Oh, What Might Have Been?
With their win this evening, the Yankees are now 8 games back, in the loss column, behind the Red Sox in the A.L. Wildcard chase.
New York has 6 games left and Boston has 7 games left before the Yankees and Red Sox meet at Fenway Park for the last three games of this season.
Suppose that the Yankees win four of their aforementioned six games. And, suppose that the Red Sox lose four of their aforementioned seven games. This would put the Yankees 6 games back, in the loss column, behind the Red Sox in the Wildcard chase – with three games left to their season.
Obviously, the Yankees would have been eliminated already. But, they would have also just been “3 games” away from having a chance to make those three games at Fenway Park mean the whole season. And, it would be pretty easy to pick “three games” this season where the Yankees lost – and should have won.
So, I guess the question is: If the Yankees manage to get within 6 games, or less, of the Red Sox before that series at Fenway, shouldn’t they be kicking themselves, all winter, for what might have been this season if they had only played better in three games this year?
Then again, if the Yankees lose most of their next six games or if the Red Sox win most of their next seven games, this whole thing is moot.
Steve…. every year 1 or more teams finishes CLOSE to a post season spot. Should they be ‘kicking’ themselves? Ya play 162. ALL games matter. Every loss could be THE LOSS.
Looking back is silly. If a team finishes 1 game out, should they say…. “Gee, we really should have TRIED to win that game against X”.
And why pick ONE game against X? Usually there are at least a dozen games a team shoulda or coulda won but didn’t. This is the very nature of baseball, it’s long season, it’s ups and downs, it’s coulda, shoulda, didn’t.
Still, if they managed to get to that spot, where they can lament those 3 games, I wonder if someone like Rivera will look at all those games where he came into it, with the score tied, the non-save situation, and then lost the game. Those seem to hurt the most.
Luckily, Mo is not the type to look back on that stuff. That’s why he’s been so great.
See for that to happen you have to root for the Blue Jays to sweep Boston. Guess what? They have the same exact record so both teams would be neck to neck if anything. The Jays are in that mix as well.