Bronx Bomber Ball

In the professional sports world, it's a known fact that cheating has occurred across all leagues, in all sports, for as long as professional sports have existed. That's not to say that news of the Houston Astros' sign-stealing scandal was any less upsetting. While the Yankees weren't the only team to be seemingly robbed of a championship title as a result, news like this piece of news hurts more when it's your team who's victimized by said cheating. Photo Credit: Karen Warren/Houston Chronicle

It kind of feels like déjà vu, doesn’t it? Photo Credit: Al Bello/Getty Images

In a series that has featured mostly nail biting, closely contested games, the Yankees took the field at Minute Maid Park for Game 7 of the ALCS facing a tall task. Coming off a tough defeat in Game 6 that saw the Astros offense wake up, it was clear Minute Maid would provide a hostile environment from the first pitch on. The home team had won every game in this series up to this point and the Yankees would have to break the trend if they were going to advance to their first World Series since 2009. The matchup saw Astros right hander Charlie Morton facing off against veteran lefty CC Sabathia. While CC has been the Yankees stopper all season, it would come down to whether the Yankees offense would finally be able to break through on the road. Although this Yankee team has risen to the occasion many times this season, they would come up short this time and falter just a game shy of the World Series. Credit: Eric Christian Smith/AP Photo

For the first time this postseason the Yankees finally held a series lead and looked to capitalize on it, to punch their ticket back to the World Series for the first time since 2009. The Yanks sent out young ace Luis Severino to face Justin Verlander and the Houston Astros in a decisive game six. The last time the Bombers face Verlander, the righty threw an immaculate 121 pitch outing in a 2-1 Yankees loss to Houston. After an early pitching battle, the Astros lineup roughed up Sevy in the fifth to grab a 3-0 lead. The Yanks would squander too many opportunities and lose 7-1, forcing a game seven tomorrow. Newsday

  The Yankees’ game plan for tomorrow night in Houston is simple: get to Justin Verlander early, get into the overworked and underperforming Houston bullpen early, and hope Luis Severino is at his best.  If all goes according to plan, much easier said than done I must add, then the Yankees will have booked their ticket to the Fall Classic for the first time in eight years. Photo Credit: Getty Images

Fresh off a dramatic come from behind win last night in game four, the Yankees looked to take a 3-2 series lead on Wednesday evening. The Bombers sent Masahiro Tanaka to the hill, who was the massive hero the team needed tonight with Dallas Keuchel on the mound for Houston. With some serious offensive contributions from a large portion of the lineup, Tanaka was stellar as the Yankees shutout the Astros in a 5-0 win.   Photo Credit: Robert Deutsch | USA TODAY Sports

The Yankees were put in a familiar spot down 2-0 in the series, and looking for a huge win at home to get right back into it.  It was C.C Sabathia on the hill for the Yankees in game three, facing off against Charlie Morton, both of which had surprising breakout seasons.  Sabathia was brilliant in the 8-1 win, throwing six shutout innings. The bats finally came to life in the series putting up eight runs, after only two runs combined through first two games. Photo Credit: Abbie Parr | Getty Images

After getting dominated by Dallas Keuchel in game one, it was the same story in game two as Justin Verlander silenced the Yankees’ bats, and another solid Yankee pitching performance went wasted. Neither team hit the ball well in this contest, but the Astros got to Chapman in the ninth as Carlos Correa hit a walk-off double to score Jose Altuve from first base. Photo Credit: David Phillips | AP

Rebuilding isn’t supposed to go like this. Rebuilding teams aren’t supposed to make it to the ALCS in what was supposed to be a rebuilding year. Yet, here the “rebuilding” Yankees are, one year removed from missing the playoffs, in the American League Championship Series for the first time since 2012 where they were swept by the Detroit Tigers. Hoping for a much different outcome this time, the Yankees will have to go through the Houston Astros who are making their first appearance here since 2005. After taking down the reigning AL champion Indians, the Yankees must now take down this Astros team who also won over 100 games and who made somewhat light work of a very solid Boston Red Sox team behind many hot bats, including the hot bat of AL MVP hopeful Jose Altuve. The Astros also beat the Yankees in five of the seven times they played this season, so winning this series will be no easy task, but with an insane amount of momentum and nothing to lose, the Yankees have a legitimate shot...

