End of the Road for the Yankees
All good things must come to an end, even if it doesn’t seem that way to the diehard Yankees fan. Yankees afficionados have come to expect October baseball as their birthright, and while they may be able to buy contention and even entry into the playoffs during a grueling 162-game season, once there, they must prove their worth on the ballfield against some very tough competition.
The Texas Rangers provided that competition during the past couple of days, and the team has overcome the 2010 Yankees for once and for all. 51,000 plus fans crammed into Rangers stadium in Arlington, Texas last night to witness the triumph of their team and its entry into the World Series for the first time in its 50-year history. Now baseball is competing with Friday night high-school football for attention by Texans, and, in some ways, that is good for baseball.
The victory, a convincing 6-1 drubbing, belies a game that was a lot closer and was locked at 1-1 for much of the night. The Yankees have every right to be proud of their effort, especially a stunning five-run comeback in the opening game of the series. But the hitting, a dismal .201 during the matchup, was just not enough to get it done.
One wonders how long it will take for recriminations to start among the Yankees faithful. If past history is any indication, they are starting already.
