As if New York’s loss in Game 3 wasn’t bad enough, it came on a very portentous date.

Championship Series - New York Yankees v Cleveland Guardians - Game 3
Championship Series – New York Yankees v Cleveland Guardians – Game 3 / Maddie Meyer/GettyImages

At this point, Yankees fans might just want to scratch October 17 off the calendar entirely.

The New York Yankees suffered a heartbreaker in Game 3 of the ALCS against the Cleveland Guardians on Thursday, with a spectacular come-from-behind win turning into a 7-5 walk-off loss thanks to two of the most dramatic home runs in recent postseason history. New York was one strike away from taking a commanding 3-0 series lead, but now the team will need to rebound quickly to avoid letting its season slip away entirely.

“But wait,” you might be thinking. “New York still leads the series 2-1, and still has home-field advantage. Surely this is just an overreaction?” Which might be true, strictly speaking — but good luck telling any Yankees fan old enough to live through the 2004 ALCS collapse that a series lead can be taken for granted. And the parallels between the two don’t stop there.

Yankees’ Game 3 loss came on a very unfortunate anniversary

Considering the stakes — a win would have brought New York the closest it’s been to the World Series since 2009, with a team that has a whole lot riding on finishing the job this season — Thursday’s loss may have been the most devastating for the franchise in two decades. Which is why we apologize in advance for the following: David Fry’s walk-off homer came on October 17, 2024 … exactly 20 years to the day since Bill Mueller’s steal and David Ortiz’s heroics win Game 4 of the 2004 ALCS for the Red Sox.

From there, the Yankees would lose each of the next three games, becoming the first team in MLB history to blow a 3-0 lead.

Again: There’s still a long way to go. New York is still the favorite to win this series, and if it takes care of business in Game 4, this will all look very silly in hindsight. But you could feel the momentum shift in the late innings of Game 3, and the echoes are undeniable.