"That time."

"They had Gerrit Cole, on whom they had lavished a $324 million contract, the richest in history, to start the game. They had their closer, Aroldis Chapman, on whom they have lavished the richest closer contract in history, on the mound in a tie game in the bottom of the 8th."

Both of whom lived up to their contracts. 

Regular season, postseason, and Game Five. 

Is this even a point of contention? 

  

"And they lost to a team from Tampa that, compared to them, at least payroll-wise, is a Mom and Pop operation."

Tampa is smart and tough.

They put a premium on defense.

They played with an edge and took it to the Yankees.

They are better than the Yankees.

Brousseau got his revenge in the regular season and again in the postseason.

The Yankees lost the division by 7 games in a 60-game season, for crying out loud.

As for the payroll discrepancy, it's not too difficult to field a great team on the cheap. The players just have to be young. Pre-free agency.

While I realize we're grading on a curve, it may be a good time to remind Lupica that the Rays have as many Championship rings as I do.

Besides ... the Yankees lost the whole series by what ... one run?

The Yankees went 4-3 in the postseason.

They clobbered Bieber and Snell in the postseason, demonstrating they can hit good pitching.

Happ got shelled, Tanaka got shelled (with a bit of bad luck), and whether it's inability to perform under pressure or a general inability to close out a series ... it's a small sample size, don't you think? ... the offense was shut down in Game Five.

It's fair to judge this team poorly ... it's fair to ridicule Stanton for keeping the bat on his shoulder in the ninth inning ... it's a thin line between winning and losing, that's for sure. Between being a hero and a goat.

"They have the rest of another $300 million contract, the one belonging to Giancarlo Stanton, on the books nearly to the end of this decade."

Right.

The guy who hit six (forgotten) home runs in five playoff games. 

"And not only do they lose an elimination game this October the way they did last October — Chapman giving up a season-ending home run to Jose Altuve that time — they do it one round earlier. "

I love this.

Lupica spends a whole year ripping the "Trash Can Asterisks" every chance he gets ... then glides on by Altuve's (supposedly bogus) home run.

I don't love Chapman, but give me a break.

It simply isn't his fault. Not last year and not this year.

 

"They back up. They lose another big October series for the same reason they lost the last two games of the American League Championship Series to the Astros three years ago, when there was that baseball rising in the Bronx and they seemed to have become the Yankees again:

When they stopped hitting home runs, they lost."

The last part is true. That's the game in 2020. It's aggravating and downright boring.

The first few playoff games had some encouraging signs ... sac flies?!?!?!

But the same can be said for the Rays. When they stopped hitting home runs, they lost. The same can also be said of the A's and the Astros.

I wish I foresaw a different future for the Yankees and MLB, but every team is like this.

Every postseason home run record is falling. 

I feel the itch, I wish the genie would go back in the bottle. I have visions in my head of Willie Randolph and Roy White and Lou Piniella. Let's get more players like that! Except there aren't any. They already have a couple of the few remaining ... Urshela and LeMahieu ... neither of whom did themselves proud in the 2020 playoffs.

The trick is to keep hitting home runs.

As for Boone and the Judge-era Yankees, maybe it will be all the sweeter when they finally close the deal.