Well, here we are, the Yankees have beat the odds and made it to the ALCS. I’ll spare the stories of how this team should not have even been here, but I will share one of the reasons why they are: the bullpen. The Yankees bullpen has become one of if not the best bullpen in all of baseball. While they had a pretty good start, with Dellin Betances, Adam Warren and Aroldis Chapman, they quickly became great with the midseason acquisitions of Tommy Kahnle, David Robertson and the emergence of one Chad Green. Photo Credit: Getty Images

The Yankees are set to face a solid Houston Astros team in the ALCS. One of these teams will advance to the World Series, while the other will go home empty handed. While the Astros are extremely talented, the once again underdog Yankees hold their own in this position by position breakdown of the two teams. Slash lines are as follows: AVG/OBP/SLG, WAR. Here is the breakdown: Photo Credit: Getty Images

As I watched Todd Frazier showcase some heads up base running skills by coming around to score from first base on Brett Gardner's ninth inning single it finally hit me. The Yankees were going to defeat the mighty Cleveland Indians and advance to the ALCS for the first time since 2012. The same New York Yankees who hit rock bottom after an absolutely crushing game two defeat in the same ballpark had somehow managed to string together an improbable comeback, winning three straight elimination games. As an eternal pessimist and current law student, I thought the Yankees fate was sealed once Joe Girardi had the managing blunder of a lifetime. Needless to say, I'm ecstatic to see that the Bombers have proven me wrong. Photo Credit: J. Conrad Williams, Jr.

Wow. In a season where playoff contention was extremely unlikely, the Yankees are moving on to play for the American League pennant. While the first two games produced a few astronomical lows, the remaining games of the series were filled with excitement and historical moments.  Photo Credit: Getty Images

After Wednesday night’s exhilarating ALDS Game 5 victory over the Cleveland Indians, the Yankees are heading to the ALCS. The series against the Indians gave us many reasons to be hopeful about this current run but there are still some concerns that need to be addressed and some questions that need to be answered. One of the key points that need addressing heading into this series is the Designated Hitter position and how the Yankees can improve their productivity from it. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke

Remember when the Indians were the best team in the AL and were supposed to steamroll the Yankees in the ALDS? Good times. The Yankees silenced EVERYONE last night and became the tenth team in history to come back and win a five game series after being down 0-2. Up next? The Houston Astros, who beat Chris Sale twice in the ALDS against the Red Sox, and ultimately closed it out in four games. They will be tough. However, they are a much different team than the Indians…and that might be what gives the Yankees an edge for the ALCS. Thomas B. Shea / USA Today Sports

Yeah, yeah. I know. 16 strikeouts. Three balls put in play. He had a .052 batting average. However, the Yankees don’t face the Astros on Friday, if Aaron Judge didn't play in this series. Photo Credit: Getty Images

I wrote an  article early in the year that fans should take it easy on Joe Girardi, and after his mistakes in the Cleveland series, I still believe this. I stated in my original piece that for the past few years Joe had managed subpar teams way above their talent levels, and this year is no different. I also said how he handled the tricky situations of fixing Aaron Judge, Aroldis Chapman, and Gary Sanchez, and how he manages the Aaron Hicks and Greg Bird return from injuries will shape how management will view the maligned Joe Girardi. Since then, Judge had his best month of his career in September, Chapman has been near perfect since regaining his closer job, and Sanchez was incredible in August and has shown significant improvement behind the plate in the Cleveland series. As for the injuries, Bird has become the arguably the best hitter in the postseason for the Yankees, and Hicks was able to regain his starting spot and was more than serviceable in the playoffs. Kathy Wi...

By now you've heard the story hundreds of times. The Yankees were not supposed to be this good, this fast. By all accounts, they might contend for a Wild Card spot this season, but that was as far as the experts were willing to go. Many even had the Yankees finishing third or fourth in the AL East this season.  With a roster full of inexperienced kids and a pitching staff mired with question marks, the Yankees were still thought to be a few years off. "The Yankees are gonna be a .500 team." "It's a rebuilding year." "There's no way they overcome a 2-0 deficit." WE'RE STILL HERE. pic.twitter.com/sjYYbs33pH — New York Yankees (@Yankees) October 12, 2017 “Suzyn, you can't predict baseball.” Photo Credit: Getty Images

The Yankees limped their way back to New York after a gut-wrenching game two loss, facing a seemingly insurmountable 2-0 hole to the probably the best and hottest team in baseball. It was almost a foregone conclusion that the season was over for the Bombers, but after two great wins at home, the Yanks headed back to Cleveland to face AL Cy Young favorite Corey Kluber and the Indians again. The Yankees were able to shut down the Indians to just two runs, while Didi Gregorius and Brett Gardner were able to provide five runs to send New York back to the ALCS for the first time since 2012. AP