Jane Heller

New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author

There’s No Place Like Home

Done! The Yankees secured the WC home field advantage last night in the opener at Fenway. Whew. I was worried about them having to fly out to Oakland, but now they’ll play the winner-take-all contest on Wednesday night at 8pm ET in the comfy confines of the Stadium with its even comfier short porch in right field.

What’s more, they hit enough homers last night – including Judge’s first after his too-long stint on the DL – to set a record for homers in a single season. Hoorah. Hitting them against the Red Sox last night only made the Janer – yes, they scored 11 runs – that much sweeter.

But now the nerves set in. Wednesday night will be a pressure cooker. Who will pitch? I vote for Happ to start. Severino is my second choice and Tanaka is third. I think Happ has been the most consistent of the three, last night’s grand slam to Pearce notwithstanding. I just hope the relievers will bring their A game.

I’m not happy that Sanchez and his tendency to allow passed balls will be catching, but I guess if he brings a hot bat it’ll be OK. Didi seemed to manage his wrist brace well enough last night, but between now and Wednesday everybody needs to stay healthy. Boone will rest the starting players and use subs this weekend, which will help. But personally, if somebody’s hot I think he should keep playing to maintain the momentum and not get rusty.

So, another season, another postseason. I just hope it lasts more than one game :)

Who Is Masquerading as Severino and Bring Back the Real Guy

OK, this has gotten scary. Severino had another meltdown last night in Oakland as the Yankees dropped the series finale. Clearly, he is not the same pitcher who won all those games and was considered our ace. Is he hurt? Is it late-season fatigue? Is it mechanical?

What’s scary is that it doesn’t matter what the reason is, because in a one-game Wild Card winner-take-all playoff game, he is NOT the guy to pitch. So the Yankees are left to figure out which starter would pitch. Right now, I’d consider Happ of all people our ace. Tanaka gives up too many home run balls and CC is inconsistent and only gives us a few innings and Lynn has been pretty awful overall.

The point is I would have thought Larry Rothschild and the Yankees brain trust would have figured out what’s ailing Severino by now, and they haven’t. Very, very disappointing.

P.S. Gary Sanchez is still a terrible catcher. No change there.

Party On!

Yes, it’s another old picture, but last night’s game ended too late for me to pop champagne. Suffice it to say I was celebrating in my mind. The Yankees are going to the ALDS!!!!

The game was such a bummer in the beginning. Severino was clearly overawed/nervous/too pumped, not to mention too inexperienced to start a one-game wild card playoff with everything on the line. He’s a kid. Too much pressure on him, as good as he’s been this season. He got knocked around in the first, couldn’t locate, couldn’t get outs – until he was out, and thank God. I kept yelling, “Pull him, Joe!”

And Joe listened. Chad Green was superb in early relief, truly. His strikeouts were huge, setting up a chance for the Yanks to come back in the bottom of the first (bless you, Didi; Gardner too). Of course, Judge had a homer as well in his first postseason game, because Judge has destiny on his side. Everyone in the Stadium crowd seemed to be wearing #99 on their backs. I loved that the pitch before the homer was up and in by Santana, and Judge glared at him – just as Gardner did – before taking him deep.

And then there was D-Rob. I hope his arm doesn’t fall off. He was a trooper, pitching so well for so long when he’s used to one or maybe two innings, no more. He got us through to the other relievers, who held the Twins scoreless the rest of the way. Sure, we burned the bullpen, which doesn’t bode well for the future, but that’s how it goes when you’re fighting for a spot in the ALDS.

I would love to have seen the Yankees do more scoring after the flurry early, just to give myself some breathing room and to let Joe use the mop-up guys in the pen, but I’m not complaining. I’ve been tough on Joe this season, but he made all the right moves last night.

Well, I am complaining, but it’s ESPN I’m mad at. Number one: why must the games start at 8pm and drag on forever thanks to their zillion commercials? And the commentary is mind-numbing; the trio in the booth never shut up.

But now it’s on to Cleveland and the start time on Thursday night is 7:30 on FS1. My Tribe fan friend tells me it’s supposed to pour that night. She also said she’s hoping for midges; it’s that time of year. The Yankees’ path to victory against the Indians won’t be easy (ugh- Cory Kluber), but we’ll see. We know how to deal with midges now, and it’s not bug spray.

