Joe Girardi should be fired. Alex Rodriguez choked again. Mark Teixeira and Nick Swisher aren’t tough enough to perform in the postseason. The Yankees should just let CC Sabathia opt out. He can’t win in October anymore.
For Yankees' fans, an early playoff exit shouldn't have to mean total despair (Photo: AP).
Undoubtedly, many of the sentiments above will be expressed today by Yankees’ fans who are still angry over their team’s early dismissal from the 2011 postseason. Unfortunately, too many of those who follow the Bronx Bombers are of the opinion that if the season doesn’t end with champagne, it must be a failure. Of course, you really can’t blame them when that “all or nothing all” philosophy has also become an organizational mantra.
It might be blasphemous to say in Yankeeland, but winning the division is just as important as winning the World Series. Although most seem to view the 162 marathon as nothing more than a qualifying heat for an October sprint, common sense seems to dictate that these two formats be viewed separately. In many ways, the relationship between baseball’s regular season and playoffs is akin to European soccer teams playing a league schedule along with an international tournament. Both are important, but failure in one shouldn’t take away from success in the other.
Yankees Historical Per Game Run Differential
Source: Baseball-reference.com
Instead of using the postseason to validate the regular season, it makes much more sense to put the Yankees’ 2011 campaign in historical context. Even though many fans of the team take regular season success for granted, it’s worth pointing out that the Yankees’ league leading winning percentage of .599 ranks among the top-10% all-time. Even more impressive, the Yankees’ run differential in 2011 was better than more than 96% of the 2,286 teams that have played a full season since 1901. What’s more, the Yankees’ success was rooted on all sides, as the offense (20% more runs scored) and pitching staff (9% fewer runs allowed) both out performed the league average significantly. Comparatively speaking, the Yankees’ lineup was more productive than 97% of all other starting nines since 1901, while the team’s hurlers were stinger than more than 75% of past pitching staffs.
Historical Comparison of Yankees Runs’ Scored versus the League Average
Note: Graphs represents the percentage by which the team overperformed or underperformed the average (x-axis).
Source: Baseball-reference.com
Historical Comparison of Yankees’ Runs Allowed versus the League Average
Note: Graphs represents the percentage by which the team overperformed or underperformed the average (x-axis).
Source: Baseball-reference.com
It’s easy to understand why fans would be frustrated, disappointed and even angry about the Yankees’ early postseason exit, but they should remember that all of the players being labeled public enemy number one were, only one week ago, the heroes who propelled the Yankees to the American League’s best record and compiled all of the impressive statistics referenced above.
It’s also constructive to consider that each of the team’s three playoff losses ended with the tying run at the plate. If the Yankees had just one break in either of those games, they would be advancing with a 3-2 series win. Why is that significant? Because the .600 winning percentage over that tiny five game span would then have equaled what the Yankees compiled over 162 games. In all honesty, which of the two is really more impressive? If you’ve answered logically, it makes little sense to essentially allow one at bat to invalidate all that was accomplished over six months.
Unfortunately, a significant number of Yankees’ fans will likely eschew common sense when evaluating the 2011 season. They are the ones who boo Arod.
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