The Yanks have clinched the division!

 

            The Yanks are in the playoffs again and this time they have a bye straight to the ALDS thanks to winning the AL East. Arguably the most competitive division in the league, many people did not have the Yanks coming out on top at the start of the season in this division, but they certainly proved the doubters wrong in the end.

            Still lots of work left to be done, but it is incredible how the Yanks won this division. With the amount of adversity they had to carry with them to the finish line, many including myself did not think the Yanks could maintain 1st in the division, but somehow they did. Competing all season long with 3 other teams in the division that are going to end the season with 80 plus wins is a hard thing to be successful at.

            The AL East by far is the toughest division in baseball and there is not much to argue against it. Every team, except the Orioles, could've won the division coming into the season, and then somehow the Orioles shocked the baseball world and had a successful year. When the Red Sox are last in the division, you know that division is pretty darn good.

            The adversity that the Yanks faced was unlike no other team in the league as well. At one point in the season I thought I was watching their Triple-A affiliate, the RailRiders, because almost the entire lineup was just called up from Scranton because of injuries. Like always the Yanks battled injuries from batters to pitchers to relievers.

            It didn't just start in the July-August period, but at the start of the season when they lost Chad Green and Michael King for the season, injuries have been a constant all year. Almost every batter in the Yanks lineup has had a stint on the IL. The bullpen looks a lot different from the start of the season because of injuries, but they have somewhat managed to remain consistent.

            As a Yankee fan even I was not confident in this team's chances in winning the division, but they did it and with ample time left in the season as well. As we all know, the job is not finished as the great late Kobe Bryant said, but this is a crucial and pivotal step in the right direction of possible championship number twenty-eight.