Nervous Wreck

This is how I’ll look from now until the end of Tuesday’s game. As Girardi said, a one-game wild card is like Game 7 of the World Series – one loss and you’re out. Done. Season over.

On the other hand, I didn’t expect this Yankees team to even make the postseason, so Tuesday is gravy and I’m excited as well as nervous. We can beat the Twins. Of course we can. We can hit. We can pitch (with a few exceptions). We can field (again, with a few exceptions). And we’ve got the home field advantage.

My dream scenario? Severino pitches a no-hitter or at least a shutout. Gary Sanchez has zero passed balls. Judge hits three homers with Bird, Sanchez, Castro and Didi adding bombs of their own. We make no errors, no mental mistakes. The crowd is loud and into it. Oh, and the Twins have an off night – all of which will lead to a blowout for us, AKA a Janer. I can’t take the thought of a close game with nail biting throughout.

I wish – and I know I say this every year – the games didn’t start at 8pm. Between all the commercials on ESPN and the pageantry of a postseason game, it’ll take forever and I’ll have to prop my eyes open with toothpicks. But bottom line? It’s great to be in it, late ESPN game or not, and I’m grateful. Thank you, Yankees, for extending our season. All rise.

Sweeping the Jays – Wowowow

I think I’ll let Tyler Kepner of The New York Times have the floor on the state of the Yankees (and the Mets). What’s going on following last night’s sweep of Toronto in the Bronx and Mitchell’s terrific pitching is downright exciting. Only a couple of games to win and the Yanks would right there for the Wild Card and what fun would that be?

Mets and Yankees Are Suddenly a Hot Story

On Baseball

By TYLER KEPNER

First the Mets finished a sweep of the Reds on Wednesday afternoon in Cincinnati. Then the Yankees finished a sweep of the Toronto Blue Jays at night in the Bronx. Two New York baseball seasons, revived just like that.

The story lines are compelling. The Mets were battered and broken, over and over, by serious injuries to significant players. The Yankees were presumed dead by their own hand after trading several stars.

Yet here they are: The Mets are in a virtual tie with St. Louis for the second National League wild-card spot, and the Yankees trail Baltimore by just two and a half games. You can see it now, a plausible scenario coming into focus out in the distance. It might not be fair, but it is modern baseball — and it is really benefiting the New York teams.

The Mets could keep bashing homers and scrap their way into the wild-card game. With their soft schedule, they very well could host it, and win behind Noah Syndergaard, their one remaining power arm from last fall’s World Series.

That would set up a division series date with the Chicago Cubs, the team they eliminated in the championship series last October. Imagine the jangling nerves around Wrigleyville if Bartolo Colon weaves his magic and wins Game 1.

The Yankees, with their young sensations and revived veterans, could elbow past the field to earn a spot in the American League wild-card game. They almost never lose with Masahiro Tanaka pitching (they are 13-2 in his starts since mid-June), so they could use him and barge into a division series with the Texas Rangers.

Now, the Cubs and the Rangers have spent all season proving they deserve a shot at the World Series. The Cubs were 40 games over .500 before Wednesday’s games, and the Rangers (83-56) were the first A.L. team to clinch a winning record.

Good for them. But this will be the fifth postseason to include a second wild card, an entrant riding a wave of momentum into the postseason party. Everybody starts over then, and whoever wins the wild card is bound to be hot. The Yankees, now 73-65, fit the profile.

“We kind of have nothing to lose,” Mark Teixeira said Wednesday, after a 2-0 victory that lifted the Yankees to a season-best eight games over .500. “We’re just having a good time. It’s been really fun watching these young guys contribute, whether it’s offensively or the pitching staff. It seems like every single day a guy that hasn’t been with us most of the year is coming up and doing a great job for us.”

The Yankees had used eight pitchers in Tuesday’s wild win, and on Wednesday they found three others to stymie Toronto’s big bats: Bryan Mitchell, Luis Severino and Tyler Clippard. Three pitchers earned saves in the series; that had not happened for the Yankees in 19 years.

