The Yankees have been in first place in the division since April 27th. At the All-Star Break, the Bronx Bombers led by Aaron Judge (who is 2 HRs away from surpassing Roger Maris' 61-year old AL record of 61 HRs in a single season) led the AL East by 13 games.
But when the Yankees went on a 4-14 stretch at the beginning of August, Yankees fans were openly chanting, "Fire Boone!!!" in reference to much maligned manager Aaron Boone. To the surprise of many, the Yankees gave Boone a three year extension with an option for 2025 after the team was eliminated by the Boston Red Sox in the ALDS.
Despite the derision of the Yankees faithless, the team was never in any danger of relinquishing first place. Their smallest lead was 3.5 games on September 9th. Since then, the Yankees have gone 12-3 and have picked up five games on the Blue Jays and Tampa Bay Rays who will likely join them in the post-season as two of the three AL Wild Card berths along with the Seattle Mariners.
As with the Houston Astros, the Yankees earn a bye in the first round of the post-season. It remains to be seen if this kind of layoff will do top seeded teams more harm than good. But they have earned it just the same. Still, I Yankees fans will be satisfied with anything short of a World Series title.
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