Magical Guardians Season Ends as Rookie Shortstop, Rookie Manager Make Mistakes
In another incredible baseball game, the Guardians fell to the Yankees 5-2 after a 10th inning three-run home run from New York’s Juan Soto.
I am typing this while standing behind the Guardians’ dugout. I’m watching Yankees fans take pictures and Guardians’ fans leave with bemused cursing.
It’s a shame this magical season had to come to an end. It ended with two primary decisions:
First, the decision by manager Stephen Vogt to pitch to Giancarlo Stanton with one on and two outs and Jazz Chisholm up next.
Man, it felt right in the stadium. I was cheering my lungs out. But when Bibee missed location with a slider and Stanton roped it out at roughly the speed of sound, I realized that’s why you can’t manage on vibes. Hopefully Vogt knows that now, also.
What an incredible start from Bibee, though.
The second decision was a split-second one: With one out in the tenth and Alex Verdugo hitting, on a slightly high flip from Gimenez on another great play, Rocchio began to look to turn two instead of getting the out he had at short. This let both runners reach and made it far more likely that Juan Soto would get up to bat.
And bat he did. A long battle with Hunter Gaddis ended with Soto hitting the first fastball he saw up and at the top of the zone out at 109 mph for a 3. Becaus he is the best hitter in baseball. Gaddis almost got him. But this was on the 23 year-old shortstop who had been so nails all postseason.
He will learn. He will grow. But that hurt. It hurts to hear Yankee fans cheering right now in my stadium. In the place Mike Hargrove advised me to marry my then-girlfriend, now-wife of my four children. In the place I have cried happy tears and felt my throat choke up at heart-breaking endings.
Great games from Bibee and from Bo Naylor. Great rebound performance from an incredible bullpen that finally showed what it was capable of.
It wasn’t quite enough. But I do hope that Paul Dolan and David Blitzer just stop for a second and see just how close this group was and how a little riskier investment could reap huge rewards. But I won’t hold my breath.
I did hold my breath for many amazing moments this season from this amazing Guardians team. I’ll never forget this year and I know no one wanted this win today more than our guys.
What a year it has been. Thanks for reading. We will talk offseason plans and ideas soon.
In the meantime: DODGERS OR METS IN FOUR. YANKEES CAN GO TO HE*K