Fifteen Years. Fifteen Years of frustrations and let downs and flat-out chokes. Dropping series to rivals, both old and new since lifting the commissioner’s trophy in 2009. “Retools” and false starts with a core that wasn’t quite THE core, has all culminated in a special night in Northeast Ohio. You may roll your eyes at “waiting for fifteen years,” but when the standard is the one the Yankees and their fans hold this franchise to, it’s a long time. Before the season I hoped that this Yankee team might have what it takes to play for the franchises 28th World Championship, due in large part to the addition of Juan Soto and others (more on them in a moment). I did not think I would be writing about winning the American League Pennant in the middle of this season as this team hit a significant rough patch, where bad habits thrived, habits that reared their head in this series, yet here we are. So, the better question is…how did we get here?

Any conversation about this pennant win, in the aftermath of their extra inning game 5 win, begins with two people, one of whom we’ll get to in a moment. We begin with Juan Soto, the man the Yankees acquired to elevate this team from a playoff absentee in 2023 to a contender in 2024. Very few players who arrived as outsiders have made the impact Soto has, only comparable to the likes of Reggie Jackson, who helped transform the late 70’s bombers into a World Series winner. Soto and company need four more wins to complete that arc, but this is on that level in my opinion. Number 22 has delivered on everything this franchise and fan base asked of him and for that he should be well compensated (cough cough Hal). But let’s not focus on those things right now, there are far more pressing matters at hand, because despite Soto taking the starring role in this game, he is still the Robin to this ALCS’ Batman. That Batman is none other than Giancarlo Stanton.

Let’s be honest, Giancarlo Stanton has played the role of A Rod to Aaron Judge’s Jeter since his arrival in 2018. Like Rodriguez and even Roger Maris before him with Mickey Mantle, Stanton was the untrusted outsider who had all the eyes on him, especially come October. Over time Stanton has become this team’s best postseason hitter, who has put up “Ruthian numbers” (not exaggerating) in October and this playoff run has been defined by Stanton’s clutch brilliance. He helped bail out his slugging running mate in Judge in round one, and then worked in Tandem with Judge in the ALCS to wreck several games against Cleveland, as both had strong series. With Soto, Judge, and Stanton now hitting all at the same time this offense is absolutely lethal. Stanton is now closing in on completing the arc, the way Maris and Rodriguez did, by helping lead this team to a championship he seems intent on winning. That’s not just because of them though as they have been backed up by a supporting cast that has hit.

That supporting cast was led by three men, Gleyber Torres, Anthony Volpe and Alex Verdugo. Torres, much to his credit, put a miserable season full of underperformance and mistakes behind him to have a terrific playoff to this point batting in the leadoff spot. I feared his defense and mental mistakes would hurt this team’s chances in October, but Torres has proven myself and many others wrong. His partner up the middle, Anthony Volpe, has put it together at the plate this fall with patient at bats and key hits that helped lead the bottom of the order in igniting key rallies, while playing a strong shortstop for the most part. The last of the “unsung” trio is Alex Verdugo, who no one, including me, wanted to see in the postseason lineup. Verdugo arrived with some expectations of making an impact and through April and May he did just that, but then he started to slide offensively for months on end, but he drew in the playoff lineup because of left field defense. Verdugo has played a strong left field from the get-go, and has had a number of strong at bats in this playoff run and driven in a pair game winning runs across the two rounds. There are many more unsung contributors from the position core, but let’s not leave out the arms.

The Yankees pitching staff was a concern at times in the regular season but this group has rallied around one another and performed very well this October. Gerrit Cole had his big moment in round one against the Royals, Clarke Schmidt has turned in two strong starts against the Royals and Guardians on the road, and even young Luis Gil battled after 19 days off in game four of the LCS. But no one has stepped up more than Carlos Rodon who was dominant in game one against Cleveland and pitched well while picking up a no decision in the pennant clinching win. Good for Rodon who was much maligned going into the year and wound up putting it all together in the second half and playoffs. While the starters have performed, the bullpen is the real story. Yes, Holmes and Weaver had a hiccup in game three and four against Cleveland, but on the whole this unit has been terrific. Weaver’s journey to capturing the final out of the American League season is nothing short remarkable after being claimed off of waivers last season and then moving into the closer’s role in August. He rallied back from blowing game three to slam the door, and that is the theme for this whole pen. I am not always a fan of this front office, but credit where credit is due, Brian Cashman once again assembled a strong bullpen by making a series of opportunistic moves. Bringing in the likes of Tim Hill and Jake Cousins off the scrap heap, adding Mark Leiter Jr. at the deadline only for him to step up out of nowhere in the ALCS. Bringing back Tommy Kahnle was a strong move as well, especially once he got healthy this year. Everything came together at the back end and credit to Aaron Boone who pushed all the right buttons in the pen this postseason.

So now the Yankees sit back and soak it in. They can celebrate for at least a day as they sit and wait for their World Series opponent. The Dodgers and Mets will play game six of the NLCS later tonight so we may well know who they will play next by the end of the night. A Dodger win sends the Yankees to Hollywood, in what would be a star-studded matchup. A Mets win would force a Monday night game seven and keep alive the hopes of the New Yorkers across the five boroughs for a Subway Series. As a Yankee fan it’s great to see this team back on the ultimate stage, where it belongs. It’s not their god given right, but this is the standard I referred to earlier and the work has just begun. The final goal is of course to win it all, The Boss would want it that way, but let’s try and enjoy this one for a few days before we start to focus on winning it all and how that will be accomplished. I am proud of this team, I can’t wait to keep watching them work through their ups and downs (of which there are many), and I am pumped to cheer them on in the Fall Classic. Take it away Frank!

You can find Nick on Twitter @YNWA9623, Mike @Mike_Sheerin, Tyler @TMon_19 and Sean @SeanMartinNFL. Subscribe to the site by hitting the follow button in the bottom right corner and entering your email address. Check out our Instagram feed @thebroadwaybreakdownsports for special gameday and promotional content. Our fall of podcasts are available on Spotify. Visit the Rangers Ed Shop by clicking the link on our homepage. The store is live, and Little Ed has been in the lab cooking up some can’t miss items for you fans. Check out our mailbag page to join the conversation here on the site and on our partners show, The Rangers Ed Podcast! We’ll be back with more soon!