Yankees ready to steal some of Mets' thunder with ALDS Game 1 vs. Royals
Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge at batting practice during a workout one day before game one of ALDS against the Kansas City Royals at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, on Friday, October 4, 2024 Credit: Newsday/Kendall Rodriguez
At about 3 p.m. on Friday outside Yankee Stadium — in front of Babe Ruth Plaza, no less — an unmistakable tune was blasting from a passing pedestrian’s phone.
It was “OMG,” the song by Mets infielder Jose Iglesias, the artist also known as Candelita.
Is it too early to think about a Subway World Series?
Yes, it is. But with the Yankees and Mets both starting their respective Division Series on Saturday, the current state of both teams has the Yankees as the second fiddle in New York terms of attention and magic and mojo.
Still, the Yankees have the best odds of any team in the American League to get to the World Series.
“I think we have a chance to win it all,” manager Aaron Boone said on the eve of Game 1 of the ALDS against Kansas City. “But I think everyone that’s still going probably feels that same way.”
The Mets have had a week filled with unfathomable victories and pure joy for their often woebegone fan base, culminating in Pete Alonso’s go-ahead three-run home run in the ninth inning in Game 3 of the Wild Card Series in Milwaukee on Thursday night.
This week, the Yankees have been playing simulated games among themselves.
“I’d rather be playing, I guess, in some regards,” said Gerrit Cole, who will start Game 1 at Yankee Stadium on Saturday night. “Obviously, we earned the days off.”
To get to the World Series for the first time since 2009, the Yankees have to beat the Royals, who lost 106 games last season and are one of the darling underdogs of baseball, and then either Cleveland or Detroit.
Everyone loves an underdog . . . except for Yankees fans.
Yankees fans expect a trip to the World Series every season, and it would be crushing to fall short this time against one of three AL Central teams with payrolls that are dwarfed by those of the big boys from the Bronx.
Boone, who knows a thing or two about postseason home runs, is close friends with Mets manager Carlos Mendoza, his former bench coach. Boone smiled broadly when asked about the job Mendoza has done this season.
“It’s been fun to watch him do his thing,” Boone said. “But I’m not surprised. We communicate a lot. I texted him after the game [Thursday] night. I’m excited for him.”
Boone was more effusive while talking about Mendoza than he was when I asked him, in the aftermath of Alonso’s legacy-making home run, to recall what he felt once he realized his home run in Game 7 of the 2003 ALCS against the Red Sox had sent the Yankees to the World Series.
“You mean personally?” Boone said. “I don’t remember it very well, honestly. It’s one of those — I tell people all the time — you have those moments in your life that you can remember, recall it, picture yourself there. It’s very foggy for me. I knew it was gone. I was just making sure initially it was fair. And then I knew it was going to be fair. So turned into a pretty good night.”
Some version of “Aaron Boone will never have to pay for a drink in New York” was said a million times after that home run. Hardly a day goes by when it isn’t brought up to him . . . and apparently Boone isn’t opposed to a little humblebrag to his players every now and then.
“I can’t recall him unsolicitedly bringing it up,” Cole said. “If it’s on replay, sometimes [during] rain delays, he’ll stick his head around the corner. ‘Did you see that?’ It’s like, ‘Yeah, we saw it, Aaron.’ ”
The Yankees, as you would imagine, are tired of waiting around. This week has been one long rainless delay. They want to get on the field against Kansas City and battle a team with a formidable starting rotation, a verified superstar in Bobby Witt Jr., and what Cole called a “world champion, MVP-type Hall of Famer” in catcher Salvador Perez.
Perez was the MVP in the 2015 World Series, when the Royals beat the Mets. There hasn’t been a World Series game played in New York since.
As we said, we’re far, far away from either (or both) of our teams making it past the next two rounds. But it’s OK to start dreaming about one of the Yankees having a Boone-like, Alonso-like moment in these playoffs.
The Yankees don’t have “OMG” or Grimace or the new adorable Mets thing, Alonso’s playoff pumpkin.
They'll settle for a ring.
Anthony Rieber covers baseball, as well as the NFL, NBA and NHL. He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since July 5, 2004.