The New York Yankees are going to the World Series for the first time since Obama’s first year in office.
Juan Soto hit a three-run home run on Saturday to bring the American League pennant back to the Bronx for the first time since 2009. The 25-year-old superstar outfielder worked seven pitches against Cleveland Guardians pitcher Hunter Gaddis, and with two strikes, he smashed a high fastball into deep center field. He watched it with an unsteady face as it left his bat, seeing just how far it was going to go.
And then it landed over the centerfield fence. The Yankees won 5-2 in Game 5 of the American League Championship series to clinch a 4-1 series victory.
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New York Yankees outfielder Juan Soto celebrates after hitting a three run home run during the tenth inning against the Cleveland Guardians during game five of the ALCS for the 2024 MLB playoffs at Progressive Field. (David Dermer-Imagn Images)
The crowd in Cleveland was three quarters stunned silent, and one quarter ruthless Yankees chants. Those traveling Yankees fans kept the Progressive Field crowd loud and rowdy long after the final out, as chants of “Let’s Go Yankees!” echoed across an otherwise silent city, into the distance of Ohio’s Lake Erie.
For Cleveland, it is another chapter in an infamous list of heartbreaking moments and a continued trend of October defeat to the evil empire.
Cleveland has now lost four postseason series to the Yankees dating back to 2017, Aaron Judge’s rookie season. That year, Cleveland was coming off its own American League pennant, a 102-win season and had the longest winning streak in American League history under its belt. But then with a 2-0 series lead in the ALDS, Cleveland let the wild card Yankees win three straight.
The team hasn’t been the same team since. The Yankees beat Cleveland again in the 2020 wild card series, the 2022 divisional series, and have now denied the city a World Series appearance. The franchise literally hasn’t been the same, branding wise, as it was forced to change its name in that time as well.
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Giancarlo Stanton #27 of the New York Yankees reacts after hitting a three-run home run in the sixth inning against the Cleveland Guardians during Game Four of the American League Championship Series at Progressive Field on October 18, 2024 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
But for the Yankees, Saturday’s win marks just another step in a high-stakes mission to claim their 28th championship.
Soto, the hero of the night, was traded for last offseason with just one year left on his contract. Soto has proven to transform the power of the Yankees lineup this year, batting alongside Judge and Giancarlo Stanton. But the Yankees and general manager Brian Cashman knew they had to win it this year to make the trade worth it.
There’s no guarantee Soto will be back.
He could command the richest contract in MLB history this upcoming offseason. He could have commanded that kind of contract even before hitting the signature home run on Saturday. Now, the price could be even higher. His agent is the infamous baseball super negotiator Scott Boras, who has a history of yielding oversized contracts for his star clients.
There will be a lot of seats at the table for Soto’s services in the winter, and the bidding war will be steep.
But before that, Soto and the Yankees have a World Series to play. They must now await the winner of the National League Championship series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the New York Mets.
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The New York Yankees celebrates after beating the Cleveland Guardians during game five of the ALCS for the 2024 MLB playoffs at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: Scott Galvin-Imagn Images (SScott Galvin-Imagn Images)
The Dodgers lead the series 3-2, and could punch their ticket to their 12th World Series against the Yankees in their storied shared history with one more win at home. The Mets would need to win two in a row on the road to face their hometown rival in the first Subway Series since 2000.
No matter who the Yankees play, the expectation will be the same. But they’ll hope that this time, they actually live up to the expectation of the Yankee brand for the first time in far too long.
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