The Yankees, who were 52-52 at the Aug. 1 nonwaiver deadline, have turned a stale season into one of discovery. Every night, it seems, they find new answers within their roster. They added just enough veteran relievers at the deadline — Clippard and Adam Warren — to give themselves a chance despite the trades.

“We’ve been playoff baseball really since about Aug. 1, because we knew the importance of those games,” Manager Joe Girardi said. “I think we were .500 after the first four months, and we knew that that wasn’t going to cut it.”

The Yankees would be a menace in the playoffs, the kind of team nobody wants to play. Their late surge could threaten to undo the season-long excellence of the Rangers — the team that gladly poached their All-Star outfielder, Carlos Beltran, in an Aug. 1 trade.

But that is the modern playoff format, designed to make the sport more exciting down the stretch. More interest in more markets means better business for baseball, even if real greatness can be trumped by the fifth team in the field.

Lifelong baseball fans do not need five playoff teams in each league to love the game. But there are not enough purists out there to expand an industry worth more than $9 billion, so here we are. The Mets and the Yankees still have a chance.

Do you remember that the Washington Nationals were the best N.L. team in 2012 and 2014? Maybe not, because they lost both times to the second wild-card team — the Cardinals in 2012, the San Francisco Giants two years later. Last fall the Cardinals felt the same kind of sting: They won 100 games in the regular season, but went nowhere because the second wild-card team — the Cubs — knocked them out.

The second wild card can seem like a participation trophy, but remember that Major League Baseball’s playoff field is still smaller than those of the N.F.L., N.B.A. or N.H.L. The 2014 Giants used it as their entry ticket en route to a World Series victory. They all count the same.

For the Mets, a playoff spot would be a reward for perseverance after season-ending injuries to David Wright, Matt Harvey, Lucas Duda and Neil Walker. Starters Jacob deGrom and Steven Matz are down, too, and it is hard to count on them coming back. Even Syndergaard is pitching with a bone spur in his right elbow.

Yet the Mets have gone 14-4 since Aug. 20, the weekend Yoenis Cespedes and Asdrubal Cabrera returned from the disabled list. After sweeping the woeful Reds, they play 19 of their last 22 games against teams with losing records.

“There’s nothing like coming to the ballpark in September when it means something,” Manager Terry Collins told reporters in Cincinnati Wednesday. “The energy is better. The aches and pains don’t seem to hurt as bad. We’re fortunate to be where we are.”

Let the Cubs and the Rangers fret about what might happen in October. For the New York teams, September is a blast — much more fun than they had could have ever expected, thanks partly to the forgiving playoff system that keeps them alive.

They are lucky indeed that the rest of the field is peeling away, just as the Yankees are lucky that trading great players sparked a turnaround.

Snuffed Out

candle snuffed out

It went as we feared it would. The Yankees were barely there. They were done against Boston. Done against Baltimore. And, last night, done against Houston. It was, as I think A-Rod expressed it, as if they’d hit a wall. And so the 2015 season is over for them. Yes, it was great to make the playoffs, even if it was a one-game Wild Card contest. But let’s be honest. We were all hoping for more.

It wasn’t that hard to watch the game, oddly enough. The Astros played with the youthful vigor, athleticism and fearlessness that characterized the Royals last year and once again our Yankees looked old and un-athletic. They started the season surprisingly strong but petered out, which is what an old team does. It was nice to have the infusion of Bird, Severino, Refsnyder, etc., but this wasn’t a particularly versatile team. Girardi didn’t have them try to bunt their way on base, just to get something going that might lead to a run. Neither did Torre when he managed in the more recent playoffs. And their answer was: “You have to go with the strengths of the guys you have.” Well, then why doesn’t Cashman ever get guys who can do more than stand there and swing the bat?

I figured Gardner for that guy, but he was a disaster, not only last night but for a while. And yet Girardi started him over Ellsbury. I’m still scratching my head over that one, but I guess the binder knows all. Tanaka did well enough – not perfect, but two runs is nothing to freak out about if your team scores runs.

Would having Teixeira in the lineup have changed things? Who knows, but I doubt it. My sense is that he would have petered out along with the others by now.

I’m sad because for me the baseball season ended last night. I have no interest in watching the Blue Jays do their thing, although I’ll check in on the Dodgers, my California team, and hope they can solve the Cardinals this year.

