00:00To get to the ALCS, to play somebody outside the AL East,
00:04they got to beat the two AL East teams.
00:06They got to beat the Red Sox, and then the Blue Jays are waiting for them
00:09as the number one seed if they get through.
00:13The Yankees did just win series against both recently.
00:17I think 1-26, the Yankees are a better team than both of those teams.
00:22But this isn't on paper.
00:25On the field, those teams both beat the Yankees during the year.
00:28The Yankees, to your point, they're going back to 2017 in particular,
00:35but you really just want to â that's the Aaron Judge era,
00:39and beginning in 2018, the Aaron Boone era.
00:42They're really good at beating AL Central teams at this time of year,
00:45and then they don't beat bigger teams from the AL East and AL West
00:50as long as it's not the what town are they in this year A's.
00:56So they're going to have to prove that.
00:58They're going to have two players who get under â two people who get under their skin.
01:02This is going to be about the two Alexes.
01:04Yeah.
01:05Is they lost playoff series to Alex Bregman in 17, 19, and 22 Houston.
01:14They lost it to Alex Cora in 17 when he was the bench coach for Houston,
01:18and in 18, and was it 21 when they lost the wild card game?
01:24Also to Boston, so they lost in 18 and 21.
01:2818 was the boom box with Aaron Judge.
01:31The Yankees tied the series 1-1 in Fenway.
01:33He played New York, New York on the way out.
01:35They didn't win another game.
01:36So I think those stigmas are on the table.
01:39Can they beat a 2024 problem, which they couldn't deal with the Red Sox and the Blue Jays?
01:45Can they win a recent historical thing, which is can they beat somebody who could flex a little bit also
01:51and not just curl into a fetal position from the AL Central?
01:54And can Aaron Judge rise at this time of year?
01:58He had another historic season, and what is missing from his Hall of Fame resume,
02:06he's going to the Hall of Fame, what's missing from any attempt to get on Yankee Mount Rushmore
02:12is a big Octobers and rings.
02:16That's how the Yankees are defined.
02:18I can tell you about the big Octobers for Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Mickey Mantle, Joe DiMaggio,
02:27Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, you name them.
02:30I can't for Aaron Judge.
02:34He could hardly be going into an October better.
02:38He's on fire.
02:41He's probably done a lot in the last two weeks to seal the MVP
02:45or at least give himself a strong, strong case for the MVP, yet again, a third one.
02:51And it all is incomplete if he does not have some guys-get-on-my-back moments.
03:00It's funny.
03:01He needs a Giancarlo Stanton in October.
03:04He certainly does.
03:05And he couldn't be hotter going into the playoffs,
03:09but I know you've talked about it, Joel, and you said,
03:11Ryan, it doesn't matter.
03:11It's game one of the playoffs, and anything can happen.
03:15Anyone can get hot.
03:16It doesn't matter how hot you are going into the playoffs.
03:18You could be playing well, and it justâ
03:21Wild card teams make the World Series.
03:23Anyone can go on a run here.
03:24Well, you know how fickle this is, Ryan,
03:26because the reality is going into the last day of the season,
03:30the Yankees could have played two teams on Tuesday night.
03:33One was Detroit, and one was Boston.
03:35And again, 1-26 on paper.
03:38Remember, the Yankees are better than those teams.
03:42But those two teams have lefties who are going to finish 1-2 in the Cy Young this year.
03:47So you're going to face either Scooble or you are facing Crochet on Tuesday night.
03:53The YankeesâCrochet has started four games against the Yankees this year.
03:56Boston is 4-0 in those games.
03:58He's 3-0 in them.
03:59He's pitched very, very well.
04:01And so by about 9 p.m. tomorrow nightâI think first pitch is 6.
04:08By about 9 p.m. tomorrow night, the Yankees' season could be on life support
04:13because Garrett Crochet is great, and this version of Veraldis Chapman is great,
04:20and those guys might be the only people who touch the ball on Tuesday night.
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