Baltimore Orioles v New York Yankees / Luke Hales/GettyImages
The New York Yankees are your AL East champs after defeating the Baltimore Orioles 10-1 on Thursday night. After a couple of anemic offensive performances, the Bombers needed somebody to slam the door shut to get the job done to avoid the sweep.
Giancarlo Stanton rose to the occasion. He homered off Corbin Burnes in the second inning to give the Yanks a 1-0 lead. Then he busted the game open, clearing the bases with a three-run double in the sixth to put New York up 5-0. That’s the Big G fans show up to the ballpark to see.
When he’s on one of his standard heaters, he’s arguably the Yankees’ most important player. His struggles during the 2018 playoffs (in addition to others) sent the team packing early. His absence during the 2019 postseason killed this team. His burst onto the scene in 2020 and nearly carried the team to the ALCS, if it weren’t for letdowns by the coaching/pitching staff. He was the only offensive force during the 2021 Wild Card Game. His efforts got the Yankees by Cleveland in the 2022 ALDS.
And, of course, during countless regular seasons, when the Yankees go on their runs, it’s mostly because Stanton is pummeling the ball 450 feet into the dead of night. Though he’s been slumping for a bit, he’s started to break out of it over the last couple weeks.
Thursday night was hopefully the official coming out part before the playoffs because, on the mental side of things, Stanton is ready to take it to the opposition and silence the critics once and for all.
Giancarlo Stanton drops mic with response about Yankees’ World Series chances
Some fans might not realize, but it’s incredibly meaningful for someone like Stanton to be playing this part for the Bombers. He’s been through the ringer in New York, and we’ve certainly contributed to that. Heck, even general manager Brian Cashman has, after publicly calling out the star slugger last offseason!
But it hasn’t all been his fault. Injuries have been out of his control, and he’s worked hard to get back to full strength and contribute when possible. It’s not his problem Cashman and the front office decided to curb spending (or make bad future expenditures) after trading for him. Stanton ended up being a scapegoat during times where he’d whiff at sliders in the other batter’s box. Some of it was justified, some of it was completely unfair.
Stanton is battle-tested on all fronts. He’s seen the postseason enough times to know what needs to be done. He’s dealt with the hellacious media criticism and backlash for years when things went wrong for the Yankees. It’s been a long, arduous road, and fans certainly wish it were different (particularly more jovial), but it is what it is. All that matters now is what lies ahead.
If anybody understands that, it’s Stanton. His performance and comments on Thursday night show there’s a fighting chance the 2024 Yankees could indeed be “different.” We’ll see about that, but we sure hope we are seeing these Big G video clips in the future World Series DVD (do they make those anymore?).
