve the right to celebrate?
http://www.aplaceformyphotos.com/blog/
I do not post on NoMaas. That silverdsl is not this silverdsl.
many on this current team HAVEN'T been there before... why would u want to begrudge the young guys & some of the vets who've been waiting so long to play on a divisional winner their justly earned right to show more emotion than some of the guys who've been there & done that?
Backed in? heh, funny stuff. What were they supposed to do? Refuse to acknowledge that they had clinched the division until their next win? People that say things like that are just bitter and small. And most likely Red Sox or Mets fans.
This is exactly the kind of attitude that leads to losing and what has made some Yankee teams in the past less than exciting. It is both appropriate and beneficial to celebrate when an accomplishment is realized. And a correction. They HAVE won something - they've won the American League East Division Championship, fer crissake. No small feat, especially given the challenges of this season. To think that celebrating will hurt their chances down the road or that celebrating THIS accomplishment NOW means that they are taking less than seriously the road ahead is just plain ridiculous. What, if they lose in the first round it will be because they celebrated too much after winning the division and that made them lose their edge? Please. If that makes them lose their edge, they weren't going to go very far anyway.
Sorry, but I just get sick of hearing that "we have done anything yet" crap unless they win the World Series. Let these guys have THEIR fun, particularly the young guys who have never been this far as yet. Me? I'm hoping that Jetes and Bernie, Jorge, and Mo are telling these guys to enjoy this ride, celebrate this championship as they should be proud of themselves, and then start preparing for the next step. Anything else is just being a self-absorbed, pseudo-serious ogre.
Exactly. You're only young once - live it up, guys! There are 20 other teams that won't have the chance to enjoy themselves - let THEM be all serious on the way to the golf course.
Waiting for Sterling to retire so I can start listening to games on the radio again...
Saying that it is a bit much is a bit much.
There's no such thing as backing in. It's probably more fun and satisfying to clinch on a day that you've won though.
.......so many baseball myths out there.....
Let the kids play.
Backing into the playoffs with an 11 game lead???
what a ridiculous thought.
I heard this today...Did Coltrane actually exist? This is like being blind for 50 years, regaining sight, and then peering directly at the sun.
Not even worth dignifying with an answer
The Yankees are now 206-1 when Mariano has been asked to protect a four-run lead.
There is no such thing as "backing in" to a Division Championship. It is a title that is earned over the course of a season, not by virtue of whether you win or lose one game on clinch night.
It means you won the regular season, not any one particular game.
And it definitely is something to celebrate.
As much as you want to.
Every time you win it.
No one faults you for winning a hand on the river in hold em...no different than making the playoffs b/c your competitor lost.
MyRoom http://tinyurl.com/y89l8up
My
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My Jeter Kicks http://tinyurl.com/yee5tzl
No no no.. It's more like the season ended when the Red Sox backed into the Boston Massacre...
Casey Stengel (on his playing days)
"I was such a dangerous hitter, I even got intentional walks in batting practice."
I think the celebration was great. One of my biggest qualms with the Yankees is that they never give themselves enough credit. The mentality that if you don't win a WS you had a bad season is awful.
I understand your point, and basically agree.
But there is a very important difference.
We didn't make the playoffs because our competitor lost, we made the playoffs because we played better baseball -- to the tune of an 11 game lead -- over the course of the regular season.
When we made the playoffs was affected by who won and lost last night.
Why we made the playoffs has absolutely nothing to do with who won and lost last night.
Slaughter Is The Best Medicine
-=2009=WORLD=CHAMPIONS=-
FIRE JETER
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