I do wish Hal would sell the team, that Cashman would follow Billy Eppler to the Angels or some other team in a faraway land and that the Yankees could get the fresh start they need. Plugging holes with new faces here and there isn’t the answer. Either the Yankees need lots of big sluggers or an overhaul of youthful speedsters. What they don’t need are old warhorses.

An Embarrassing Way to Gain Home-Field Advantage

head shame

The Yankees blew the weekend series in Baltimore – just sucked, let’s face it – and yet, thanks to the loss by the Astros, managed to win the opportunity to open the playoffs at the Stadium on Tuesday night. They were awful from top to bottom, and I have no idea how they’ll be able to get it together enough to beat the Astros, whose starting pitcher has virtually shut the Yanks down all season long. Tanaka will have to be perfect and the offense will have to emerge from its collective slumber. Stranger things have happened and as John Sterling says, “You can’t predict baseball,” but I’m not wildly optimistic. Hopeful, but not counting on it.

We’ll all need our lucky charms on Tuesday. I’ll be having lucky turkey burgers for dinner and wearing my lucky Mo T-shirt. Other than that, I’ll be pacing and pretending I’m not as nervous as I really am and watching between the fingers over my eyes……unless, of course, the Yankees jump out to an early lead – like a 10-0 type of lead – and I can relax.

If only that would happen. Sigh. Let’s go Yankees.

Our New Ace?

Photo: Corey Sipkin/NY Daily News
Photo: Corey Sipkin/NY Daily News

With Tanaka still recovering from his injury (will he be healthy enough to start the Wild Card game on October 6th?), is it possible that rookie Luis Severino will get the nod in the do-or-die one-game playoff? Evo’s gone. CC’s been better lately but inconsistent. Ditto: Warren and Nova. Severino, with just a couple of exceptions, has been a revelation and appears to be able to handle the stress of a pennant race. I guess it’ll all depend on how each pitcher matches up to the competition and how many days rest they’ve had. Right now, it’s voodoo math to me and I’m glad I’m not the one to have to figure it all out.

The one thing I do know is that with today’s win over the White Sox (they scored some runs – yay), the Yankees are counting down to October 6th. I’ve marked the date on my calendar, that’s for sure. I would have loved to win the division and avoid what promises to be a heart attack-worthy night of baseball, but they couldn’t overtake the Blue Jays. So here we are.

I’m still worried about the offense. It’s been pretty anemic. And against any team’s best pitcher, it’ll be tough to crank it up a notch. But again, here we are. These are our guys, and we just have to hope they’ll rise to the occasion on the 6th and play the game of their lives.

 

Coming Back to Earth

Photo: Mike Agliolo/Corbis
Photo: Mike Agliolo/Corbis

That’s how today’s loss, combined with yesterday’s, to the Indians feels like: an astroid hitting the earth. I had such high hopes for the Yankees’ season after the series against the Tigers, and Friday night’s 10 runs against Cleveland gave me more hope. But – ugh – we seem to be in the dreaded dead zone again, offense wise, and the collective hitting slump couldn’t come at a more inopportune time. In other words, if the Yanks have a prayer of making the playoffs even as a lowly Second Wild Card team (as Audrey rightfully pointed out in the last post’s comments section, KC is the team with steam for that spot), they need to beat up on the Orioles over the next few days. And how are they going to do that if they can’t drive in runs? Never mind that there are still question marks about the starters – i.e. who’s starting on Wednesday, Pineda or Rogers?

But I digress. The pitching has been great for the most part, so let’s assume it stays great, as flukey as this may be, given the cast of characters. Where will the hits/runs come from if everybody’s gone cold? Great that Tex is back in the lineup, pinky and all. And how lovely that Ellsbury hit a solo shot in today’s game. They’ve got to stop stranding men on base. Just. Stop. Doing. That. It would be nice if they hit more homers too, of course.

Whatever happens happens, I guess. Baltimore’s surging and we keep lapsing back. But it’s getting late early, as Yogi would say. Time to turn it on or go home.

 

 

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About Jane Heller

Jane Heller is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author. Her fourteen breezy, witty novels of romantic comedy and suspense are now entertaining millions of readers around the world, along with her two books of nonfiction.