The winding road — which included a hastily executed Plan B following Juan Soto bolting for Queens, a painful spring training and Gerrit Cole crusher and a strong first half before a downturn through June and July in which every physical and mental error screamed Maybe this isn’t the year — led to a drenched clubhouse filled with champagne, beers (including a couple affixed to the sides of Jasson Domínguez’s goggles) and smiles.
All of the twists and turns led to October.
The Yankees, who stiff-armed offseason and regular-season concerns like they were 80-pound linebackers, are back where they seemingly always wind up.
With a ninth-inning wild pitch and a tremendous at-bat from José Caballero, Aaron Boone’s bunch pulled off a comeback to clinch an eighth postseason berth in the past nine years and 26th trip to the playoffs in the past 31 years.
Caballero’s walk-off RBI single gave the Yankees a dramatic 3-2 victory over the White Sox in front of 38,318 in The Bronx on Tuesday, ensuring the final five days of the regular season will be jockeying for position and not for an entrance.
The Yankees (89-68) hold the top AL wild-card spot and have closed within a game of the Blue Jays (who own the tiebreaker) in the AL East, which is where their focus lies.
“It takes a lot of hard work to get to this point. It’s a long season,” a dripping Aaron Judge said in a clubhouse that sprayed its captain amid chants of “MVP.” “Our ultimate goal is to win our division. It’s still right there for us.”
Such was the refrain from a team that has done something significant for many clubs and something typical for Yankees clubs, their 26th trip to the postseason since 1995, the most in the majors in that span and not by a little (five more than second-place Atlanta’s 21).
In a clubhouse that was celebratory if somewhat muted because of the many other champagne sprays the team envisions, Cody Bellinger hugged bench coach Brad Ausmus and yelled, “We ain’t done!”
“Right now it’s just the first step,” said Jazz Chisholm Jr., now a 31-31 player.
“I think we’re a really good club,” Boone said after the franchise secured its 60th playoff appearance. “It doesn’t guarantee anything, but I’ll certainly take our chances up against anyone.”
“We’re going for everything, man,” Caballero said before the Yankees trotted back to the field for a team picture. “We’re going for the trophy.”
The Yankees had celebrated around Caballero just past first base in what was a particularly wild way to clinch.
After mounting threats but not rallies for most of the night and stranding 11 on base, they finally cashed in accidentally: With runners on the corners and Bellinger down to the team’s last strike in the ninth inning, White Sox lefty Brandon Eisert airmailed a full-count wild pitch to the backstop, Anthony Volpe charging from third base and arriving safely with the tying run.
Caballero then fought in an at-bat that included five foul balls and nine pitches, finally looping a single into center to drive in Judge and allow an exhale and alcohol to be inhaled.
“I gotta get the job done,” Caballero, a trade-deadline addition who has been everything the team could have wanted, said with the team’s championship belt around his shoulder. “That’s the only thing I was thinking of.”
Forgotten were the earlier issues cashing in opportunities.
Forgotten was an outfield misplay that put a runner on base for Colson Montgomery, who victimized Luis Gil with a two-run home run in the sixth.
The team can dream of putting in the past those miscues, brain farts and struggles against quality competition that threatened to become the trademark of the 2025 Yankees.
The clubhouse is well aware the franchise has not won a championship since 2009.
“It’s been a challenging year, no question about it,” Boone said. “But at my core — and especially as we got here to the final couple months. … I [felt] like our best baseball was absolutely ahead of us and hopefully is still ahead of us.”
The Yankees’ sights are on victories more improbable than Tuesday’s.
“It’s going to be a fun postseason,” Judge said. “We’ve got the right guys. We’ve got the right mindset.”
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